“Lightsmith Climate Resilience is the first private equity fund to focus on investing in solutions to the effects of climate change,” said Kauffman. Lightsmith Climate Resilience is committed to delivering economic returns while adhering to global environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards and providing impact assessment through its Impact Measurement System (IMS). To date, Lightsmith Climate Resilience has made investments in SOURCE Global, a water harvesting technology company with an off-grid solution to produce affordable drinking water from sunlight and air, and Wa圜ool Foods, an India-based agriculture and food supply chain services company applying physical automation and digital technology to reduce food wastage and improve farm output. Lightsmith Climate Resilience helps companies scale up by applying their technologies to help businesses and communities adapt to climate change, by expanding internationally, particularly in emerging markets, and by partnering with Lightsmith’s global network of companies and governments. Lightsmith Climate Resilience is focusing on six initial technology areas: water efficiency and smart water management, resilient food systems, agricultural analytics, geospatial intelligence, supply chain analytics, and catastrophe risk modeling and risk transfer. Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) has concluded that Lightsmith Climate Resilience is the first private equity fund focused on climate resilience, and reported that until now, less than $500 million per year of private investment has targeted climate change adaptation. Lightsmith Climate Resilience invests in growth-stage companies whose technologies can address the growing physical impacts of climate change, which represents an estimated total addressable market of over $170 billion today. Richard Kauffman, the Former Chairman of Energy and Finance for New York State, serves as Chairman of the investment committee for Lightsmith Climate Resilience. Lightsmith’s global investment team draws from experience at Goldman Sachs, True North Partners, Baring Private Equity Asia, IFC, and US DFC.

Lightsmith’s two founding partners, Jay Koh and Sanjay Wagle, each have over 20 years of experience in direct investing at The Carlyle Group and VantagePoint Capital Partners as well as at US Development Finance Corporation (DFC), International Finance Corporation (IFC), US Department of Energy, and New York Green Bank.

In the Fund, Lightsmith has brought together leading investors from around the world, including PNC Insurance Group, The Rockefeller Foundation, Kinneret Group, and Caprock Impact Partners, as well as the Green Climate Fund (“GCF”), European Investment Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, KfW on behalf of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Nordic Development Fund, the Government of Luxembourg and other investors. Lightsmith Climate Resilience is the first private equity fund to have focused on climate resilience and adaptation, investing in growth-stage technology companies that address the effects of climate change.

New York, NY - Lightsmith Group (“Lightsmith”), a global sustainable private equity firm, is pleased to announce the final closing of Lightsmith Climate Resilience Partners SCSp RAIF (“Lightsmith Climate Resilience” or the “Fund”) with $186 million of commitments.