Vancouver and Phoenix, AZ-based venture capital firm Pangaea Ventures has held the final close of its $115-million CAD ($85-million USD) impact fund that will invest in HardTech solutions that they claim will address the health of the planet.
This is Pangaea’s fifth and largest fund to date. The fund, which will follow a five-year investment period, has already backed five ventures, including one Canadian tech startup: Vancouver-based pH7 Technologies. According to a spokesperson from Pangaea, half of the fund has already been allocated.
“The breakthroughs in advanced materials, chemistry, and biology that we support not only deliver returns but also drive real, meaningful change.”
Founded in 2000, Pangaea Ventures focuses on identifying and investing in high-potential HardTech ventures. The firm’s portfolio includes a few notable names in Canada’s tech sector, including Vancouver-based Aspect Biosystems and Halifax-based CarbonCure.
Pangaea invests in HardTech companies across clean energy, sustainable agriculture, and biosciences.
The firm’s spokesperson told BetaKit the fund invests at the Series A stage, and will deploy between $3 million and $5 million per round, typically as a lead or co-lead. Pangaea began fundraising for its fifth fund in July 2022, and closed all capital in April 2024. The fund plans to make between 10 and 12 investments total.
According to Pangaea’s spokesperson, the fund is backed by corporate limited partners from Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. While the spokesperson declined to share names, they did note that there is a mix of new and returning investors composed of financial investors, family offices, and foundations.
The fund’s first Canadian investment is pH7, which develops environmentally friendly solutions for metal extraction. pH7 is working on clean, low-impact methods to recover critical metals used in renewable energy technologies, such as electric vehicles and solar panels. The startup aims to reduce environmental harm typically associated with traditional mining and metal extraction. Pangaea participated in pH7’s $16-million USD Series A financing round, which closed in March 2023.
In addition to ph7, Pangaea’s new fund has also invested in American startups Ardent Process Technologies, Versogen, Kanvas Biosciences, and Biodel AG. Pangaea’s spokesperson said while there is no set allocation for Canadian companies, the fund will primarily focus on Canada and the United States, with half of the $85 million USD being saved for follow-on investments.
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“The breakthroughs in advanced materials, chemistry, and biology that we support not only deliver returns but also drive real, meaningful change,” Chris Erickson, general partner at Pangaea Ventures, said in a statement.
The firm invests in startups that address three key challenges: climate change, food and water security, and healthcare. On its website, Pangaea claims its portfolio has contributed to 7.5 million tons of CO₂ reduced, 17.7 million cubic metres of fresh water saved, and 4.4 million tons of food produced to date.
In addition to closing its latest fund, Pangaea is also announcing a new office opening in Tokyo, Japan. The firm said it plans to use that office to identify and back startups in the region.
Pangaea is the latest in a recent wave of venture capital firms that have secured fresh capital. Last week, Teralys Capital announced it had raised $475 million of its $570-million fund-of-funds target. In the past month, Luge Capital, Northside Ventures, MKB, and Radical Ventures have also launched new funds or secured new commitments.
Feature image courtesy of Unsplash. Photo by Jed Owen.