Top 14 Venture Capital Firms For Energy Startups [2023]

Whether you are raising seed, Series A or higher, in this article we have listed our top picks of the best venture capital firms for startups in the Energy industry in the US.

So, if you haven’t yet started to reach out, here is a good place to start learning about them.

Note: this article is part of a series where we present you the top Venture Capital firms across the world. Have a look at the complete list here. For VCs in Renewable energy, environmental and sustainable industries, check out our ranking here instead.

Top Venture Capital Firms For Startups In The Energy Industry

Here’s a summary of our top 14 picks for the best venture capital firms for startups in the Energy industry in the US (in alphabetical order):

Name	Location	Investment stage	Investment range	Investments
1776 Ventures	Washington DC	Seed	Undisclosed	34
Amnis Ventures	Houston	Series A	Undisclosed	Undisclosed
Battle Born Growth	Las Vegas	Seed, Series A	N/A	14
Chevron Technology Ventures	Houston	Seed, Series A	Undisclosed	33
Elevate Ventures	Indianapolis	Seed, Series A	Undisclosed	374
Energy Foundry	Chicago	Seed, Series A	Undisclosed	19
Huston Ventures	Houston	Seed to Series A+	Undisclosed	14
Loud Capital	Columbus, Chicago, Beijing, Raleigh	Seed, Series A	Undisclosed	54
Montrose Lane	Houston	Seed, Series A	Undisclosed	9
Murphree Venture Partners	Houston, Austin, Birmingham	Seed, Series A	Undisclosed	8
Paladin Capital	Washington D.C., Silicon Valley, New York, London, Luxembourg	Seed to Series A+	Undisclosed	65+
Rebel Venture Fund	Las Vegas	Seed, Series A	N/A	7
Rev1 Ventures	Columbus	Seed, Series A	Undisclosed	100+
VisionTech	Indianapolis	Seed, Series A	Undisclosed	58

1. Montrose Lane

Location: Houston

Houston-based venture capital firm, Montrose Lane offers Seed and Series A funding to those companies that are working in the energy sector. Unfortunately, the firm does not disclose the exact investment amount.

Previously known as Cottonwood Venture Partners, Montrose Lane works only with those companies that have demonstrated early customer adoption but need funds to accelerate their growth. The companies that they work with must be able to make energy more affordable and accessible to people.

So far, this venture firm has invested in 9 companies with big names like HUVR, Engage, Ambyint, Tachyus, and Trivie.

2. Houston Ventures

Location: Houston

Houston Ventures is another of Houston’s popular venture capital firms. It offers Seed to Series A+ funding to companies working in the technology and energy sectors. Interestingly, this firm considers its portfolio companies as clients and hence, works towards helping them succeed.

In fact, Houston Ventures has a history of selling many of its portfolio companies to big companies like IHS, Siemens, AT&T, and IBM. Unfortunately, this venture capital firm never discloses the exact investment amount. So far, Houston Ventures has invested in 14 companies, some of which are Geoforce, LiquidFrameworks, OspreyData, and RigNet.

3. Energy Foundry

Location: Chicago

Energy Foundry is a famous venture capital firm operating in Chicago. This venture capital firm offers Seed and Series A funds to companies operating in the Energy and Cleantech industries. What is interesting is that this venture capital firm works with its portfolio companies as a partner and offers various tools and essential services that can help the portfolio companies to scale.

Unfortunately, Energy Foundry does not disclose the exact investment amount anywhere on its website. So far, the firm has invested in 19 companies, some of which are Azumo, Digital H2O, Bractlet, Glidepath, Invektek, and Recurve, among others.

4. Chevron Technology Ventures

Location: Houston

Chevron Technology Ventures started back in 1999, and it is a part of the multinational energy company Chevron. What’s interesting to note is that this venture capital arm of Chevron offers Seed and Series A funding to startups working in Energy Tech and IT & Digitalization. However, they will work only with those companies that will help Chevron to produce and deliver clean energy in a more efficient way.

Interestingly, though Chevron Technology Ventures has invested in 33 companies so far, it does not reveal the exact investment amount. Some of its many portfolio companies of Chevron include Baseload Capital, Blue Planet, Carbon Clean, Ocergy, Seeq, Mission Secure, and ThoughtTrace among others.

5. Murphree Venture Partners

Location: Houston, Austin, Birmingham

Murphree Venture Partners is a Huston-based venture capital firm. However, it also has a physical presence in Austin and Birmingham. This venture capital firm offers Seed and Series A funding to companies working in Energy, Tech-enabled Services, Critical Infrastructure, and Waste Management industries. Unfortunately, this venture capital firm does not disclose the exact investment amount.

It is interesting to note that this venture capital firm invests in companies located in the south and southwest regions of the United States of America.

However, one of their primary requirements is that the companies should have a revenue of anywhere between $3M and $30M. So far, the firm has invested in 8 companies and some of them are Dowley Security, Anark Corporation, Object Reservoir, Smart Furniture, and Intrinergy.

6. Loud Capital

Location: Columbus, Chicago, Beijing, Raleigh

With a physical presence in Columbus, Chicago, Beijing, and Raleigh, Loud Capital is one of the most prominent venture capital firms that offer Seed and Series A investments to companies operating in the Clean Energy, Tech, Healthcare, and other sectors.

In fact, this venture capital firm actually invests in multiple sectors such as food, automotive, and others.

Unfortunately, Loud Capital does not disclose the exact investment amount anywhere on its website. So far, this venture capital firm has invested in 54 companies, some of which are Hot Chicken Takeover, Share Mobility, Pay Theory, Casca, Nikola Labs, Couplet Care, and Field Day, among others.

7. Rebel Venture Fund

Location: Las Vegas

The Rebel Venture Fund is a venture capital firm backed by the University of Nevada. This venture capital fund focuses on entrepreneurs, startups, and students located in Nevada. The firm offers Seed and Series A funding to companies working in Logistics, Hospitality, Energy, Gaming, and Healthcare.

It is interesting to note that this venture fund prioritizes startups run by students and alumni of the university. Also, the companies applying for funding must have a working prototype, or at least a developed business plan.

The Rebel Venture Fund does not disclose the exact investment amount. However, it has so far invested in 7 companies, some of which are Walls360, Perfect Point, Keyln, and ConnectedSignals.

8. Elevate Ventures

Location: Indianapolis

Indianapolis-based Elevate Ventures is one of the most prominent and biggest venture capital firms in Indiana that offers Seed and Series A investments to startups operating in the Agriculture, B2B & B2C Tech & Services, Drug Development, Manufacturing, Energy & Defense, and Medical Devices & Diagnostics sectors.

Unfortunately, Elevate Ventures never clarifies the exact amount it invests in each of its selected companies. What is interesting to note here is that before investing, Elevate Ventures, before investing, spends four months on average with every company that has the potential to grow.

So far, this firm has invested in 374 companies, some of which are Advanced Renewable Power, Adipo Therapeutics, AccuPS, Aqua Spy, Bionode, Best Quote, and Biokorf, among others.

9. Paladin Capital

Location: Washington D.C., Silicon Valley, New York, London, Luxembourg

The Paladin Capital Group is a leading venture capital firm located in Washington D.C. However, it also operates in Silicon Valley, CA, New York, London, and Luxembourg.

This venture capital firm offers Seed to Series A+ funding to companies operating in cybersecurity, telecommunications, life sciences, structured finance, and alternative energy.

Apart from direct investment, Paladin Capital also offers mentorship through a network of mentors with deep industry experience. So far, Paladin Capital has invested in over 65 companies with some notable names being Expel, Secure Code Warrior, RiskLens, WhiteOps, Anomali, Cloud Conformity, and Digital Shadows among others.

10. VisionTech

Location: Indianapolis

VisionTech is yet another popular venture capital firm in Indianapolis. This venture capital firm looks for companies operational in Advanced Materials, Life Sciences, B2B SaaS, Sports Tech, Energy & Electronics, and various other sectors and offers Seed and Series A funding.

Just like every other venture capital firm on this list, even VisionTech does not disclose the exact investment amount anywhere on its website. The amount they invest depends on the stage of a company and also on its needs.

So far, VisionTech has invested in 58 companies, some of which are Nexosome Oncology, SafeKeeping, TrioLabs, Epilogue Systems, HealIonics, and SpinTech, among others.

11. Amnis Ventures

Location: Houston

Amnis Ventures is one of Houston’s most renowned venture capital firms. This venture capital firm offers Series A funding to those startups and businesses that work in Real Estate, Oil & Gas, Financial Services, Renewable Energy, Industrial Services, and Technology sectors.

Unfortunately, Amnis Ventures does not disclose the exact amount of investment on its website. Apart from providing funds, the firm works closely with the portfolio companies and offers mentorship and industry expertise, thereby helping them to grow faster.

12. Rev1 Ventures

Location: Columbus

One of the biggest venture capital firms operating in Columbus is Rev1 Ventures. This venture capital firm offers Seed and Series A funding to companies that are operational in the B2B SaaS, Digital Health & Healthcare IT, Life Sciences, Foodtech & Agtech, Advanced Materials, and Alternate Energy sectors.

This venture capital firm has so far invested in more than 100 companies, some of which are Able, Aware, Brand Thunder, Cape Analytics, Inmobly, Innovate IP, Strongsuit, Relativity6, and TicketFire, among others.

Unfortunately, Rev1 Ventures does not disclose the exact investment amount anywhere on its website. However, the firm does provide the necessary guidance and connections to its portfolio companies so that they can succeed.

13. 1776 Ventures

Location: Washington D.C.

1776 Ventures started out from 1776 Incubator. Though based in Washington D.C., this venture capital firm invests across the globe. This VC firm focuses on companies in Transportation, Energy, Education, Health, Govtech, Smart Cities, and Fintech.

Some of the most notable portfolio companies of 1776 Ventures include Cancer IQ, Aquicore, BabyScripts, EdSurge, AlwaysPrepped, Lingua.ly, etc.

1776 Ventures offers Seed funding to startups irrespective of whether they are affiliated to 1776 Incubator or not.

The firm does not disclose the exact investment amount, but so far, they have invested in 34 companies in 8 different countries with 4 successful exits.

14. Battle Born Growth

Location: Las Vegas

Las Vegas-based Battle Born Growth is a venture capital program of Nevada. It is an evergreen venture capital fund that offers Seed and Series A funding to startups working in various sectors including Aerospace, Agriculture, Energy, Healthcare, IT, Logistics, Manufacturing, Mining, Tourism, and Water.

Unfortunately, Battle Born Growth does not disclose the exact investment amount, but they clearly state that they only invest in those companies that have the prospect of offering the highest returns.

So far, Battle Born Growth has invested in 14 companies, some of which include Wedgies, Tu Biomics, Heligenics, Semi Exact, CircleIn, and WiseBanyan.