Finnfund backs Aravest vehicle with $15M to grow August Energy
What's the deal? Finnish development financier FinnfundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has committed $15 million to AravestDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s Sustainable Infrastructure vehicle, providing follow-on growth capital to Singapore-based energy platform August EnergyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The investment, led by Aravest's Rohit Nanda, will fund the expansion of August Energy's Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) portfolio across Southeast Asia and India.
Why now? The commitment comes less than a year after French development finance institution ProparcoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → backed August Energy through an Aravest-managed vehicle. Finnfund invests alongside Proparco and SDIEFDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an Aravest and SMBC GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →-backed fund, through the vehicle holding shares in the company.
What's the endgame? This second capital raise within a year supports August Energy's goal to scale its project portfolio beyond 1 gigawatt within five years. Aravest has now raised more than $30 million in development finance capital for the platform since 2023.
August Energy operates in India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand, helping commercial and industrial customers cut costs and decarbonise. Its business spans two verticals: generation, including onsite and grid-supplied renewable energy with storage; and integrated utilities, including cooling-as-a-service and steam-as-a-service.
By the numbers: Singapore-headquartered Aravest manages a $9 billion portfolio of real assets across Asia Pacific. Finnfund invests €200–250 million annually across 20–30 companies in developing countries, with total investments and commitments of about €1.2 billion.
"Securing a second development finance institution within a year of Proparco's investment reflects both the quality of the August Energy platform and the strength of Aravest's sustainable infrastructure franchise," said Nanda, chair of August Energy and head of Sustainable Infrastructure at Aravest.
Chief executive officer and founder Kunal Mehta said the funding would support the company's next growth phase alongside existing partners, including Green TowerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, InfraCoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, responsAbilityDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and AseemDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
The signal: "August Energy addresses a clear need in Asia's industrial and commercial sector, where companies want to decarbonise but often lack the capital to do so," said Jussi Tourunen, associate director at Finnfund. Nanda added that demand for EaaS in Asia is driven by decarbonisation, digitalisation, and the need for reliable, competitively priced energy — a combination drawing repeat development finance capital to the region's clean energy build-out.
Read more: dealstreetasia.com
