About All Aboard

• Founded: 2022

• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

• Strategy: Climate-focused venture and growth equity, European technology

• Thesis: Mobilizing family offices and institutional capital toward high-impact climate solutions through collaborative investment structures that reduce due diligence costs and improve deal access for smaller LPs

• Leadership: Co-founded by Chris Kemper (former Zenith Energy Ventures) and Emma Channing (ex-Octopus Ventures)

All Aboard closed its debut fund at $133m, below its undisclosed initial target, and added a UK-based family office as its newest member. The coalition, which pools capital from family offices and smaller institutions to invest in European climate technology, structured its first vehicle to lower barriers for LPs that typically lack the resources to compete for top climate deals. The fund's strategy spans venture and growth-stage companies addressing decarbonization, energy transition, and circular economy themes.

A climate fund missing its target is a useful temperature check on GP-LP dynamics in 2024. All Aboard's structure — a coalition model designed to attract family offices — theoretically broadens the LP base, but it also introduces coordination costs and slower decision-making that institutional anchors typically avoid. Climate funds raised $14bn globally in 2023, down 35% from 2022's peak, and several funds launched in 2022–2023 have taken 18+ months to close or downsized targets mid-raise. The question is whether All Aboard's collaborative model offers enough deal access and portfolio construction advantage to justify the complexity, or whether smaller LPs would rather co-invest alongside established climate managers on a deal-by-deal basis.

The fund's ability to deploy at pace will clarify the model's staying power. Coalition structures work best when they close quickly on concentrated themes — if All Aboard stretches deployment across too many sectors or geographies, it risks becoming a generalist climate vehicle without the brand or track record to compete with Lowercarbon Capital, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, or Energy Impact Partners. The addition of a UK family office after the final close suggests the firm is still building its LP network, which could signal either late momentum or persistent softness in commitments. Deployment velocity and follow-on discipline over the next 12 months will show whether the structure delivers or just redistributes the friction.

Source: Venture Capital Journal