Clean Energy Ventures
Canvas Category Consultancy : Company : Venture Capital
At Clean Energy Ventures, we invest in companies commercializing disruptive advanced energy technologies and business model innovations. For us, investing in climatetech isn’t new; our leadership has been investing successfully in early-stage climatetech companies for over 15 years together. We fund disruptive, capital-light technologies and business model innovations that can reshape how we produce and consume energy. Each startup we invest in has the potential to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions between our investment and 2050.Since 2005, our leadership team has invested in over 40 climate tech startups alongside our angel-investor partners at the Clean Energy Venture Group, prominent venture capital firms, leading OEMs, global materials companies, oil majors, and more.Beyond funding, we provide hands-on guidance through dedicated leadership coaching, strategic marketing, IP development and active board participation. Our collection of 19 Venture Partners guide our startups and enhance our value with their deep technical and operating experience.
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Lithios Secures $12 Million to Expand Lithium Supply to Meet Global EV and Energy Demand
Lithios, a developer of electrochemical lithium extraction technology, secured a total of $10 million in seed financing to scale the production of their Advanced Lithium Extraction (ALE) platform to unlock access to low-cost, sustainably sourced lithium supplies. The round was led by climate tech venture capital firm Clean Energy Ventures, with participation from strategic venture groups TechEnergy Ventures and GS Futures as well as Lowercarbon Capital and MassCEC. Lithios will leverage the funding to scale its R&D, manufacturing, and operations, and accelerate the development of commercial projects to produce thousands of tons of lithium carbonate annually. Lithios secured an additional $2 million in venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank.
Lithios is developing the first scalable electrochemical lithium capture solution, Advanced Lithium Extraction, to efficiently extract lithium from untapped brine deposits where existing solutions cannot operate. Lithios’s ALE technology allows miners, operators, and the broader battery supply chain to unlock sources of lithium previously considered uneconomical and inaccessible due to difficult contaminant profiles and resource constraints.
Ayrton Energy Raises $6.8 Million
Ayrton Energy, a developer of liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) technology, secured USD $6.8 million in seed financing to advance its low-cost, scalable approach to safe, efficient delivery of clean hydrogen. The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures and the Business Development Bank of Canada’s investment arm, BDC Capital, with participation from Antares Ventures, EPS Ventures, SOSV, the51, and UCeed Investment Funds. Ayrton Energy will leverage the financing to scale its proprietary technology, double the size of its team, and expand operations into energy hubs in the U.S.
Aepnus wants to create a circular economy for key battery manufacturing materials
Aepnus recently raised an $8 million seed round to ship more pilot-scale electrolyzers and develop the commercial-scale version. The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures with participation from Gravity Climate Fund, Impact Science Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Muus Climate Partners and Voyager Ventures.
Aepnus was founded to modernize the century-old chloralkali process, which splits salts like sodium sulfate back into the acids and bases that created them. The company uses electrolyzers to zap the salts, coaxing them into splitting. Other companies do the same thing, but they might use pricey metals to help speed the reactions. “We don’t use any expensive catalysts in our electrolyzers,” Akuzum said. The startup has over 15 customers at various stages, ranging from feasibility studies to testing the pilot-scale equipment.
Nitrofix raises $3.1 million Seed to produce ammonia from water and air
Nitrofix, which produces zero-emission ammonia through a novel electrochemical process, announced on Thursday $3.1 million in Seed financing. The Israeli startup plans to accelerate the production of green ammonia from just water and air for the agriculture, hydrogen, and maritime fuel markets. The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures, with participation from SOSV, Zero Carbon Capital, UM6P Ventures, and High House Investments.
By using water as a source of protons instead of fossil fuels, the technology reduces the activation energy needed to combine nitrogen with hydrogen – using half as much electricity as peers in the sector – enables decentralized production of ammonia and has the advantage of scaling to a distributed model. With ammonia demand expected to increase threefold by 2050, Nitrofix aims to create a more sustainable use of ammonia for industries, such as fertilizers for food, coolants in air conditioning, and maritime fuel for the transport of essential goods.