Voyager Ventures Launches $100M Fund I to Invest in Climate Tech Across North America and Europe

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Apr 06, 2022, 10:00 ET

With nearly 30 years of combined climate technology expertise and backed by tech leaders from San Francisco to Helsinki, Voyager's founders are scaling climate tech startups to decarbonize the global economy.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Voyager Ventures, the VC firm built on 28 years of climate experience, today announced its first fund of $100M. Fund I invests in early-stage climate technology companies in North America and Europe.

"We're excited to back Voyager as a stand-out early-stage climate tech investing firm," said Eva and Logan Green, CEO of Lyft. "We are impressed by Sarah and Sierra's knowledge, operational expertise, and networks to find, fund, and support leading early-stage companies that can create climate impact at scale."

Additional LPs joining Voyager's first fund include the founders of Segment, Shopify, Supercell, Unity and Tableau, respectively, along with General Partners from Union Square Ventures, NEA, Insight, and Lowercarbon's Chris Sacca. Environmental leaders include The Nature Conservancy and The Grantham Foundation.

"I'm thrilled to invest both time and money into Voyager," said Jeff Immelt, former CEO of GE. "Decarbonization is a massive market opportunity and Sarah and Sierra have the experience, knowledge and networks to create an exceptional fund investing in the next set of billion-dollar businesses in climate technology."

"The stage is set for the world to rapidly decarbonize, and that's why Susan and I chose to personally invest," said Albert Wenger, Managing Partner of USV. Susan Danziger, who has backed numerous female entrepreneurs and investors added "Voyager's decades of expertise in climate enable the firm to invest with conviction in valuable climate technology companies just as they're launching. We are delighted to join the Voyager team."

Voyager Founders Sierra Peterson and Sarah Sclarsic bring a collective three decades of experience in climate to their work as investors. Peterson has been structuring markets, financial products and investments for climate stabilization since 2005 and brings expertise in energy, policy and financing. She has led investments in more than 25 early-stage climate tech companies since 2015. Previously, Peterson led corporate development teams at climate-focused financial technology companies responsible for $3B+ in solar and energy efficiency financing. Her experience in climate policy and market design includes the Obama White House Office of Energy and Climate Change and the International Energy Agency. Sclarsic has been building and investing in transformative technology companies since 2009 and brings expertise in mobility, biotech, food and materials production and carbon removal. She co-founded car-sharing firm Getaround and served as the founding business director of Modern Meadow, the world's first lab-grown leather and meat company. Sclarsic enrolled in the PhD program at MIT in 2018 to research bioengineering strategies for carbon removal, completing her Master's thesis three months before launching Voyager.

"A generation of motivated and talented founders is committed to building solutions to the climate crisis, and we couldn't be more excited to back them," explained Sclarsic. "That's why we founded Voyager, to extend the work we've been doing already for many years. We invest in foundational technologies that can decarbonize transportation, energy systems, and food and materials production, among other areas."

Peterson continues, "We recognize the stakes in stabilizing the climate and arresting mass extinction within our lifetimes. We are deeply alarmed by biodiversity loss as major natural systems hurtle towards tipping points — from the Amazon to the Arctic. And we recognize the power of markets and technology to swiftly shift our course at a global scale. This is the moment where our life's work converges with the massive market opportunity in decarbonization."

Across its portfolio, Voyager has a target of sequestering or averting the emissions of 500 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) during the lifetime of Fund I. To learn more about Voyager, please visit www.voyagervc.com or find the fund on Twitter at @voyagervc.

About Voyager Ventures:
Built on 28 years of climate technology expertise, Voyager Ventures invests in exceptional technology companies creating the foundations of a new, decarbonized economy. The VC firm is led by experienced climate technology investors, founders, company-builders and policy makers who know how to invest and build for scale. Voyager brings its expertise, experience and networks to accelerate the success of ambitious early-stage founding teams in North America and Europe, investing in both frontier and digital technology companies driving decarbonization worldwide.

SOURCE Voyager Ventures