18 months after its launch, Keenest, a French climate-focused investment club, has reached an important milestone: more than €5 million has been invested in impact startups to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free economy.
Jérémie Sicsic, CEO of Keenest said (translated): “Individual savings are a considerable lever for financing the sustainable economy. By investing directly in impact projects, every citizen becomes a driving force for transition, while participating in the creation of a greener, more resilient and more sovereign economy.”
Keenest is a platform for financing climate technologies created in 2023 by Jérémie Sicsic and Renan Labrunie, with the support of Mehdi Coly, CEO of Team for the Planet. Originally launched with 300 investors, Keenest now has 3,500 members. The club says their community is mainly made up of individuals who want to give meaning to their savings.
Sicsic is a serial entrepreneur. At 36, the former EM Lyon student has created several companies, ranging from tutored online training (Unow) to an employee engagement measurement platform (Briq). The latter was acquired in 2020 by Swile, which subsequently became a French unicorn.
With investment projects accessible from €500, the platform has helped finance startups such as Feedback, Sapiologie, Loewi, OpenClimat, Zilo Énergie, Kolverr, Arkeon Energy, Fenix Energy and Seaturns, all of which are players in the ecological transition.
Keenest innovates by offering climate dividends, paid according to the tonnes of CO₂ avoided by the projects financed. The greater the environmental impact, the higher the return. Keenest believes that this mechanism creates a virtuous circle for sustainable investment.
The club aims for an average annual return of 20% on investments made, while offering liquidity prospects.
Building on this momentum, Keenest aims to:
- Implement a non-financial dashboard by the end of 2025 for transparent monitoring of impact indicators, including the first climate dividends distributed
- Raise a total of €10 million by March 2026
- Finance 20 impact projects
- Launch a diversified fund to invest in all projects selected by Keenest by 2026
Keenest is a mission-driven company. The company’s ‘raison d’être’, within the meaning of Article 1835 of the French Civil Code, is “to work towards financing a carbon-free world“.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/07/paris-based-investment-club-keenest-invests-more-than-e5-million-in-the-sustainable-economy/
