Coca-Cola, Partners Launch $137.7M Sustainability VC Fund Managed by Greycroft

The Coca-Cola Company and eight bottling partners have teamed up to create a $137.7 million venture capital fund focused on sustainability investments managed by VC firm Greycroft.

The Greycroft Coca-Cola System Sustainability Fund will focus on five key areas with the most potential impact, including packaging, heating and cooling, facility decarbonization, distribution and supply chain.

The fund aims to support companies at the commercialization stage, with a focus on emerging technology and science for sustainability and carbon reduction.

The participating bottlers, representing nearly half of Coca-Cola’s global volume, have committed $15 million each to the fund. Coca-Cola did not mention specific companies the fund will invest in.

“We’ve really been impressed with Coca Cola and their bottling partners. In terms of getting this fund off the ground, it was really their vision, and they came to us. The opportunity to partner with the Coca Cola system, the opportunity to deploy solutions that are really going to make an impact globally is incredible,” said Dana Settle, Greycroft co-founder and managing partner in a CNBC interview on Friday.

The move is not the first sustainability action taken by Coca-Cola. The company has been measuring its emissions for many years and reported more than a decade ago that it was investing in reducing its carbon footprint.