VoLo Earth is a venture capital firm that backs early-stage companies in the backbone sectors of the economy: energy, grids, materials, industrial systems, and manufacturing. The firm writes first-in checks and takes active board seats, focused on solutions where winning economics and decarbonization outcomes move together. Pulse 2.0 interviewed VoLo Earth Ventures co-founder and managing director Kareem Dabbagh to learn more.
Kareem Dabbagh’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Dabbagh said:
“I started my career building startups in ‘clean tech 1.0’ with a focus on engineering, design, operations, and supply chain. I was an early employee at both SolarCity and Sunrun from 2007 to 2013. From there, I joined the founding team at Aurora Solar and led product and business development work through 2016. After that, I spent time at the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), working on electricity market design and deployment. The operator’s lens that I have built throughout my career guides how I invest today. I look for system bottlenecks and back founders who can scale solutions in the real world.”
Evolution Of The Firm’s Thesis
How has your firm’s thesis evolved over time? Dabbagh noted:
“Our thesis has stayed consistent. We invest in backbone sectors where winning economics and decarbonization line up. We lean into energy, grids, materials, industry, mobility, and buildings. The sharpened pencil now is around domestic manufacturing and onshoring – supply chain resilience, localized production, energy resilience, and infrastructure for AI and data-centers. The common thread is that these are sectors where better economics and saving money pull the technology adoption forward.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for your firm so far? Dabbagh reflected:
“There’s a story I think about a lot. David Bromberg was the founder and CEO of Pearl Street Technologies. Lauren Kuntz was a co-founder and CEO of Gaiascope. Both companies were in our Fund I portfolio, and we led both seed rounds and I was on both boards.
At some point I had them both in the same room—I think it was a lunch in Pittsburgh—and they connected. Both were building grid-facing software and so naturally they had a lot to talk about. Over the following months I started getting wind that they were actually dating. In 2024 they got married, and I had the honor of officiating the wedding. Then in 2025 they both went on to exit their companies above book value, providing VoLo Earth Fund I with our first distributions back to investors.
That’s the kind of outcome you won’t see in a benchmark report. But it says something real about what close board work looks like over time, and what it means to be genuinely invested in the people behind the companies you back.
Significant Milestones
What have been some of your firm’s most significant milestones? Dabbagh cited:
- Closing Fund II at $135 million, 50% larger than Fund I, in a challenging market.
- Top-decile performance for Fund I (2021 vintage) on Carta’s Q4’24 benchmarks.
- Two realized exits in 2025—Pearl Street Technologies and Gaiascope—both above book value.
Customer Success Stories
Would you like to share any specific investment success stories? Dabbagh highlighted:
“Pearl Street dramatically automated and shortened interconnection study timelines for ISOs, which improved grid build-out and made it a strong fit for acquisition. It had genuine product-market fit and clear customers (both ISOs and large renewable energy developers). Early realized outcomes like that are the proof points we aim for – real businesses scaling real solutions that are ready to implement now.”
AUM
Can you discuss total AUM or other notable metrics? Dabbagh revealed:
“We manage ~$250 million across two funds and SPVs. Fund I is a 2021 vintage and is fully deployed. Fund II is currently in deployment, with some notable portfolio companies including XGS Energy in next-gen geothermal, Cambium Carbon in mass timber, Reframe Systems in AI-enabled modular housing, and Texture in DER and grid/VPP data orchestration.”
Industry Focus
What industries is your firm focused on? Dabbagh pointed out:
“The economy’s backbone – energy generation and storage, AI and data center infrastructure, grids and power markets, materials, mobility, buildings, and industrial decarbonization. These are areas where superior economics are already driving adoption. We invest in companies that can save money and decarbonize across these sectors.”
Differentiation From Other Firms
What differentiates your firm from other firms? Dabbagh emphasized:
“Three things:
- Operator edge. We’ve built and scaled in these sectors, so our diligence and board work are practical and focus on customer adoption and differentiation in the market.
- Discipline. We lead with rigorous cost, market, and adoption analysis. We only back solutions that can prove themselves outside the lab with step-change value propositions.
- Capital efficiency. We focus on solutions that can scale on fundamentals and return capital in a venture timeframe, with a returns-first approach.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have you faced? Dabbagh acknowledged:
“Fundraising for Fund II happened during a period of policy uncertainty and a very tough venture market. We stayed focused on data and performance, letting Fund I’s results do the talking, and closed with strong institutional support.”
Future Firm Goals
What are some of your firm’s future goals? Dabbagh emphasized:
“Keep proving that investing in decarbonization is good business and can provide best-in-class returns. We back companies that make energy systems more reliable, materials and manufacturing more resilient, and industry more efficient. If we can deliver top-decile returns while doing that, institutional capital will follow and that’s how climate tech solutions scale.
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you’d like to discuss? Dabbagh concluded:
“Inevitability. Markets are rewarding better, cheaper, more resilient solutions. Our job is to help those solutions scale faster and with less capital.”
