Two years after stepping down as chief of Hamburg’s Ernst Russ, Jens Mahnke has set up a company to invest in small and medium-size sustainable shipping projects with a goal of raising €300m ($357m).

Working alongside one of Europe’s leading private equity companies, Euronext Paris-listed Eurazeo, Mahnke’s new firm Elbe Financial Solutions (EFS) has already helped raise €115m.

EFS is acting as shipping and environment, social and governance (ESG) investment advisor to the private equity firm’s asset team on the Eurazeo Sustainable Maritime Infrastructure Fund (ESMI).