Company Hosts First Ever LP Summit and Provides Updates for Inaugural Fund, Launched in February 2023
CHICAGO, Oct. 30, 2023 — Buoyant Ventures, an early-stage venture fund investing in digital solutions to climate change, today unveils its 2022 Impact Report and provides a summary of its 2023 LP Summit event on September 12th-13th in Chicago.
The report demonstrates the firm’s ongoing commitment to investing in digital-focused mitigation and adaptation solutions for climate change related challenges. To date, Buoyant Ventures manages $81 million with a focus on seed and Series A opportunities in energy, mobility, agriculture, water, circular economy, and the built environment.
As the largest first time female-owned venture firm outside of the east and west coasts, Buoyant’s 2022 Impact Report expands on the firm’s first report, launched in 2021, by utilizing methodology from leading industry standards including the UN’s sustainable Development Goals, Global Impact Investing Network’s IRIS metrics, and Impact Management Project’s Five Impact Dimensions to quantify measurable impact metrics.
Overview of portfolio-wide impact metrics from Buoyant’s 2022 Impact Report:
- Renewable Energy: 68.5 gigawatts of renewable energy managed by portfolio companies;
- GHG Emissions: 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions avoided by portfolio companies;
- Water Efficiency: 4.5k gallons of water usage avoided by portfolio companies;
- Lives & Livelihoods Impacted: 52k people;
- Risks Hedged: $148M; and
- Food Produced: 22k metric tons.
“It’s one thing to say that you’re committed to creating a positive impact, it’s another to take the time to develop a methodology and process to help make it easy for early-stage companies to start evaluating actual impact,” said Allison Myers, general partner, Buoyant Ventures. “Our 2022 report utilizes operational company metrics, as well as leading tools and standards to measure our firm’s impact at both the portfolio level and the individual investment level.”
Key details from Buoyant’s portfolio companies include:
- 45% are working towards climate mitigation strategies, 33% towards adaptation, and 22% working on both;
- Top three industry sectors are: climate intelligence, built environment, energy; and
- 20% of portfolio company employees come from racially diverse backgrounds; while 29% are gender diverse.
Buoyant’s LP Summit, which took place in Chicago, was a gathering of the company’s LPs, portfolio company leadership, and guest speakers, including MCJ Collective’s Jason Jacobs, who interviewed Jane Woodward, founder & managing partner of WovenEarth Ventures and founding partner of MAP Energy, Sarah Kapnick the Chief Scientist at NOAA, and Brandon Middaugh of Microsoft Climate Initiatives. The invitation-only event was a platform for Buoyant to share insights on current market conditions, make key introductions to their portfolio company leadership, share findings from the Impact Report, and provide a pipeline overview.
Buoyant’s climate fund is about half deployed with 11 investments, including Raptor Maps (optimization software for utility-scale solar); SupplyShift (software to measure ESG metrics in global supply chains); FloodFlash (parametric flood insurance); Shifted Energy (demand response software for residential energy load); Audette (decarbonization software for commercial real estate); ReelData (software to optimize land-based aquaculture production); Beni (software to streamline secondhand clothing shopping); Canopy (climate benefits software for employee decarbonization); and ElectroTempo (software to help site EV charging infrastructure for medium and heavy duty fleet vehicles).
“Buoyant remains encouraged by the quality and volume of startups that are deploying innovative software, artificial intelligence, sensors, and new business models that can make a difference in the fight against climate change,” said Amy Francetic, managing general partner, Buoyant Ventures. “We are sourcing solutions that can meet the urgency of the crisis and can be deployed at scale today. There is no time to delay.”
To request a copy of Buoyant Venture’s 2022 Impact Report, please follow this link.
About Buoyant Ventures
Buoyant Ventures is a female-led venture fund investing in entrepreneurs using digital technology to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Buoyant invests in startups leveraging software and simple hardware to address climate change across the energy, mobility, agriculture, water, circular economy, and the built environment sectors.
Business Contact
Team@buoyant.vc
Media Contact
Chris Allieri
Mulberry & Astor
chris@mulberryandastor.com
SOURCE Buoyant Ventures
