Energy Foundry — Investment Thesis & Preferences

Energy Foundry Research Document

Investment Thesis

Energy Foundry is a specialized venture capital firm focused exclusively on the energy technology and climate innovation sectors. Founded in 2012 by Jason Blumberg and Sara Chamberlain, the firm has established itself as a leader in early-stage clean energy investing. The firm believes in the transformative power of innovative energy technologies to address global energy challenges and reduce carbon emissions. Energy Foundry provides not just capital but deep domain expertise, industry connections, and operational support to portfolio companies.

Sector and Investment Focus

Energy Foundry's investment focus spans multiple energy-related sectors:

Primary Focus Areas:

Energy efficiency and demand-side management (smart home, building controls)
Energy storage and battery technologies (lithium-ion alternatives, long-duration storage)
Solar and photovoltaic monitoring and management
Smart grid and distributed energy resources
Industrial energy optimization
Fuel management and distribution technologies
Climate tech and sustainability solutions

The firm explicitly focuses on technologies that can integrate with existing utility infrastructure (ComEd, Ameren) and have path to commercialization within 3-5 years.

Stage Focus

Energy Foundry invests primarily at the Seed and Series A stages:

Seed: $1M-$3.15M average (historically $3.15M average across 7 investments)
Series A: $3.17M average (historically across 4 investments)
Series B: $10.5M average (for select follow-on investments)

The fund targets companies with working prototypes, initial customer traction, and technical validation. They avoid pure hardware-only plays, preferring software-enabled hardware solutions.

Check Size and Fund Details

Typical investment range: $1M - $5M for initial investments

Seed stage: $1M-$3.15M (can reach $5M+)
Series A: $2.5M-$5M
Series B (follow-on): $5M-$15M+

The firm has deployed multiple funds over its 13+ year history and continues active deployment as of 2024-2025.

Decision Process and Timeline

Decision Process: Partnership model with multiple GPs (Jason Blumberg, Sara Chamberlain, Matt Vanhoeven) Decision Timeline: Approximately 2-4 months typical for seed-stage companies Board Involvement: Selective; Energy Foundry typically takes board seat or observer rights for early-stage investments

Lead vs Follow Tendency

Energy Foundry shows strong lead tendency:

Leads many Seed and Series A rounds (evidenced by portfolio)
Open to co-leading rounds with strong co-investors
Actively participates in follow-on rounds for portfolio companies
Partners with utilities (ComEd, Ameren) for customer validation

Recent leading investments: Recurve (2022), Azumo (2022), e-Zinc (2021), Intellihot (2021)

Recent Activity and Fund Status

Fund Status: Actively deploying

Recent Investment Activity (2022-2024):

May 2022: Series B in Recurve ($6.4M) - energy efficiency software
May 2022: Series B in Azumo ($4.9M) - software/hardware for energy management
May 2022: Series A in Network Perception ($7.9M) - industrial energy/grid monitoring
Apr 2022: Series A in e-Zinc ($3.9M) - energy storage (acquired by Dragos in 2024)
Dec 2021: Series B in Intellihot ($3.7M) - commercial water heating

Fund Performance:

Total investments: 19+ companies over 13+ years (average 1.5 per year)
Portfolio acquisitions: 5 exits including Network Perception (2024), Tank Utility (2021)
Active portfolio: 14+ companies in various stages

Portfolio Highlights

Notable Exits:

Network Perception: Acquired by Dragos (Oct 2024) - cybersecurity for critical infrastructure
Tank Utility: Acquired by fuel delivery platform (Sep 2021)
Digital H2O: Acquired (2018)
GlidePath: Acquired (2017)
Recurve: Recent acquisition (2012) - energy efficiency platform

Active Portfolio (Notable Companies):

Omnidian: Series C, $168M+ raised - solar PV monitoring (founded 2015, Seattle)
Span.IO: Series B, $256M+ raised - smart home energy management (founded 2014, SF)
NanoGraf: Series B, $70.5M+ raised - silicon-based battery anodes (founded 2012, Chicago)
Tank Utility: Acquired - propane tank monitoring and fuel management
Polystyvert: Series B, $30.4M+ raised - recycled plastic technology (founded 2011, Montreal)
Intellihot: Series B, $50M+ raised - commercial water heating (energy efficiency)
Sistine Solar: Early investment - solar optimization
Recurve: Series B - behavioral energy efficiency platform

Investment Concentration: 12 investments in Energy Tech, 11 in Sustainability Tech, 9 in Environment Tech, 7 in High Tech

Team and Leadership

Founding Partners:

Jason Blumberg (Co-Founder & Managing Director): Previously at McKinsey & Company (energy consulting), later led ISEIF. Deep energy industry expertise. Based in Chicago.
Sara Chamberlain (Co-Founder & Managing Director): Extensive cleantech investing experience. Board member at e-Zinc. Based in Chicago.

Investment Team:

Matt Vanhoeven (Partner): Chicago-based, brings portfolio company operational expertise
Judy Li (Principal): Based in San Francisco, focuses on technical due diligence and software/hardware integration

Team Size: 4 people (3 partners, 1 principal)

Geographic Focus

Primary Markets: United States (13 investments), with selective Canadian investments (2 investments)

Key Regions:

Midwest: Chicago (headquarters), focus on utility partnerships with ComEd and Ameren
West Coast: San Francisco Bay Area (growth of tech-focused energy companies)
National: Distributed across US for energy-focused startups

Co-Investment Network: 130+ investors have co-invested in Energy Foundry portfolio companies. Strong relationships with Congruent Ventures, Anzu Partners, Evergreen Climate Innovations, and DOE/government programs.

Founder and Company Preferences

Founder Profile: Energy Foundry seeks founders with:

Deep technical expertise in energy systems or related fields
Prior experience in energy/utilities or enterprise software
Understanding of regulatory and utility landscape
Ability to navigate long sales cycles (utilities, industrial)
Track record of building and scaling companies

Company Characteristics:

Software-enabled hardware with recurring revenue models preferred
Clear path to utility or industrial customer adoption
Scalable technology with defensible IP
Experienced founding team (often from Fortune 500 energy companies or scale-ups)
3-5 year commercialization horizon

Warm Introductions

Strong preference for warm introductions through existing portfolio companies or utility partners. Given the technical nature of energy investments, diligence process typically longer than consumer tech VCs.

Anti-Thesis

Energy Foundry explicitly avoids:

Pure consulting or services businesses
Solar installation or deployment companies (non-tech)
Speculative early-stage battery chemistry (pre-prototype)
Companies without clear utility partnership pathway
Consumer hardware without software/data moat
Projects requiring government subsidies for viability

Decision Timeline

Typical seed-stage investment timeline: 6-12 weeks from initial meeting to term sheet, depending on technical complexity and market validation.

Unique Characteristics

Illinois Law Nonprofit Status: Energy Foundry is uniquely structured as a nonprofit created under Illinois law and funded via mandatory utility contributions. This structure enables patient capital and long-term thinking. Returns are recycled back into the fund for continued deployment. This creates unique alignment with energy transition goals.

Utility Partnerships: Direct relationships with ComEd (Illinois) and Ameren (Illinois/Missouri) enable customer validation and deployment partnerships. Portfolio companies gain early access to large customer bases.

Domain Expertise: Combination of energy industry veterans (Blumberg from McKinsey), venture expertise (Chamberlain), and technical talent (Li) creates rare perspective on what works in energy tech.

Recent Co-Investors

Congruent Ventures (2+ co-investments)
Anzu Partners (multiple energy storage and efficiency companies)
Evergreen Climate Innovations
The Westly Group
Sustainable Development Technology Canada
DOE (government grants)
Wellington Asset Management
Liberty Mutual Insurance
BNP Paribas Asset Management

Market Positioning

Energy Foundry is positioned as the premier early-stage energy venture fund in the Midwest with exceptional domain expertise and utility partnerships. While only 4 people, the team punches above its weight through deep energy sector knowledge, strong utility relationships, and patient capital structure.