Nonetheless, amid a period of soaring , rising EV adoption rates, and accelerating progress in fusion and other fields, cleantech investment activity isn鈥檛 slowing down.

In the first half of this year, investors poured $15 billion into seed- through growth-stage rounds for companies in 萝莉视频 cleantech, EV and sustainability-focused categories. That puts funding on track to slightly exceed the 2025 tally, which was the lowest in several years.

On a quarterly basis, funding is also on the rise. Around $8 billion went to companies in cleantech and related categories in the second quarter of this year, the highest quarterly total since 2024.

Even taking into account recent gains, however, cleantech funding remains far below its former peak in 2021 and 2022. Given that overall venture funding has risen with the AI boom, cleantech also accounts for a smaller share of total investment.

Where funding is concentrating

That鈥檚 not to say megarounds aren鈥檛 getting done in the sector. A look at the largest funding rounds of 2026 paints a varied picture of where capital is concentrating.

Stockholm-based green steel producer scored the largest financing of 2026, securing $1.6 billion in a round led by Swedish asset manager . Stegra plans to use the money to complete the construction of its large-scale steel plant.

The next-biggest round went to , a -backed startup that has been generating buzz and reservations for a flagship electric pickup starting at around $25,000 that can be converted to an SUV. Troy, Michigan-based Slate raised $650 million in Series C funding in April and plans to deliver its first trucks to customers later this year.

The third- and fourth-largest financings were fusion deals. The latest of those went to , which raised $465 million in a June Series G funding to go toward building a fusion power plant. The -led round set a $15.5 billion post-money valuation for the Everett, Washington-based company.

A few months earlier, fusion startup picked up $450 million in Series A funding led by . The San Francisco-based company, formed around a fusion breakthrough at , plans to build the world鈥檚 most powerful laser to further its goal of grid-scale energy production.

For a broader view of where large financings are concentrating, below we put together a list of 10 of the largest cleantech-related rounds this year.

Under the circumstances, the space looks underfunded

While sums going to cleantech-related startups aren鈥檛 tiny, looking at total investment tallies does leave one with the impression that the space looks underfunded.

After all, energy is a growth sector, and clean energy is leading the way. The forecasts the share of renewables and nuclear in the world鈥檚 power mix will rise to 50% by the end of this decade. At the same time, global power demand is set to grow by more than 3.5% per year on average over the rest of this decade.

Exits of venture-backed companies are also happening, another source of encouragement for startup investors. The most recent IPO in the space was geothermal provider , which went public in May, raising $1.9 billion. The Houston-based company had a recent market cap around $8.6 billion.

On the nuclear power front, , a developer of small modular reactors, carried out its own Nasdaq IPO in April, raising $1 billion. The Rockville, Maryland, company was recently valued at a little over $5 billion.

Looking ahead, it鈥檚 not far-fetched to see myriad factors that could power clean energy, sustainability and EV sectors higher. For clean power in particular, the voracious energy demands of AI are certainly a catalyst to consider. We鈥檒l stay tuned to see if growing energy demand ultimately translates into greater startup investment.

Related 萝莉视频 query:

Related reading:

• 萝莉视频 Data: Global Startup Investment Hit Record $510B In H1 2026 As AI Boom Accelerates Funding And Exits

Illustration:

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

Venture funding has always been a world of haves and have nots. And these days, the haves are having more than ever. Case in point this week was . The 5-year-old generative AI giant secured $65 billion in Series H funding this week, pushing its post-money valuation to a mind-blowing $965 billion.

After that, the next-biggest financing was a $1 billion round for AI software development tool maker , lifting its valuation to $26 billion. Companies in a range of other sectors also managed to secure sizable though smaller rounds, in areas including commerce logistics, developer AI, insurtech, fusion and more.

1. , $65B, foundational AI: Generative AI company Anthropic raised $65 billion in a Series H funding round, more than doubling its post-money valuation to a staggering $965 billion. San Francisco-based Anthropic said , , and led the financing, and that , , , , and co-led the investment.

2. , $1B, AI software development: Cognition, developer of AI software engineer Devin, has closed on over $1 billion at a $26 billion valuation. , , and 1聽led the financing for the San Francisco-based company.

3. , $250M, logistics: Atlanta-based Stord, developer of a fulfillment network, software and AI tools for independent brands, secured $250 million in Series F funding. The round set a $3 billion valuation for the 11-year-old company.

4. , $113M, AI for developers: OpenRouter, a marketplace for AI models, secured $113 million in Series B funding. led the financing for the New York-based startup.

5. , $106M, insurtech: San Francisco-based Corgi Insurance, developer of an AI-native insurance platform for startups, picked up $106 million in Series B1 funding led by . The financing, which set a $2.6 billion valuation, comes just three weeks after Corgi $160 million in Series B funding at a $1.3 billion valuation.

6. (tied) , $100M, fusion energy: Kearny, New Jersey-based Thea Energy, a developer of technology for fusion energy systems, raised $100 million in Series B funding led by . Thea says the funding will go toward manufacturing infrastructure.

6. (tied) , $100M, healthcare data: Garner Health, a platform for finding healthcare providers, closed on $100 million in Series E funding led by . The financing set a $2.74 billion for the New York-based company.

8. , $90M, space tech: Observable Space, a space tech startup that develops and builds advanced optical systems, says it raised $90 million in Series A funding led by to scale manufacturing and develop its technology. The Santa Monica, California-based company also announced that it secured a $94 million contract with the.

9. , $59M, AI video: Reactor, a San Francisco-based developer platform for real-time generative video, emerged from stealth with $59 million in funding led by .

10. , $52M, cancer detection: San Diego-based ClearNote Health, a developer of early detection and monitoring tests for multiple forms of cancer, picked up $52 million in Series D financing. Founding investor led the round.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 萝莉视频 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of May 23-29. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

Startup investors kept up the busy dealmaking pace this week with a number of big rounds. Top among them was a $1.75 billion Series D for , developer of autonomous vessels. Other big funding recipients hailed from sectors including fitness wearables, energy tech, cybersecurity and AI infrastructure, among others.

1. , $1.75B, autonomous ships: Austin-based Saronic, a defense tech startup focused on autonomous sea vessels, raised $1.75 billion in Series D funding, bringing total funding to around $2.6 billion. led the round, which set a $9.25 billion valuation for the聽 company, more than double its Series C level in 2025.

2. , $575M, fitness wearables: Whoop, a provider of wearable fitness technology and a subscription platform that tracks physiological data, secured $575 million in Series G funding. led the financing,which set a $10.1 billion valuation for the Boston-based company.

3. , $450M, nuclear energy: El Segundo, California-based nuclear energy startup Valar Atomics, raised fresh capital at a valuation of $2 billion, according to a citing unnamed sources. The financing reportedly included $340 million in equity funding and $110 million in debt.

4. , $300M, battery technology: EnerVenue, a developer of grid-scale energy storage technology, says it closed on a $300 million extension of its Series B preferred round led by . The Fremont, California-based company also appointed a new chief executive officer, Henning Rath.

5. , $250M, cybersecurity: Sarasota, Florida-based AI-enabled cybersecurity startup Tenex picked up $250 million in Series B funding led by . The company said it plans to use the funds to hire more than 250 people and supplying them with AI technology that makes them 鈥渢en times more efficient.鈥�

6. , $200M, micromobility: Also, an electric mobility company spun out of , raised $200 million in a Series C round 鈥媌acked by , , and . The Palo Alto, California-based startup鈥檚 product lineup includes bikes, small autonomous EVs for deliveries, and associated gear.

7. , $170M, space tech: Starcloud, a space infrastructure startup focused on building orbital data centers, secured $170 million in Series A funding led by and . The financing sets a $1.1 billion valuation for the Redmond, Washington-based company, making it the fastest alum to achieve unicorn status after demo day, which was 17 months ago.

8. , $130M, cloud infrastructure: New York-based cloud and AI infrastructure startup ScaleOps landed $130 million in Series C funding. led the financing, which set聽 a valuation of over $800 million for the 4-year-old company.

9. , $100M, biotech: Boulder, Colorado-based Ambrosia Biosciences, a developer of next-generation oral therapeutics for obesity and related cardiometabolic diseases, picked up $100 million in Series B funding led by , and .

10. , $94M, money transfer: OpenFX, provider of a platform to move money across borders, secured $94 million in Series A funding from backers including , , , and .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 萝莉视频 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of March 28-April 3. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

Within seconds, my voice left my home in Haifa, traveled through submarine fiber networks to Europe, was processed in a data center, possibly routed through additional vendor clouds across continents, and then made its way back, only to activate a switch sitting 10 inches from my face. The techie nerd in me gets excited every time this happens. But 鈥� I could have just raised my hand and pressed it.

We live in both incredible and absurd times. Our growing tendency to deploy global systems,聽across multiple vendors, and continuous compute to solve problems that were already solved locally is something I feel we need to discuss.

To be clear, I am very much in favor of automation and agentic AI. I am educating myself with agentic AI courses to keep up with the times and use the latest capabilities. In many cases, they are transformative to businesses and consumers. Especially at scale, in repetitive processes, in data-heavy environments, or in cases where accessibility matters, AI agents do unlock real value.

But not every problem belongs in that category. And I feel an increasing number of AI-based applications and workflow automations tend to fall in the 鈥渟hower vent鈥� category.

You may think this isn鈥檛 an issue: What does it matter if we bring the tech revolution to solve ridiculous tasks, just because we can?

But there are drawbacks and risks to the automate-everything ethos.

Three risks of automating without discipline

Operational risk: more points of failure, less control: That simple command depends on multiple systems working in sync, your device, your network, Google鈥檚 infrastructure and potentially a third-party vendor cloud.

If any layer fails, the system fails. The same pattern is emerging in agentic AI workflows: multistep pipelines across LLMs, orchestration tools and external APIs. These add dependencies and complexities.

To give another example from my personal life: When my parents got their existing home, they built it as a 鈥渟mart home.鈥� It worked great, until a 鈥渟mart lightswitch鈥� malfunctioned and the smart home company asked for $1,500 to send a special 鈥渟mart home engineer鈥� to fix what would have been a $5 DIY. This is equivalent to hiring AI engineers and automation experts to support a workflow that could have been handled by a junior, nontechnical person in 10 minutes.

And that brings me to the next point.

Economic risk: hidden and compounding costs: Voice commands and AI workflows feel inexpensive at small scale, but they rely on paid infrastructure: compute, API calls, tokens, orchestration layers and vendor integrations.

In many cases, especially at scale, when implemented for those “ridiculous” tasks, the cost of automation can approach, or exceed, the value of the task being automated. We must ensure we invest in AI and automation where it makes economic sense.

Environmental and strategic risk: scaling inefficiency: Data centers create hundreds of millions of tons of CO鈧� emissions annually, estimated to grow to . AI is becoming a growing percentage of that. So these are megatons of CO鈧� emissions, and growing.

While each small agentic AI workflow can account for a few grams of CO鈧� emissions, at scale, these inefficiencies compound into real environmental impact. More importantly, this reflects a strategic issue: optimizing for the sake of it. This mindset can mean we often lose focus on solving meaningful problems.

is a strategic adviser to tech companies and investors, specializing in strategy, growth and M&A, a guest contributor to 萝莉视频 News, and a seasoned lecturer. Learn more about his advisory services, lectures and courses at . for further insights and discussions.

Illustration:

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

This week鈥檚 largest U.S. funding rounds once again featured an AI-heavy cohort, along with sizable financings around fintech and energy tech. By far the largest deal was a $1 billion financing for , developer of AI models that interact with the 3D world, followed by a $385 million round for savings platform .

1. , $1B, spatial AI: San Francisco-based World Labs, a startup founded by AI pioneer that develops foundational models to generate and interact with the 3D world, raised $1 billion in fresh funding. Investors in the round include , , , , and .

2. , $385M, fintech: Vestwell, an online provider of multiple types of savings accounts and tools, raised $385 million in Series E funding at a reported $2 billion valuation. and led the financing for the 10-year-old, New York-based company.

3. , $300M, workflow management and fault tolerance: Bellevue, Washington-based Temporal Technologies, a provider of tools that allow developers to make workflows more reliable and fault-tolerant, closed on $300 million in Series D funding. led the financing, which set a $5 billion valuation for the 7-year-old company.

4. , $140M, energy tech: Heron Power, a developer of hardware designed to move electricity from renewable sources into the grid and data centers, picked up $140 million in a funding round backed by and . The Scotts Valley, California-based company is founded by former SVP .

5. , $125M, AI coding: Code Metal, a provider of verifiable code translation tools, raised $125 million in Series B financing led by 1. The round comes just three months after the Boston-based startup secured its Series A.

6. (tied) , $100M, cloud for developers: Render, a cloud provider for application development teams, secured $100 million in Series C extension funding. led the financing for the San Francisco-based company, which said it now has over 4.5 million developers on its platform.

6. (tied) , $100M, clean energy: Houston-based Utility Global, developer of a technology to produce hydrogen and capturable carbon from industrial gases, raised $100 million in Series D funding. and led the financing for the 8-year-old company.

6. (tied) , $100M, location tracking: ZaiNar, developer of a technology for wireless networks to sense the location of things without satellites, cameras or heavy compute power, emerged from stealth and disclosed that it has drawn over $100 million in investment to date and a valuation of over $1 billion. Backers in the Belmont, California-based company include , , and .

9. , $80M, fintech: Salt Lake City-based Jump, developer of an AI agent for financial advisers and financial services providers, raised $80 million in a Series B round led by .

10. , $80M, AI observability: San Francisco-based Braintrust, a developer of AI observability software for development teams, raised $80 million in a Series B round led by .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 萝莉视频 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of Feb. 14-20. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

This week featured a lot of funding deals with a lot of zeroes on the end. Generative AI powerhouse , of course, boasted the most zeroes with its $30 billion Series G, the second-largest venture funding round of all time. Other big fundraisers included robotics startup , fusion innovator , and space tech unicorn .

1. , $30B, Generative AI: Anthropic in a massive Series G funding round that values the San Francisco-based generative AI company at $380 billion post-money. The financing marks the largest venture funding deal of 2026 so far and the second-largest of all time, per 萝莉视频 data. and led the raise, which was also 鈥渃o-led鈥� by , , , and , according to the company.

2. , $520M, humanoid robots: AI-powered robotics company Apptronik added $520 million in new financing in an extension of its $415 million Series A raise in February 2025, The investment brings the total round to over $935 million for the Austin-based company.

3. , $450M, fusion energy: Livermore, California-based fusion power startup Inertia Enterprises announced that it secured $450 million in Series A funding. led the round for the 2-year-old company, joined by , and other backers.

4. , $350M, space tech: Axiom Space, a startup that is building a successor to the International Space Station and developing spacesuits for a moon mission, closed on $350 million in new financing. and led the round for the Houston-based company.

5. , $315M, AI: Runway, an AI research and technology startup, picked up $315 million in a Series E round. led the financing, which set a $5.3 billion valuation for the New York-based company, up from $3.3 billion last April.

6. , $210M, mental health: Talkiatry, a provider of in-network psychiatry services to health systems and employers, picked up $210 million in Series D funding, led by . The round brings total funding to date for the New York-based company to more than $400 million.

7. , $130M, healthcare: Redwood City, California-based Solace Health, a digital platform that connects patients with expert healthcare advocates, raised $130 million in Series C funding. led the financing, which set a valuation of over $1 billion for the 4-year-old company.

8. , $118M, healthcare: Garner Health, a digital platform that helps patients find healthcare providers, raised $118 million in Series D financing. led the round for the New York-based company.

9. (tied) , $100M, AI simulation: Palo Alto, California-based Simile, a startup focused on applying AI to create simulated environments and simulation tools with AI agents, raised $100 million in Series A funding led by .

9. (tied) , $100M, dog longevity: Loyal, a startup focused on drugs to extend healthy lifespans in senior dogs, raised $100 million in Series C funding that it says will provide the capital required to move from late-stage development to market readiness. Venture fund led the financing for the 7-year-old, San Francisco-based company.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 萝莉视频 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of Feb. 7-13. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

They鈥檙e not afraid to write big checks either. The latest evidence of this was a $450 million Series A that Livermore, California-based fusion power startup Wednesday.

led the round for the 2-year-old company, joined by , and other backers. Inertia plans to use the funds toward a fusion pilot at , which will involve building the world鈥檚 most powerful laser and a production line to mass manufacture .

The financing is the latest in a string of recent, very large deals around both fusion and nuclear fission. Per 萝莉视频 data, both funding and deal volume for the space hit a high last year, and 2026 is off to a promising start as well.

Headline deals, leading fundraisers

It鈥檚 mostly funding announcements, but not exclusively. On the fusion front, the highest profile recently proposed deal was 鈥檚 surprising announcement in December that it plans to combine with fusion company in what TMTG called a stock transaction valued at more than $6 billion.

The deal is a long time coming for TAE, which was founded in 1998 and is the oldest operating venture-backed fusion energy company in the 萝莉视频 dataset. The company has seen at least $1.5 billion in prior known funding to date.

Other fusion companies have also been prodigious fundraisers. The leader is , with $2.86 billion in equity funding, while other standouts include ($1 billion), ($900 million) and ($357 million).

Nuclear fission is another hot area for investment, with over $2.5 billion in funding last year, per 萝莉视频. The largest deal was a $700 million Series D in late November for , a developer of advanced nuclear reactor and fuel technology.

Activity looks to be accelerating further this year, with more than $270 million in funding, including a $140 million round two weeks ago for Tennessee-based , which manufactures advanced nuclear fuel for new reactors.

Public markets too

Public investors also appear receptive. , which develops nuclear reactors, went public in 2024 through a merger with a SPAC launched by . It鈥檚 down quite a bit from the height scaled late last year, but still had a recent market cap around $10 billion.

Other SPAC deals have also popped up, including , which wants to develop energy parks with small modular reactors to meet data center demand, and , a developer of light-water micro-modular reactors. Meanwhile , a developer of small modular nuclear plants, completed a SPAC merger in October.

Related 萝莉视频 query:

Related reading:

• A Little Background On Fusion Funding And TAE Technologies, The Company Merging With Trump Media
• Fusion Startup Helion Powers Up With $425M Series F
• Nuclear Fission Shows Continuing Popularity (With VCs, At Least)
• Cleantech鈥檚 Rough Year Ends On An Up Note
• Bill Gates-Founded Nuclear Energy Startup Raises $650M From Nvidia鈥檚 VC Arm, Others
• Fusion Funding Has Fizzled

Illustration:

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week鈥檚 top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week鈥檚 biggest funding deal roundup here.

With the winter holiday season nearly upon us, this was likely the last busy week of 2025 for big funding announcements. And as weeks go, it was certainly an active one.

Perennial megaround raiser was the top funding recipient by far, securing a fresh $4 billion in Series L funding (yes, that is a thing) at a $134 billion valuation. Next on the list were data security platform and nuclear microreactor company , followed by startups in healthcare, biotech, fintech and AI.

1. , $4B, data and AI: Databricks that it is raising over $4 billion in a Series L financing at a $134 billion valuation, led by , and . The 12-year-old, San Francisco-headquartered company also said it crossed the $4.8 billion revenue run-rate in its third quarter,聽 growing聽 over 55% year over year.

2. , $400M, cybersecurity: New York-based Cyera, provider of an AI-enabled data security platform, reportedly $400 million in a funding round led by at a $9 billion valuation. The financing brings total funding to date for the 4-year-old company to $1.7 billion.

3. , $300M, nuclear power: Radiant, a maker of portable nuclear microreactors, it closed on over $300 million in Series D funding led by and . The El Segundo, California-based company said it plans to break ground early next year on a factory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

4. , $250M, healthcare software: Tebra, a provider of patient record software for healthcare private practices, says it raised $250 million in equity and debt financing to invest in AI and automation. led the equity financing, which constituted most of the round, while provided the debt funding for the Corona del Mar, California-based company.

5. (tied) , $150M, fintech: New York-based Imprint, a provider of credit cards affiliated with consumer brands, raised $150 million in Series D funding at a $1.2 billion valuation. led the round, with participation from , , , and .

5. (tied) , $150M, satellite intelligence: HawkEye 360, a provider of technology to detect, geolocate and characterize radio-frequency emissions, says it landed $150 million in Series E equity and debt financing. and co-led the equity funding, while provided the debt. The Herndon, Virginia company says it also completed its acquisition of .

7. , $130M, biotech and AI: Chai Discovery, a startup that uses AI to predict and reprogram interactions between biochemical molecules, landed $130 million in a Series B round. and led the financing, which set a $1.3 billion valuation for the San Francisco-based company.

8. (tied) , $125M, biotech: Irvine, California-based Ambros Therapeutics launched publicly with a $125 million Series A financing co-led by and ‘s strategic health care investment arm . The company licensed the rights to neridronate, which is used to treat Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

8. (tied) , $125M, microprocessors: Mythic, an Austin-based startup developing semiconductor architecture to make AI computing more energy efficient, raised $125 million in a funding round led by and joined by a long list of venture investors.

10. , $120M, biotech: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Atavistik Bio, a developer of聽 allosteric small molecule therapeutics, raised $120 million in Series B funding led by and . Founded in 2021, Atavistik has raised $220 million in known funding to date, per .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 萝莉视频 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of Dec. 13-19. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

Bellevue, Washington-based TerraPower has now raised $1.4 billion from investors, per , making it one of the most well-funded startups working on nuclear-related technologies.

The company was founded in 2006 by Gates and other climate-focused investors. It is in the midst of building a 345-watt nuclear power plant at the site of a retiring coal plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. It hopes to secure regulatory approval for the reactor next year, it said.

The deal comes amid heightened interest in new energy sources to power artificial intelligence data centers, but as venture funding to cleantech posted a lackluster year in 2024.

鈥淎s AI continues to transform industries, nuclear energy is going to become a more vital energy source to help power these capabilities,鈥� , corporate vice president at

NVentures, 鈥檚 venture arm, said in a statement. 鈥淭erraPower’s nuclear reactor technologies offer innovative, carbon-free solutions to meet global energy needs while minimizing environmental impact.鈥�

Other nuclear-power related startups that have raised significant funding include many working on fusion-related technology:

• , a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based spinoff working on fusion technology, has raised $2 billion from investors, per .
• , an Everett, Washington-based startup also developing fusion power, has raised $1 billion.
• , a Fremont, California-based fusion startup, has raised $900 million to date.
• has raised $774.2 million thus far. The Janesville, Wisconsin-based company is working on fusion technology for energy generation and other applications.
• , a Corvallis, Oregon-based company that says it has developed a small modular reactor to supply energy for electrical generation and other applications, has raised nearly $470 million from investors to date.
• , a British Columbia-based startup developing magnetized target fusion technology, has raised $370 million.
• , also based in Everett, has raised $337.8 million for its work on 鈥渃ompact fusion power鈥� that doesn鈥檛 require lasers or magnets.
• , a New York-based company that builds micro-small modular reactors and advanced nuclear reactors has raised $229.1 million to date, per .

Related 萝莉视频 queries:

Related reading:

• Fusion Startup Xcimer Lands $100M, Boosting Sector鈥檚 Lackluster Funding
• Venture Investors Put Billions Into Nuclear Fusion And Fission Projects
• Battery Tech And Fusion Dominate Big Energy Tech Funding Rounds
• Powering Up: Investors Warming To Nuclear Fusion

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While Silicon Valley obsesses over the latest AI hallucinations, the real revolution is powering the computer you’re reading this on. It鈥檚 the electron economy 鈥� where electricity becomes as programmable as software.

The $21 trillion gold rush

Twenty-one trillion dollars. That’s how much will be invested in the energy transition, according to . For context, that’s 20x investments in AI to date and more than the combined market cap of every FAANG 鈥� , , , and 鈥� stock.

And here’s the kicker: the biggest returns won’t come from solar panels. They’ll come from making our electrons intelligent, tradable and valuable through software.

The infrastructure era is outdated

Recently, many investors have highlighted that security concerns will reshape energy markets, prompting countries to diversify their energy mix. It鈥檚 the kind of incremental thinking you鈥檇 expect from traditional firms.

Here鈥檚 what the old-guard investors don’t get: We’re not just swapping one commodity for another 鈥� we’re witnessing the transformation of a utility into a technology platform. While they debate the optimal mix of natural gas vs solar, they completely miss the digital forest for the physical trees.

The difference is profound. The electron economy recognizes that adding intelligence to our grid creates entirely new business models and market opportunities, dwarfing the commodity value of electrons themselves.

It鈥檚 the same old pattern: Traditional hotel investors debated occupancy rates while built a $100 billion platform. Taxi-medallion owners argued about gas prices while created a trillion-dollar mobility ecosystem. And now energy conglomerates fixate on commodity prices while software companies build platforms controlling how electrons flow.

This isn’t just about climate

Let’s be brutally honest. The clean energy boom started with climate concerns, but it鈥檚 now supercharged by much more immediate forces: AI is an electricity monster. A single query uses 10x the electricity of a search. ‘s GPU farms consume as much power as small cities.

China gets it. American politicians argued about wind turbines while China built 80% of the world’s battery manufacturing capacity. China realized that controlling the electron supply chain means controlling the future.

Our grid is embarrassingly antiquated. Our electrical system was designed in the 1890s. Most power plants operate at 50% capacity. Blackouts cost Americans $150 billion annually. These are massive inefficiencies waiting to be arbitraged.

The three trends creating your next unicorn

There are three overarching trends to know in all this.

1. Hardware economics have flipped. Solar, batteries and EVs have seen 90% cost reductions in the past decade.
2. Everything is an energy endpoint. Your thermostat, car and fridge are now energy traders. The average American home has 25-plus energy-connected devices, up from just 3 in 2010.
3. Markets are finally opening. Deregulation has created entirely new markets for energy services, allowing startups into what was once a utility monopoly.

The electric unicorn breeding grounds

The overlooked goldmines where future energy tech giants are born include:

Digital twins for the grid: This is a $50 billion sweet spot. Our electrical grid is flying blind. Grid operators learn about outages when customers call to complain. The company that creates the 鈥淕oogle Maps of electricity鈥� will be the backbone of the entire energy transition.

Electron trading platforms: Wall Street 2.0. Electricity markets transact $1 trillion annually using technology older than . When blackouts hit Texas in 2021, prices spiked 400x 鈥� but most consumers had no way to respond because market signals never reached them. The first company to tokenize demand response (saved electricity) will print money faster than the Fed.

Virtual power plants: Creating billions from thin air. The dirty secret of renewable energy is intermittency. Companies that can aggregate batteries, EVs and smart devices into dispatchable power resources create value from nothing. A Virtual Power Plant in California recently generated $3,000 per customer in one day during a heat wave.

AI-to-grid optimization: The perfect symbiosis. AI requires enormous power to train and run models. But what if AI could optimize its own energy consumption? The startups building autonomous energy agents 鈥� software shifting AI workloads to match renewable energy availability or provide grid services 鈥� create the ultimate symbiotic relationship.

The most successful founders and investors of the next decade will understand that software is eating the world, but electrons are powering that software. The electron economy isn’t coming 鈥� it’s already here. The only question is whether you’ll be part of it or watching from the sidelines.

is the chief investment officer at , a venture capital firm investing in the digital infrastructure of the energy transition. He was previously head of venture investments at a $40 billion-plus energy investment and infrastructure firm. Prior to that, he was CEO and co-founder of . He is also a co-founder of , an early-stage community energy software network, and , where he was active in building an in-front-of-the-meter utility scale battery storage business. He serves on the board of and previously held a board position in a large retail energy provider, that was acquired by

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