Victorian Clean Technology Fund

The Victorian Clean Technology Fund (VCTF) is a venture fund which invests in and assists the commercialisation of novel clean technologies. Clean technologies are those that provide superior commercial returns compared to incumbent technologies while simultaneously addressing significant environmental and resource issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, energy usage, water scarcity or quality, waste and recycling. VCTF is a private company established in 2003 and was formerly known as Centre for Energy and Greenhouse Technologies Pty Ltd ('CEGT'). It has been an active investor since 2003 and is an evergreen fund, in that capital raised from divestments is reinvested in new opportunities. VCTF is a fund that provides financial and management support for early stage enterprises. It generally invests at the pre-seed and seed funding phases where traditional venture capital sources are not readily available. VCTF may invest directly in projects or take an equity position in the enterprise. Originally funded by the Victorian Government, investments should provide a tangible benefit to Australia in addition to VCTF’s cleantech focus. While VCTF is a not-for-profit organisation, the requirement to reinvest returns from the fund means that investments with a clear commercial return and exit strategy will be preferred. Generally VCTF will seek to co-invest with other sources of funding in order to leverage its investment. Although flexible, typically initial funding from VCTF is less than $1m, however there is potential for follow-on investment for promising enterprises.