Teresa Farmaki – co-founder of Astarte Capital Management – pulls up a chair for a fireside chat in the latest episode of the IJGlobal podcast series… Infra Dig.

Speaking with IJGlobal editorial director Angus Leslie Melville, Teresa speaks openly about the latest developments at Astarte and how it is approaching investments into the international infrastructure and energy space.

Infra Dig’s curiosity was piqued by the launch of a Greece-focused mid-market focused fund – Hyperion Hellenic Investment Fund (H2IF) – that will focus on the energy transition and smart infrastructure, specifically looking for sustainable investments across the nation.

Of course, Astarte’s focus is international – including driving investments in North America through its Texas office – and the discussion delves into how it targets investments and ensures ESG boxes are ticked to their satisfaction.

While Astarte has a global offering, it was the launch of H2IF that sparked IJGlobal’s interest in this podcast and Teresa has a lot to say on it.

“This is the first Greece-specific infrastructure fund that is being launched,” says Teresa. “Astarte is an international firm – our strategy is international, our geographic focus and everything else we have been doing is actually not in Greece.

“At the same time, both the co-founder – Stavros and myself – are Greek and have dedicated experience of private equity and real assets in Greece. So, Greece is a market we know well from the private markets side.

“Greece was particularly hit by the financial crisis and has had its own troubles to resolve, but it is coming out of that as one of the strongest growth stories in the European region. It is making very impressive developments and steps towards economic growth.

“The government and the broader market there is placing sustainability and technology at the heart of that economic development.”

Teresa continues: “Infrastructure and real assets have been the backbone of a lot of the sectors and the growth that needs to take place is a very big area of investment.

“That means Astarte has a unique role to play. It is a market we know very well. It is looking to invest a lot in infrastructure and real assets. People following this space have maybe noticed that new PPP tenders are being announced every other week. And that is above and beyond and above private projects.”

The conversation evolves in a far more international manner, taking in Astarte's approach to ESG and broader sustainable investment.