Participated · Series E · Dec 2025

Fervo Energy develops next-generation geothermal power using innovations in horizontal drilling, fiber-optic sensing and advanced reservoir engineering to make geothermal scalable and competitive. Its flagship Cape Station project in Beaver County, Utah is slated to deliver first power to the grid in 2026, reach about 100 MW of operating capacity by early 2027 and has plans to scale to 500 MW. Cape Station is fully contracted through power purchase agreements with Southern California Edison, Shell Energy and community choice aggregators. The company secured long-term non-recourse project financing for the first phase of Cape Station to fund remaining construction costs and meet counterparty credit support requirements. Fervo positions its technology and commercial contracts as enabling Enhanced Geothermal Systems to be treated as a bankable, utility-scale infrastructure asset.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2025

Aerones develops patented robotic systems and AI-driven solutions for inspection, maintenance, and predictive services for wind turbines. The company serves major operators and its customers represent over 50% of global wind power capacity, including NextEra, GE, Vestas, Enel and Siemens Gamesa. Led by CEO Dainis Kruze, Aerones combines robotics, AI and manufacturing to deliver remote and automated turbine services. The company plans to expand globally, boost R&D in AI and robotics, scale manufacturing, and enhance predictive maintenance for the wind industry. Recent public funding milestones include a €4M grant from the EU Innovation Fund in 2024 and a $30M funding round in 2023, reflecting ongoing capital support for growth. Aerones develops and deploys patented robotic systems for wind turbine operations, focusing on inspection, maintenance and leading-edge blade repairs. The company plans to produce and deploy the world’s first wind turbine blade leading-edge repair robot sets using EU grant funding. Its services include external and internal blade inspection, lighting protection checks, ultrasound, painting, ice-phobic coating, cleaning, and leading-edge repairs. Aerones says its robotic technology performs crucial tasks 3x–6x faster and yields up to 10x fewer idle stay days than conventional methods, and it operates in more than 27 countries. The firm aims to cut repair downtime dramatically (targeting repairs within 18 hours and a 67% reduction in downtime) and to support the transition to renewable energy. Financially, Aerones secured a €4,416,000 grant from the EU Innovation Fund for a project with a total budget of €7,360,000, and it raised €27M in growth capital just over a year earlier in a round co‑led by Lightrock and Haniel. Founders Dainis Kruze and Janis Putrams lead the company from Riga, Latvia. Aerones offers a patented modular robotic solution that delivers a full suite of wind-turbine services including external visual and internal blade inspections, lighting-protection and ultrasound checks, painting, ice-phobic coating, cleaning, and leading-edge repairs. The company began offering basic inspection services in 2019 and has since expanded its capabilities to comprehensive maintenance and repair work. Aerones serves customers that represent roughly 50% of the world’s wind power capacity, including NextEra, GE, Vestas, Enel and Siemens Gamesa. The company is led by CEO Dainis Kruze and maintains a European headquarters in Riga, Latvia, and a North American headquarters in San Jose, USA. Aerones raised $30M in funding and plans to use the capital to grow technical and sales functions, increase the number of robot service teams, and expand into new markets. No revenue or other financial metrics were disclosed in the article. Aerones is a startup focused on developing robotic systems for cleaning wind-turbine blades. The company announced a $9 million fundraising to support development of those cleaning robots. The article frames the financing as targeted toward product development rather than reporting operating metrics. Public commentary quoted in the article praised the team and the concept of applying robotics to such maintenance tasks. Other commenters raised broader points about rising costs in green energy and suggested alternatives like self-cleaning or low-soiling blades. Aerones has shifted from using large industrial drones to a ground-based robotic system for wind turbine inspection and maintenance. The system combines a computerized winch, a robotic arm, and a small fleet of ground robots to perform tasks such as close-up photography, laser scanning, lightning conductivity tests, blade and drainage-hole cleaning, and coating application. Its design enables a two-man crew to service multiple turbines per day, including some nighttime and low-temperature operations. Aerones says the ground system is more stable and effective than its prior drone approach and has already been piloted in the U.S. and Europe. The company is Y Combinator–backed and moved from Latvia to the San Francisco Bay Area. The new funds will be used to further develop the robotic system and expand further into the U.S. market.

Participated · Series E · Mar 2024

Founded in 2010 in Dresden by Nils Aldag, Christian von Olshausen and Carl Berninghausen, Sunfire focuses on the development and sale of high-temperature electrolysers used to generate green hydrogen. The company positions itself as a leading player in the hydrogen industry and already counts energy group RWE among its commercial users. In February, Sunfire commissioned an electrolyser plant in Finland, underscoring its international project pipeline. The startup’s technology targets the decarbonisation of industrial processes and renewable energy production. Financially, Sunfire raised a €215 million Series E round and secured up to €100 million in debt from the European Investment Bank less than a year ago. The newly announced €200 million aval financing facility further strengthens its balance sheet by backing customer prepayments and warranty obligations without consuming cash. These combined resources are intended to accelerate project execution and expand its green hydrogen footprint.