G2VP VC raises $500 million to fund sustainable tech – TechCrunch

G2 Venture Partners, a firm that spun out of Kleiner and Perkins Caufield & Byers, has raised $500 million to support entrepreneurs that aim to make existing industries more efficient, environmentally friendly and socially responsible.  

With Fund II, G2 is most bullish about technologies in transportation, logistics, manufacturing, agriculture and energy, with an increasing focus on sustainability, according to a spokesperson for the firm.

“The launch of our second fund expands our ability to work with companies that are moving the needle to redefine and revolutionize their respective industries,” said G2VP founding partner David Mount in a statement. “We will continue to partner with technology companies that are pushing the future of industry forward, driving economic growth with reduced resource intensity.” 

Investors in the new fund include Shell Ventures, Mitsui & Co., Daimler AG, ABB Switzerland Ltd. and The McKnight Foundation, a G2 spokesperson told TechCrunch. John Doerr, famed investor and VC at Kleiner, also personally invested in the fund. Doerr invested in G2VP’s initial $350 million fund back in 2018, and he’s known for delivering an emotional TED Talk in which he argued for increased investments in clean energy.

The firm has already led rounds in AVEVA-acquired industrial data management platform OSIsoft, Oracle-acquired utility customer engagement platform Opower and solar energy company Enphase. Kleiner led Enphase’s past fundraising rounds back in 2010, and in 2017, Doerr stepped back in to help the financially struggling company with another $10 million alongside T.J. Rodgers. G2 would not provide names of portfolio companies for this newest fund yet, but a spokesperson did say Fund II will be investing in a new set of companies. Any follow-on investments in companies from Fund I will be made out of that fund.

The firm invested in 15 late-stage companies in Fund I and expects to invest in a similar number of companies in Fund II. G2VC typically invests $10 million to $50 million in each company. Past portfolio companies include lidar manufacturer Luminar, EV tech company Proterra, computer vision solutions provider Scandit, autonomous robot company Seegrid and agricultural supply chain platform ProducePay, among others. 

“This team has consistently shown vision and taken action that is ahead of the curve on many aspects of the digital industrial transition the world is in the midst of,” said Robert Linck, chief investment officer of Shell Ventures, a limited partner in G2’s first and second funds, in a statement. “The brain trust at this firm will be a significant asset to the new generation of technology leaders and path breakers that is emerging today.”