Third Sphere
Third Sphere is a San Francisco-based, climate-focused early-stage venture capital fund (founded 2013) that invests $250K-$1M at pre-seed/seed in hardware-enabled climate solutions, operating a proprietary AI toolset and the T-Sync and CreditDB.ai platforms to support its 100+ portfolio companies and institutional LP base.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Third Sphere does
Third Sphere is a climate-focused early-stage venture capital fund founded in 2013 (originally as Urban Us) by Shaun Abrahamson and Stonly Baptiste Blue, based in San Francisco with a small, globally distributed core team. The firm invests at pre-seed and seed stages, primarily in hardware-enabled climate solutions, with roughly two-thirds of the portfolio oriented to mitigation (largely electrification) and one-third to resilience and adaptation, spanning energy, mobility, food, water, and infrastructure. Typical initial checks are $250,000 to $1 million, with up to $2 million earmarked for follow-on rounds, and the firm reports introducing the next lead investor in 50% of portfolio company raises.
Third Sphere's platform centers on a proprietary technology stack that includes the T-Sync network platform for matching portfolio companies with investors, partners, and talent, CreditDB.ai (a public database of 300+ non-dilutive capital providers), and six internal AI tools (QUEST, PULSE, NOVA, MATCHA, ALIGN, STAR) that automate deal evaluation, portfolio monitoring, talent and capital matching, and audit reporting. The firm also publishes the Speedstrapping Playbook and the ClimateTech Exits Playbook as founder-facing thought leadership, and has historically spun out adjacent initiatives such as Perl Street (hardware project finance) and the URBAN-X accelerator (2017-2021).
Economically, Third Sphere operates on standard venture fund mechanics: management fees on committed capital across four funds raised over 13 years, plus carried interest on successful portfolio exits. Its LP base spans financial services firms, insurance companies, foundations, endowments, family offices, and founder-LPs, and the firm holds leadership roles in industry networks including Impact Capital Managers (~$80B AUM across ~150 firms). Recognition includes a 2018 Harvard Business School case study on Urban Us, a 2026 Stanford GSB case study (SI-193), the 2022 Climate50 #1 ranking for North American seed-stage climate funds, and the 2023 ImpactAssets IA 50 inclusion.
Third Sphere firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Third Sphere
- Legal name
- Third Sphere
- Website
- https://thirdsphere.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Third Sphere is a San Francisco-based, climate-focused early-stage venture capital fund (founded 2013) that invests $250K-$1M at pre-seed/seed in hardware-enabled climate solutions, operating a proprietary AI toolset and the T-Sync and CreditDB.ai platforms to support its 100+ portfolio companies and institutional LP base.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Third Sphere industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Climate Tech Venture Capital
- NAICS
- Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Climate / Clean Tech & Decarbonization Funds (FSANAJAA)
Keywords
Where Third Sphere is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Third Sphere business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Management Fees: Third Sphere earns management fees on committed capital across their venture funds. Standard VC fee structure typically 2% of committed capital.
- Carried Interest: The fund earns carried interest (typically 20%) on profits from successful portfolio company exits, aligning fund manager incentives with LP returns.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Pre-seed/Seed Investment |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Third Sphere product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Third Sphere is a climate-focused venture capital fund that makes pre-seed and seed investments of $250,000 to $1 million (with up to $2 million earmarked for follow-on rounds) into early-stage climate tech startups, primarily hardware-enabled solutions in energy, mobility, food, water, and resilience. Beyond capital, the firm provides hands-on coaching, introductions to follow-on investors, and access to proprietary tools including the T-Sync network platform and CreditDB.ai database of 200+ non-dilutive capital providers, guided by its Speedstrapping methodology.
Product overview
Third Sphere is a climate-focused early-stage venture capital fund (not a traditional product company). The firm operates a unified investment platform with several complementary tools and methodologies: (1) Core VC investment services through pre-seed and seed funding ($250k-$1M initial investments), (2) T-Sync/Synchronicity network platform connecting portfolio companies with investors, partners, and talent, (3) CreditDB.ai open database of 200+ non-dilutive capital providers, (4) Six internal AI tools (STAR, QUEST, PULSE, NOVA, MATCHA, ALIGN) for startup evaluation, portfolio monitoring, talent matching, and capital matching, and (5) Educational resources including the Speedstrapping Playbook and ClimateTech Exits Playbook. Additional services include Perl Street (hardware project finance) and the concluded URBAN-X accelerator program (2017-2021). The portfolio spans climate mitigation and adaptation across energy, mobility, food, water, and resilience sectors.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Third Sphere Seedstrapping / Speedstrapping Venture Fund Core early-stage venture fund providing $250,000 to $1,000,000 pre-seed and seed investments (plus up to $2M earmarked for follow-on) into hardware-enabled climate tech startups in energy, mobility, food, water, and resilience; supported by hands-on coaching and introductions via the Third Sphere network.
- T-Sync (Synchronicity) Network Platform Community platform for Third Sphere portfolio companies and founders to search and filter investors, partners, and talent; matches companies with aligned investors for follow-on funding rounds and talent needs.
- CreditDB.ai Open, AI-powered database of 200+ (now 300+) non-dilutive capital providers searchable by capital type, asset class, stage, and sector; helps founders and investors identify lenders for revenue-based finance, equipment leasing, project finance, receivables financing, and similar instruments.
Quantifiable outcome
- 45.7M tonnes CO2e avoided across portfolio
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Third Sphere
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Third Sphere technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability11 records
Feature8 records
Third Sphere partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Impact Capital ManagerscoreThird Sphere is a member of Impact Capital Managers, a global network of nearly 150 member firms managing over $80 billion in investor capital. Co-founder Stonly Blue serves as Chair of the Institute Board. ICM is a community of impact-focused private markets managers.
- Coolwater GP CommunityminorThird Sphere is a member of the Coolwater GP community, indicating alignment with climate-focused investment practices.
- Urban GatewayminorThird Sphere partnered with Urban Gateway starting in 2019 to explore how founders could grow climate impact in China, working with startups in space heating/cooling, sustainable real estate, virtual power plants, and waste-to-energy.
- Perl StreetcoreThird Sphere co-founded Perl Street in 2018 to help fund distributed assets. Perl Street transforms under-banked hardware companies into bankable deployments with project finance structures. Now operates as an independent company.
- URBAN-X AcceleratorminorThird Sphere ran the sourcing, selection, investment, and coaching of startups at URBAN-X from 2017-2021. Concluded their work to focus on Third Sphere and connecting founders with the network. Over 90% of backed startups raised follow-on funding.
- CreditDB.ai PartnerscoreCreditDB.ai is an open database of 300+ non-dilutive capital providers. Built with students from Haas School of Business, the platform helps founders identify lenders for equipment financing, receivables, project finance, and revenue-based lending.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Third Sphere competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Clean Energy Ventures: Pre-seed and seed venture fund focused exclusively on climate tech, with comparable check sizes and a similar thesis of backing capital-intensive hardware founders — directly comparable to Third Sphere's core investment strategy.
- Congruent Ventures: Early-stage venture firm investing across climate solutions, with a comparable focus on hardware-heavy founders and a mission-aligned LP base — directly competing for the same seed-stage climate deal flow.
- Lowercarbon Capital: Climate-focused venture firm that led rounds Third Sphere participated in (e.g., Nevoya's seed). Overlaps directly in early-stage climate hardware investing with a larger fund footprint.
- Powerhouse Ventures: Early-stage climate and clean-energy investor with a focus on solar, storage, mobility, and grid software — closely aligned with Third Sphere's renewable and electrification sub-themes.
- Prime Impact Fund: Early-stage venture fund investing in climate solutions with an impact-first mandate, sharing Third Sphere's blend of financial return and measurable climate outcomes.
Emerging players
- Elemental Impact (Elemental Excelerator): Climate innovation investor/accelerator that deploys non-dilutive capital and venture investment into early-stage climate companies, partially overlapping with Third Sphere's climate hardware and adaptation thesis.
Broad incumbents
- Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Multi-billion-dollar climate-tech fund backed by an extensive LP syndicate (Gates, Bezos, etc.), investing across stages and sectors. Competes with Third Sphere at seed/Series A in the same climate hardware categories but with vastly larger checks.
- Khosla Ventures: Large venture firm with a long-standing climate tech practice that co-led the Sonic Fire Tech round alongside Third Sphere. Competes for the same early-stage climate hardware founders with much larger fund capacity.
- Energy Impact Partners: Global investment platform partnering with utilities and industrials to back climate tech, with a broader LP-backed model and a focus on energy transition comparable to Third Sphere's electrification-heavy portfolio.
Others
- Greentown Labs: Largest climatetech startup incubator in North America, serving as a community and pipeline for climate hardware founders. Ecosystem-adjacent to Third Sphere — overlapping founder cohort, complementary rather than directly competitive.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Third Sphere social profiles
Digital presenceThird Sphere financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Third Sphere leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Third Sphere funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Third Sphere M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments181 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Third Sphere
What does Third Sphere do?
Third Sphere is a climate-focused venture capital fund that makes pre-seed and seed investments of $250,000 to $1 million (with up to $2 million earmarked for follow-on rounds) into early-stage climate tech startups, primarily hardware-enabled solutions in energy, mobility, food, water, and resilience. Beyond capital, the firm provides hands-on coaching, introductions to follow-on investors, and access to proprietary tools including the T-Sync network platform and CreditDB.ai database of 200+ non-dilutive capital providers, guided by its Speedstrapping methodology.
Is Third Sphere a public or private company?
Third Sphere is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Third Sphere founded?
Third Sphere was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Third Sphere based?
Third Sphere is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Third Sphere make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Management Fees are the primary driver. The others are carried Interest.
Who are Third Sphere's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Clean Energy Ventures, Congruent Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Powerhouse Ventures and Prime Impact Fund. Elemental Impact (Elemental Excelerator) is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Energy Impact Partners. Greentown Labs is listed as an others.
Does Third Sphere have an API?
No public API is recorded for Third Sphere.
What industry is Third Sphere in?
Third Sphere's product category is Climate Tech Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAJAA, Climate / Clean Tech & Decarbonization Funds. Its NAICS code is 523940 and its SIC code is 6282.