Hodler Investments and Gewan Holding to Launch Digital Fund
The UAE-based Hodler Investments and Gewan Holding on Tuesday announced their ongoing plans for a $500 million Digital Energy Infrastructure (DEI) Fund to be established as a closed-ended exempt Fund, subject to compliance and regulatory approvals.
Hodler Investments, which is headquartered in the Dubai Silicon Oasis, includes in its portfolio energy, AI, and digital asset mining start-ups such as PermianChain, Brox Equity and others.
The DEI Fund has already secured soft commitments from lead investors and in-kind contributions in addition to offtake partners seeking energy and connectivity for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital asset mining operations.
The Fund will offer professional investors and clients the opportunity to invest in utility-like income generating assets and distributed energy infrastructure for compute applications that adopt innovative methods for carbon capture, storage & utilisation.
Its 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.
Additionally, the DEI Fund will allocate capital investments towards vertical technology startups operating platforms and software that add value to the Fund’s portfolio. The Fund will seek to acquire early to growth stage modern software technology companies that are active in digital infrastructure and software applications that support the development and growth of financial technology (FinTech), decentralized finance (DeFi), web3, blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI).
Hodler has appointed and engaged Ento Capital Management Ltd, a well-established asset manager in DIFC regulated by DFSA with a shari’a compliant window for ethical investing, to advise on the structure, establish and manage the DEI Fund.
Confirms Hodler’s Commitment
Hodler’s Managing Director Mohamed El Masri said that the Fund is a testament of their commitment to their mission, centred around the development of critical energy infrastructure for the advancement of the digital economy globally.
“Hodler will be leading this mission out of the UAE, building on the nation’s strategy to develop a digital economy while encompassing sustainability at the core. We are committed to contributing to energy security and reducing energy poverty,” he added.
According to McKinsey & Company, it is estimated that global spending on construction of new data centres is expected to surpass $49 billion by 2030. With over $1 trillion funding gap in renewable energy, it is believed to be an opportune time to lay the groundwork to power the advancement of compute infrastructure for a vibrant digital economy.
The DEI Fund aims to utilise technologies such as blockchain, AI, digital asset mining and other solutions combined with energy resources to strengthen the feasibility for sustainable energy infrastructure to meet the growing compute power demands while contributing to power grid stability for more equitable energy systems globally.
Alaa Al Ali, Founder & Group CEO, Gewan Holding said that their decision to be part of the DEI Fund stemmed from their belief that the digital economies of the future cannot grow without globally distributed sustainable energy infrastructure.
Currently the DEI fund is expected to have a size of between $250 million and $500 million, including in-kind commitments with a value not exceeding the total capital commitments.
The Fund’s capital commitments will be focused on providing Limited Partners exposure to, an existing energy envelope with offtake commitments and deal-flow from a portfolio of companies with high growth potential and proven business models. Hodler has secured over $300 million in exclusive deal-flow across the Middle East, North America, Australia, Asia and Africa.
