The investment forms part of SEDF’s broader push into locally led climate and development strategies on the continent.

To date, the organisation has committed $55m to similar initiatives backed primarily by African investors and entrepreneurs, with further commitments expected.

Georgia Levenson Keohane, Chief Executive of the Soros Economic Development Fund, said: “SEDF is proud to invest in Persistent’s Africa Climate Venture Builder Fund, which will help to scale early-stage climate solutions, unlock private capital, and build a resilient, climate-positive future for communities across the continent.”

The Persistent ACV Fund will focus on early-stage climate ventures across Africa, investing from pre-seed through to Series A.

Target sectors include e-mobility, commercial and industrial solar, residential solar, energy efficiency, productive use of energy, and businesses supporting resource transition such as recycling and waste management.

In addition to providing capital, Persistent will support portfolio companies through a venture building programme designed to strengthen operational capacity and accelerate scaling. The fund aims to combine investment with hands-on support in order to help address financing gaps in Africa’s early-stage climate ecosystem.

Investee companies are expected to contribute to emissions reduction, strengthen community resilience to climate risks, create green jobs, advance gender impact outcomes, and support the development of the region’s early-stage investment landscape.

The fund has set targets including mitigating 17 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, reaching 7 million beneficiaries, creating 60,000 direct jobs, economically impacting 400,000 people, delivering new or improved electricity access to 420,000 households, and catalysing $450 million in additional investment.

SEDF joins a group of co-investors in the fund that includes FSD Africa Investments, the African Development Bank, the Nordic Development Fund, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Impact Fund Denmark, the Schmidt Family Foundation and the Cottier Donze Foundation, with additional investors expected to participate.

Persistent Managing Partner Tobias Ruckstuhl said: “We are excited to achieve the milestone of the first close of the Persistent ACV Fund. The fund is uniquely capable of growing early-stage climate businesses across Africa through our combination of investment capital and venture building. We hope that our fund will have a significant impact on the climate venture space by bringing early-stage capital to companies, follow-on investing, and venture building, which are all very much needed. We are grateful for the trust that our investors, including significant private sector capital, have shown in the Persistent team by committing their capital to the Persistent ACV Fund. We are particularly grateful to SEDF for being a global leader in private impact investing in climate and sustainable development in Africa.”