A new Chicago-based venture capital firm focused on investing in the clean tech industry has made its first investment.
Buoyant Ventures was co-founded by Amy Francetic, who previously ran Energize Ventures, a fund that focuses on bringing tech to the energy and industrial sectors. Francetic previously raised $150 million for Energize in 2018 from backers like Michael Polsky’s wind power company, Invenergy, GE and the Wisconsin Energy Group. Energize Ventures has invested in companies like Awake, Beekeeper and DroneDeploy.
Before founding Energize, Francetic also co-founded the Clean Energy Trust in Chicago and served as its CEO for about six years. The Clean Energy Trust has invested in Illinois companies such as NuMat Technologies, NanoGraf Technologies and Intellihot.
At Buoyant with her partner Daniel Hullah, Francetic said she is looking to invest in clean-tech startups across energy, transportation and agriculture sectors. Francetic declined to disclose how large the fund will be as the firm is still fundraising.
"We’re looking for companies that are using digital technologies to address climate change adaptation, or growth opportunities, as well as mitigation, or emission reductions," Francetic said.
As part of that mission, Buoyant announced its first investment this week when it co-led a $5 million Series A round for Boston-based Raptor Maps, which combines drone technology with AI software to collect aerial data and convert it into high-value system analytics for solar companies.
Additional investors in the round included other clean energy VC firms, such as the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and Blue Bear Capital.
Buoyant invested in Raptor Maps because of its work in the large solar system space and its ability to optimize the output from solar farms, said Francetic.
“They’ve really grown their business successfully over the last few years,” Francetic said. “We were really blown away with how much they’ve hustled to capture market share in the space.”
Buoyant is just one of several new VC firms focused on clean energy and climate change, including Chicago-based S2G Ventures, a food and agriculture-focused VC firm planning to invest $100 million in seafood startups and other ocean ventures. And even tech giants are launching clean energy funds. Earlier this summer, Amazon launched a $2 billion fund to invest in climate-friendly transportation, energy and food companies.
But as climate change remains one of the most pressing issues humanity faces, Francetic said the uptick in funds dedicated to addressing it is necessary, and that there still isn't enough.
“There’s definitely room for more,” Francetic said. “For as massive as a problem [climate change] is, I don’t think there’s enough funding.”
