Finnish development financier and impact investor Finnfund has committed another $15 million to an investment vehicle of Aravest to provide follow-on growth capital to Singapore-based energy infrastructure platform August Energy.
The commitment, secured by Aravest’s Sustainable Infrastructure business led by Rohit Nanda, comes less than a year after French development finance institution Proparco invested in August Energy through an Aravest-managed vehicle.
Finnfund is investing alongside Proparco and Asia-Pacific Sustainable & Decarbonisation Infrastructure Equity, LP (SDIEF), an Aravest and SMBC Group-backed fund, through the vehicle that holds shares in August Energy.
The additional capital will finance the expansion of August Energy’s Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) infrastructure portfolio across Southeast Asia and India.
Its second capital raise within a year supports the company’s ambition to scale its project portfolio to more than 1 gigawatt within five years. Aravest has raised more than $30 million in development finance capital for the platform since 2023.
August Energy operates across India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, helping commercial and industrial customers improve cost efficiency and energy resilience while advancing their decarbonisation objectives.
Its operations span two business verticals: generation, including onsite and grid-supplied renewable energy with storage; and integrated utilities, including cooling-as-a-service and steam-as-a-service. Its solutions also include heat recovery and bioenergy.
“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.
Nanda said demand for EaaS in Asia is driven by decarbonisation, digitalisation and the need for reliable, competitively priced energy. The commitment will help accelerate the deployment of energy, cooling, solar and storage projects.
August Energy CEO and founder Kunal Mehta said the investment would support the company’s next phase of growth alongside its existing capital partners, including Green Tower, InfraCo, responsAbility and Aseem.
“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.
Singapore-headquartered Aravest manages a $9 billion portfolio of real assets across Asia Pacific, spanning office, hospitality and living, logistics, retail and sustainable infrastructure.
Finnfund invests €200–250 million annually in 20–30 companies in developing countries, focusing on digital infrastructure and solutions, clean energy, forestry, agriculture and financing small and medium-sized enterprises through financial institutions. Its investments, commitments and investment decisions total about €1.2 billion.
Proparco, part of the French Development Agency Group, finances private companies and financial institutions in more than 115 countries, with a focus on sectors including renewable energy, infrastructure, agribusiness, healthcare and education.
