France's Audacia launches €150M fund dedicated to next-gen fuels

French growth equity firm Audacia has launched Calderion, a €150 million fund dedicated to next-generation fuels such as low-carbon hydrogen, CO2 capture, and e-fuels.

As informed, Paris-based Calderion will target technologies capable of reducing emissions from sectors that are difficult to electrify: maritime transport, aviation, and heavy industry, with the ambition of supporting 25 international champions in the decarbonized fuels value chain.

The new fund is said to be part of Audacia’s Deeptech strategy, which aims to promote decarbonization and energy sovereignty. Deeptech develops innovations such as quantum computing, AI, space technologies and carbon-free energy and Audacia supports these future technologies by providing financial resources and expertise to entrepreneurs in these fields.

“This new fund opens up a complementary field of action for our mission to serve European energy sovereignty,”Olivier de Panafieu, Founding Partner of Calderion and CEO of Audacia, commented.

“Next generation fuels represent a strategic lever for accelerating the energy transition. With Calderion, we aim to support technologies capable of making these new decarbonized fuels both competitive and abundant, through investments in companies selected for their disruptive nature and their complementarity in