Jolt Capital buys Mirova’s private equity business to move into early growth

Jolt Capital said Oct. 2 it acquired Mirova’s private equity business, including two impact-focused funds and their teams, to expand into European early-growth technology investing. The deal broadens Jolt Capital’s reach to companies with €3 million to €10 million in revenue while keeping the funds’ strategies and portfolio support in place.

Why it matters: - Jolt Capital is moving earlier in the company lifecycle, adding a new layer to its technology investing platform. - The acquisition gives the firm access to companies with €3 million to €10 million in revenue, a segment just below its current deeptech growth focus. - The deal keeps investment teams and portfolios together, which should preserve continuity for existing fund companies. - Jolt Capital also strengthens its impact investing capability through a team focused on early-growth funds.

What happened: - Jolt Capital announced the acquisition of Mirova’s private equity business on Oct. 2 in Paris. - The transaction includes the Mirova Environment Acceleration Capital fund and the Mirova Impact Life Essentials fund. - The teams dedicated to those strategies will join Jolt Capital. - The funds’ full investment portfolios are also being transferred. - Jolt Capital will take over management of the funds once the transfer is complete.

The details: - MEAC invests in early-growth companies across Europe. - MEAC’s ticket sizes range from €5 million to €30 million. - MEAC targets businesses addressing major environmental challenges. - MILE backs unlisted French and European growth companies with proven business models. - MILE focuses on technology-driven solutions for social and societal challenges. - Jolt Capital’s existing growth funds target deeptech scale-ups with revenues above €10 million. - The incoming teams will gain access to Jolt Capital’s value creation partner network. - That network has grown to more than 20 experts across the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, China and Korea. - The teams will also use Jolt Capital’s Investor Relations team, which was strengthened during fundraising for Jolt Capital V. - Jolt Capital will also provide access to Jolt.Ninja, its technology platform for investment sourcing, analysis and portfolio monitoring. - Jolt Capital said the expanded platform adds strategies that complement its deeptech growth business built over the past 15 years.

Between the lines: - Jean Schmitt said the firm sees a persistent funding gap in European deeptech growth and a large set of companies that are close to, but not yet at, Jolt Capital’s current revenue threshold. - Schmitt said Jolt.Ninja identifies about 20,000 European companies that fit Jolt Capital’s criteria but sit just below the maturity level targeted by current strategies. - The acquisition lets Jolt Capital extend into adjacent early growth without shifting into venture capital. - Marc Romano said the move allows his team to keep deploying its strategy while using Jolt Capital’s value creation resources and Jolt.Ninja platform. - Jolt Capital said the funds’ investment strategies and impact objectives will remain unchanged. - Jolt Capital already has an ESG team and manages funds classified as Article 9 under the SFDR, so the acquisition adds more impact-focused expertise to an existing framework.

What's next: - The teams will continue managing their portfolios during the transfer. - Jolt Capital will assume responsibility for the funds after completion of the transfer. - The firm said the acquired teams will keep deploying their respective strategies under the Jolt Capital platform. - Ambrym Advisory advised Jolt Capital on the transaction.