What Clean Energy Ventures does

Clean Energy Ventures (CEV) is a Boston-headquartered, climate-focused venture capital firm founded in 2017 by co-founders Temple Fennell, Daniel Goldman, and David S. Miller, whose leadership team has collectively invested in early-stage climatetech for over 15 years. CEV provides first-institutional-round equity capital to startups commercializing advanced energy technologies and novel business models, applying a strict investment criterion that each portfolio company demonstrate the potential to mitigate at least 2.5 gigatons of CO2-equivalent emissions within three decades. The firm invests in companies headquartered in North America, Europe, and Israel, with an active European presence supported by a London office.

CEV's primary commercial product is its $305 million Fund II (closed May 2024, targeting 75 gigatons of cumulative emissions mitigation by 2050), following a $110 million Fund I launched in October 2019. The firm also operates the SERC (Simple Emissions Reduction Calculator), a publicly accessible web tool that quantifies emissions reduction potential from two simple inputs. Internally, SERC underpins CEV's investment diligence, which is conducted by a team of trained physicists and engineers and supplemented by an Impact Manager role. The portfolio of approximately 28 companies spans fast-charging batteries (UltraCharge), sustainable aviation fuel (OXCCU), solid-state grid transformers (DG Matrix), electric freight logistics (NexDash), and energy-efficient cooling (Transaera), among others.

CEV's revenue model follows standard VC economics: management fees on committed capital and carried interest on fund performance, with all employees participating in carry. Beyond its own funds, CEV co-founded the All Aboard Coalition, a $300M multi-VC vehicle with Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, DCVC, and 10 other firms targeting the "missing middle" financing gap. Distribution is conducted through a publicly accessible investment application, content marketing, a fellowship program, and ecosystem events, with go-to-market centered on direct deal sourcing rather than product sales. The firm is recognized on the Impact Assets 50 (2024) and as NECEC Startup Supporter of the Year (2018).

Name

Clean Energy Ventures

Legal name

Clean Energy Ventures Management, LLC

Website

https://cleanenergyventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Clean Energy Ventures is a Boston-based climate tech venture capital firm that leads first-institutional-round investments in early-stage startups commercializing advanced energy technologies with multi-gigaton-scale emissions reduction potential across North America, Europe, and Israel.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

akta.pro primary industry

Renewable Energy & Energy Transition Funds (FSANAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Climate / Clean Tech & Decarbonization Funds (FSANAJAA)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Climate tech investing
• Early-stage funding
• Clean energy startups
• Emissions reduction

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Fund Management - Management Fees: VC firms typically charge management fees on committed capital under management. While not explicitly stated in sources, this is standard practice for venture capital funds like CEV's $305M Fund II.
2. Carried Interest: VC firms typically earn carried interest (a share in the General Partners' profits from Fund performance). The CEV careers page states 'All employees earn carried interest, i.e. a share in the General Partners' profits from Fund performance.'

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Clean Energy Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage climate tech startups commercializing advanced energy technologies and novel business models, typically leading the first institutional round. The firm manages two funds ($110M Fund I closed in 2019 and $305M Fund II closed in May 2024) and supplements investment with technical diligence, mentorship, patent co-development, talent acquisition, and strategic marketing support for portfolio companies.

Product overview

Clean Energy Ventures is a climate tech venture capital firm offering Fund II ($305M) as its primary investment vehicle and the SERC (Simple Emissions Reduction Calculator) as a public-facing assessment tool. The firm's core offering is investment services for early-stage climate tech companies, providing capital alongside value-add support including technical diligence, mentorship, and strategic guidance to help portfolio companies scale.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fund II A $305 million early-stage venture capital fund targeting climate tech startups commercializing disruptive advanced energy technologies, with the goal of mitigating 75 gigatons of emissions by 2050.
• SERC (Simple Emissions Reduction Calculator) A publicly available calculator that provides a quick understanding of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction potential for climate tech startups, requiring only two inputs: tons of GHGs reduced per unit and projected units sold over time.
• Climate Tech Investment Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Potential to mitigate 2.5 gigatons of CO2e between initial investment and 2050 per investment
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered operational and core.

• Dasseti (Harvest Platform)operationalOthers · 18 December 2025Clean Energy Ventures has partnered with Dasseti's Harvest platform to streamline ESG data collection and reporting for its investment portfolio. Harvest's AI-driven capabilities support CEV in tracking progress against climate impact, ESG performance, and emissions reduction commitments.
• All Aboard CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe All Aboard Coalition is a $300M fund launched by 13 VC firms including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, DCVC, and Clean Energy Ventures. CEV is not a limited partner but co-invests alongside the fund. The coalition addresses the 'missing middle' financing gap where traditional venture firms hesitate at capital-intensive hardware and infrastructure funds prefer mature assets.
• Clean Energy Venture GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEV's sister organization of angel investors. The two organizations share a single investment pipeline for all prospective investments, giving companies access to more funding opportunities via a single application.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Bill Gates-backed climate tech venture fund with multi-billion AUM, directly comparable to CEV as a co-member of the All Aboard Coalition investing in early-stage advanced energy startups. Operates at a much larger scale but pursues the same gigaton-impact thesis.
• Khosla Ventures: Vinod Khosla's venture firm with significant climate tech allocation and co-member of the All Aboard Coalition. Invests in early-stage climate and clean energy companies with high-risk/high-reward theses comparable to CEV's approach.
• DCVC: Deep tech venture firm focused on computational and physical science breakthroughs, also an All Aboard Coalition member. Directly comparable as an early-stage investor in technically complex climate solutions.
• Energy Impact Partners: Global utility-corporate-backed venture fund investing across the energy transition. Comparable to CEV in energy-focused early-stage deployment, with prior affiliation of CEV's Principal Wynston Reed.
• Extantia Capital: Climate tech VC firm that co-led the NexDash seed round with CEV. Directly comparable as a European-focused early-stage climate tech investor targeting similar decarbonization themes.
• Congruent Ventures: Early-stage venture firm investing in climate tech, energy, and sustainability. Comparable fund size and stage focus, sharing similar theses around gigaton-scale emissions reduction opportunities.
• Prelude Ventures: Early-stage venture firm investing in frontier and sustainable technologies including clean energy. Comparable to CEV as a smaller, thesis-driven climate tech fund targeting early commercial-stage investments.
• Lowercarbon Capital: Climate-focused venture firm founded by Chris Sacca targeting carbon reduction technologies across energy, industry, and agriculture. Directly comparable in stage, size, and gigaton-scale climate thesis.

Regional players

• Clean Energy Venture Group: CEV's sister angel investing organization sharing the same investment pipeline. Not a fund manager but a direct adjacency as a co-investor in CEV's portfolio and source of deal flow.

Emerging players

• Powerhouse Ventures: Solar and grid-edge focused venture firm. Adjacent rather than directly competing with CEV but overlaps in advanced energy themes and targets similar early-stage climate opportunities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CEVteam
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clean-energy-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments69 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Clean Energy Ventures