Private equity firm Vision Ridge Partners, which invests in sustainable assets like electric ferries and battery storage, has tapped RMI chief executive Jules Kortenhorst as a partner to manage its portfolio companies.
Kortenhorst ran RMI, a nonprofit that aims to speed up the energy transition and cut greenhouse gas emissions, for almost a decade. “I'm deeply convinced climate change is the deepest issue facing humanity," Kortenhorst said in an interview, explaining his move to a financial firm. “If we want to see big amounts of capital deployed around the world, we have to see those investments pay adequate returns."
Vision Ridge has done deals that actually shut down fossil-fuel infrastructure instead of just those that invest in new solar and wind plants, Kortenhorst said. Vision Ridge manages more than $3 billion on behalf of institutional investors and in July the firm sold Vanguard Renewables, which converts food waste and cow manure into renewable natural gas, to a fund managed by BlackRock Real Assets.
RMI tapped Jon Creyts, formerly the organization’s chief program and strategy officer, as its new chief executive.
