BXVentures is a leading global venture studio and climate tech specialist transforming cutting-edge R&D into commercially successful ventures. Pulse 2.0 interviewed BXV Managing Partner Romain Decorps to learn more about the firm.
Romain Decorps’ Background
Decorps has been a venture studio founder and operator for more than 5 years, an M&A and principal investor for more than 10 years, and a strategic advisor to Google for 4 years.
Evolution Of BXVentures’ Thesis
How has your firm’s thesis evolved over time? Decorps said:
“BXVentures’ thesis has evolved in that we’ve launched a global venture studio within a fund. After already launching successful venture studios in North America and Europe, a global venture studio strategy within a fund structure will empower BXVentures to scale our model globally and accelerate the impact of climate innovations.”
“Through collaborations with elite institutions like McGill University or UCLouvain, we’re funding and launching groundbreaking climate tech innovations by providing the requisite capital and operational support on a global scale to transform innovations into successful, market-ready ventures.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for your firm so far? Decorps reflected:
“My favorite memory is the day we began raising money to start building out our initial portfolio of ventures. We had been working very hard on promising technologies, and it was such a pleasure to close our first deals and to start demonstrating that our strategy was the perfect fit for our investors and universities.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of BXVentures’ most significant milestones? Decorps cited:
“BXVentures has undergone significant growth and reached impressive milestones, especially over the last few months.”
“In July 2023, we partnered with Canada’s prestigious McGill University to increase the speed and development of university spin-offs in the climate tech sector. As we face the growing climate emergency, this unprecedented approach is speeding up the emergence of promising technologies from university laboratories into commercial ventures with tangible environmental impact.”
“In September, BXVentures announced the pioneering launch of a global climate tech venture studio fund. With a targeted raise between $200 million and $250 million, we’re addressing the innovation gap created by the lack of institutional capital and support at the launch stage of early climate tech startups.”
“Then, most recently this October, we launched Thermo Power Systems, a new climate tech company spun out of our partnership with Belgian university UCLouvain (Université Catholique de Louvain). The technology developed by Thermo Power Systems aims to substantially improve energy efficiency in industrial settings by converting wasted heat into valued energy through the use of cutting-edge thermo electric generation modules.”
“And, last but not least, this November we have just announced the launch of our first spinoff out of McGill university. This new company, called FeX Energy, aims to leverage metal fuel technology to provide cheap, safe and infinitely renewable energy for industrial clients.”
Challenges Faced
Have you faced any specific bottlenecks in your sector of work recently? Decorps acknowledged:
“BXVentures was actually created to address existing bottlenecks in transforming commercially viable university R&D into successful, market-ready ventures. There’s a structural investment and operational gap to support the launch stage of startups, as institutional capital has focused its investment efforts elsewhere within the funding chain – just 2% of all climate tech funding in 2022 went to pre-seed and seed companies according to OECD.”
“This has led to a lack of financing, which impedes the creation and rapid growth of viable climate tech companies. Through our venture studio within a fund model, BXVentures is bridging this gap by accelerating the spin-out of university technology and intellectual property (IP), and by creating commercially viable ventures that have the potential for a decisive impact.”
Investment Success Stories
Would you like to share any specific investment success stories? Decorps cited:
“In collaboration with our university partners at UCLouvain (Louvain University in Belgium), we’re proud of the launch of Thermo Power Systems, which aims to substantially improve energy efficiency in industrial settings by converting wasted heat into valued energy through the use of cutting-edge thermo electric generation modules.”
“Through our partnership with McGill University in Canada, we have also just announced the launch of our second spin-out, called FeX Energy, based on a cutting-edge technology focused on revolutionizing long duration energy storage (LDES).”
Assets Under Management (AUM)
Can you discuss total AUM or any other notable metrics? Decorps revealed:
“We’ve just launched our groundbreaking venture studio within a fund and are targeting to raise between $200 million and $250 million.”
Industry Focus
What are some of the industries that your firm is focused on? Decorps noted:
“As we grapple with the escalating effects of climate change, BXVentures is spearheading the climate tech revolution, transforming cutting-edge R&D into viable climate tech ventures. Driven by problem/solution-oriented mindset, we’re financing, building, and developing climate tech companies globally from ideation to scale.”
“Through tech scouting, due diligence, product validation, capital and deal-making, and venture building and scaling, we’re investing and building companies that will directly have a strong positive impact on climate change.”
Differentiation From Other Firms
What differentiates BXVentures from other firms? Decorps affirmed:
“Firstly, we distinguish ourselves at this level of investment maturity by being a unique pure player exclusively dedicated to climate tech. This singular focus allows us to develop a high level of sector expertise.”
“Secondly, diverging from traditional early-stage investment models, our venture studio within a fund adopts a proactive and efficient approach. We build and test new venture ideas with a multidisciplinary team comprising industry experts, technologists, venture designers, and investors. This method not only ensures a higher success rate but also significantly shortens the time to impact for climate innovations.”
“We do more than inject capital into promising ventures by deploying a holistic approach to startup growth. With our partners, we assemble dynamic teams, refine product-market fit, and provide crucial operational support services. By focusing on building the best talent, ideas, and companies, BXVentures can speed up the commercialization process and significantly boost the odds of success for emerging climate tech startups.”
Future Goals
What are some of BXVentures’ future goals? Decorps concluded:
“BXVentures has the ambition to become a world leader in Climate Tech and to expand its model internationally. BXVentures’ goal is also to accelerate the pace of conversion of technologies into groundbreaking climate ventures that will have a deep and positive impact on the whole ecosystem.”
“By accelerating the spin out of climate R&D and building commercially viable ventures, we’ll have a strong multiplier effect on the deployment of crucial climate technologies at a large scale, and therefore increase the climate impact of this venture building activity. Then we believe we could have a significant positive impact on the decarbonization of our economies.”
