What Contrarian Ventures does

Contrarian Ventures (legal entity UAB Contrarian Ventures, registered in Lithuania and supervised by the Bank of Lithuania) is a privately held, founder-first venture capital firm founded in 2017 in Vilnius, focused exclusively on pre-seed and seed investments in European and Israeli climate technology startups. The firm deploys cheques of EUR 1-4 million across seven verticals — Green Energy, Transportation, Built Environment, Industry, Carbon, Climate, and (since 2025) excludes Food & Agriculture — and serves climate tech founders as both capital provider and operational platform. Its current portfolio spans approximately 27 active and exited companies including PVcase (pre-seed, Lithuania), BeZero Carbon (seed, UK), Chooose (seed, Norway), Zoomo (seed, UK) and Beebop (seed, Belgium), with recent co-leads in Decade Energy (€22m), Delfos Energy (€10m total), Bees & Bears (€5m), sun.store (€6m), Cariqa (€4m), and participation in Metafuels' $24m Series A alongside UVC Partners, EIP, RockCreek and Fortescue.

The firm's underlying technology is a proprietary "full-stack climate platform" rather than a software product: a Check the Fit structured application funnel for inbound founders; the Energy Tech Summit annual flagship event in Bilbao (launched 2020); the Climate50 global ranking of climate tech investors (launched 2022); The Climate Brick scaling manual built from 100+ founder interviews, 3,000+ companies and 15,000+ data points (launched 2024); Growth Meets Capital networking for growth-stage founders (launched 2024); and a Getro-powered portfolio job board at jobs.cventures.vc. Underlying business mechanics are standard closed-end VC fund management: two vehicles (Fund I in 2017, fully returned to LPs via a single investment called Dragon; Fund II raised in 2022) generate management fees on committed capital and optional carried interest on exits, supplemented by ancillary platform and event IP that supports deal flow and LP value-add but is not directly monetised as a standalone product. The firm is run by Founder & Managing Partner Rokas Peciulaitis and General Partner Tomas Kemtys from Vilnius, with a Principal (Patrikas Feiferas) in London, additional team members across France, US, Poland, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, and a network of five university partners (UC Berkeley, Bocconi, Dartmouth, LSE, Yale) feeding an internship pipeline of 45 alumni.

Name

Contrarian Ventures

Legal name

UAB Contrarian Ventures

Website

https://cventures.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Contrarian Ventures is a privately held, Lithuania-based climate-tech venture capital firm founded in 2017 that invests EUR 1-4m pre-seed and seed cheques in European and Israeli climate startups, running Fund II (Fund I returned) alongside a proprietary founder-support platform spanning Energy Tech Summit, Climate50 and The Climate Brick.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Climate Venture Capital / Climate Tech Investment Management

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Other Financial Vehicles (52599), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainable Private Markets (Impact PE/VC, Private Credit, Infrastructure) (FSAAALAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Geography-Focused Venture Capital (Regional/Emerging Markets) (FSANAAAE)

Keywords

• Climate venture capital
• Seed stage investing
• Climate tech startups
• Early-stage funding
• Founder-first capital

Headquarters

HQ city

Vilnius

HQ country

Lithuania

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Venture fund management fees & carry: Primary revenue stream: CV is a venture capital fund manager. Started with Fund I (2017) and raised Fund II in 2022; LP-linked revenue derives from management fees on committed capital and carried interest on exits. CV is registered and regulated in Lithuania (UAB Contrarian Ventures), supervised by the Bank of Lithuania.
2. Realised exits / portfolio returns: CV explicitly 'returned Fund I with a single investment (Dragon)' per the timeline, indicating that the firm's economics also include realised capital gains / DPI from exits (e.g., Lastmile, Sterblue, Moixa, Thrust, Voltaware, 42watt are tagged Exited or RIP on the founders page)
3. Platform & ecosystem monetisation (ancillary): CV operates a portfolio job board (jobs.cventures.vc) and proprietary ranking/event IP (Energy Tech Summit, Climate50, Climate Brick, Growth Meets Capital) that support deal flow and LP value-add but are not directly monetised as standalone products

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Contrarian Ventures is a venture capital fund manager (UAB Contrarian Ventures, regulated by the Bank of Lithuania) that invests EUR 1–4m pre-seed and seed tickets into European and Israeli climate tech founders across green energy, transportation, built environment, industry, carbon, and climate intelligence. Capital deployment is layered with a proprietary founder-support platform — the Energy Tech Summit, The Climate Brick scaling methodology, Climate50 investor ranking, Growth Meets Capital networking, and a portfolio talent network — that extends value beyond the cheque.

Product overview

Contrarian Ventures operates a platform-plus-modules architecture rather than a single unified software product: the core offering is its pre-seed and seed climate tech venture funds (Fund I and Fund II), which are layered with a set of ecosystem modules — the Energy Tech Summit flagship event, Growth Meets Capital investor-founder networking, The Climate Brick scaling blueprint, and the Climate50 investor ranking — that together form the firm's "platform" for European and Israeli climate tech founders and investors. The funds provide the capital, while the named events and initiatives extend the offering into community, content, and founder-support services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Contrarian Ventures Fund I The firm's inaugural pre-seed and seed climate tech venture fund backing European and Israeli founders; successfully returned capital via a single investment (Dragon) and funded the portfolio including PVcase, BeZero Carbon, Chooose, Zoomo, and others.
• Contrarian Ventures Fund II The firm's second pre-seed and seed climate tech venture fund, raised in 2022, continuing the founder-first thesis of backing early-stage European and Israeli climate tech startups with EUR 1–4m tickets.
• Energy Tech Summit Annual flagship event convened by Contrarian Ventures that gathers climate tech founders, investors, corporates, and policymakers, established as a cornerstone of the European climate tech ecosystem and billed as Europe's go-to event for climate founders.
• The Climate Brick A scaling blueprint initiative for climate tech founders, co-built by Contrarian Ventures, grounded in 100+ interviews, 3,000+ companies, and 15,000+ data points, mapping seven sector-specific scaling journeys and milestones to support portfolio and ecosystem companies beyond capital deployment.
• Climate50 An annual ranking initiative profiling the most active and influential climate tech investors globally, leveraging the firm's ecosystem data to spotlight capital allocators in the sector and bring visibility, transparency and signal to the global climate investing ecosystem.
• Growth Meets Capital A curated networking event format pairing growth-stage climate tech founders with later-stage capital partners, extending the firm's founder-first platform into the scaling stage.
• Internship Program A talent program operated by Contrarian Ventures in partnership with five universities (UC Berkeley, Bocconi, Dartmouth, LSE, Yale), providing 2-month and 6-month internships that feed the firm's analyst, sourcing, and portfolio talent pipelines (45 alumni; 85% start careers in tech; 12 cities).
• Portfolio Talent Network (jobs.cventures.vc) A Getro-powered job board (jobs.cventures.vc) aggregating open roles across the entire Contrarian Ventures portfolio network, with Job Alerts, talent network registration, and privacy-compliant data processing for portfolio companies.

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major and minor.

• UC BerkeleymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner university feeding CV's 2-month and 6-month internship pipelines; alumni feed the firm's analyst and sourcing bench.
• Bocconi UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner university feeding CV's internship pipeline; former intern Paulius Steponkus (Bocconi) cited as alumnus of the program.
• Dartmouth CollegemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner university feeding CV's internship pipeline; former intern Gytis Greicius (Dartmouth) cited as alumnus.
• London School of Economics (LSE)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner university feeding CV's internship pipeline.
• Yale UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner university feeding CV's internship pipeline.
• Getro Inc.majorTechnology or IntegrationOperates the portfolio job board and talent network on behalf of UAB Contrarian Ventures (jobs.cventures.vc), managing cookies/Segment/PostHog analytics and processing job-seeker personal data on CV's behalf.
• Bank of LithuaniamajorOthersExternal dispute-resolution body for financial services complaints lodged by CV's clients; CV is supervised under Lithuanian financial regulation. (NB: This is a regulatory relationship rather than a commercial partnership.)
• State Consumer Rights Protection Authority (Lithuania)minorOthersExternal dispute-resolution body for non-financial complaints.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Extantia Capital: Berlin-based climate venture fund investing across Europe at early stages, with a very similar thesis to Contrarian Ventures (industrial decarbonization, energy, climate). Co-led Bees & Bears' €5m seed round with CV in October 2025, evidencing direct co-investment overlap.
• SET Ventures: Amsterdam-based venture capital firm focused on digital energy and climate tech in Europe. Co-led Decade Energy's €22m round with Eiffel and CV, indicating overlapping sourcing and direct syndication.
• UVC Partners: Munich-based early-stage VC investing in deep tech, climate and industrial tech across Europe. Led Metafuels' $24m Series A with CV participation — direct climate/deep-tech peer in Germany/CEE.
• Energy Impact Partners (EIP): Global venture fund investing across the energy transition and climate tech stack. Co-invested with CV in Metafuels' Series A and operates a similar fund-plus-platform model with utility and corporate LP backing.
• Anthemis: London-based VC focused on financial services and climate fintech, with deep European early-stage activity. Co-led Cariqa's €4m seed with CV, evidencing direct overlap on European seed climate fintech deals.
• Alven: Paris-based early-stage venture capital firm investing across European tech with growing climate/industrial-tech exposure. Led Altrove's $10m seed with CV participation — comparable stage and European footprint.
• Movens Capital: Warsaw-based early-stage VC investing in CEE and Europe with a thesis overlapping CV's pre-seed/seed activity in climate and digital. Co-led sun.store's €6m seed with CV in September 2025.
• Market One Capital: CEE-focused early-stage VC investing in Europe, with comparable pre-seed/seed ticket sizes and a similar founder-first, hands-on operating model. Co-led sun.store's €6m seed alongside CV and Movens.
• Lowercarbon Capital: US-led climate venture fund investing across decarbonization themes with strong European exposure. Comparable thesis and stage focus, and a direct competitor for cross-border European/Israeli climate deals.

Broad incumbents

• Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Bill Gates-backed multi-billion-dollar climate VC investing globally at earlier stages. A much larger, more capitalized peer in the same climate-tech vertical; CV's venture partner Bunmi Adekore is a former BEV Partner.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ContrarianVC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/contrarian-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

Investments51 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Contrarian Ventures