Partnering to expand climate-related professional development
First Climate joins as the lead investor in the current round of financing for the Austrian company, Glacier Carbon Reduction GmbH. This was announced by both companies in conjunction with the related contract signing in Vienna. Through its investment, First Climate obtains a stake in the start-up, which specializes in solutions for climate mitigation-related professional development for companies. The strategic partnership with First Climate will enable Glacier to continue its growth trajectory and expand its range of offerings.
The investment in Glacier and the planned closer cooperation with the start-up grants First Climate access to Glacier’s online courses through its Climate Academy and their other activities in the areas of climate action, know-how transfer, and employee engagement. First Climate’s investment is part of the company’s expansion strategy, through which it continues to build up its portfolio of climate protection services for corporate clients.
Knowledge management as a building block of corporate climate strategies
Olaf Bachert, CEO of First Climate, explains: “The climate crisis is changing the way companies structure themselves and how they operate. The ability to successfully manage know-how and activate workforces are key prerequisites for shaping this change proactively. Through our own commitment and partnership with Glacier, we will be able to offer our clients further innovative solutions for successful decarbonization in the future as well and support them even more in achieving their climate goals.”
Thriving climate action start-up
Glacier started its operations in 2020 and undertook the goal of making climate protection know-how simple to understand and anchoring it within every company. To achieve this goal, the start-up offers digital courses on their learning portal – “Glacier Climate Academy” – and an annual climate action drive called “Glacier Climate Week”. These two diverse programs aim to further develop awareness, climate knowledge and climate competencies within the workforce of the companies. Since its founding, Glacier has activated more than 170 companies and imparted climate know-how to more than 30,000 employees in Austria, including Bank Austria, Magenta, Microsoft, ÖBB and Verbund, as well as numerous SMEs.
With this boost in capital, Glacier secures additional finances for further development. The current round of financing, with the investment of First Climate as the largest single investor, enables Glacier to expand, especially in the German market, as well as to build up professional development programs and to further expand its learning portal.
Andreas Tschas and Rainhard Fuchs, the joint founders of Glacier, say: “From the very beginning, our motivation was to impart climate competence through education and to support companies and their workforces in proactively and successfully shaping the transformation to a zero-carbon economy. Partnering with First Climate gives us the opportunity to further advance our vision of building the largest and most effective climate-centered learning portal in the enterprise space and anchor climate action in the DNA of every business.”
“We see a sustainable and entrepreneurial vision put into practice…”
As an equity partner for medium-sized enterprises, HANNOVER Finanz, which accompanied the current investment project as a shareholder of First Climate, sees great development prospects in the cooperation between First Climate and Glacier. “Commitment to sustainable development and climate awareness play an increasingly important role in the corporate sector,” says HANNOVER Finanz investment manager and First Climate supervisory board member, Mirco Thelen. “With this in mind, we are delighted with First Climate's successful expansion campaign. We see a sustainable and entrepreneurial vision put into practice and further scaled up with added social value.”
For First Climate, this shareholding is its second investment project in the last few months. Most recently in November, the company announced its investment in the Hamburg-based project development and strategic consultancy firm, everi GmbH.
About First Climate
First Climate is a leading global provider of carbon management and green energy services for corporate and public sector clients. They develop, finance, and source verified emission reduction projects around the globe, thus enabling clients to support local sustainable development and climate change mitigation activities on the ground.
With access to a broad network of global partners as well as expertise in operational green energy procurement, First Climate is also a major provider of renewable energy solutions and offers procurement options to assist companies in reducing their energy-related carbon footprint. www.firstclimate.com/en
About Glacier
The Austrian company Glacier, with its headquarters in Vienna, has been changing the way companies approach sustainability since 2020. It was founded by CEO, Andreas Tschas, and CCO, Rainhard Fuchs. At Glacier, employees are united by the mission to embed climate protection knowledge into the DNA of every company. Through its Climate Academy and Climate Week, Glacier enables companies and their staff to tangibly integrate climate protection training into their daily work routine and to put their newly acquired knowledge to practice on the job. In close cooperation with the primary partners UniCredit Bank Austria, ServiceNow and TPA, Glacier has already been able to win over more than 170 companies in Austria around its vision. Since 2021, Glacier has also supported the UN Global Compact Corporate Responsibility Initiative and its principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. www.glacier.eco/en
About the HANNOVER Finanz Group
For 40 years now, the HANNOVER Finanz Group has been a sought-after private equity partner for medium-sized enterprises in all industries. The private equity company, based in Hanover and Vienna, was one of the first providers of venture capital for the DACH region in Germany, and is an owner-managed investment company in its second generation. Well-known businesses like Fielmann, Rossmann and AIXTRON AG have financed their growth with private equity from the HANNOVER Finanz Group and made use of its management consultancy services. Since its founding, the equity partner for SMEs has completed over 250 projects and invested more than 2 billion Euros. The Group also invests in companies when a change of generation has to be secured, and in medium-sized businesses with annual sales exceeding 20 million euros. In addition to majority shareholdings, the HANNOVER Finanz Group is one of the few investment companies in Germany to also acquire minority interests. The portfolio currently includes 40 companies. www.hannoverfinanz.de/en
