Led · Series B · Mar 2023

Amogy builds modular ammonia-to-power systems that crack ammonia into hydrogen and feed the resulting hydrogen into a fuel cell or engine, enabling carbon-free electricity generation. The company targets hard-to-decarbonise sectors, with current focus on maritime propulsion, distributed generation, and floating power infrastructure. Its plug-and-play modules are designed to integrate into vessels or barges, providing fast-deployable, high-density power. Amogy is now exploring the use of its technology on Powerships and floating data-centre platforms through a new partnership with Kinetics, a subsidiary of Karpowership. By pairing on-board ammonia storage with at-sea operations, the approach could circumvent on-shore permitting delays while leveraging seawater cooling for improved energy efficiency. The collaboration aims to serve multi-hundred-megawatt AI and digital-infrastructure loads, contingent on developing adequate ammonia bunkering and grid connections. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article, but management positions the solution as a key enabler for rapid, large-scale decarbonisation in high-demand markets.

Led · Equity · Aug 2022

TerraPower develops Natrium sodium‑cooled reactors that operate at a steady state and store heat in molten sodium to enable dispatchable output when demand rises. The Natrium design intentionally uses excess sodium to heat and store energy, allowing steam turbines to draw from the stored heat rather than ramping the reactor. A completed Natrium reactor is designed to generate 345 megawatts, and its thermal storage system is designed to produce up to 500 megawatts for more than five hours. The company shifted from an earlier reactor design to pursue Natrium and began building its first commercial plant in Wyoming in June 2024, though it does not yet have reactor approval and expects permits sometime next year. TerraPower claims it can complete a reactor within three years after the first batch of concrete is poured, but the Associated Press reported project costs could reach $4 billion, roughly half of which might be shouldered by the Department of Energy. A new $650 million funding round will support construction of the first commercial power plant. TerraPower develops advanced nuclear energy technologies and nuclear medicine solutions, including the Natrium™ demonstration plant and the TerraPower Isotopes (TPI) program. The company is constructing the Natrium demo plant at a retiring coal facility in Wyoming and is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). Part of the ARDP award requires a 50% match of project costs, up to $2 billion, and TerraPower says the new funding will support current implementation efforts. TPI is advancing next-generation isotopes and has unique access to Actinium-225 for pharmaceutical development. TerraPower emphasizes global deployment of its technologies and collaborations between public and private sectors. The company will remain privately held. TerraPower, a Seattle-based spinout of Intellectual Ventures (founded by Nathan Myhrvold), is developing traveling-wave reactors that generate electricity using much smaller amounts of enriched uranium combined with recycled uranium from existing plants. The company says its recycling reactors could run on their own byproducts for many more years than current reactors, potentially reducing hazardous waste and long-distance fuel shipments. The technology is not yet commercialized and the company describes the recent funding as a stepping stone toward a working commercial reactor. TerraPower aims to have a demonstration-scale reactor up and running within about 10 years. Its long-term, manufacturing-heavy ambitions run counter to recent cleantech investing trends that favor capital-efficient plays. The company has attracted high-profile backers and interest from potential partners such as Toshiba.

Participated · Series C · Sep 2019

Volta operates free EV charging stations financed by integrated outdoor digital advertising and partners with businesses and real estate owners to install chargers in high‑traffic locations. The company launched in 2010 and is based in San Francisco. Volta has deployed stations in Hawaii, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Silicon Valley, Chicago and its suburbs, Phoenix, Dallas and Houston. It says it has delivered more than 45 million free electric miles to drivers. Volta makes money from the advertising on its charger designs and will use the new capital to expand its network, adding chargers in existing cities and entering new markets. Volta Charging operates an ad-supported electric-vehicle charging network that offers free power at outdoor, sponsor-funded charging stations. The company has deployed a network of 1,000 charging stations open for sponsorship and aims to reach 2,000 by the end of 2018. Volta launched initial stations in Hawaii and has expanded into the top 10 U.S. media markets. Its sponsored stations have delivered the equivalent of 22 million miles of driving and avoided about 9 million pounds of CO2 emissions. The company is based in San Francisco and was founded in 2010. Financially, Volta has raised $60 million in total to date, including the new Series C. Volta Industries operates a network of free electric car-charging stations underwritten by socially responsible brands. Its core product is outdoor charging stations deployed in retail locations, where charging is offered at no cost to drivers. The company has deployed more than 100 stations across five cities, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Honolulu. Volta intends to use proceeds from its recent financing to expand that network into more communities. Financially, the company closed a $4.5M Series A and secured a separate $3M project financing facility to support deployment. Volta was founded in 2010 and is based in San Francisco; Scott Mercer is CEO and Michael Menendez is CTO. Volta Industries designs, plans, constructs and installs free-to-use electric vehicle charging stations that are sponsored by advertising partners. Founded in 2010 by Scott Mercer (CEO) and based in Honolulu, the company places stations in high-visibility locations such as shopping centers and movie theaters. Volta supplies the energy to EV drivers at no charge and generates revenue through advertising that sponsors the charging units. Stations are active in Hawaii, California and Arizona. The company intends to use new funds to launch a station-finder mobile app and to accelerate expansion of its EV charging network throughout North America. To date it has raised $1.875M from a group of investors including EPIC Ventures, Blue Startups, 500 Startups and Ulupono Initiative. Volta designs, installs and maintains EV charging stations for properties and supplies the energy to drivers at no cost. The company’s kiosks display sponsor advertising on the front and back, which funds the free charging service. Its stations provide approximately 15 to 20 miles of range per hour of charging. Volta plans to expand its network first to California this year and then nationwide, and aims to install 30 kiosks by year-end. Company leadership is actively developing mainland projects, with Volta President Christopher Ching relocating to California to work with property owners. The company received a seed investment to support that expansion amid strong regional EV adoption metrics cited in the article.

Led · Equity · Sep 2011

HelioVolt makes high-efficiency thin-film photovoltaic modules using a rapid, low-cost manufacturing process aimed at commercial rooftop and utility customers. The company emphasizes rapid module cost reduction and technical progress to compete in the global solar market. SK Group has invested $50M to expand HelioVolt’s Austin manufacturing operations and to collaborate on technology development and global manufacturing expansion. SK TIC and SK Innovation—members of SK Group—will provide manufacturing, engineering and operational expertise as part of the partnership. Bank of America Merrill Lynch acted as HelioVolt’s exclusive placement agent for the transaction. In total, HelioVolt has raised over $200M to fund its move to volume production and international expansion, and the new investment is intended to accelerate commercialization of its technology.