GREEN INVESTMENT-

UAE’s Sheraa launches investment fund for greentech startups: UAE state-backed Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre (Sheraa) is launching a fund to invest in potential start-ups in a number of sectors, including clean technology and sustainability, the center’s chief executive Najla Al Midfa told The National. The center aims to finance sectors that do not draw enough attention from venture capitalists. “We are here to fill [the] funding gaps …[we are] developing an ecosystem to connect those potential dots that are disruptive but ignored by others,” Al Midfa said, adding that the size of the fund is yet to be determined but will be “big enough to make some reasonable size investment.”

About Sheraa: Sheraa has supported over 160 start-ups in raising a cumulative USD 160 mn in capital and generated over USD 200 mn in revenue by linking them with its corporate partners which include Air Arabia, Crescent Enterprises, Sharjah Media City and Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park. The success rate of Sheraa-incubated start-ups is nearly 70% on average.

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Mubadala Capital closes its second Brazil investment fund: UAE’s Mubadala Capital — the USD 20 bn asset management arm of the Mubadala Investments — has secured financial commitments over USD 710 mn for the launch of its second investment fund in Brazil, Wam reports. Mubadala did not specify the sources from which it has raised the capital, but the news agency notes “a leading public pension fund, family offices, corporates, private equity funds, and asset managers across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia” were among the investors. Mubadala Capital plans to invest USD 1 bn annually in Brazil in majority shareholder positions in already mature companies beyond the USD 5 bn it has already channeled toward investments in the country, Bloomberg quotes head of Mubadala Capital in Brazil Oscar Fahlgren as saying. The Abu Dhabi fund last year closed its first investment fund in the country, raising a total of USD 322 mn from a range of international investors.

Mubadala Capital is looking to tap Brazil’s biofuels and SAF: Mubadala signed an agreement with Brazilian state-owned energy giant Petrobras to explore potential partnership in a Mubadala biofuel project under development also in Bahia last month. The firm also plans to acquire a 31.5% stake in Brazilian sugarcane processor Atvos later this year or early next year. Back in April, Mubadala-backed Accelen said it will invest up to USD 2.4 bn over the next 10 years to produce green diesel and sustainable aviation fuel in Brazil from a hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), biorefinery in the country’s northeastern state of Bahia, which will have an annual 1 bn liter production capacity once operational in 2026.

CARBON CAPTURE & STORAGE-

KSA joins in Global CCS: Saudi Arabia joined the international think tank Global CCS Institute to help with efforts aimed at advancing carbon capture and storage technology globally, SPA reports. The kingdom is set to work closely with Global CCS on the technology’s capacity building. “Getting ambitious climate projects off the ground will require partnerships and region-specific expertise and knowledge, and being a member of the Global CCS Institute will enhance that further”,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said.

REMEMBER- The Saudis are planning big on CCS: Saudi Aramco signed an agreement in November to build one of the world’s largest carbon capture and storage hubs with the capacity to store up to 9 mn tons of carbon dioxide a year by 2027. The facility, which will be located in Jubail, will see 44 mn tons of CO2 mitigated annually by 2035.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

• ADIB, DHL team up on sustainable logistics: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank will sign up to DHL’s sustainability solution GoGreen Plus in a bid to lower emissions associated with their shipments by using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). (Statement)