OurCrowd has partnered with Waterfund to build an investment portfolio of 15 water and Agtech companies. According to a release, Waterfund has committed $50 million of capital to the OurCrowd managed portfolio, with an initial investment completed in Plenty, Inc., a vertical farming firm.
Simultaneously, OurCrowd and Waterfund will join in launching a water-focused platform called Aquantos that is said to be a financial product platform pursuing the issuance of Blue Bonds and other water investment products.
Founded in 2013, Waterfund seeks to direct private capital into global water assets. The company invests in, operates, and manages water treatment solutions and technologies on a global basis.
OurCrowd is a global investment platform that allows smaller investors (accredited) to invest alongside big VCs and other institutional investors.
Scott Rickards, CEO of Waterfund, said they are working to issue Blue Bonds that can be both climate bonds-certified and backed by sovereign or sub-sovereign borrowers.
“This new financial tool and others are being designed to enable water projects in the Middle East to acquire leading technologies to address water scarcity in a fundamentally new way.”
Rickards said that since the Paris Agreement there has been heightened interest in green bonds and they have seen a spike in companies, municipalities, sovereigns, and banks issuing green bonds.
“We expect that demand for next-generation water-oriented bond products will see similar growth.”
The two companies point to reports that sustainable investing assets now total more than $30 trillion globally—up 34% over the last two years. Rickards believes the lack of private capital has held back growth in the water innovation sector.
Jon Medved, Founder & CEO of OurCrowd, commented:
“The Abraham Accords present a huge opportunity to bring new water and agricultural technology to the water scarcity challenges of the entire Middle East. Alongside Waterfund, it is our mission to invest in and help build game-changing technology companies. We are excited to be working together with Waterfund to drive more private capital to address the critical challenges of water.”
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