This week, UAE-based firm Hodler Investments announced plans to launch a $500 million Digital Energy Infrastructure (DEI) Fund.
Subject to compliance and regulatory approval, the close-ended exempt Fund will facilitate investment in utility-like income-generating assets and distributed energy infrastructure for compute applications that adopt methods for carbon capture, storage and utilisation, the company said in a statement.
According to the firm, the DEI Fund’s investment mandate covers the entire digital energy value chain, including sectors such as clean energy, power generation (IPPs), data mining (ASICs, GPUs, etc.) for blockchain, Decentralised Physical Infrastructure (DePIN), AI, cloud, and other compute cluster applications, with a focus on achieving zero-emissions across “the majority” of the Fund’s portfolio.
“We are confident in our initiative to unlock natural wealth for all stakeholders including communities,” said Ahmed Ebrahim, Managing Director, Hodler Investments, adding: “The Digital Energy Infrastructure Fund is capitalizing on an existing pipeline of deals and projects that have been vetted by our qualified team of professionals backed by almost a decade of industry expertise and long-standing relationships with institutional stakeholders across the Middle East, Asia and North America.”
The company outlined in its statement this week that the new fund aims to utilise technologies such as blockchain, AI, digital asset mining and other solutions combined with energy resources to “strengthen the feasibility” of sustainable energy infrastructure to meet growing compute power demands while contributing to power grid stability for “more equitable energy systems globally.”
The Fund will also allocate capital investments towards vertical technology startups operating platforms and software that add value to the Fund’s portfolio.
It seeks to acquire early to growth-stage modern software technology companies active in digital infrastructure and software applications that support the development and growth of financial technology (FinTech), decentralised finance (DeFi), Web3, blockchain, and AI, the company noted.
“Given recent advancements in UAE regulations around digital assets and more specifically the recent landmark steps by the UAE’s financial jurisdictions to enact favorable laws for digital assets and AI sectors, we see improved investor sentiment for this type of asset class,” added Amer Al Osh, Chief Development Officer, Gewan Holding.
HODLER has appointed and engaged Ento Capital Management Ltd to advise on, structure, establish and manage the DEI Fund.