Climate VC, Kirkland WA

Breakthrough Energy Ventures

Venture capital firm · Kirkland · Founded 2016

Quick read

Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) is a climate-focused VC founded in 2016 by Bill Gates and a coalition of billionaire investors, headquartered in Kirkland, WA. The firm has deployed $2B+ across 130+ startups targeting deep decarbonization in electricity, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, and buildings. In 2025, BEV suspended new investments from its Catalyst fund and cut staff, though the core venture fund remains active.

Key facts

Founded
2016
Founders
Bill Gates
Employees
184
Sectors
climate
Website
www.breakthroughenergy.org

Investment thesis

BEV targets early-stage companies with the potential to cut at least half a gigaton of greenhouse gas emissions annually, investing patiently—on a 20-year horizon—across electricity, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, and buildings where commercial capital won't go alone.

Recent activity

  • Jul 2026investment
    BEV led Lydian's $43M Series A — the first announced deployment from the oneworld BEV Fund, a vehicle created with global airline alliance oneworld to fund next-generation sustainable aviation fuel. Lydian's PIVOT platform produces synthetic aviation fuel from captured CO2, hydrogen, and renewable electricity, targeting commercial demonstration by 2028. prnewswire.com
  • Jul 2026investment
    Antora Energy closed $550M in Series C funding, co-led by G2 Venture Partners and Eclipse. Antora is a BEV portfolio company developing thermal energy storage blocks for industrial heat. linkedin.com
  • Apr 2026fundraise
    Kingdom Holding Company acquired a $68M stake in Breakthrough Energy Ventures. tracxn.com
  • May 2026investment
    BEV participated in Mantle8's €31M Series A, alongside Bpifrance and Sandwater. Mantle8 focuses on natural hydrogen. tracxn.com
  • Early 2026press
    Breakthrough Energy suspended new investments from its Breakthrough Energy Catalyst fund after backing 10 startups and spending 'high hundreds of millions of dollars.' Staff layoffs accompanied the suspension. The move followed pressure on climate-focused startups from U.S. federal policy shifts. timesofindia.indiatimes.com
  • Jun 2026investment
    Breakthrough Energy participated in the $8M Seed round of Arcturus Technologies, which is developing metals using carbon nanomaterials. tracxn.com
  • 2025press
    Breakthrough Energy shifted strategy away from public policy, concentrating efforts on supporting clean energy companies through the Breakthrough Energy Catalyst program and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. en.wikipedia.org
  • 2024fundraise
    Breakthrough Energy Ventures closed Fund III at $839M+, now actively deploying that capital. f4.fund
  • 2024investment
    Windfall Bio, a BEV portfolio company, secured $28M in Series A funding to scale methane-emissions reduction across agriculture, oil and gas, and waste management sectors. linkedin.com
  • May 2026investment
    Mantle8, a natural hydrogen exploration company based in Grenoble, France, closed a €31M Series A round with BEV participating alongside lead investor Sandwater, Bpifrance's Ecotechnologies 2 fund, IP Group, Wind Capital, and Calderion. mantle8.com
  • Apr 2026investment
    Kingdom Holding Company acquired Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's personal stake in BEV for SAR 255 million ($68 million) — a roughly 30% discount to the stake's audited fair value of $98 million. The deal, signed April 1, 2026, was a related-party transaction funded from Kingdom Holding's internal cash. pulse2.com
  • Feb 2026investment
    Heron Power closed a $140M Series B co-led by BEV and Andreessen Horowitz's American Dynamism Fund. The Scotts Valley, CA company makes solid-state transformers for renewable energy, storage, and AI data center grid connections, and plans a 40-gigawatt U.S. manufacturing facility. agrigateglobal.com

Notable investments

Key people

Named individuals at the firm. We don't expose direct email or phone — use their LinkedIn for outreach.

  • Carmichael Roberts · Partner
    LinkedIn
  • Christina Karapataki · Investor
    LinkedIn
  • David T. Danielson · Partner
    LinkedIn
  • Stefan Zlatev · Investor
    LinkedIn
  • Libby Wayman · Investor
    LinkedIn
  • Vinod Khosla · Coalition Member / Backer
  • Bill Gates · Founder
  • Eric Toone · Investment Committee Co-Lead
  • Rodi Guidero · Executive Director
  • Jonah Goldman · Managing Director

Sources

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Frequently asked

What is Breakthrough Energy Ventures?+

Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) is a climate-focused VC founded in 2016 by Bill Gates and a coalition of billionaire investors, headquartered in Kirkland, WA. The firm has deployed $2B+ across 130+ startups targeting deep decarbonization in electricity, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, and buildings.

Where is Breakthrough Energy Ventures headquartered?+

Breakthrough Energy Ventures is headquartered in Kirkland, United States.

When was Breakthrough Energy Ventures founded?+

Breakthrough Energy Ventures was founded in 2016 by Bill Gates.

What sectors does Breakthrough Energy Ventures invest in?+

Breakthrough Energy Ventures focuses on climate. They primarily invest in these sectors.

How do I prepare for a meeting with Breakthrough Energy Ventures?+

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Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources. Last updated August 7, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.

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