How operational agility and specialization helped us find aligned partners for our $430M ventures fund

By: John Tough, Managing Partner, Energize Capital

A few weeks ago, our team at Energize Capital announced the close of Ventures III, a fund with $430 million of capital commitments across the fund and its related vehicles, built to power the next chapter of software-enabled climate solutions. This fund is a massive milestone for Energize and a testament to the potential of the entire climate market.

We began fundraising for Ventures III in late 2023—a time marked by political uncertainty, rising interest rates, and macroeconomic volatility. The term “climate tech” no longer dominated headlines the way it did in 2021 and 2022. Still, we surpassed our $350 million target and welcomed a new class of institutional and international limited partners. While the raise took just 16 months, the fund was years in the making—built on the back of rigorous operations, deep learnings, and a commitment to consistent, quality performance. Here are some key takeaways about what helped us achieve a successful fundraise – and how others can implement them.

Building the Architecture of an Investable Firm

Energize is a climate solutions firm committed to producing both financial and impact returns. That means that we’ve had to implement operational frameworks that embody the best-in-class systems for deal sourcing and portfolio management while maintaining visibility and accountability across our impact efforts. We’ve done this in a few ways and have learnings to share:

1. Institutionalize from day one: When we started the firm, we knew that our ambition would put us in front of some of the most sophisticated investors across the market with deep expertise in climate, impact and ESG. That’s why, early on, we actively invested in building out a sector-leading framework for our impact tracking and reporting. We brought on Lauren Densham (now Partner) as our Head of Impact over three years ago, at a time when few firms had formalized their approach to impact. She established one of the earliest systematized approaches to tracking climate impact for enabling digital solutions and integrating responsible investment principles in our sector. Our impact report, released on our website earlier this month, reflects the rigor and the results of these efforts.

2. Never mistake hype for quality: Even as our investment team fields hundreds of inbound entrepreneurs queries each year, we typically average about one investment per quarter. That selectivity is the result of a rigorous research approach. Our team starts by deeply researching an industry problem—speaking to customers to uncover real pain points in the infrastructure of the sustainable economy—and generates a thesis around the market opportunity. From there, we identify commercially viable companies that can step in to solve that problem; sometimes, the best-fit solutions are from sectors outside traditional climate tech. This method requires specialist market intelligence, attracts excellent founders, resonates with LPs, and drives an extraordinarily healthy portfolio: while the VC industry typically writes off many investments per fund, our risk and segment-aware approach aims for a far fewer loss ratio.

3. Don’t just write checks—operationalize support: Once we make an investment, we work shoulder-to-shoulder with founders to build the operational capacity needed to execute on their market opportunity. This happens both through board involvement and through Energize EDGE, our formalized collective of post-investment services. Representing over 25% of the Energize team and growing, these seasoned professionals work hands-on with our portfolio companies to create value across go-to-market, finance and operations, impact, communications, and talent. EDGE has repeatedly proven to be a major differentiator for the firm in fundraising conversations.

Each of these pillars is part of our DNA at Energize, and we’ve found it’s crucial to reflect them not only in our fundraising materials, but also in founder conversations and in our bottom line.

Finding Aligned Capital Partners

These internal structures gave us the confidence to go out and raise capital with authenticity. They provided the foundation for conversations with LPs that were rooted in trust, transparency, and a clearly differentiated model. During our fundraise, these pillars enabled us to show—not just tell—our ambitions for durable, scalable climate investments.

This fundraise started with a commitment to finding our tribe. Despite what headlines suggest, the appetite for asset-light climate investing endures. We see it every day from partners who understand that electrification is the clearest path toward cheap, reliable energy; that resource efficiency through strategies like circularity is just good business; and that the generational shift in energy demand from AI is creating one of the ripest landscapes for grid and generation innovation we’ve ever seen. In fundraising conversations, we can typically tell within the first few minutes whether a potential partner shares our belief in these tailwinds. When conversations trend toward hardware-heavy models or non-climate SaaS, we respect their perspective—but we also recognize it’s a different strategy, and we’re quick to move on in search of alignment.
Next, we worked to expand our aperture. As a result of some of these conversations, we’ve become even more creative with ways to find aligned partners. One major step was bringing in Rede Partners, a global placement agent with strong European relationships. Through their network, we connected with institutions across Europe that were deeply aligned with our thesis and eager to engage. In fact, less than 50% of Ventures III capital came from the U.S., compared to 90% in our first fund. We view this diversity and institutional depth as a signal of growing conviction around what we’re doing here at Energize.

Finaly, we approached diligence with radical transparency, inviting LPs to speak directly with any of our portfolio CEOs up and down the roster. We encouraged them to ask about the best and the toughest parts of working with us. Those candid conversations gave LPs a window into the true depth of our engagement. Founders shared how EDGE helped them secure major customer contracts, overhaul financial systems, land executive hires, and drive revenue growth. The honesty in these conversations built trust and reinforced our alignment with both founders and LPs.

We’ve found that the interest in climate investing is very real—because the macro forces behind the energy transition are undeniable. Those who see it, see it clearly. And for those LPs looking to access this space, sector expertise and operational depth are key.

At Energize, we believe this market deserves a specialist. With Ventures III, we’re proving what’s possible when this clarity, structure, and conviction meet a generational market opportunity.

We’re so excited for what’s to come.