JACKSON, Wyo. and LOS ANGELES, Nov. 21, 2024 — Blue Bear Capital, a venture and growth equity firm focused on AI-powered solutions for the world’s energy, infrastructure, and climate challenges, today announced the close of its $160M Fund III and additional follow-on vehicles. The new fund will continue Blue Bear’s commitment to entrepreneurs building digital technology companies in markets which include sustainable energy production, electric grid infrastructure, transportation and logistics, energy-intensive industries, and climate industries such as storm and wildfire protection, pollution reduction, and water and land management.
Founded in 2016, Blue Bear has a proven track record of investing in leading energy technology companies through its prior funds, including its $150M Fund II announced in 2021. Fund III will continue the firm’s model of investing in companies applying operational AI and showing commercial ramp-up, which Blue Bear can accelerate through its network of private equity, infrastructure fund, and energy industry relationships.
“There is nothing artificial about artificial intelligence,” said Blue Bear Partner Ernst Sack. “Just like the evolution of the eyeball or the development of writing, it is the next step in how information is found, shared, analyzed, and used to improve the world around us. At Blue Bear we are dedicated to uniting this machine intelligence with human creativity and entrepreneurship and leveraging that powerful combination to drive forward a modern, intelligent, sustainable, and globally competitive energy and industrial economy.”
Fund III was funded by dozens of senior executives from leading private equity and infrastructure funds, alongside returning Blue Bear institutional investors such as Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the McKnight Foundation, and Zoma Capital (a Walton Family affiliate), in addition to new partners including UBS and WovenEarth Ventures.
“With our third fund, we’re continuing to champion the data revolution across energy and industry. By investing in the intelligence behind the transition, companies have the opportunity to achieve excellent financial returns and meaningful impact on the climate. Together, we’re building a cleaner, smarter energy future,” added Blue Bear Partner, Vaughn Blake.
Fund III has already made investments in four new companies; ChargerHelp!, Pioneer, SKOON, and Delos; with three additional investments still to be announced. These companies demonstrate the range and diversity of Blue Bear’s markets: ChargerHelp! uses remote asset management software to make electric vehicle infrastructure more reliable, Pioneer uses AI tooling to help energy and climate entrepreneurs access and manage capital, SKOON is creating an online marketplace for electrified industrial equipment like batteries and generators, and Delos uses AI analytics to help insurers quantify and manage wildfire risk. These businesses echo past Blue Bear investment success themes from companies like Raptor Maps, which has analyzed more than 100 gigawatts of utility-scale solar assets, TruckLabs which improves trucking fuel efficiency by over 5% (recently sold to a Tier 1 auto supplier), Mira which uses augmented reality to improve factory and utility efficiency (and was sold to Apple), Urbint which builds digital twins of critical grid infrastructure for over 30 leading US utilities, and Hydrosat which monitors water resource risk for agriculture and commodity markets.
“We have great respect for Blue Bear’s leadership and team depth as an early-stage investor in digital solutions for decarbonization and we are delighted to be LPs in Fund III,” said Jane Woodward, co-founder and partner at WovenEarth Ventures. “The team’s unique industry experience and perspective allows Blue Bear to fill the gap between the energy supply chain of the past and the energy needs of the future.”
Blue Bear’s leadership team is built on decades of energy and industrial investment experience, operational and strategy perspective, and network building. Partner Ernst Sack has 20 years of investment experience across energy private equity, solar project finance, and venture capital – including with Riverstone and Deep Green Solar – and has served on more than 30 energy and technology company boards. Partner Vaughn Blake is a veteran venture investor and operator whose experience spans deep tech, multi-asset class manager selection as an LP, and growth stage investing. Partner Dr. Carolin Funk is an energy transition expert with 20 years of experience in policy and corporate venture – including with the German Energy Agency and with Siemens – and as COO of two energy storage startups. CTO and Partner Dr. Rob MacInnis holds a doctorate in computer science and has decades of startup experience in cloud computing and blockchain technologies. General Counsel and COO Hank Hattemer, a tech entrepreneur, formerly worked with global law firm Latham & Watkins’ leveraged finance group.
“The energy and climate landscape has become more dynamic than ever for founders to navigate. We are committing the collective experience and intelligence of our network to support founders along the journey towards impactful outcomes,” said Blue Bear Partner Dr. Carolin Funk.
About Blue Bear Capital
Blue Bear is a venture capital and early growth equity firm driving digital technologies and machine intelligence into multibillion-dollar verticals across the energy, infrastructure, and climate industries. The team comes from leading energy private equity firms, startups, and large industrial technology developers. Blue Bear typically leads Seed through Series B rounds, with a portfolio covering operational AI, IoT, and cybersecurity technologies, all deployed with enterprise customers to drive connectivity and intelligence across the world’s most critical industries. More information can be found at www.bluebearcap.com.
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SOURCE Blue Bear Capital
