The Ludgate Environment Fund was admitted to AIM on 2 August through a placing of 25.7 million shares at 100p per share. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is the Nomad with Fairfax acting as the broker.

The Ludgate Environment Fund was admitted to AIM on 2 August through a placing of 25.7 million shares at 100p per share. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is the Nomad with Fairfax acting as the broker.

Ludgate manages a diverse portfolio of environmental and cleantech company investments. Ludgate typically makes its investment at a post prototype but pre-IPO stage – although the criteria do not exclude investments in companies which have already been quoted on a market such as AIM.

The management team have built up a track record as investors with their personal funds and alongside co-investors since 2001. The combined total of funds invested to date is £63 million, which was split between nine companies. Originally the focus was on the UK, but Ludgate is increasingly looking at opportunities in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Of the nine investments, three were companies based in Australia, which Ludgate sees as a market with significant potential.

Of the early stage investments which have been made, seven have evolved to stock market listings in their own right. These include: Ceres Power (fuel cell micro combined heat & power boiler); Hydrodec (technology for the re-refining of trans fatty oils); Pursuit Dynamics (which has a water mist technology solution for fires and explosions); Turbo Power (energy efficient power solutions); Virotec (contaminated water treatments); Hightex (solar roofing systems); Solartech (solar roofing and cooling systems); Azure Dynamics (hybrid power trains).

Ludgate does not invariably regard AIM as an exit for its investments. The management considers AIM companies of less than £50 million in value to equate to “public VC” and, depending on the circumstances, the fund retains an involvement even after a listing.