Eni Azimut Launch €100 Million Clean Energy Fund

Italian energy and oil firm Eni and asset manager Azimut have announced a new strategic partnership to boost clean energy sector innovation through the launch of a €100 million venture capital fund. The fund, to be launched in September 2025, represents a milestone to accelerate investment in start-ups and scale-ups that are creating pioneering clean technologies.

This new initiative is being led by Eni’s venture capital arm, Eni Next, and Azimut, a prominent global asset manager. The fund, which will operate under the European Long Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) framework, is currently pending regulatory approval. Once approved, it will be domiciled in Luxembourg and made accessible to both institutional and private investors under the revised ELTIF 2.0 rules. The fund is intended to promote long-term investing in the clean technology space by offering investors access to innovative energy firms with strong growth opportunities.

With the target of raising €100 million (about USD 118 million) in capital, the venture fund will invest in early-stage ventures and high-growth companies to develop technologies for decarbonisation, energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, and the circular economy. The collaboration comes at a time when there is a growing investor demand for sustainable and technology-based solutions driving the global energy transition.

Azimut will leverage its deep fund structuring and distribution expertise from its experience in more than 20 countries and its skill in public and private markets. Eni Next, in turn, will offer the fund an advisory role and valuable industry know-how based on its direct experience in the clean energy and innovation sector. Eni Next boasts a good history of backing decarbonization and digital start-ups in the energy sector. Its presence guarantees early mover benefit from new technology investments and innovative businesses within its global network, another way of increasing the potential influence of the fund.

The agreement is a testament to increasing awareness of the necessity for collaborative investment plans to spur innovation in the energy sector. By collaboration, Eni and Azimut seek to leverage each company's expertise: Azimut's financial and market power, and Eni Next's technical and energy transition capabilities. Together, they seek to identify and finance leading clean technology entrepreneurs and help them take their solutions global.

Clara Andreoletti, Eni Next CEO, underscored the disruptive nature of this project. She emphasized that the energy sector, like all other industrial sectors, is undergoing an unprecedented shift fueled by the imperatives of innovation and sustainability. Private capital will be the key to this process, enabling new technologies not only to emerge but also to accelerate their growth, Andreoletti added. The collaboration with Azimut, she went on to say, is an essential pillar in guaranteeing that potential startups are provided with the capital and industrial support to flourish under this rapidly evolving scenario.

Meanwhile, Azimut Holding CEO Giorgio Medda said the energy sector is undergoing a generation change driven by new technologies. He further added that the new fund will act as a gateway for investors to participate in this flourishing industry by investing in early-stage businesses with innovative ideas. As noted by Medda, the fund will provide investors with the access to opportunities that are not only financially lucrative but also significant in shaping the future towards a more sustainable and efficient energy world.

Although the fund will invest predominantly in American scale-ups and startups, it is also permitted to invest in their European and international counterparts. This global scope is a testament to both partners' awareness that energy innovation is a worldwide challenge—and that solutions can be worldwide as well.

The opening of this venture fund demonstrates the strategic value of aligning financial markets with the objective of the energy transition. It is part of an emerging trend for financial institutions and large companies to invest in sustainable innovation as a business proposition and as a matter of long-term resilience.

Overall, the €100 million clean energy venture fund launched by Eni Next and Azimut together is more than an investment fund—it is a collaborative and innovative push toward technological advancement in the energy industry. By building on each other's strengths and investing in some of the most crucial areas of the clean energy arena, the initiative has the potential to play a vital role in speeding up the shift toward a low-carbon, sustainable tomorrow.