Fundraising Fox
Leap Forward Ventures
Venture capitalLarkspur · Pre-Seed–Seed · 5 people tracked
Also known as Leap Forward
Find your way into Leap Forward Ventures
11,199 people in our graph share verified history with the Leap Forward Ventures team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Investment thesis
Leap Forward Ventures invests in early-stage startups tackling the transformation of the physical world, spanning how energy is used, the reinvention of industry and manufacturing, and responses to a changing climate. The firm views this rapid transformation as an opportunity for both software and hardware solutions to urgent problems. Run by people who were founders themselves, the firm aims to be supportive and responsive, helping when needed and staying out of the way otherwise. It emphasizes fast decisions and honest, actionable feedback regardless of the outcome, positioning itself as a partner that helps founders accelerate growth during a pivotal moment for world-changing technology.
Source: firm website, verified Sep 27, 2026.
Team · 5 people
from the firm's website & public directories
What they invest in
from 25 of 30 portfolio companiesClimate Tech ×15Cleantech ×12Energy ×11SaaS ×7Advanced Manufacturing ×6Hardware ×6AI & Machine Learning ×5Data & Infrastructure ×5
HQs:United States×15United Kingdom×2Egypt×1
Investments · 30 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2026 · 12024 · 12023 · 35 dated
Alga Biosciences develops feed additives that reduce methane emissions from cattle — cutting cow burps to combat climate change.
Advanced ManufacturingAgTechBiotechClimate TechSan Francisco, US
Alex Brown(Co-founder and CEO)inDaria Balatsky(Founder)inCaroline McKeon(Founder)inAlexander Brown(Founder)in
Co-investorsY CombinatorDay One VenturesAngel Collective Opportunity FundCollaborative FundCool Climate CollectiveHelium-3 Ventures+5 more
Balto Energy provides financing and tools for residential energy upgrades, giving homeowners an affordable path to home improvements and helping installers make those upgrades accessible to more customers.
CleantechEnergyFintech
Co-investorsKDX
Bayou Energy provides APIs for companies to deploy and manage clean energy devices.
CleantechData & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsEnergySaaS
James Gordey(Co-Founder and CEO)inJoris Van Hecke(Co-Founder and CTO)in
Co-investorsStepchangeVery Serious VenturesSurface Ventures
Rezolve AI is a conversational AI platform for digital retail that uses a proprietary language model built on eCommerce data to enable product discovery, personalized recommendations, and transactions.
AI & Machine LearningE-commerceEnterprise SoftwareIoTSaaSLondon, GB
Arthur Yao(Deputy CEO)Oliver(APAC Leader and Agentic Commerce Lead)Sauvik(CTO)David(Chief Experience Officer)
Co-investorsEvolution VC PartnersForefront VentureMighty CapitalProeza VenturesTech Square VenturesOperator Stack+1 more
Bluedot provides a payment platform that consolidates charging transactions and expense tracking for electric vehicle owners and fleet operators.
CleantechClimate TechEnergyFintechMobility & TransportationSaaSSan Francisco, US
Selinay Parlak(Founder)inFerhat Babacan(Founder)in
Co-investorsAutotech VenturesDorm RoomHeartfelt CapitalLobster CapitalOperator StackRevo Capital+3 more
Cala manufactures a heat pump water heater designed for residential use that heats water efficiently for households of up to five people.
CleantechEnergyHardwareIoTSomerville, US
Michael Rigney(Executive Officer, Director)in
BoardMichael Ting(Director)David Wilson(Director)Thomas Ferguson(Director)in
Co-investorsBURNT ISLAND VENTURESClean Energy VentureE8 AngelsClimate Capital
Care Weather operates a low-cost flat-panel radar satellite system that gathers high-precision weather observations for governments and maritime shipping operators.
Advanced ManufacturingSpace TechOrem, US
Patrick Walton(Founder)inAlex Laraway(Founder)in
Co-investorsCampus Founders FundCreative Destruction Lab (CDL)Y Combinator
Circularity Fuels manufactures electrified, AI-controlled reactors that convert waste gas streams from industrial facilities into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using renewable energy and advanced Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.
CleantechClimate TechEnergy
Co-investorsDCVC (Data Collective)Necessary Ventures
Copper makes induction stoves with integrated battery energy storage that enable home electrification without major electrical upgrades.
CleantechClimate TechConsumerHardwareBerkeley, US
Sam Calisch(Founder & CEO)inEric Wilhelm(Founder)in
Co-investorsChrysalixClimacticCollaborative FundDesigner FundMMC VenturesNecessary Ventures+5 more
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EcoCart provides ecommerce brands with a post-purchase checkout suite combining shipping protection, bundled returns, and transparent climate contributions, along with live impact counters and educational touchpoints to communicate a brand's sustainability story.
Climate TechE-commerceRetail Tech
Dane-AustinPeter TwomeyinDane Baker(Founder)in
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Co-investors500 GlobalAmbush CapitalTechMeetsTraderFifth WallSugar Capital
Eli simplifies access to home energy programs through software that streamlines complex workflows in clean energy and electrification.
AI & Machine LearningClimate TechEnergyFintechSaaS
Jeff Coleman(CEO & Co-Founder)inAdrian Del Balso(Head of Product & Co-Founder)inEduardo Del Balso(Head of Engineering & Co-Founder)in
Co-investorsCity LightLowercarbon CapitalR/GA VenturesSpero VenturesUP Partners
Sacramento, US
Jeffrey Coleman(Executive Officer, Director)Eduardo Del Balso(Director)Shawn Xu(Director)Adrian Del Balso(Executive Officer)
Co-investorsLowercarbon CapitalRally Cap VenturesSpero VenturesUntapped Capital
AI copilot for private credit and asset-backed finance
Co-investorsCongruent Venturesfresh.fundPenny Jar Capital VentureA16Z SpeedrunKDXLMNT Ventures+4 more
Frontline Wildfire Defense makes a patented wildfire defense system combining exterior roof sprinklers with a monitoring app that lets homeowners prepare for and track wildfires in near-real time.
Climate TechHardwareIoTPropTechJackson Hole, US
Harry Statter(Founder)in
Co-investorsNorwest Venture PartnersSand Hill Angels
Orbio Earth provides satellite-based methane emission data to financial investors and institutions, replacing traditional estimation methods used in the oil and gas sector.
AI & Machine LearningClimate TechData & InfrastructureEnterprise Software
Robert Huppertz(Founder)inJack Angela(Founder)in
Co-investorsSatganaY CombinatorInitialized Capital
Phoenix Hydrogen operates a marketplace platform for buying and selling hydrogen as a commodity, targeting utilities and industrial customers in the emerging hydrogen infrastructure sector.
Advanced ManufacturingClimate TechEnergyMarketplacesSan Francisco, US
Shawn Drost(Founder)inTerence Vomocil(Founder)in
Co-investors7percent VenturesY Combinator
Phykos cultivates seaweed for carbon sequestration and climate mitigation purposes.
Advanced ManufacturingClimate TechSan Francisco, US
Nico Julian(Founder)inJeff Zerger(Founder)in
Co-investorsDiscount Investment Corporation Ltd.Keiki CapitalY Combinator
PitPro builds an automated tire service system for fleet vehicles, performing tire changes and rotations at a customer's maintenance depot or lot.
HardwareMobility & TransportationRobotics
Co-investorsCoalitionDria VenturesParade VenturesVery Serious VenturesBloomberg Beta
Santa Monica, US
Jimmy Douglas(Founder)
Co-investorsA*Cleo CapitalToba CapitalVirta Ventures
Pylon provides a comprehensive infrastructure management platform for water and electricity utilities that enables smart metering, reduces energy and water waste, and facilitates meter-agnostic interoperability.
Data & InfrastructureEnergyEnterprise SoftwareIoTSaaSCairo, EG
Ahmed Ashour(Founder)inOmar Radi(Founder)in
Co-investorsLoftyInc CapitalY CombinatorKhwarizmi VenturesNeer Venture PartnersBoxGroupCathexis Ventures+3 more
QuitCarbon provides free guidance and contractor matching for residential clean energy upgrades including heat pumps, solar, EV chargers, and electrification projects.
CleantechClimate TechEnergySan Francisco, US
Co-investorsHAWKTAILMaven Ventures
Recurve provides a unified software platform for utilities and their partners to manage demand-side energy programs by integrating data from multiple systems and using AI analytics to improve program performance and decision-making.
AI & Machine LearningCleantechData & InfrastructureEnergySaaSSan Francisco, US
Zach Robin(Chief Executive Officer)in
Co-investorsCity LightEarth FoundryEnergy FoundryFuture matters Venture CapitalPrelude VenturesQuantum Energy Partners
Revoy builds electric vehicles or electric drivetrain technology.
Advanced ManufacturingCleantechClimate TechHardwareLogistics & Supply ChainMobility & TransportationSan Francisco, US
Co-investorsOlive Tree CapitalStandard CapitalTRAC (Third Round Analytics Capital)Very Serious VenturesY CombinatorSoma Capital
Rewind provides backup, restore, and copy functionality for critical data across SaaS and cloud applications, serving over 25,000 organizations globally across eCommerce, accounting, productivity, and development use cases.
Cloud ComputingData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareSaaS
Mike Potter(Co-founder & CEO)inJamesin
Co-investorsAtlassian VenturesBessemer Venture PartnersH.I.G. CapitalInovia CapitalInsight PartnersMistral Venture Partners+3 more
Rewind develops carbon removal projects leveraging natural processes like biomass and geological storage to capture and sequester carbon at scale for climate mitigation.
Circular EconomyCleantechClimate Tech
Co-investorsMensch Capital PartnersYes VCZORAH.I.G. Growth PartnersInsight PartnersPropeller VC
Seabound develops an onboard carbon capture system for maritime vessels that locks CO₂ emissions into solid carbonate pebbles for offloading and storage, enabling shipowners to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their fleets.
Advanced ManufacturingCleantechClimate TechLondon, GB
Alisha Fredriksson(Founder)inRoujia Wen(Co-Founder & Advisor)in
Co-investorsCollaborative FundHAWKTAILLOWERCARBONLowercarbon CapitalUnruly CapitalY Combinator+3 more
Stand uses physics-based simulation, satellite imagery, and field inspection to model per-property natural-peril risk (wildfire, wind, hail, water, and earthquake) and translates it into insurance coverage.
AI & Machine LearningClimate TechInsurTech
Dan Preston(Founder)in
Co-investorsConvective CapitalEqual VenturesFinancial Venture StudioFjor FoundersInspired CapitalLOWERCARBON+5 more
Other
Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.
Helios
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesEzra · gamesbeat.com · Mar 12, 2026
Stand · finsmes.com · Oct 16, 2025
Recurve · recurve.com · Oct 1, 2025
Anode · techcompanynews.com · Sep 30, 2025
Seabound · finsmes.com · Aug 20, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Leap Forward Ventures made?
- Leap Forward Ventures has 30 tracked investments, including 1 dated in the last 24 months.
- What stage does Leap Forward Ventures invest at?
- Leap Forward Ventures invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed stages.
- What sectors does Leap Forward Ventures focus on?
- Leap Forward Ventures focuses on Advanced Manufacturing, Cleantech, Climate Tech, Deep Tech, Energy, Hardware.
- Where is Leap Forward Ventures located?
- Leap Forward Ventures is headquartered in Larkspur, US.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamHow to find product-market fit
Y Combinator · David Rusenko
Images
Co-investors · 2
Semantic Ventures is a London-based venture firm that invests in infrastructure for data and the digital economy. Its homepage offers little further detail on stage or portfolio focus.
Sterling Equity is a multi-strategy alternative investment firm offering private equity, fund of funds, and public equity strategies. The firm invests across early-stage, growth, and buyout opportunities with offices in Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, London, and Delaware.
Firms observed investing alongside Leap Forward Ventures, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with Leap Forward Ventures's recorded portfolio.
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