Convective Capital
Convective Capital is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded in 2022 that invests in early-stage disaster resilience startups via a $35M Fund I and an $85M Fund II, operating the Updraft 10,000+ person resilience network to accelerate portfolio commercialization.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Convective Capital does
Convective Capital is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded in 2022 by Bill Clerico, the former co-founder and CEO of WePay (acquired by JPMorgan Chase in 2017) and a long-time Y Combinator partner. The firm operates as a thesis-driven, specialist investor in early-stage disaster resilience companies, raising institutional capital via limited-partner fund commitments and deploying it primarily at the pre-seed through Series A stages. Its investment focus centers on physical-world risk management technologies addressing wildfires, grid failure, floods, hurricanes, and adjacent climate-driven catastrophes — markets that the firm characterizes as structurally under-funded by generalist VCs because they are slow, regulated and operationally complex. Convective has closed two funds: a $35M inaugural Fund I in 2022 (firetech thesis) and an $85M Fund II in May 2026 (expanded to a broader disaster resilience mandate).
Convective Capital firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Convective Capital
- Legal name
- Convective Capital Management LLC
- Website
- https://convectivecapital.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Convective Capital is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded in 2022 that invests in early-stage disaster resilience startups via a $35M Fund I and an $85M Fund II, operating the Updraft 10,000+ person resilience network to accelerate portfolio commercialization.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Convective Capital industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital / Disaster Resilience Investing
- NAICS
- Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Other Financial Vehicles (525990)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282), Investors, Nec (6799)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Climate / Clean Tech & Decarbonization Funds (FSANAJAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- SDG / Thematic Sustainable Investment Funds (FSANAJAN), Sustainable Infrastructure & Resilient Cities Funds (FSANAJAC)
Keywords
Where Convective Capital is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Convective Capital business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Venture Fund Management & Carried Interest: Convective operates as a venture capital firm managing thesis-driven funds (Fund I $35M in 2022; Fund II $85M in 2026) targeting pre-seed through Series A disaster resilience startups. Revenue is generated via traditional VC fund economics: management fees on committed capital and carried interest on fund returns.
- Portfolio Company Value Creation / Network Monetization: Indirect value capture through equity stakes in portfolio companies whose commercial outcomes are accelerated by the Updraft network (the network has generated $100M+ in revenue for portfolio companies), producing returns via investment gains and exit proceeds.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Fund II: $85M vehicle investing ~18 startups at pre-seed, seed, and Series A |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
Convective Capital product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Convective Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in pre-seed, seed, and Series A startups building hardware, software, and financial services for disaster resilience — including wildfire defense, grid resilience, vegetation management, firefighting autonomy, resilient home design, climate-risk analytics, and commodity hedging. The firm operates Fund I ($35M, 2022) and Fund II ($85M, closed May 2026), and supports portfolio companies via its 10,000+ person Updraft resilience network that drives deal flow and customer introductions.
Product overview
Convective Capital operates as an early-stage venture capital firm rather than a traditional software product company, organized around a fund-plus-network-plus-content architecture. At the core are its venture funds — the original $35M Convective Fund I (2022, wildfire-tech focused) and the $85M Convective Fund II (closed May 2026, expanded to a broader disaster resilience thesis). Capital deployment is reinforced by the Updraft resilience network (a 10,000+ person community of utility, fire service, insurance, government, and operator stakeholders that has generated over $100M in revenue for portfolio companies), the Red Sky Summit (the firm's flagship annual gathering), and ongoing content properties — the Disasterproof podcast/video series and the Field Notes Substack — which together build the firm's brand and deal-flow moat in disaster resilience markets.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Updraft: Convective's 10,000+ person resilience network community of founders, operators, public leaders, philanthropists, and investors working on disaster resilience.
- Red Sky Summit
- Disasterproof
- Field Notes
Products and services
- Convective Fund II The firm's flagship $85 million early-stage venture capital fund (closed May 2026), targeting pre-seed, seed, and Series A startups across the disaster resilience thesis. Expands beyond the original wildfire-focused Fund I to cover supply chain resilience, manufacturing, forestry, infrastructure design, and grid resilience. For institutional LPs (insurance companies, foundations, pension funds, asset managers) seeking specialist disaster resilience exposure.
- Convective Fund I The firm's $35 million inaugural fund, raised in 2022, that established the original wildfire technology ('firetech') thesis. Backed pre-seed and seed investments across the wildfire stack and seeded the firm's network of utility, fire service, and government relationships that now feed Fund II. For institutional LPs providing capital backing to the firm's firetech thesis.
- Updraft Resilience Network A 10,000+ person network of founders, operators, public leaders, philanthropists, and investors in resilience. Organized around functional constituencies (fire service leaders, utility operators, insurance executives, government agencies, infrastructure companies, researchers and founders, landowners, energy developers, philanthropy) and has generated over $100M in revenue for portfolio companies. For founders, utility executives, agency leaders, insurers, operators, and frontline responders participating in the resilience community.
- Red Sky Summit The firm's flagship annual gathering of the Convective network, described as the premier event in fire tech. Brings together leaders from the wildfire and resilience ecosystem to share field lessons and explore how technology can strengthen risk-management systems. For fire service, utility, insurance carrier, government agency, forestry service, emergency management, and land management leaders.
- Disasterproof Podcast & Video Series A podcast and video series featuring founders, operators, and public leaders building disaster-resilience systems. Distributed on YouTube (DisasterproofHQ channel) and Spotify, plus embedded on the Convective insights page. For people building in the disaster resilience ecosystem.
- Field Notes (Substack) A Substack newsletter sharing perspectives on resilience drawn from Convective's portfolio, network, and ecosystem, targeted at people building in the resilience space.
Quantifiable outcome
- $100M+ in revenue generated for Convective's portfolio companies via the Updraft network
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Convective Capital
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Convective Capital technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Convective Capital partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Y Combinatorfoundational network / talent originConvective 'emerged from the Y Combinator network' — founder Bill Clerico was a part-time partner at Y Combinator before starting Convective; partner Kat Mañalac spent more than a decade as a Y Combinator partner building founder programs. YC is also referenced as an existing investor in portfolio company Gridware.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Convective Capital competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- S2G Ventures: Venture fund investing in food, agriculture, and climate solutions. Comparable as a specialist, thesis-driven climate investor targeting physical-world risk markets with institutional LP base.
- Munich Re Ventures: Corporate venture arm of Munich Re investing in technologies addressing insurance, climate, and built-environment risk. Comparable given Jay Ribakove's prior tenure there and overlapping focus on resilience/insurance/built environment.
- Clean Energy Ventures: Early-stage venture firm investing in climate tech innovations across energy, mobility, and resilience. Comparable as a specialist climate VC with similar fund sizes, stage focus, and LP composition (foundations, institutions).
- Lowercarbon Capital: Climate-tech focused venture capital firm investing across early-stage companies addressing climate change. Directly comparable as a specialist, thesis-driven VC in the climate/resilience space with similar fund sizes and stage focus.
- Congruent Ventures: Early-stage venture firm investing in sustainable infrastructure, energy, and resource technologies. Directly comparable as a specialist climate/sustainability VC with overlapping LPs (institutional, foundations) and similar fund sizes.
- Prelude Ventures: Early-stage venture firm focused on sustainable solutions including climate, energy, and resource innovation. Comparable as a thesis-driven climate specialist with similar fund sizes and stage focus (pre-seed/seed/Series A).
- Energy Impact Partners: Global VC firm partnering with utilities and energy companies to invest in clean energy and grid resilience technologies. Highly comparable given Convective's portfolio focus on grid resilience (Gridware, Overstory) and utility buyer concentration.
- 2150: European climate-tech VC focused on urban infrastructure, real estate, and the built environment. Comparable as a thesis-driven climate/resilience investor targeting physical-world decarbonization and adaptation.
- Caffeinated Capital: Early-stage venture firm co-investing in fire tech alongside Convective (co-led Seneca's $60M round). Comparable given the explicit fire tech co-investment and similar stage focus.
Broad incumbents
- Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Bill Gates-founded climate VC fund investing in companies that can deliver significant greenhouse gas reductions. Comparable as a high-profile specialist climate investor, though significantly larger and more generalist across climate sub-sectors.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Convective Capital social profiles
Digital presenceConvective Capital financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Convective Capital leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Convective Capital subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Convective Capital funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Convective Capital M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments24 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Convective Capital
What does Convective Capital do?
Convective Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in pre-seed, seed, and Series A startups building hardware, software, and financial services for disaster resilience — including wildfire defense, grid resilience, vegetation management, firefighting autonomy, resilient home design, climate-risk analytics, and commodity hedging. The firm operates Fund I ($35M, 2022) and Fund II ($85M, closed May 2026), and supports portfolio companies via its 10,000+ person Updraft resilience network that drives deal flow and customer introductions.
Is Convective Capital a public or private company?
Convective Capital is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Convective Capital founded?
Convective Capital was founded in 2022. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Convective Capital based?
Convective Capital is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Convective Capital make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Venture Fund Management & Carried Interest is the primary driver. The others are portfolio Company Value Creation / Network Monetization.
Who are Convective Capital's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are S2G Ventures, Munich Re Ventures, Clean Energy Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Congruent Ventures, Prelude Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, 2150 and Caffeinated Capital. Breakthrough Energy Ventures is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Convective Capital have an API?
No public API is recorded for Convective Capital.
What industry is Convective Capital in?
Convective Capital's product category is Venture Capital / Disaster Resilience Investing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAJAA, Climate / Clean Tech & Decarbonization Funds, with a secondary code of FSANAJAN, SDG / Thematic Sustainable Investment Funds. Its NAICS code is 525 and its SIC code is 6282.