ETF Partners invest in businesses that deliver sustainability through innovation.
ETF Partners invests in innovative European companies that develop sustainable technologies to tackle the climate emergency, aligning profit with positive environmental impact. Founded in 2005, they support visionary entrepreneurs through patient venture capital and use a rigorous impact framework to ensure measurable sustainability and financial success.
ETF Partners’ mission is to tackle the global climate emergency by investing in innovative companies that develop sustainable technologies. Their goal is to align profit with purpose, supporting visionary entrepreneurs who create smart, sustainable infrastructure and solutions that deliver both commercial success and positive environmental impact. Guided by values of bold innovation, optimism, and a belief in the transformative power of technology, ETF Partners is committed to fostering sustainable prosperity through expert, patient venture capital.
ETF Partners was established in 2005 by Patrick Sheehan, Henrik Olsen and Peter Horsburgh, three venture-capital veterans who recognised that the climate emergency demanded a dedicated investment approach to sustainable technology. Patrick Sheehan, formerly Managing Director of 3i’s Silicon Valley arm and a PhD-qualified electronics researcher, brought deep expertise in tech venture capital and a conviction that “the only practical way to address climate change is through technological innovation”. Henrik Olsen and Peter Horsburgh joined Sheehan in London to create Europe’s first sustainability-focused fund, named The Environmental Technologies Fund.
Patrick Sheehan Founder and Managing Partner
Peter Horsburgh Founder and Venture Partner Emeritus
Henrik Olsén Founder
ETF Partners' investment focus is centered on sustainability through innovation, with a specific emphasis on backing European companies that deliver environmental impact while generating strong financial returns. The firm invests in what they call the "intelligence layer" of modern infrastructure, targeting technology companies that enable sustainable transformation across various sectors.
ETF Partners is a venture capital firm with a primary geographic focus on Europe, investing predominantly in innovative, sustainability-driven companies across the continent. The firm’s portfolio is almost entirely composed of European businesses, underscoring its commitment to supporting the European climate tech and sustainability ecosystem.
The sole exception to this European focus at the moment is an investment in Amber Electric, an Australian energy technology company. This outlier demonstrates ETF Partners’ rare but targeted willingness to back exceptional opportunities outside Europe when they align with its sustainability mission.
ETF Partners focuses on sustainability-driven technology companies that combine strong commercial potential with positive environmental impact. They seek businesses already achieving or on the verge of rapid revenue growth and possessing the scalability to deliver large-scale sustainability outcomes. In practice, ETF Partners backs visionary entrepreneurs building the “intelligence layer” for modern infrastructure, solutions that not only promise significant financial returns but also address the climate emergency by embedding profit and purpose in equal measure.
ETF Partners targets sustainability-driven technology companies that demonstrate rapidly growing revenues or clear potential for large-scale commercial success as a prerequisite for meaningful environmental impact, using a proprietary five-pillar assessment covering Alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals, Impact Potential, Additionality through Innovation, Impact Performance via bespoke KPIs, and Financial Maturity.
Amber Electric: Based in Melbourne, develops advanced battery automation technology that enables utilities and households to optimise and monetise home batteries and EVs, accelerating the transition to 100% renewable energy. In June 2025, ETF Partners led a €26 million investment to support Amber’s international expansion. The company’s intuitive platform empowers users to maximise their energy assets through seamless automation and real-time optimisation. Visit Amber
Shipzero: Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, is a leading data platform for tracking and reducing emissions in global freight transportation. In May 2024, the company secured an €8 million Series A round to expand its innovative emissions cloud. Shipzero’s platform enables shippers, logistics providers, and carriers to manage transport emissions, achieve CO2 transparency, and progress toward net-zero, currently tracking over 80 million transports across more than 100 countries. Visit Shipzero
Nodes & Links: Headquartered in London, develops AI-powered project management software that delivers intelligent automation to reduce costs, delays, and emissions in infrastructure projects. In January 2025, the company raised $12 million to accelerate its mission of transforming the $12 trillion construction industry with advanced AI solutions. Their platform provides automation, analysis, and predictive insights across the project lifecycle, significantly improving efficiency and visibility. Visit Nodes & Links
Beams: Headquartered in London and founded by Hayden Wood in 2022, is a digital renovation platform that streamlines eco-friendly home upgrades by connecting homeowners with vetted builders and offering comprehensive project management tools. In October 2024, Beams secured a $9 million funding round led by ETF Partners to accelerate its mission of making home renovation faster, smarter, and more sustainable. The platform simplifies planning, design, and construction while integrating energy-saving solutions like insulation and heat recovery, delivering efficient, transparent, and low-carbon renovations. Visit Beams
Phenix: Headquartered in Paris, develops digital solutions to reduce food waste by leveraging technology to address the problem of unsold food products. Since its first investment in October 2018, Phenix has raised €15 million and attracted backing from major partners like Danone to accelerate its mission. The company continues to expand across Europe, offering innovative tools that help businesses and communities prevent waste and promote a more sustainable growth model.
ETF Partners sources capital primarily through institutional limited partners, including development financiers, sovereign‐backed funds and specialised impact investors. Key cornerstone investors in its recent funds have been the European Investment Fund and British Patient Capital, which committed £20 million to ETF Partners’ third fund in 2020 and joined the €285 million fourth‐fund close in 2024. Additional commitments have come from pan‐European pension schemes, family offices and large financial institutions seeking both market‐rate returns and measurable environmental impact.
ETF Partners actively invests at the seed stage, targeting startups and early-stage companies that deliver sustainability through innovation. The firm typically invests €5-15 million per company, taking 15-40% ownership stakes in fast-growing European companies that deliver positive environmental impact through technological innovation. The firm focuses on seed, Series A, and Series B stage investments, targeting companies with revenues of €2-5 million that demonstrate strong management teams and global product applications.
ETF Partners’ latest Annual Impact Report for 2023 demonstrates significant strides in environmental outcomes across its portfolio. After a return to growth post-pandemic, key sustainability metrics improved, with SDG Alignment and Impact Potential scores rising in Fund 3, and Fund 2’s average impact score increasing from 3.6/5 to 3.8/5. Standout performers included Normative, which processed 207 million tonnes of CO₂ through its carbon accounting platform (achieving a 4.6/5 impact score), and DeepSea Technologies, whose AI-driven maritime monitoring tracked 25.6 million kilometres, helping reduce shipping emissions by 12% per kilometre, also scoring 4.6/5.
ETF Partners is a pioneering European venture capital firm dedicated to sustainability through innovation, investing in fast-growing companies that deliver positive environmental impact across sectors like mobility, energy, and sustainable food. Beyond providing capital, ETF Partners fosters a strong community by offering individualised support to portfolio companies, including CEO coaching, board-level guidance, and connections to a global network of industry experts and investors. The firm also facilitates business development through introductions to new markets and partners, and organises regular forums such as its monthly ‘corporate club’ to discuss sustainability trends and foster collaboration. By embedding sustainable practices from the outset and tailoring impact KPIs for each company, ETF Partners ensures both financial growth and measurable positive change.
ETF Partners is led by a tight-knit group of veteran investors and operators united by a singular mission: funding the breakthrough technologies needed to tackle climate change. The firm’s two co-founders and managing partners have been steering ETF since its inception in 2005, backed by senior partners who bring decades of leadership experience from public and private technology ventures. The core investment team comprises several partners alongside a diverse cadre of investment managers and analysts drawn from top engineering, finance, and consulting backgrounds. Supporting these investment professionals are dedicated specialists in operations, communications, sustainability, finance, and investor relations, ensuring that ETF Partners combine deep domain expertise with world-class execution to back the next generation of climate-tech pioneers.
Learn more about the team on the ETF Partners Team Page.
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