Cycle Capital and Demeter announce first close for new Circular Innovation Fund to scale breakthrough circular solutions

With this fund, the managers join their resources to scale circular, sustainable and profitable growth stage solutions from North America, Europe and Asia that positively contribute to climate change mitigation and circular use of resources across various sectors including new materials, packaging, recycling & waste, logistics, eco-efficient processes & design. The fund will capitalize on the managers' experience of investing in venture, private equity and infrastructure in cleantech to the growing need for market-ready solutions to convene capital towards talented entrepreneurial teams that are deploying those innovations.

CIF is an impact innovation fund classified as Article 9 under the EU's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. The fund's robust, reliable and innovative impact measurement methodology integrates due diligence and continued monitoring on critical non-financial KPIs including greenhouse gas emissions reductions, resource use and diversity over the investment horizons of portfolio companies. The fund managers' compensation is also aligned on the achievement of a selection of pre-determined impact goals.

Anchor investor L'Oréal is contributing €50M through its L'Oréal for the Future sustainability program. The fund also benefits from a broad range of investors including, strategic investor Axens, family offices including Haltra and Claridge, as well as private investors and the managers.

Led by Benoit Forcier and Mathieu Goudot, with the support of Adeline Kempf and Maya Hassa as well as the firms' back-office, the team brings decades of combined skill set of entrepreneurial, operating and investing expertise and experience in the cleantech sector.

Investments in early-stage VC funds
Consecutive to the first close, CIF announces indirect investment in two early-stage funds focused on circular innovation – U.S.-based Closed Loop Venture Fund II and European Circular Bioeconomy Fund ("ECBF").

CIF will also sponsor a global acceleration program through a partnership with Cycle Momentum. The program will offer support for startups at the Seed/Series A stage with cohorts across Europe, North America and Asia over 3 years.

CIF's investment team is actively evaluating a rich pipeline of investment opportunities and welcomes inquiries and collaboration with entrepreneurs and co-investors.

Circular Innovation Fund The Circular Innovation Fund ("CIF") is a global growth stage venture capital fund focused solely on circular innovation. It is a joint venture between leading cleantech capital managers - Montreal-based Cycle Capital and Paris-based Demeter. The fund invests in growth-stage companies from North America, Europe and Asia developing breakthrough new materials, circular packaging, recycling and waste innovations, logistics, as well as eco-efficient processes & design, and circular business models. For more information on the Circular Innovation Fund, visit: circularinnovationfund.com.

Cycle Capital  Cycle Capital is an impact investor and leading private cleantech venture capital investment platform with $600 million under management. With offices in Montreal, Toronto and Qingdao, mainland China, and a presence in New York and Seattle, Cycle Capital invests across North America and China in growing and commercializing companies that have developed technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and optimizing resources and processes. Cycle Capital is the founder of Cycle Momentum Accelerator and Canadian co-chair of the Beyond the Billion initiative – an international campaign to mobilize a consortium of investors who support female founders. For more information on Cycle Capital, visit: cyclecapital.com.

Demeter Demeter is a major European investment platform dedicated to ecological transition. Demeter has over €1 billion under management and carried out 200 investments since 2005. It invests €1m to €30m to support companies at all stages of development: innovative startups, high growth SMEs and infrastructure projects. Its team of 38 is based in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Metz, Madrid and Düsseldorf. Demeter is a responsible and committed investor, signatory of numerous initiatives such as PRI (Principle for Responsible Investment), CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), iC20, The Shift Project, and initiatives for gender diversity. All new Demeter funds are classified "Article 9" under the framework of the new European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). For more information on Demeter, visit: www.demeter-im.com.

L'Oréal For over 110 years, L'Oréal, the world's leading beauty player, has devoted itself to one thing only: fulfilling the beauty aspirations of consumers around the world. Our purpose, to create the beauty that moves the world, defines our approach to beauty as inclusive, ethical, generous and committed to social and environmental sustainability. With our broad portfolio of 35 international brands and ambitious sustainability commitments in our L'Oréal for the Future program, we offer each and every person around the world the best in terms of quality, efficacy, safety, sincerity and responsibility, while celebrating beauty in its infinite plurality.

With 85,400 committed employees, a balanced geographical footprint and sales across all distribution networks (e-commerce, mass market, department stores, pharmacies, hair salons, branded and travel retail), in 2021 the Group generated sales amounting to 32.28 billion euros. With 20 research centers across 11 countries around the world and a dedicated Research and Innovation team of 4,000 scientists and over 3,000 tech professionals, L'Oréal is focused on inventing the future of beauty and becoming a Beauty Tech powerhouse. More information on L'Oréal, visit: loreal.com/en/mediaroom

CONTACT, Catherine Bérubé, Circular Innovation Fund, [email protected], +1-514-629-1022

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