Singapore venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners announced Thursday it has launched Wavemaker Impact, a first-of-its-kind climate tech venture builder in Southeast Asia, targeting to raise $25 million for its first fund.

Wavemaker Partners said in a statement that climate change is an existential threat for the region, with three of its largest cities facing the threat of being underwater by 2050. Thus, the founders of Wavemaker Impact believe that entrepreneurs will drive solutions to climate change and aim to launch companies that will reduce 10 percent of global emissions by 2035.

Wavemaker Impact founders (L-R): Quentin Vaquette, Doug Parker, Marie Cheong, Paul Santos, and Steve Melhuish

The founding team at Wavemaker Impact includes veterans that have invested in and helped build over 35 sustainability startups and have stellar track records in growing successful and scalable businesses. They include Steve Melhuish, PropertyGuru founder and impact investor; Doug Parker, former Chief Operating Officer of Nutonomy; Paul Santos, Managing Partner of Wavemaker Partners in Southeast Asia; and Quentin Vaquette and Marie Cheong, who built more than 10 climate tech startups during their time at ENGIE Factory, the Asia-based venture arm of a global low-carbon utility.

Tapping on the Wavemaker platform, Wavemaker Impact entrepreneurs will have access to a network of global investors, advisors, and corporate partners.

“With existing technology, we already have the solutions to cut global carbon emissions by 50 percent, but we need to create incentives to disrupt traditional businesses, change behavior, and drive adoption,” said Cheong.

Wavemaker Impact has identified high-growth and scalable opportunities in climate change with a total potential market worth S$2.7 trillion in Southeast Asia alone and is looking for investors, entrepreneurs, and founders to join them in their rapid decarbonization efforts.

Cheong outlines the role that Wavemaker Impact is playing: “A lot of entrepreneurs want to make an impact, but don’t know where to start and that’s where we come in.”

“Unlike other climate funds, we don’t just write checks—we roll up our sleeves and co-found these businesses, helping identify the biggest opportunities, acquire the first customers, develop scalable business models, build product prototypes, and build the best teams,” said Steve Melhuish.

The Wavemaker Impact team has already identified over 50 opportunity areas with the potential to reach $100 million in annual recurring revenue and abate 100 million metric tons of carbon at scale—what they call ‘100 x 100 companies’. These high-growth opportunities present themselves in sectors like land use and carbon sinks, agriculture and food, industrial processes, and energy. The team aims to target the biggest sources of carbon emissions in Southeast Asia—where significant impact is possible.

Launching a climate-focused fund is a natural move for Wavemaker Partners, as the firm itself is committed to sustainability, with a number of initiatives over the last 18 months. The VC launched ‘Green Wave’ last year to help the Wavemaker team and its community become more sustainability-focused—some of the efforts taken under the initiative include going carbon neutral, mapping its portfolio of startups against the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals, and running sustainability workshops for founders.

“We know what successful ventures look like in Southeast Asia and we have the expertise. We are all set to go. All we are looking for is like-minded people to join us on this exciting journey,” said Paul Santos.

Wavemaker Partners is Southeast Asia’s go-to venture capital firm investing in enterprise and deep tech startups. Since 2012, it has backed 140+ companies, of which 120+ (85 percent) are in enterprise and deep tech. The firm has $180 million in assets under management (AUM) across three funds in the region and has seen 10 exits valued at close to $700 million. Today, 70 percent of Wavemaker’s active portfolio startups in Southeast Asia are aligned with at least one United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Sustainable Development Goal.

Sequoia-backed Incomlend launches $60M invoice financing program for ESG-focused SMEs