Company Description
ACP is a philanthropically-backed investment organization with a mission to accelerate the flow of capital for the climate transition in emerging economies. ACP’s goal is to aggregate equity for climate focused, early-stage project development and business funds. The funds are meant to address a critical bottleneck in sustainable infrastructure – the lack of bankable, climate-related projects and businesses. ACP selects regional investment managers and makes anchor investments of first-loss equity. ACP helps these managers aggregate climate-focused equity funds with a mandate on the early, development stages of projects and asset-oriented businesses. ACP also provides investment managers with value-added support in strategy, recruiting, fundraising, and partnerships. Over time, ACP will seek to establish additional mandates across different themes and geographies in addition to project development.
ACP’s initial focus regions are Southeast Asia, Africa, Caribbean & Central America, and India. ACP is building on the initial success and proof of concept of the Southeast Asia Clean Energy Facility (SEACEF). ACP’s first fund commitment was to anchor SEACEF II, managed by Clime Capital, which reached a $127M first close in December 2023. SEACEF II makes catalytic, early-stage investments in climate-focused projects and companies in Southeast Asia. Over time, ACP intends to aggregate capital to support strategies focused on catalyzing capital formation around business platforms addressing other aspects of energy transition in developing economies.
ACP is an independent non-profit organization with separately owned, for-profit subsidiaries. ACP has been incubated by Three Cairns Group, a philanthropy and investment firm focused on global climate action, based in New York. In addition to Three Cairns, ACP initial funders include Arnold Ventures, Ballmer Group, Bezos Earth Fund, Anita and Josh Bekenstein, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Sea Change Foundation International, the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF) and several others.
ACP has strategic partnerships with a number of leading MDBs and DFIs, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group; U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC); British International Investment (BII), the UK’s DFI and impact investor; the African Development Bank (AfDB); Proparco, a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement Group; FMO, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank; and IDB Invest, a member of the InterAmerican Development Bank Group. ACP also signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Singapore-headquartered global investment company Temasek, and IFC to increase the number of bankable climate projects in Asia.
The Chief Executive Officer of ACP is Ahmed Saeed, who prior to ACP served as the Asian Development Bank’s Vice President for Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific. ACP’s Chair is Mark Gallogly, Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Three Cairns Group, and a 35+-year career investor and climate advocate. ACP currently has a team of approximately 10 full-time equivalents, who are focused on building the organization.