HOME | Prelude Ventures

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WE INVEST

IN THE
LOW-CARBON ECONOMY

in visionary leaders

in first time CEOs and repeat entrepreneurs

that addressing climate change is the fundamental challenge for our generation

that the transition to the low-carbon economy is the greatest economic opportunity of this century

that the leading companies of tomorrow are being created today

OUR VISION

Prelude Ventures is a venture capital firm partnering with entrepreneurs to address climate change. Since 2013, we have invested in over 60 companies across advanced energy, food and agriculture, transportation and logistics, advanced materials and manufacturing, and advanced computing. We have a long-term commitment to the sector, accept informed risks, and couple a fundamental emphasis on venture-level returns with an understanding of deep-tech and hardware development timelines. Prelude manages capital exclusively for Simons family philanthropic entities and is a founding member of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition.

WE

BELIEVE...

OUR PORTFOLIO

Amp Robotics

AMP Robotics is transforming the economics of recycling using AI-guided, high-speed sorting robots.

Sense shows consumers how their homes work, what’s performing correctly, and what they can do to save money and use less energy.

Climax Foods uses data science and machine learning to match the taste and texture of animal-based foods with plant-based formulations.

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Boston Metal is developing an industrial-scale process to produce pure metals without carbon emissions.

Powerhive partners with utilities and independent power producers to provide access to productive, affordable, and reliable microgrid electricity for millions of rural homes and businesses around the globe.

Recurrent is accelerating mainstream adoption of electric vehicles by helping buyers of used EVs understand battery health and transact with confidence.

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Pivot Bio has created revolutionary fertilizers that transform our food supply and improve our planet.

MineSense Technologies develops sensing and sorting technologies that enhance the sustainability of mining operations by improving ore extraction and recovery processes.

Nyriad is a exascale software company specializing in advanced data storage solutions for big data and high performance computing.

LuxWall, Inc. is a provider of vacuum insulated glass (VIG) solutions designed to significantly reduce carbon emissions in the built environment.

Encycle offers connected HVAC energy management systems to commercial & industrial building owners.

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Heirloom uses direct air capture to harness and accelerate carbon mineralization to help restore balance to our atmosphere.

Lightship is designing and building aerodynamic, all electric RV trailers.

Terabase is leveraging digitalization and automation to make solar deployable at Terawatt scale.

Rumin8 is using a pharmaceutical process to create effective, scalable and economic feed additives that radically reduce enteric methane emissions from livestock.

Thrilling promotes the reuse of clothing by providing an online marketplace for vintage and secondhand clothing stores.

Verdox

Verdox is making scalable, cost-effective carbon capture and removal a reality.

Arable Labs is a global solution to manage weather risk and crop health, delivering real-time, actionable insights for agriculture.

Catalog is encoding the world's digital information into DNA, fitting entire data centers into the palm of your hand.

SCiFi Foods is creating the next generation of meat alternatives that combine plants-based and cultivated meat.

Solidia both reduces CO2 during cement production and sequesters CO2 in concrete curing.

Pyka is leveraging electrification and automation to make aviation safe, more affordable and more accessible.

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Form Energy is developing a brand new class of ultra-low cost, long duration energy storage systems.

Electric Hydrogen is building the world's most efficient and low cost electrolyzers to produce green hydrogen from water and renewable energy at truly global scale.

Holo designs and produces innovative, high-resolution 3D printed products in metals, ceramics and composite materials using a proprietary, scalable additive manufacturing platform

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Renew Financial develops and implements innovative financing solutions designed to lead the transition to clean energy.

polySpectra makes functional materials for advanced manufacturing.

Lime offers shared electric micromobility solutions in over 100 countries around the world.

Meati Foods makes whole muscle plant-based meats that are better for you and the planet.

OptimoRoute plans and optimizes routes and schedules for deliveries and mobile workforce.

Mori develops natural and protective layers using a protein from silk to keep food fresh.

Zapata Computing is a quantum software and services company, launched by a group of Harvard scientists, including Alán Aspuru-Guzik.

Natron Energy is developing a completely new high power, long cycle life, low-cost battery technology for advanced applications.

Metalenz is transforming light via digital optics.

Living Carbon is a pre-launch public benefit company on a mission to fight climate change by enhancing CO2 capture and storage in trees.

Persefoni is the leading Climate Management & Accounting Platform. The company’s SaaS solutions enable enterprises and financial institutions to meet stakeholder and regulatory climate disclosure requirements with the highest degrees of trust, transparency, and ease.

Fortify develops advanced manufacturing processes and platforms for efficiently producing optimized, high-performance composite parts.

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Element Energy creates algorithms that improve the safety, performance, and longevity of large sale battery packs.

LevelTen Energy's technology-enabled marketplace connects C&I buyers to large-scale renewable energy projects.

Ripple Foods creates balanced, 100% natural, plant based food products with unsurpassed nutrition and amazing taste.

Quaise

Quaise is unlocking terra-watt scale geothermal energy.

PostScript creates and produces podcasts addressing climate change.

Voltus helps C&I customers monetize their flexible loads through Demand Response programs.

Trove makes it easy for brands to buy back and resell used items.

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Atom Computing is building scalable quantum computers out of individual atoms.

Citrine Informatics is building the AI platform for materials science development.

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Spark Thermionics is an early-stage company developing a power-plant on a chip, a device that directly convert any high temperature source of heat into electricity.

Scoop is a carpooling app that brings commuters together in carpools they love by partnering with their employers.

PREVIOUS

CoverCress is developing a productive winter cover crop that generates revenue for the grower, while improving soil health.

Acquired by Bayer

Zymergen (NASDAQ: ZY) engineers better microbes that make useful molecules, which are part of all the materials in our daily lives.

EnergySavvy is a cloud software company that helps utilities transform their customer experience and operations.

Acquired by Tendril, now Uplight

GreenLight Biosciences

(NASDAQ: GRNA) is a life science company committed to ensuring sustainable global development with bioprocessed RNA.

Raxium is on the cutting edge of bringing monolithic integration to MicroLEDs, enabling a new class of smaller and more powerful display products

Acquired by Google LLC

Planet (NYSE: PL) is an integrated aerospace and data analytics company that designs, builds, and operates the world's largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites.

ClearMetal is a predictive logistics company utilizing data science to unlock unprecedented efficiency for global trade.

Acquired by project44

PLANT PV is an early stage company focused on the research and development of new materials and device architectures for photovoltaic cells.

Technology acquired by

Hitachi Chemical

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Benson Hill (NYSE: BHIL) transforms the production of food and agriculturally sourced products by removing barriers to expertise, data, and technology.

QuantumScape (NYSE: QS) is developing a novel battery with an initial focus on EV applications.

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Sense Photonics is making high-performance, solid state flash LiDAR enabling the autonomous revolution.

Acquired by Ouster (NYSE: OUST)

SolarBridge Technologies develops module-integrated microinverter solutions that reduce the Levelized Cost of Energy for solar installations.

Acquired by SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR)

Unspun is reinventing apparel with additive manufacturing.

CURRENT

OUR TEAM

FOUNDERS

Nat Simons

NAT SIMONS

CO-FOUNDER

Laura Baxter-Simons

LAURA BAXTER-SIMONS

CO-FOUNDER

INVESTMENT TEAM

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VICTORIA BEASLEY
GENERAL PARTNER

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MARK CUPTA

MANAGING DIRECTOR

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GABRIEL KRA

MANAGING DIRECTOR

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TIM WOODWARD

MANAGING DIRECTOR

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ALEXANDRA HARBOUR
PRINCIPAL

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BRYAN SHILL
PRINCIPAL

OPERATIONS TEAM

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KATY YOUNG
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

EILEEN McMAHON

COORDINATOR OF OPERATIONS AND EXECUTIVE SUPPORT

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URWASHI GOVINDJI
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

CONTACT US

1 Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA 94111

Tel: 415-729-1270