Working With Us
Hands-on investment
We've been investing together in clean energy innovation since the beginning of cleantech. That experience — and the hard lessons learned along the way — is what we put to work for every founder we back.
Working With Us
We've been investing together in clean energy innovation since the beginning of cleantech. That experience — and the hard lessons learned along the way — is what we put to work for every founder we back.
More Than Capital
Lou & Jeff work with Lithios on pilot-stage lithium refining
We're former entrepreneurs and operators who've run clean energy businesses and led inside the largest energy companies in the world.
We built CEV to do one thing well: shepherd climate tech through commercialization. We don't just write checks and attend board meetings.
We've been investing together in clean energy since the early 2000s — long enough to recognize what makes a technology groundbreaking, and what is needed to successfully scale that technology after we invest.
Investment Criteria
Stages
Sectors
What We Look For
The Journey
From initial due diligence to exit, we're actively involved at every phase. First call through exit, here's what partnership looks like in practice.
A deep dive into team, technology, market, and climate impact, grounded in technical and commercial rigor.
We move fast after closing. Board members lean in, introductions to key partners and customers are made, and we work together to pressure-test the go-to-market strategy before scaling spend.
Leadership coaching, marketing strategy, follow-on capital introductions, IP guidance, and active board participation. We're your first call when things get hard, and your loudest advocate when things are going right.
Whether you exit, raise your next round, or launch a second company, the CEV network stays with you. Our portfolio alumni are one of our most powerful resources, and we connect founders across funds and stages.
Our Support Model
01
From founder coaching to executive hiring playbooks, we help founders scale themselves as intentionally as they scale their teams. A curated network of leadership coaches, recruiter introductions, candidate database, and frameworks for org design, comp planning, and culture. And they're all built for early and growth stage climate tech.
02
Positioning and messaging that resonates with customers, partners, and follow-on investors. We help founders articulate their technology's value in commercial terms — without losing the technical credibility that earned them the space.
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03
Two decades of relationships across energy, industry, policy, and capital markets are regularly put to work for our portfolio. From Fortune 500 customers to Series B lead investors, we make warm introductions that can't be won through LinkedIn messages.
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04
A peer network of climate tech founders and operators facing the same challenges you are. Topical workshops with experts and opportunities for peer-to-peer learning. This is a community you can lean on so you're not reinventing the wheel.
05
We don't just show up. Our board members come prepared, engage substantively on strategy, and hold themselves accountable to adding value. When you need a decision-making partner, we're at the table for strategy and alongside your team for everything that follows.
06
End-to-end fundraising support, from narrative and data room builds through introductions to the right investors. Our network spans leading institutional VCs, blue chip corporates, and family offices.
Clean Energy Venture Group (CEVG) is our sister organization, made up of experienced angel investors backing early-stage climate tech at pre-seed and seed. If you’re raising and want strategic angel capital, apply through the CEVG portal.
Apply for CEVG Investment →