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From left, World Fund partners Danijel Visevic, Craig Douglas, Daria Saharova and Tim Schumacher.
(Courtesy of World Fund)
World Fund, a recently established German VC firm, has launched its maiden vehicle targeting startups tackling the climate crisis.

The Berlin-based firm, which was incubated by green-focused search engine Ecosia, is aiming to raise €350 million (about $406 million) for the fund. If reached, it would be Europe's largest dedicated climate tech vehicle. The fund is already halfway to its target and a final close expected by next year, Sifted reported.

"We need to create a future where billionaires won't be those who just accumulate money, but those who actively build solutions that save billions of tons of Co2 emissions," Ecosia CEO and World Fund venture partner Christian Kroll said in a statement. "I'm confident that we can do that with World Fund, by harnessing the talent and ambitions in the European tech community to fight the climate crisis and advocate for the systemic change that is badly needed if we're to successfully curb global emissions."

VCs have been raising climate tech funds at a fervent pace, driven by an increase in extreme weather disasters and an international effort toward net-zero emissions targets, as well as new tech advances to fight climate change.

Halfway through the year, global investors had already closed as many climate-focused funds as were raised during the previous five years combined with a total of nine, according to PitchBook data. Notable European vehicles closed this year include Norrsken VC's €123 million capital pool and an €87 million fund from Pale Blue Dot.

World Fund will be investing across all stages of funding in companies that are building technology to help decarbonize the planet. Sectors include energy, transport, food, agriculture, manufacturing and buildings.

The key to its investment strategy is that startups will have to prove that they have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 100 megatons CO2 every year. World Fund's portfolio includes cocoa-free chocolate-alternative startup QOA and Recup, which offers environmentally friendly coffee cups and a deposit system network.