“We need new technologies to avoid the worst impacts of climate change,” Gates said. (Photo: Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) –Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the startup fund founded by billionaire Bill Gates, opened a 100 million euro ($116 million) investment fund to help European companies develop clean technologies.

“We need new technologies to avoid the worst impacts of climate change,” Gates said in Brussels, where he met with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. “Scientists and entrepreneurs who are developing innovations to address climate change need capital to build companies that can deliver those innovations to the global market.”

The $1 billion Breakthrough Energy fund established by Gates in 2016 was founded to pursue the long-shot technological breakthroughs needed to avert climate change that are too risky for venture capitalists.