Vidia News April 2026
Powering European Competitiveness
The first quarter of 2026 has underscored a conviction we have held since day one at Vidia: climate solutions are not only about impact. They are increasingly the foundation for economic growth, industrial competitiveness, and geopolitical resilience in Europe.
Geopolitical escalation in the Middle East, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and the sharp repricing of fossil feedstocks have sent renewed shockwaves through energy and materials markets. At the same time, accelerating electrification and the rapid rise of AI are increasing pressure on electricity systems that are already stretched. Trade tensions continue to expose the fragility of linear, globally dependent supply chains. These developments are not distractions from the climate transition. They are evidence that the investment logic behind it is getting stronger.
The macro risks that climate and impact investing were designed to address – energy dependence, vulnerable infrastructure, resource inefficiency, and brittle supply chains – have never been more visible or more economically relevant. The transition to abundant energy, efficient electrification, and circular materials is not simply an environmental imperative. It is a prerequisite for a more competitive and more independent Europe.
For our portfolio, Q1 brought important milestones. With the formal closing of ABEKA’s carve-out from Bravida, we completed the transaction first announced last year and began the work of building ABEKA into a truly independent platform. ABEKA’s focus on electrical grid infrastructure and industrial electrification positions it at the center of Europe’s energy transition – a segment where demand is rising rapidly and where execution capacity remains the critical constraint. We are excited to be partnering with Håkan Oscarsson and his team as they lead ABEKA into this next phase.
Across our circular economy investments, the quarter illustrated both the pressure facing the sector and the resilience of our model. Europe’s plastics recycling industry has been under extraordinary strain, with cheap imports, high energy costs, and close to a million tons of capacity lost since 2023. Yet the integrated model we have built through PolymerCycle Group – spanning waste procurement, sorting, processing, and precision compounding – is designed to perform in exactly this kind of environment. With the oil price shock following the Hormuz closure now narrowing the gap between virgin plastics and recyclates, and with the EU’s regulatory direction remaining clear under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, the structural tailwinds are strengthening. In markets under stress, robust business models matter.
This quarter also brought meaningful recognition of the way we manage impact. BlueMark completed an independent assessment of Vidia’s alignment with the Operating Principles for Impact Management, an industry standard for integrating impact systematically across the investment lifecycle. The Verifier Statement reflects both areas of strength and areas for continued development, and we welcome that transparency. We were also honored to be selected for the ImpactAssets 50 2026 as an Emerging Impact Manager – a recognition that places us among a global cohort of private markets managers committed to measurable positive outcomes.
None of these milestones lessen the discipline required to deliver on our mandate. Markets remain demanding, and the transition remains incomplete. But the direction of travel is becoming clearer: the businesses enabling abundant energy, electrification, circularity, and resilient infrastructure are not only solving systemic challenges. They are building the foundations of Europe’s next era of growth.
Thank you for your continued trust and partnership and for being part of our journey.
Johanna Struthmann
Founder & Managing Partner
ABEKA joins Vidia Climate Fund I
We have completed the acquisition of ABEKA El & Kraftanläggningar AB. The closing follows the signing announced in January 2026 and concludes ABEKA’s carve-out from Bravida Holding AB after a decade of ownership.
A Conversation with…
Patrick Blessing, CEO of PolymerCycle Group
PolymerCycle Group is a Vidia platform uniting four specialist companies – ATP, BPM, PB Solutions, and Hoffmann + Voss – across the entire plastics recycling value chain. From waste procurement and sorting to milling, regranulation, and advanced compounding, the group operates six production sites across Germany and processes over 120,000 tons of plastic annually. We spoke with Patrick Blessing, CEO of PolymerCycle Group, about the current state of the European recycling market, the group’s integrated model, and the road ahead.
Vidia Perspective
EU Plastics Recycling: The Right Moment to Get the Rules Right
Europe’s mechanical plastic recycling sector has been challenged by comparatively high production costs and cheap imports until recent developments offered some unexpected relief. Recent supply-side disruptions in global petrochemical markets have shifted that equation, driving up virgin plastic prices and strengthening the economic case for recycled local materials. A regulatory stabilization package by the EU from last year points in the right direction, too. However, the risk that economic headwinds generate political pressure to delay PPWR implementation, removing the sector’s mandatory demand floor at the worst possible moment, needs to be closely monitored.
Vidia Perspective
Repricing Climate Risk: Why Investors Must Fund Both Adaptation and Mitigation
Climate risks are systematically underpriced because gaps in conventional economic damage models as well as a systematic underestimation of risks have contributed to obscuring the true scale of cumulative climate losses relative to the cost of climate action. As a result, underinvestment in both mitigation and adaptation has left infrastructure, real assets, and supply chains exposed to physical climate risks that are increasingly unavoidable and already manifesting as stranded-asset and insurability challenges.
Going forward, societies must carefully balance adaptation and resilience spending to avoid underinvestment, maladaptation, or a reallocation away from mitigation that would lock in escalating long-term losses. For climate investors, this implies an urgent need to internalize forward-looking, science-based geospatial climate risk data while simultaneously supporting mitigation, as closing both funding gaps is economically justified and essential to preserving long-term societal and asset-level resilience.
We are hiring
We are always looking for outstanding, purpose-driven talents to join the Vidia team. Get in touch to become an integral member of our investment, operations, or impact team.
Office Manager
(m/f/d) Full-time, Location: Munich
Portfolio M&A Manager
(m/f/d) Full-time, Hybrid, Location Munich
Operations Manager / Director
(m/f/d) Full-time, Hybrid,
Location: Portfolio Sites / Munich
Portfolio Working Student
(m/f/d) Part-time, Hybrid,
Location: Munich / Portfolio HQ
Investment Criteria
We look for leading companies with a proven business model offering climate positive products or services.
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