Starshot Capital, a VC firm focused on finding and supporting high-impact companies in underinvested climate sectors, announced the launch of Starshot Fund I (a $35 million fund for companies working toward ambitious decarbonization goals).
Starshot backs early-stage companies with the potential to eliminate a cumulative one gigaton of carbon emissions by 2050 while simultaneously delivering returns on par with the most successful venture-backed startups. And the key areas of focus include the industrial sector, manufacturing, food & agriculture, the built environment, materials, and chemicals.
Brewer (a veteran of companies including Google and Facebook) and childhood friend Sam Levac-Levey (a mechanical engineer who has worked at Tesla and SpaceX) co-founded Starshot in 2021 after they helped to launch Work on Climate, the largest and most active technical climate community in the world with over 28,000 members. And they are joined by fellow Google alumnus Zoe Samuel, who co-created Alphabet’s 4,000+ employee climate community, and Dr. Nick Gould, a chemical engineer who worked on decarbonizing industrial processes at Air Products.
This fund is Starshot’s first. It works closely with expert advisors, several of whom are successful venture capitalists or climate luminaries, including the founders of RegenIntel and co-creators of Project Drawdown.
Starshot’s seven portfolio companies so far include Mojave (commercial HVAC technology that reduces energy use by over 50% while reducing harmful refrigerants), Rumin8 (seaweed-inspired feed additive improves digestion for cattle and other ruminants, lowering feed costs and methane emissions), Harvest Thermal (thermal battery helps homes reduce electricity bills by 30% and emissions by 90%), and Ecolectro (technology making green hydrogen affordable and non-toxic, eliminating the need for noble metals, titanium, and forever chemicals).
KEY QUOTES:
“The climate transition is the largest financial opportunity of the next decade. Every industry is in the midst of a radical transformation — reevaluating supply chains, materials, and partners, with an understanding that their business models and their stakeholders are demanding more sustainable practices.”
- Starshot Managing Partner Jeremy Brewer
“Mapping out sectors helps us understand where our capital may be strategically invested to transform an industry. By focusing on historically under-invested sectors, we maximize our impact and returns.”
- Sam Levac-Levey, whose engineering experience includes energy storage, electric aircraft, and rockets
“Starshot Capital has been catalytic to Ecolectro’s success and Jeremy has been a deeply engaged and invaluable board member. Starshot led our Seed round and helped introduce us to the lead investor for our Series A round, as well as a significant customer account.”
- Gabriel Rodriguez-Calero, CEO of Ecolectro
“The companies that Starshot is working with can unlock critical business opportunities by advancing needed climate solutions, dramatically reducing emissions while growing the bottom line.”
- Starshot advisor Jeff Seabright, who served as the CSO of Unilever, the CSO of Coca-Cola, and the executive director of the White House’s Climate Change Task Force under President Bill Clinton
“Starshot has a unique advantage in the climate space, thanks to our work helping thousands of people pivot into the sector. Through Work on Climate and our other networks, we frequently meet and assist exceptional climate founders at the idea stage. By the time they’re raising money, often the relationship and the trust are already there.”
- Zoe Samuel
