What Earthshot Ventures does

Earthshot Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2021 and headquartered in San Francisco, operating as the venture arm of the Elemental Impact platform. The firm invests at Pre-Seed to Series B in companies at the intersection of climate technology, AI, and critical systems, with three stated verticals: AI x Infrastructure, Energy, and Critical Minerals. Earthshot sources deals through a proprietary data-driven engine that evaluated over 1,900 companies in 2024 and invests in fewer than 0.4% of those reviewed, targeting category-defining teams with fast paths to revenue and proven go-to-market playbooks.

The firm's portfolio of approximately 24–27 companies spans energy, mobility, materials, food systems, and industry, with notable holdings including KoBold Metals (critical minerals exploration), Etched AI (transformer-optimized chips), Vaulted Deep (carbon sequestration), Emerald AI (data-center power optimization), Ceramic.ai (AI training efficiency), Cloover (residential energy OS), Hubble Network (satellite connectivity), Mariana Minerals (autonomous mining), Derapi (distributed energy APIs), and Klim (regenerative agriculture SaaS). The team is led by three General Partners—co-founders Dawn Lippert and Mike Jackson, and Matt Logan (promoted November 2025 from first employee)—supported by a Partner, Analyst, Venture Partner, and a bench of Executives in Residence.

Earthshot generates returns through traditional venture capital economics: management fees on committed capital during the fund lifecycle and carried interest on successful portfolio exits. The firm currently operates Fund II after launching with Fund I in 2021. Its LP base includes Emerson Collective, McKinley Management, Builders Vision, Toyota Ventures, Microsoft, and the Employees Retirement System of the State of Hawaii, alongside high-profile individual investors John Doerr, Tom Steyer, and Laurene Powell Jobs. The firm markets through thought leadership content, portfolio company PR, industry events (London Climate Action Week, Aspen Ideas: Climate, NY Climate Week), and a data-driven outbound sourcing motion targeting 500+ companies annually.

Name

Earthshot Ventures

Legal name

Earthshot Ventures, LLC

Website

https://earthshot.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Earthshot Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing at Pre-Seed to Series B in companies at the intersection of climate technology, AI, and critical minerals, operating as the venture arm of the Elemental Impact platform with a selective, data-driven sourcing approach.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital Fund Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394), All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Climate tech investments
• Early-stage funding
• Fund management services
• AI infrastructure investing

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Fund Management: Earthshot Ventures generates returns through traditional venture capital economics: management fees on committed capital during the fund lifecycle and carried interest (typically 20%) on profits from successful portfolio company exits. The firm targets competitive financial returns alongside measurable environmental impact.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Earthshot Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests Pre-Seed to Series B in founders building at the intersection of AI, energy, and critical minerals. The firm deploys capital from institutional LPs and provides portfolio companies with strategic support, operational expertise, and access to the Elemental Impact platform network of investors, customers, policymakers, and business leaders. The firm invests in fewer than 0.4% of companies evaluated through a data-driven sourcing engine.

Product overview

Earthshot Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies (Pre-Seed to Series B) at the intersection of climate technology and AI, focused on energy, AI infrastructure, and critical minerals markets. As an investment firm, it does not offer a product or service in the traditional sense; its offering is investment capital, strategic support, and access to the Elemental Impact network for portfolio companies. Earthshot's portfolio includes companies such as Derapi (API infrastructure for distributed energy), Ceramic.ai (AI model training efficiency), Cloover (AI operating system for residential energy), Etched (AI chip design), Emerald AI (data center power optimization), Mariana Minerals (autonomous mining software), and Vaulted Deep (carbon removal technology), among approximately 27 total portfolio companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Earthshot Ventures Fund I Earthshot Ventures' inaugural early-stage venture capital fund focused on Pre-Seed to Series B investments in founders building category-defining companies at the intersection of AI, energy, and critical minerals. Available to institutional limited partners for capital commitment.
• Earthshot Ventures Fund II Earthshot Ventures' second early-stage venture capital fund, continuing the firm's Pre-Seed to Series B investment strategy in climate and AI sectors. Available to institutional LPs for capital commitment.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 70% of active portfolio companies have AI at core of their products
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Elemental ImpactflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerElemental Impact is the sister fund and parent platform to Earthshot Ventures. It is purpose-built to mobilize catalytic and institutional capital into high-impact climate opportunities, integrating philanthropic, government, and private investment capital. Elemental serves as the platform's innovation engine, helping validate emerging technologies before broader private market participation. Earthshot was launched in 2021 as Elemental's early-stage venture strategy.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Climate-focused early-stage venture fund backed by Bill Gates and a coalition of strategic LPs, investing across energy, agriculture, transportation, and industrial decarbonization. Highly comparable to Earthshot in mandate, stage focus, and climate-AI thesis.
• Prelude Ventures: Early-stage climate tech VC investing across energy, mobility, food, and materials. Directly comparable to Earthshot given similar stage focus, sector mandate, and a track record of leading rounds in carbon and industrial decarbonization (e.g., Vaulted Deep).
• Lowercarbon Capital: Climate-focused venture fund investing across energy, industrial decarbonization, and carbon removal. Direct peer to Earthshot given the overlap on companies like Vaulted Deep and Emerald AI and a similar contrarian, science-driven investment style.
• DCVC: Deep-tech venture firm with a strong climate and computational focus, backing companies at the intersection of AI, biology, and materials. Comparable to Earthshot's emphasis on AI-native deep-tech for climate and critical industries.
• Congruent Ventures: Early-stage venture fund focused on climate and infrastructure technologies including energy, mobility, and built environment. Closely comparable to Earthshot in stage, sector mandate, and emphasis on infrastructure-grade climate solutions.
• Toyota Ventures: Corporate venture arm of Toyota investing in AI, mobility, and climate, and an LP in Earthshot. Comparable as a thematic, early-stage investor with both fund and corporate parent dynamics relevant to Earthshot's positioning.
• Builders Vision: Impact-oriented investment platform backing climate, health, and equity-focused companies, and an LP in Earthshot. Comparable in its blended return-and-impact mandate and direct overlap on co-investments in climate-AI companies.

Broad incumbents

• Khosla Ventures: Large, multi-stage venture firm with one of the deepest climate and clean-tech portfolios, including Mariana Minerals alongside Earthshot. A broad incumbent operating across many sectors but with significant overlap in climate-AI and critical-minerals investing.
• Andreessen Horowitz: Mega-fund with active climate and AI infrastructure investing, co-leading rounds in Mariana Minerals and Unlimited Industries alongside Earthshot. A broad incumbent that competes for the same founders in AI x climate.
• New Enterprise Associates (NEA): Large, multi-stage venture firm investing across AI, energy, and industrial tech. A broad incumbent that co-led Ceramic.ai's seed alongside Earthshot and competes for similar early-stage AI infrastructure deals.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/EarthshotVC

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments41 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Earthshot Ventures