PE firm Lightrock has launched a $500 million fund focused on scaling companies working in energy transition, electric mobility and clean cooking solutions.
The London-headquartered investor said its Accelerate7 fund will back growth-stage companies across South Asia, Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, with cheque sizes ranging between $10 million and $50 million. The fund will focus on sectors such as electricity access, clean cooking, electric mobility and energy storage.
Accelerate7 has already invested in SolarSquare, which provides residential rooftop solar systems, Sun King, known for solar-powered energy products in emerging markets, Euler Motors, which builds electric commercial vehicles, and ATEC Global.
“Across the Global South, access to reliable energy and modern cooking solutions remains one of the clearest drivers of economic opportunity and improved quality of life,” said Ademidun Edosomwan, partner and head of energy access at Lightrock. “With Accelerate7, we are backing businesses that have already demonstrated strong execution and are ready to scale.”
Aayush Parwal, principal at Lightrock, told ET that India will remain a key focus market for the fund because of the scale of opportunities emerging in energy transition.
“We have not earmarked a fixed allocation for India, but the country will be a very important market for us,” Parwal said. “The pipeline is very active. We are evaluating companies across the energy and electric mobility value chain, including manufacturing, supporting businesses, financing and storage.”
The fund is backed by investors and energy companies including Shell, TotalEnergies, Equinor and LGT. Lightrock said the launch takes its overall climate and energy transition-focused capital to nearly $2 billion.
The fund will focus on growth-stage businesses where commercial viability has already been established. "The first check for us is whether the sector itself makes economic sense from the customer’s perspective. That is already visible in areas like mobility and renewable energy," Parwal added.
