Joint Venture Funding Solutions for Cleantech Developers

Joint Venture Funding

Some projects need more than money. Klean Capital funds clean-energy and resource-recovery developments on a joint venture basis with developers, taking a position in the project company so that capital, engineering judgement and commercial risk sit on the same side of the table.

Why a joint venture beats a loan for early assets

A first-of-a-kind conversion plant, a new feedstock contract or an unfamiliar jurisdiction will rarely support conventional senior debt at the point the sponsor needs capital most. A joint venture solves that timing problem. Equity goes in when the risk is highest, the partners share the upside that risk creates, and senior or bond funding can be introduced later once the plant is contracted, consented and running to specification.

What each side brings

The developer usually brings the site, the local relationships, the permitting work and the feedstock or offtake position. Klean Capital brings the capital and the structuring, and because Klean Capital Inc. is wholly owned by Klean Industries it can also bring process technology, design and engineering, due diligence and turn-key EPC (DBC) delivery. That combination matters when a schedule slips or a commissioning problem appears, because the funding partner can read the engineering rather than simply reacting to a covenant breach.

How the structure is built

Terms are set case by case. Klean Capital works across private equity, debt, mezzanine capital and PPP funding, and a joint venture frequently blends more than one of these: sponsor and Klean equity in the project company, a mezzanine tranche to bridge construction, and senior debt or Private Placement Investment Grade Bonds once operations are proven. Governance, reserved matters, exit mechanics and funding obligations are agreed in writing at the outset so that neither partner discovers the rules during a dispute.

Exit and succession

Joint ventures are written with an end in mind. Partners may refinance the asset, sell to an infrastructure buyer, or use Klean Capital's succession route, under which the firm purchases existing operational cleantech and waste-conversion projects outright so founders can realise value while the plant continues to trade.

Evidence behind the approach

Since 1998 the firm has raised funding for over a hundred different transactions.

Working through a JV enquiry

The first conversation is about fit, not terms. Klean Capital looks at the site, the resource or feedstock position, the consenting status and the sponsor's own commitment first, because a joint venture only works when both partners can carry the project into operation.