Clean Growth Fund Research
Investment Thesis
Clean Growth Fund (CGF) is a specialist UK climate venture capital fund founded in 2020 by Beverley Gower-Jones OBE. It backs UK-based, IP-rich hardware and software innovations that significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions or improve resource efficiency. The firm's stated belief is that the net zero economy is "the engine of growth, not the cost of it", and that the gap to fill is founders with the drive to industrialise, not just invent, backed early by investors with conviction. The portfolio is forecast to abate 46 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year by 2030.
Stage Focus
Seed and Series A, with a first cheque of £500k to £5m. Fund II is targeting roughly 25 companies. Rounds are often co-led, for example the October 2026 £10m Series A in Reclinker, co-led with AP Ventures.
Check Size
First cheque £500k to £5m (GBP). Follow-on reserves are implied by the company-building model but not published.
Lead Tendency
Both. CGF co-leads rounds with other specialist climate investors (AP Ventures on Reclinker) and participates alongside development banks and strategics. Partners sit on portfolio boards.
Sector Focus
Six sectors: power, transport, industry, buildings, agrifood and circular economy. Examples include solar asset management (Above), battery anode materials (AmpliSi), industrial heat pumps (Futraheat), process optimisation with reinforcement learning (Gigaton), biosurfactants (Holiferm), carbon capture (Nuada), V2G EV charging (Indra), energy-flexibility marketplaces (Piclo), mycelium insulation (Mykor), cultivated pet food (Meatly) and low-carbon cement (Reclinker). Photonics for data centres (Vector Photonics, Oriole Networks) shows an energy-efficiency angle on compute.
Recent Activity
- October 2026: co-led £10m Series A in Reclinker (Cardiff low-carbon cement) with AP Ventures
- September 2026: Fund II second close at £81.5m of a £150m target, anchored by £22.5m from Border to Coast; Strathclyde Pension Fund raised its commitment to £30m
- July 2026: won UK Private Capital Excellence in Impact award (top recognised GP under £1bn AUM)
- June 2026: portfolio company Gigaton raised $26m
- May 2026: backed Mykor and Meatly; exited Rendesco (which secured £100m from Pioneer Point Partners)
- March 2026: first Fund II deal, AmpliSi
- August 2025: Fund II first close at £49m
Fund II had made at least five investments by October 2026, so the fund is actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
20+ companies across the six sectors. Rendesco, the UK clean heat developer, is the first announced exit. Fund I (£101m final close, March 2022) invested in 19 UK startups. Gigaton's $26m raise and Reclinker's Series A are the most recent milestones.
Team
- Beverley Gower-Jones OBE: Founder and Managing Partner; chair of the Investment Committee at Great British Energy
- Susannah McClintock: Investment Partner; built environment, heat, waste, circular economy; ex Sustainable Ventures, Carbon Trust Enterprises
- Stephen Price: Investment Partner; deep tech, university spin-outs, materials; engineering doctorate
- Sophie Dingreville: Investment Partner; ex Chief Investment Officer at bp Launchpad, ex Iris Capital and Munich Re Ventures
- Gemma Fong: CFO
- Maria Khan: Head of Compliance; ex SoftBank Vision Fund UK CRO
- Connor Duffy: Investment Manager
- Lauren Juliff: Head of Investor Relations and Sustainability
- Ben Woodhouse: Investment Associate; co-founded two Carbon13 ventures
- Penny Dray: Investment Associate
- Lisa Thornley: Marketing Manager
The sister consultancy Carbon Limiting Technologies shares an office and supports portfolio companies on strategy and commercialisation. The advisory board includes pension and infrastructure leaders (Robert Branagh, Gershon Cohen, Faith Ward) and climate scientist Chris Rapley.
Decision Process
Partnership with an Investment Committee. Investment partners lead deals and represent CGF on boards.
Founder Preferences
Technical founders commercialising university or deep-tech IP, with a path to industrial scale and quantifiable emissions abatement. The firm runs pitching roadshows across UK regions (the eighth was in Cardiff on 7 October 2026) and advertises a place-based strategy beyond London, Oxford and Cambridge.
Geographic Focus
UK-based companies only. Limited partners are largely UK pension funds (Border to Coast, Strathclyde, Islington, East Riding). Follow-on expansion into Europe and the US happens at portfolio level.