Purpose. Profit. People. Planet. Platform.
TerraFive was founded with a purpose to build a digital, sustainable and enduring legacy for the next generation.
We believe the accelerating climate and sustainability megatrend shaping our society and planet represents a huge tailwind and is where many large businesses are going to be built over the next decade.
At TerraFive we buy and build companies with material positive impact across our climate and sustainability themes through our combination of growth, transformation and acquisition experience. We are hands-on business builders focussed on scaling companies that are better for people and the planet while generating top-tier financial returns.
Our headquarters is in London and we focus on technology and tech-enabled companies across our five themes that have the potential for international expansion.
About Us
Our Founding Story
At TerraFive we are both investors and operators.
We take a buy and build approach and every business we partner with involves a significant financial investment from us alongside the TerraFive team taking a hands-on role to accelerate growth, transformation and acquisitions.
One of the main benefits of taking a highly concentrated approach is we can fully dedicate our time and experience to each business and not spread ourselves too thinly across a large portfolio.
Our investment framework is based on the 5 P’s which we have developed over the last decade:
Our Approach
1. Purpose-Driven
A clear purpose to serve customers with products and solutions that are better for both people and the planet
2. Profitable Growth
Underlying strong unit economics with clear growth potential that can be accelerated through our proven playbooks
3. People Centric
A strong culture with a management team we can partner with to develop the next phase of the business
4. Planet Ready
A scalable and sustainable business model that can be expanded internationally
5. Platform Potential
A strong core business that can act as a platform for a buy-and-build approach
Our planet is facing many challenges whether it is reducing carbon in the atmosphere, building smarter cities and buildings, or the increasing fusion of our digital and physical worlds.
These challenges also represent multi-billion dollar opportunities to build sustainable businesses that are both better for people and the planet.
Our investment focus is on technology and tech-enabled businesses that have positive impact across the following five climate and sustainability themes:
Our Investment Thesis
Clean Energy needed to power our planet including technologies such as solar, wind, energy storage, hydrogen and biofuels
Sustainable Transport to provide low-carbon mobility across land, air, sea and space
Smart Cities across their entire design, construction and operational lifecycles including the interaction between digital and physical environments
Digital Infrastructure from data centres and cloud platforms through to business software we use in our everyday lives
Sustainable Supply Chains through circularity, traceability and verification across all our built environment themes
Our small and experienced team based in London combines diverse backgrounds in investing, executive, entrepreneurship, and consulting roles.
Many of the team have built or run companies and we have all worked together in different businesses prior to coming together as the TerraFive team.
Our laser focus is finding situations where we can deploy our proven and battle-tested playbooks to drive growth, profit and impact.
Meet the Team
Michael is a growth investor, technology executive and sustainability entrepreneur with over 15 years of global experience across the UK & Europe, North America, Australia and Asia Pacific regions.
“My purpose is to build a digital, sustainable and enduring legacy for the next generation. I believe we are entering a decade of rapid scaling of sustainable technologies at the scale of an industrial revolution and the speed of a digital transformation.”
Over the past decade as Co-Founder of FourPointZero Partners Michael has taken on several C-Suite roles transforming businesses in the technology and sustainability spaces including as CEO of Orbus Software, CFO of GRIDSERVE Sustainable Energy and CTO of TBAuctions. He also has extensive experience leading several private equity backed transformations and acquisition programs working alongside leading investors including Hg, SilverTree, Advent International, Platinum Equity, Inflexion, Castik and Summa Equity.
Michael is an active growth investor and board member in several fast-growing, founder-led businesses including Aegis Energy with a mission to decarbonise commercial vehicles, Coastr a shared mobility platform for vehicle fleets and Avane Cloud Kitchens a foodtech platform for healthy and sustainable food.
Originally from Australia he received an MBA from Harvard Business School where he graduated with High Distinction as a Baker Scholar and was Co-President of the Energy & Environment club. He also holds Bachelor of Engineering and Masters of Project Management degrees, both with first class honours, where he graduated as a Dean’s Scholar and university medallist.
Co-Founder & COO
Sean is a private equity investor with lower-mid market experience in the UK & European regions. As COO, he is responsible for co-leading deals and the day-to-day operations of TerraFive.
Sean has investment experience within Souter Investments, a UK family office, and Penta Capital, a UK private equity firm. He developed and executed the M&A strategy at TBAuctions, alongside Michael, and has co-invested in several deals alongside Michael, including Aegis Energy, which has a mission to decarbonise commercial vehicles. Sean was also a Director at an engineering consultancy for a decade, specialising in complex structures and construction methodologies, with projects across Australia, Middle East and the UK.
Sean holds an MBA from London Business School where he graduated with Distinction, a Masters of Engineering from Cambridge University, and a Bachelor of Civil Engineering, where he graduated as a Dean’s Scholar.
Platform Team
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Deep expertise in corporate governance, financial controls, and strategic performance measurement spanning across roles at GRIDSERVE, BP, Vodafone, and Heathrow Airport
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Leads thematic origination activities. Worked alongside scale up companies in the property, retail, technology, and hospitality spaces, providing business operation expertise
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Supports thematic origination and conducts early stage DD, alongside commercial and financial analysis activities. Also leads TerraFive’s digital presence
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Members include:
- Laura Nigrelli
- Shiv Gopalan
- Soren Friis
- Kingsley Gifford
- Mike Slater
- Tom Edwards
Contact Us
If you are looking to sell or raise capital for your company, are a business broker or interested in getting involved in the TerraFive platform then please contact us.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”. – Margaret Mead