Sep 18 2023 38 mins 3
Funds editor Harriet Matthews hosts senior reporter Gustav Hoejmark-Jensen to discuss the role that emerging managers are playing in green technology investing. Hoejmark-Jensen explores the topic in an interview with Kim Pochon, senior vice president at Unigestion, and Laurits Bach Sørensen, co-founder and senior partner at Nordic Alpha Partners (NAP).
Pochon is part of Unigestion’s emerging manager programme, which aims to spot the next trends and next generation of funds managers and value creation models.
Through its emerging manager programme, Unigestion has been among the first backers of now-behemoth funds such as Carlyle, Permira, EQT and Hg, and it was also an early investor in managers such Archimed, Ambienta and Blackfin.
Pochon shares insights on the role of the programme in the emerging manger ecosystem, his views on the fund-of funds-market, and Unigestion’s approach to spotting future GP concepts. He also discusses the programme’s latest allocations and what made them invest in Nordic Alpha Partners’ new fund, focused on green tech growth buyouts.
Bach Sørensen discusses how NAP has overcome apparent challenges in the green tech and hardtech space via a highly operational and perhaps unorthodox approach to creating value, de-risking growth and rapid scaling of industrial green tech companies. Bach Sørensen also shares insights on the firm's latest strategic exit to US tech giant Tesla, after its portfolio company Wiferion experienced years of hypergrowth during NAP's tenure.
In the final part of the joint interview, Pochon and Bach Sørensen elaborate on the partnership between the two firms, with the editorial team returning at the end to discuss some key takeways from the conversation.
Founded in 2017 and now delivering CAGR of 78% on its debut fund, abating one million tons of CO2, NAP recently held a EUR 150m first close for its new fund, surpassing the volume of its EUR 126m first fund and attracting LPs such as Allianz Global Investors, Copenhagen Infrasturcture Partners, and Unigestion.
With a hard-cap of EUR 300m, NAP will continue to fundraise throughout 2023 for the SFDR Article 9 compliant second vehicle, Nordic Alpha Partners Fund II. The GP has already made its first deployment in Swedish-Polish photovoltaic developer Sunroof, alongside World Fund and Legal & General Capital.
1:39 – Challenges for GPs and LPs
5:55 – Interview with Kim Pochon of Unigestion and Laurits Bach Sørensen of Nordic Alpha Partners
- 6:14 – Unigestion’s outlook on emerging managers
- 9:16 – Finding emerging managers
- 11:30 – Why Unigestion invested in Nordic Alpha Partners
- 13:55 – Nordic Alpha Partners’ outlook on deployment
- 15:37 – Bridging the early-stage and growth green tech gap
- 19:29 – Derisking and deal sourcing
- 26:13 – Partnering with Unigestion
- 30:40 – Nordic Alpha Partners’ Wiferion exit
34:22 – Key takeaways
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Theme music: ©2012 Kick Up The Fire
