Participated · Series A · Feb 2026

Apptronik develops the Apollo humanoid robot and emphasizes human-centered design for collaboration in industries like manufacturing and logistics. The company emerged from the Human Centered Robotics Lab at the University of Texas at Austin and cites nearly a decade of development experience built on about 15 prior robots, including work tied to NASA’s Valkyrie. Apptronik has roughly 350 employees working on advancing its Apollo platform. Management positions the robot to address labor-intensive tasks and reduce repetitive-motion injuries while improving productivity and safety. The company says Apollo could expand into healthcare, the home, and other markets beyond its initial industrial focus. Recent secondary share activity—an approximately $4.2 million transaction—provided liquidity for existing shareholders and is portrayed as helping bridge development toward mass production.

Led · Series A · Aug 2024

HabiTerre develops a "system-of-systems" platform that combines remote sensing, process models and AI to measure and simulate environmental outcomes across croplands, grasslands, forests and wetlands. The technology, developed from research by Dr. Kaiyu Guan, evaluates past, present and future land performance and can predict environmental impacts of farming practices. The model has been validated by Climate Action Reserve and the company has executed pilots with commercial customers, including work with Deere. HabiTerre positions itself as climate-tech software and backend infrastructure for climate impact, not just a farmer-facing agtech product. The company plans to scale its environmental systems models and improve QA/QC efficiency to serve more companies across the agricultural value chain. HabiTerre is also exploring broader applications such as water-use efficiency, fertilizer-use metrics and nitrous oxide measurement as it pursues becoming a global standard for sustainability metrics.

Participated · Series B · Jul 2024

InnerPlant develops seed technologies that cause plants to emit separate, detectable optical signals when under stress, allowing identification of nutrient shortages, fungal pressure, or pest attack. The signals are detectable from as far away as space and can show stress as much as three weeks before existing technologies. Its first commercial product, InnerSoy—a soybean that signals fungal pressure—is currently piloting in Southern Illinois fields in partnership with GROWMARK. The company established plots across the Midwest this spring and expects an expanded number of plots over the next three years, with resolution improving as the technology is adopted more broadly in seed. InnerPlant has announced a collaboration with John Deere and Syngenta to build an integrated precision platform that links its signaling plants with optimized crop protection delivered via See & Spray technology. The company was founded in 2018 and positions its technology as a farmer‑centric tool to make farming more efficient and sustainable. InnerPlant develops genetically engineered plants that give off early 'signals' detectable by sensors and satellites, enabling farmers to act before issues escalate. The company combines plant physiology, sensing and satellite technologies so plants can communicate needs such as thirst, pest attack, or nitrogen deficiency. InnerPlant has spent several years in R&D and is preparing to launch its first soybean product in 2024 with field trials planned beforehand. The firm also plans to begin launching satellites to communicate with its sensors in 2023. Its Inner Circle program includes 75 farmers covering about 400,000 acres who paid $500 early for early access to products. Since its 2021 seed round the company has grown to 18 employees, moved into a larger laboratory earlier this year, and is hiring across R&D, data and engineering, business development, customer success and marketing. InnerPlant engineers seeds to express a fluorescent protein that lights up leaves when plants experience stress from pests, fungi or environmental challenges, allowing detection via field equipment, drones or satellites. The company’s core product, InnerTomato, is already available, and InnerSoy plus a cotton product are in development. In August InnerPlant launched InnerCircle, a farmer network that began with 50 founding members who provide feedback and participate in trials. InnerPlant was co-founded by Shely Aronov and Rod Kumimoto in 2018 and is based in Davis, California. The technology is positioned to reduce blanket pesticide use by enabling earlier, more precise interventions and to support more regenerative practices. The company has noted regulatory advantages for cotton (treated as non-GMO in some contexts) and the potential to create traceable, sustainably verifiable cotton for apparel brands.

Participated · Series A · Oct 2021

ClearFlame Engine Technologies develops patented technology that enables heavy-duty engines to run on a range of renewable liquid fuels. Its system is designed to deliver the same power, durability and performance as today’s diesel engines while integrating into existing manufacturing, fueling, maintenance and repair ecosystems. The company is targeting long-haul trucking and is piloting five trucks in collaboration with some of the largest fleet operators in North America. ClearFlame is pursuing penetration of the more than $200 billion global trucking market and is exploring partnerships and applications in mining, agriculture, and power generation. Led by CEO BJ Johnson and CTO Julie Blumreiter, the company intends to use funding to bring market-ready solutions that lower costs for manufacturers and reduce carbon and soot. ClearFlame is based in Chicago, IL. ClearFlame Engine Technologies develops net‑zero engine technology that allows low‑carbon renewable fuels like ethanol to be integrated into existing diesel engine platforms while meeting diesel performance and efficiency requirements. The company’s ClearFlame‑enabled engines aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and particulate matter, offering a lower‑emission, lower‑cost alternative to diesel. ClearFlame plans to commercialize its technology for long‑haul trucking, agriculture and power generation sectors using the new funding. The company is led by CEO and co‑founder BJ Johnson and is based in Geneva, Illinois. Prior to this round, ClearFlame received $4M in non‑dilutive and grant funding from state corn growers associations, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and others, and completed a $3M Series Seed in early 2020 led by Clean Energy Ventures. ClearFlame Engine Technologies has developed a way to modify diesel engines so they can operate on decarbonized fuels such as ethanol (and, with injection tweaks, methanol, natural gas and ammonia) while retaining 80–90% of existing diesel parts. The technology enables replacing 100% of petroleum fuel with renewable fuels, which the company says reduces net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% and cuts particulate matter and NOx to near-zero levels. Their approach focuses on retrofitting existing engines or integrating the modifications into new engines, with a go-to-market strategy of partnering with OEMs to leverage supply chains and aftermarket channels. The core tech originated in a Stanford University lab where the co-founders earned their Ph.D.s; the founders are CEO BJ Johnson and CTO Julie Blumreiter. ClearFlame has completed proof-of-concept demonstrations on a Caterpillar engine at Argonne National Laboratory and is conducting a demonstration on a Cummins platform supported by DOE funding. On the financing side, the company announced a $3 million round led by CleanEnergy Ventures and has also received several million dollars in grant funding, including SBIR awards from NSF, DOE and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.