Riverstone Holdings Forms Strategic Partnership with Blackhorn Ventures to Accelerate and Enhance Decarbonization Opportunities

NEW YORK and DENVER, Feb. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Riverstone Holdings LLC ("Riverstone"), a leading private markets firm investing primarily in energy, power and infrastructure, with a 15-year franchise in low-carbon investments, today announced a strategic partnership with Blackhorn Ventures ("Blackhorn"), an early-stage venture capital firm focused on technology applications to the industrial sector, which advance resource efficiency and decarbonization. The partnership includes an investment by Riverstone in Blackhorn.

The Riverstone-Blackhorn partnership will enhance access to deal flow and facilitate the sharing of complementary strengths to more efficiently deploy capital into high-growth opportunities across the full investment lifecycle.  As thesis-driven sector specialist investors, both firms will leverage collective industry insights, relationships, and existing platform investments to accelerate opportunities to decarbonize industrial sectors – connecting science and engineering-based innovation with massive market commercialization opportunities.

Pierre Lapeyre Jr, Co-Founder of Riverstone, said, "Riverstone and Blackhorn share the view that decarbonization in all its forms, combined with industrial innovation, will continue to develop at the heart of corporate decision making in the next decade. As a long-standing investor in Blackhorn Funds, we have high regard for their unique sector focus, creativity and deep sourcing network, which are each highly compatible and complementary to ours.  We have already realized industrial platform benefits between our two franchises and see this investment in and partnership with Blackhorn as a significant differentiator for both of us going forward.  We look forward to working closely with Phil, Melissa, and the Blackhorn team to generate uniquely attractive investment opportunities that contribute to a healthier but profitable environmental solution."

David Leuschen, Co-Founder of Riverstone, said, "We have known Phil and Melissa both personally and professionally for a number of years and have become very comfortable with their investing style and like-minded commitment to move the needle in the decarbonization space."  

Philip O'Connor, Co-Founder of Blackhorn Ventures, said, "We are confident that the partnership with Riverstone will allow us to better support our portfolio companies by providing them with access to deeper sources of later-stage capital, while also opening up near term paths to liquidity through both the private and public markets."  Mr. O'Connor added, "Companies are raising capital more quickly and from a broader set of investors, including non-traditional crossover investors. This new platform will empower us to be even more opportunistic, with a clear objective of generating compelling outcomes for our LPs, portfolio company founder teams and the environment."

Melissa Cheong, Managing Partner at Blackhorn Ventures said, "Blackhorn specializes in technologies that are reshaping the way industrial sectors like energy, transportation and the built environment use resources – with our firm having a strong track record of investing into early stage companies across multiple funds. With continued and increasing demand for such technologies in these sectors, as well as growing regulatory and capital markets tailwinds, we see a unique opportunity to scale our efforts with an established partner like Riverstone. All of us at Blackhorn have great appreciation for Riverstone's long and successful history of advancing technologies targeting the hardest to decarbonize industrial sectors. While we target investments at different stages, our two organizations have complementary areas of expertise and are very much aligned in our broader market objectives. Our various experiences working with the Riverstone team have convinced us that this unique partnership will allow us to generate outsized climate-related impacts, while improving outcomes for our portfolio companies and limited partners across both organizations." 

About Riverstone's Low Carbon Investment Platform 
As one of the world's largest and most experienced private equity firms specializing in the energy sector with a low-carbon investment franchise that began over 15 years ago, Riverstone has invested over $6 billion in the renewable infrastructure and decarbonization categories since inception, having established industry leading, scaled companies.  Riverstone's partnership with and investment in Blackhorn is the latest example of the firm's commitment to furthering its ESG and decarbonization-focused offerings for its investors and capital partners.  Since the global pandemic, Riverstone has raised and invested over $3 billion across its growth, private equity, public equity and credit platforms to over one dozen transactions with companies across its priority decarbonization investment families and continues to expand its team and footprint to meet the opportunity.

About Blackhorn Ventures 
Blackhorn was founded in 2017 and manages a family of funds focusing on early-stage technologies targeting resource efficiency improvements across the Built Environment, Transportation and Logistics and Energy sectors. According to Cambridge Associates' North American Venture Capital 2021 data, Blackhorn is included amongst top performing fund managers in the top quartile.

Media Contacts: 
Daniel Yunger or Jon Morgan 
Kekst CNC 
[email protected] / [email protected]  
212.521.4800

SOURCE Riverstone Holdings LLC

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