Prelude Ventures

What Prelude Ventures does

Prelude Ventures is a privately held, San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded in 2013 that invests exclusively in early-stage startups with technologies positioned to mitigate climate change. The firm invests across seven verticals — Built Environment, Carbon Management, Compute, Food & Agriculture, Energy, Manufacturing & Industrials, and Mobility — and currently holds a portfolio of more than 50 companies. Recent lead investments span stellarator fusion (Thea Energy, $100M Series B), home battery and AI virtual power plant software (Lunar Energy, $102M Series D co-lead), green steel (Boston Metal, Series C participation), thermochemical storage (Redoxblox, $40.7M Series A lead), carbon dioxide removal via organic waste injection (Vaulted Deep, $32.3M Series A lead), battery-equipped induction ranges (Copper, $28M Series A lead), heat pump installation software (Zero Homes, $16.8M Series A lead), and AI-enabled carbon accounting SaaS (Persefoni, Series C participation).

The firm is led by co-founders Gabriel Kra and the broader partner group (Managing Directors Mark Cupta and Tim Woodward, Partner Matt Eggers, Principals Katie Clasen and Carly Anderson, Senior Associate Edward Yang) and operates from One Ferry Building in San Francisco. The team's combined credentials include MS/PhD-level scientific training (atmospheric chemistry, chemical and biomolecular engineering) and operating experience at Tesla, Sunrun, Bloom Energy, Royal Dutch Shell, Sila Nanotechnologies, Bain & Company, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which the firm positions as a core sourcing and diligence advantage. Prelude does not develop proprietary technology; its 'product' is investment capital and post-investment support (governance, recruiting, business development) delivered to portfolio companies through direct equity investments sourced via founder referrals, industry networks, and direct outreach.

Prelude's revenue mechanics follow the standard venture capital model: it raises capital from limited partners into fund vehicles, deploys that capital into portfolio companies, and seeks returns through exits (acquisitions, IPOs, secondary sales). The firm charges typical VC management fees on committed or invested capital and earns carried interest on fund profits; revenue figures, fund size, and AUM are not publicly disclosed. As a pure-play climate investor since 2013, Prelude operates in a differentiated segment of the VC market where thematic specialization, technical depth, and relationships with strategic co-investors (Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, B Capital, Activate Capital, Tata Steel, TPG Rise, Imperative Ventures) determine deal access.

Name

Prelude Ventures

Legal name

Prelude Ventures LLC

Website

https://preludeventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Prelude Ventures is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded in 2013 that invests exclusively in early-stage climate technology startups across energy, mobility, built environment, carbon management, compute, food and agriculture, and manufacturing sectors, currently holding 50+ portfolio companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital — Climate Tech Investment

NAICS

Miscellaneous Intermediation (52391)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Late-Stage Venture Capital (Series C+) (FSANAAAC)

Keywords

• Climate venture capital
• Early-stage climate investing
• Cleantech venture funding
• Climate tech investment
• Sustainability venture capital

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns: Prelude Ventures generates returns through equity investments in early-stage climate technology companies. The firm invests capital from its fund limited partners (LPs) into portfolio companies and seeks to generate returns through exits via acquisitions, IPOs, or secondary sales.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Prelude Ventures is a climate-focused venture capital firm that invests in early-stage startups developing technologies with climate change mitigation potential. The firm operates long-duration (15–20 year) funds and supports portfolio companies through an active operating-partner model spanning technical assistance, customer introductions, fundraising help, hiring, and PR.

Product overview

Prelude Ventures is a climate-focused venture capital firm that invests in and supports early-stage startups with the greatest potential to mitigate climate change. The firm does not offer a product platform; rather, it provides investment capital and strategic support to portfolio companies across sectors including Built Environment, Carbon Management, Compute, Food & Agriculture, Energy, Manufacturing & Industrials, and Mobility. Prelude Ventures operates a job board (jobs.preludeventures.com) powered by Getro Inc. to connect talent with portfolio companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Climate venture capital investment program

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Direct peers

• Energy Impact Partners: Climate- and energy-focused venture and growth firm investing across the energy transition stack. Highly comparable in mandate to Prelude, with a similarly broad sector lens including grid, mobility, and built environment.
• Lowercarbon Capital: Climate-tech venture firm investing across carbon removal, energy, and decarbonization. Direct peer in climate-only thesis investing with comparable early-stage check sizes.
• Khosla Ventures: Large venture firm with a significant climate-tech practice. Co-invested with Prelude in Redoxblox and competes for many of the same early-stage energy and climate deals.
• Climate Capital: Climate-focused venture firm investing across climate solutions including energy, mobility, food/agriculture, and industry. Strong mandate overlap with Prelude's sector coverage.
• Prime Movers Lab: Early-stage venture firm focused on breakthrough scientific deep-tech including fusion, advanced energy, and industrial decarbonization — directly comparable to Prelude's deep-climate bets (Thea Energy, Boston Metal).
• Congruent Ventures: Early-stage climate-tech venture firm investing across energy, mobility, built environment, and carbon management — overlapping Prelude's seven-sector thesis and check-size profile.
• Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Bill Gates–backed climate-focused venture firm investing across the same deep-climate categories as Prelude, including energy, industrial decarbonization, and carbon management. Direct co-investor with Prelude on Redoxblox and Boston Metal.
• Clean Energy Ventures: Pre-seed and seed climate-tech venture firm. Comparable mandate at the earlier stage of the funnel, often co-investing in the same climate categories.

Broad incumbents

• DCVC (Data Collective): Deep-tech venture firm investing in computationally driven science and engineering companies, with material overlap in climate-relevant deep tech such as materials, energy, and compute infrastructure.
• Obvious Ventures: Broad-impact venture firm with a strong climate/sustainability practice across food, energy, and mobility. Comparable mission-driven lens but with a wider portfolio and larger fund size than Prelude.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/prelude-ventures
• Xx.com/PreludeVC

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments180 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Prelude Ventures