Prince Alwaleed Joins Bill Gates in Supporting Energy Investment Fund with $50 Million

HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz AlSaud, Chairman of Alwaleed Philanthropies, announced supporting the Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) with $50 million, through joining Bill Gates and members of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition (BEC) in their commitment to invest more than $1 billion in energy technologies. Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) is an investor-led fund that will finance emerging energy breakthroughs to deliver affordable and reliable energy with the goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions to near-zero. 

Aligning with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), HRH Prince Alwaleed assigned the Alwaleed Philanthropies team to work along the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation towards the project, saying” the Breakthrough Energy Coalition shows that clean energy and economic development are not mutually exclusive. This innovative investment will help produce the next generation of clean energy technologies and will transform the global energy market. Together we are building a prosperous, carbon-zero future.”

“I am honored to work along with these investors to build on the powerful foundation of public investment in basic research.  Our goal is to build companies that will help deliver the next generation of reliable, affordable, and emissions-free energy to the world,” said BEV Chairman Bill Gates.

The aim of the collaboration is to benefit from collective resources to accelerate the discovery, development and deployment of science and technology solutions that reliably and affordably power the world while combating climate change. Members of the Breakthrough Energy Ventures Formation Committee include Bill Gates as the permanent chairman, along with John Arnold, Co-chair Laura and John Arnold Foundation, John Doerr, Chairman of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Vinod Khosla, Founder of Khosla Ventures, Hasso Plattner, Co-Founder of SAP SE, and Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group.

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HRH Prince Alwaleed joined Bill Gates in fulfilling their joint vision by participating as an investor in the Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) after having joined the launch of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition (BEC) in November 2015. Additionally, Alwaleed Philanthropies recently partnered with ‘Energies Pour L’Afrique’ headed by Jean-Louis Borloo, in aims to mobilizing its network in increasing access to clean energy.

For over 37 years, Alwaleed Philanthropies has supported and initiated projects in over 124 countries regardless of gender, race or religion. We collaborate with a range of philanthropic, government and educational organisations to combat poverty, empower women and youth, develop communities, provide disaster relief and create cultural understanding through education. Together with our partners, we help build bridges for a more compassionate, tolerant and accepting world.

© Press Release 2016