NEW YORK—The Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF), the impact investment arm of the Open Society Foundations, is investing $7 million in Persistent’s Africa Climate Venture Builder Fund (Persistent ACV Fund)—a $70 million blended fund accelerating climate innovation and inclusive green growth across Africa.

To date, SEDF has committed $55 million to such initiatives led primarily by African investors and entrepreneurs, with additional commitments forthcoming.

This investment reflects SEDF’s commitment to demonstrating that locally-led green growth—climate action and job creation—are mutually reinforcing and critical pillars of open society.

The Persistent ACV Fund targets early-stage African climate ventures—from pre-seed to series A—with a focus on companies advancing the continent’s energy transition. Priority sectors include:

• E-mobility
• Commercial and industrial solar
• Residential solar
• Energy efficiency
• Productive use of energy
• Agriculture and resource-transition businesses (e.g., recycling and waste management)

In addition to capital, the fund manager provides technical support to its portfolio companies via its venture building program to help scale impact and operational capacity.

The fund’s investees will:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)
• Build community resilience to climate risks
• Create green jobs
• Achieve gender impact
• Strengthen Africa’s early-stage investment ecosystem

Impact targets include:

• 17 million tons of CO2/GHG mitigated
• 7 million overall beneficiaries
• 60,000 direct jobs created
• 400,000 people economically impacted
• 420,000 households with new or improved electricity connections
• $450 million additional investment catalyzed

Georgia Levenson Keohane, CEO of the Soros Economic Development Fund, said “SEDF is proud to invest in Persistent’s Africa Climate Venture Builder Fund, which will help to scale early-stage climate solutions, unlock private capital, and build a resilient, climate-positive future for communities across the continent.”

Persistent managing partner Tobias Ruckstuhl said, “We are excited to achieve the milestone of the first close of the Persistent ACV Fund. The fund is uniquely capable of growing early-stage climate businesses across Africa through our combination of investment capital and venture building. We hope that our fund will have a significant impact on the climate venture space by bringing early-stage capital to companies, follow-on investing, and venture building, which are all very much needed. We are grateful for the trust that our investors, including significant private sector capital, have shown in the Persistent team by committing their capital to the Persistent ACV Fund. We are particularly grateful to SEDF for being a global leader in private impact investing in climate and sustainable development in Africa.”

SEDF joins a coalition of co-investors in the Persistent ACV Fund, including FSD Africa Investments, African Development Bank, Nordic Development Fund, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Impact Fund Denmark, the Schmidt Family Foundation, and Cottier Donze Foundation, with additional investors expected to join.