What occurs when a chemical engineer, who’s beforehand constructed a hydrogen-powered drone, turns into a enterprise capitalist? Energy Revolution Ventures, that’s what. The VC has now closed an $18 million Seed and Series A fund to put money into deeptech, corresponding to vitality storage, carbon seize, and, sure, hydrogen applied sciences.
Marcus Clover, Co-Founder and Partner at ERV informed TechCrunch: “I studied at Cambridge, and thought I used to be going into oil and fuel. I ended up getting employed as worker primary for an aerospace startup. We have been constructing a hydrogen-powered drone for telecoms software.”
After doing that for 5 years he joined one other agency placing hydrogen gasoline cells in heavy-duty automobiles: “I noticed firsthand, as an engineer working this house, how a lot innovation was occurring within the vitality sector. I noticed I needed to get into it from the funding aspect. That’s after I teamed up with two of my companions.”
The 2023 classic fund consists of LPs from household places of work within the metals and vitality sector, high-net-worth people, and Bidra Innovation Ventures, the company enterprise capital arm of Morocco’s OCP Group. ERV already has a portfolio of 9 corporations, together with Green Li-ion (lithium-ion battery recycling), Anthro (structural, protected batteries), and Oort Energy (low-cost renewable H₂).
ERV has each a fund and a enterprise builder, dubbed Prosemino. The thought is that the fund can each put money into impartial startups in addition to spin up new ventures, based mostly on its in-house technical experience. It attracts on a community of advisors, unfold throughout the University of Oxford and University College London. It has additionally constructed some specialist laboratories to help its startups.
“We have 4,000 sq. ft of moist chemistry and dry lab house right here in London. We consider it’s the one lab of its form exterior of Europe, not associated to a college,” mentioned Clover.
ERV’s technique is predicated on the concept that a number of innovation is about to occur in chemistry, particularly within the space of vitality.
“When I used to be working hydrogen, again in 2015/2016, manner earlier than the most recent hydrogen hype cycles, probably the most superior tech was within the house sector. We have been making an attempt to repurpose it for plane. Doing that work teaches you numerous about how you can redesign stuff from first ideas and how you can function in small groups with tight budgets. So I can relate to a number of the businesses which we’ve now invested in,” mentioned Clover.
He added that the agency’s thesis is not only about decarbonization, but additionally electrification: “It’s extra than simply electrical era. You nonetheless have to retailer the facility, transmit it to the place it’s wanted, after which electrify big components of the economic system… We are actually rewiring the economic system, and we want big quantities of expertise to try this. We noticed how software program made launching house rockets cheaper and higher. I consider the identical factor goes to occur with vitality, and that’s the actually thrilling a part of the story.”
TechCrunch has coated two of the investee corporations in ERV’s portfolio, previously. Anthro Energy had their $7.2m seed spherical partly led by ERV. Divigas, additionally coated by TechCrunch, can be within the portfolio.
He mentioned that whereas some traders are specializing in decarbonization, the expansion by way of electrification “is much more thrilling from a market perspective.?”
To date ERV Fund 1 has made 9 investments, together with:
Blixt – Developers of software-enabled energy electronics. The startup has been chosen to hitch NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) program.
Ecolectro – Innovators of novel polymers designed for the subsequent era of electrolyzers within the hydrogen trade.
Immaterial – Creators of low cost and sturdy Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) designed for carbon seize, fuel separation, and purification functions.
