How many investments has Powerhouse made?

Powerhouse has 23 tracked investments, including 4 dated in the last 24 months.

What stage does Powerhouse invest at?

Powerhouse invests at the Seed stage.

What is Powerhouse's typical check size?

Powerhouse typically writes checks of $150K – $2M.

Where is Powerhouse located?

Powerhouse is headquartered in Oakland, US.

Does Powerhouse lead rounds?

Powerhouse typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.

Powerhouse

Venture capitaloperating company · company profile

Oakland · Seed · 14 people tracked

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3,302 people in our graph share verified history with the Powerhouse team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Isha Mehrotraunlockedknows Lucy Reading · together at Steven Tarrson Impact Investment Fund (overlapped)

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✨ Fox Verdict

Investment thesis

Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups developing innovative software across energy, mobility, and industry, aiming to decarbonize and modernize the world's largest industries. Building on more than a decade operating across the clean energy ecosystem — beginning in 2013 as an incubator and later as an advisory business, Powerhouse Innovation — the firm applies a focused, industry-led investment thesis honed through deep sector relationships. It emphasizes taking early risk so founders can realize their visions, and leans on values of courage, collaboration, and creativity, working closely with founders, corporate leaders, and fellow investors to help transform energy and industry.

Invests inAI & Machine Learning Cleantech Climate Tech Energy Mobility & Transportation SaaS North America Oakland United States

Source: firm website, verified Sep 27, 2026.

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Stage

Seed

Check

$150K – $2M

Oakland, NY, US

Leads rounds

Follows

Instruments

Equity

Founded

2018

Last 12 months

1 investment

Tracked investments

Team · 14 people

from the firm's website & curated & public directories

Emily Kirsch· Founder and Managing Partner· Oakland, Californiain 𝕏

Began her career working with Van Jones on clean energy initiatives in California and founded Powerhouse Ventures in 2018. She is an entrepreneur, investor, and host of the podcast Watt It Takes.

Marie Thompson· Partner· Oakland, Californiain

Has spent her career at the intersection of energy and risk across strategy, planning, finance, and investing. She joined Powerhouse Ventures in 2019 and leads the investment team, diligence, fund strategy, and LP relationships.

Gabe Cuadra· Principal· Houston, Texasin

Provided utilities with research and advisory services on demand-side management and electrification at E Source. He joined Powerhouse Ventures in 2022 and is involved from sourcing through portfolio support, and served four years in the US Peace Corps in Costa Rica.

Gabriel VanLoozen· Principal· Ann Arbor, Michiganin 𝕏

Holds a JD/MBA from the University of Michigan and held operations, legal, finance, and strategy roles at Bosch, Orrick, ENGIE, and Anthesis Group across several countries. He joined Powerhouse Ventures in 2022 and works throughout the investment lifecycle.

Shaandiin Cedar· Principal· Oakland, Californiain 𝕏

Worked with utilities, developers, and corporate sustainability teams at Trellis (GreenBiz) and in the nonprofit sector deploying energy efficiency and renewables. She joined Powerhouse Ventures in 2021, handles sourcing, diligence, and post-investment support, and is a Diné (Navajo) tribal member and climate tech journalist.

Catherine Good· Summer Graduate Associate· Ann Arbor, Michigan, United Statesin

Began her career in federal consulting on climate and energy initiatives at Booz Allen Hamilton and is pursuing an MBA/MS at the University of Michigan, where she works on sourcing and diligence for early-stage climate tech startups.

Eric Zhang· Operations Associate· San Francisco Bay Areain

Gained operations experience at Amazon and an enterprise SaaS company building internal systems. He joined Powerhouse Ventures in 2026 and manages reporting, analytics, and pipeline operations.

Jasmine Sorrells· Executive Assistant· Bay Areain

Has worked as an executive and administrative assistant across industries including real estate management and heat pump manufacturing. She joined Powerhouse in 2026 to support the executive leadership team.

Joanne Tamayo· Summer Graduate Associate· San Francisco Bay Areain

Advised utilities on grid modernization and clean energy strategy and worked on the clean energy strategy team at Con Edison. She is pursuing an MBA at UC Berkeley Haas and serves as Co-President of the Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative.

Kendall Cody· Marketing & Communications Director· San Francisco, California, United Statesin

Has worked at the intersection of energy and storytelling, previously leading marketing at WeaveGrid and starting at Energy Solutions. She joined Powerhouse Ventures in 2026 to lead marketing and communications.

Lucy Reading· Senior Associate· Hong Kongin

Started in economic consulting with investing experience from graduate roles at DBL Partners and Evergreen Climate Innovations. She joined Powerhouse Ventures in 2025, supporting sourcing, diligence, and fund operations.

Mark Hartney· Powerhouse Ventures Investor· Lisbon, Portugalin 𝕏

Mark Hartney is a Principal at Breakthrough Energy Ventures focused on identifying climate and clean-technology investments, primarily in Europe. He previously spent seven years at SLAC and Stanford, where he held roles including Director of Strategic Planning and CTO, and led a research division in applied energy covering solar, batteries, manufacturing, and grid distribution. His background also includes three years as Program Director at ARPA-E, where he managed portfolios in carbon capture, wind, LEDs, power electronics, and building efficiency, as well as prior experience at FlexTech managing R&D programs in flexible electronics and photovoltaics.

Cameron Peterkin· Associate· Pittsburgh, Pennsylvaniain 𝕏

Mark Ferron· Investor· Petaluma, Californiain 𝕏

Founder mafia

4 people who came through Powerhouse went on to found or lead other companies.

Emily KirschFounder and Managing PartnerFounded excellent post Danny KennedyInvestorFounded Sungevity Veronica HomuthExecutive Assistant to Founder, OperationsFounded Covariantai Ben TarbellPowerhouse Ventures Investor and Investment Advisory Committee MemberFounded Ebb Carbon

What they invest in

from 19 of 23 portfolio companies

Cleantech ×11Energy ×11SaaS ×11AI & Machine Learning ×9Climate Tech ×7Enterprise Software ×5Advanced Manufacturing ×2Consumer ×2

HQs:United States×12Netherlands×1Sweden×1

Investments · 23 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

By year:2026 · 1 2025 · 2 2024 · 3 2022 · 4 2021 · 5 2020 · 2 2016 · 118 dated

Mercurymercurycomputing.io✓ verified

Mercury Computing operates a software platform and API connecting data centers and utilities, converting demand flexibility at data centers into usable grid capacity.

CleantechEnergySaaSBoulder, US

Co-investorsCrucible Capital Virta Ventures

Mercury Computingmercurycomputing.co✓ verified

Mercury is a software platform that connects data centers and utilities, converting load flexibility at data centers into additional grid capacity.

CleantechEnergySaaSBoulder, US

Co-investorsCrucible Capital

Accureaccure.net in

ACCURE provides battery analytics and monitoring software for storage operators to optimize performance, prevent failures, and extend asset lifetime across grid-scale and utility installations.

AI & Machine LearningCleantechData & InfrastructureEnergyIoT

Dr. Kai-Philipp Kairies inDr. Johannes Palmerin Dr. Georg Angenendt in

Co-investors42CAP Blue Bear Capital Partners Capnamic Energize Capital Incharge Capital Partners Pear VC

AmpUpampup.io in 𝕏Seed · Aug 2021

AmpUp develops electric vehicle charging infrastructure solutions for drivers, businesses, and communities.

Climate TechConsumerEnergyMobility & TransportationSaaSSan Francisco, US

Thomas Sun(Founder)in

Co-investors2.12 Angels Autotech Ventures Connecticut Innovations Foothill Ventures Frontier Ventures Goodyear Ventures +12 more

Axiom Cloudaxiomcloud.ai inSeed · Jan 2021 · $1M

Axiom Cloud develops software solutions for cooling systems to improve their economic, environmental, and operational sustainability.

AI & Machine LearningCleantechClimate TechEnterprise SoftwareIoTSaaSSan Jose, US

AMRIT ROBBINS(Executive Officer, Director)inNIKHIL SARALKAR(Director)in

Board ERNST SACK(Director)in

Co-investorsBlue Bear Capital Partners Brighter Capital Correlation Ventures Frontier Venture Capital Leadout Capital Lorimer Ventures +4 more

CapeZerocapezero.com inSeed · Jan 2025 · $3M

CapeZero is a cloud-based project finance modeling platform that centralizes and operationalizes financing data, replacing spreadsheet models with investor-grade models and real-time analysis.

CleantechEnergyFintechSaaSKingston, US

Sumit Chachra(Technical Co-founder & Chief Technology Officer)inManish Hebbar(Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer)in

Co-investorsAvesta Fund Climactic Stepchange Virta Ventures

Class 3 Technologiesclass3technologies.com inSeed · Oct 2025 · $4M

Class 3 Technologies, spun out of engineering consultancy Arup, develops Iris, a platform that assesses natural hazard and climate risk to buildings using component-level engineering models to estimate damage, downtime, and financial loss.

Climate TechPropTechSaaSNew York, US

Hedi Smida(Founder)Ibbi Almufti(Founder)Sean Merrifield(Founder)Ibrahim Al-Mufti(Executive Officer, Director)Rebecca Birmingham(Executive Officer, Director)in

BoardMarie Thompson(Director)

Co-investorsSustainable Future Ventures Tailwind Futures

Comunixgetcomunix.comJun 2021 · $30M

Comunix is a social gaming company that builds mobile games integrating live group video chat for real-time social play.

ConsumerGamingSocial

Co-investorsKaedan Capital Velo Partners Powerhouse Capital

CVectorcvector.com inSeed · Jan 2026 · $5M

CVector is an AI-native margin optimization platform that continuously ingests real-time plant, equipment, and market data to generate dollar-scored operating recommendations for industrial plant operators.

Advanced ManufacturingAI & Machine LearningEnergyNew York City, US

Richard Zhang(Co-founder)in Tyler Ruggles(Co-founder)in

Co-investorsHitachi Ventures Myriad Venture Partners Schematic Ventures

Granular Energygranular-energy.com in 𝕏Seed · Jun 2022 · $2M

Granular Energy provides software for energy suppliers, traders and buyers to manage and trade Energy Attribute Certificates (RECs, I-RECs, GOs, REGOs) and to build clean power products including hourly-matched and 100% renewable offers.

CleantechEnergySaaS

Toby Ferenczi(Co-Founder & CEO)inBruno(Co-Founder)Sam(Co-Founder)

Co-investorsAcurio Ventures BoxGroup JERA Kickstart Innovation Norrsken VC Revent +3 more

Overstory20tree.ai in 𝕏Nov 2021

20tree.ai (operating as Overstory) provides AI-powered vegetation intelligence for electric utilities, combining satellite and aerial imagery with local asset data to optimize vegetation management programs.

AI & Machine LearningCleantechClimate TechEnergyEnterprise SoftwareInsurTechAmsterdam, NL

Indra den Bakker(Co-founder)inDoug Perrygo(CFO)in Tamara Mendelsohn(COO)in Brian Lafayette(VP of Product & Strategy)in Peternille Dekker(Head of People)in Fiona Spruill(CEO)in

Co-investorsB Capital Group B4 Capital CapitalT Cerity Partners Ventures Convective Capital Elewit +18 more

Raptor Mapsraptormaps.com in 𝕏Series A · May 2016

Raptor Maps provides AI-powered analytics and automation software for solar plant operations, helping owners, operators, and engineers reduce costs and losses through visual data analysis and autonomous drone inspections.

Advanced ManufacturingAgTechAI & Machine LearningClimate TechBoston, US

Nikhil Vadhavkar(Founder/President and CEO)in Eddie Obropta(Founder/CTO)in

BoardDavid Sossen(Director)

Co-investorsArgonautic Ventures Blue Bear Capital Partners Buoyant Ventures Management, Llc Clean Energy Venture Congruent Ventures Data Point Capital +15 more

Rock Rabbitrockrabbit.ai inNov 2024

Rock Rabbit provides an AI-powered platform that simplifies the application, verification, and payment of energy efficiency incentives for contractors, installers, and equipment manufacturers.

AI & Machine LearningCleantechClimate TechConstruction TechEnergyPropTechSaaSPalo Alto, US

Aimee Gotway Bailey(Executive Officer)

Board Anthony Oni(Director)inRiyad Muradov(Director)

Co-investorsBetter Ventures Central Llc Energy Impact Partners Techstars

Sesame Sustainabilitysesamesustainability.com inSeed · Jun 2024 · $2M

Sesame Sustainability provides a life-cycle assessment platform for evaluating traditional and emerging energy pathways.

CleantechClimate TechEnergyEnterprise SoftwareCambridge, US

Jim Owens(Cofounder & Head of Engineering)inPaul Sizaire(Cofounder & Head of Product)inEmre Gencer(Cofounder & CEO)in

Co-investorsFlybridge Capital Partners

Swedish Algae Factoryswedishalgaefactory.com in 𝕏Mar 2020 · $5M

Swedish Algae Factory cultivates diatoms and extracts their silica shells, marketed as Algica®, a material used in high-end oceanic beauty care products and applications such as solar panel efficiency enhancement.

Circular EconomyCleantechNew MaterialsKungshamn, SE

Co-investorsAqua Spark Chalmers Ventures AB Mindshift Capital

Thinklabsthinklabs.ai inSeed · May 2024 · $5M

ThinkLabs AI builds physics-informed AI digital twins and agents that simulate the electric grid and automate grid planning and operations for utilities and grid operators.

AI & Machine LearningCleantechEnergy

Josh Wong(Founder & CEO)in Neal Vali(CTO)in Gang Zheng(Director, R&D)in Chaitanya Baone(Head of Product)inSuren Vallabhajosyula(Head of ML/Data Engineering)in Vimali Pathmanathan(Head of Finance)in

Co-investorsEnergy Impact Partners NVIDIA Amplify Capital Blackhorn Ventures Active Impact Investments

Venlyvenly.com in 𝕏May 2022

Venly develops large-scale enterprise systems, building on the team's background from Benchmarking Partners, which created Walmart's first internet-based supplier collaboration system and an early business-to-business internet commerce standard.

AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkImpact & Social GoodSaaSCambridge, US

Alissa Onigman(Venly CFO)in Paul Horn(Venly Executive Chair)inTed Rybeck(Venly CEO)David Sandberg(Venly General Counsel)Tom Fellows(Venly General Manager)Dee Mewbourne(Venly Institute Executive Director)

Co-investorsCourtside Ventures imec.istart Alpaca VC Coinbase Ventures Fortino Capital HTGF +2 more

Venlyvenly.io in 𝕏May 2022

Venly provides blockchain developer tools including a Token API for creating, minting, burning, and managing ERC20 tokens without deep blockchain expertise.

Crypto & Web3Data & InfrastructureDeveloper ToolsFintechSaaS

Tim Dierckxsens(CEO)in Gerbert Vandenberghe(COO)in Karel Striegel(CPO)inDavy Van Roy(CTO)

Co-investorsBlockrocket Tioga Capital Partners TRANSCEND Alpaca VC Coinbase Ventures Courtside Ventures +4 more

Vitalizevitalize.care in 𝕏Seed

Vitalize provides an AI platform for health systems that unifies staffing, scheduling, and capacity management to optimize labor operations.

AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareHealthtechSaaSSan Francisco, US

Veeraj Shah(Founder)in Sanketh Andhavarapu(Founder)in

Co-investors.406 Ventures Dorm Room MemorialCare Innovation Fund Y Combinator Anorak Ventures Chemistry +14 more

Other

Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.

AudettecKers FinanceMission ZeroTerabase

Frequently asked questions

How many investments has Powerhouse made?: Powerhouse has 23 tracked investments, including 4 dated in the last 24 months.
What stage does Powerhouse invest at?: Powerhouse invests at the Seed stage.
What is Powerhouse's typical check size?: Powerhouse typically writes checks of $150K – $2M.
What sectors does Powerhouse focus on?: Powerhouse focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Cleantech, Climate Tech, Energy, Mobility & Transportation, SaaS.
Where is Powerhouse located?: Powerhouse is headquartered in Oakland, US.
Does Powerhouse lead rounds?: Powerhouse typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.

Media · Podcasts & interviews

featuring the team

VC Sunday School: startup investing in a down market + Emily Kirsch of Powerhouse Ventures | E1373

This Week in Startups · Emily Kirsch

Emily Kirsch of Powerhouse on fighting big oil & transforming energy sector to solar

This Week in Startups · Emily Kirsch

Ep 43: Emily Kirsch - Founder, Powerhouse

Energy Impact Center · Emily Kirsch

Crux Co-Founder & CEO Alfred Johnson

Powerhouse

Zūm Founder and CEO Ritu Narayan

Powerhouse

ThinkLabs AI Founder and CEO Josh Wong

Powerhouse

Images

Co-investors · 23

Energy Impact Partners

Energy Impact Partners is an investment firm that connects entrepreneurs with major corporate partners to help drive the transformation of the global economy toward a more sustainable future.

Both backed · 4

Overstory Rock Rabbit ThinklabsAudette

$5M – $20M

Cerity Partners Ventures

Cerity Partners Ventures provides Venture Capital as a Service (VCaaS) for corporations, helping them launch and manage venture capital programs and invest in startups. It has partnered with over 25 corporations and its portfolio includes more than 100 companies.

Both backed · 2

AmpUp Overstory

Buoyant Ventures Management, Llc

Buoyant Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on the intelligence layer of energy, grid, data center, and industrial infrastructure, targeting improvements in infrastructure efficiency.

Both backed · 2

Raptor MapsAudette

$500K – $5M

Flybridge Capital Partners

Flybridge Capital Partners is an East Coast venture capital firm backing early-stage, AI-focused startups. Founded in 2002, it invests at the pre-seed and seed stages across AI applications, infrastructure, and related sectors.

Both backed · 1

Sesame Sustainability

$250K – $10M

Ulu Ventures

Ulu Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm focused on finding and funding early-stage founder teams, emphasizing diversity and data-driven investment decisions.

Both backed · 1

Axiom Cloud

$2M

Moxxie Ventures

Moxxie Ventures is an early-stage venture firm that backs technical founders building software and smart systems, investing at the pre-seed and seed stages primarily in North America.

Both backed · 1

Overstory

$500K – $2M

Convective Capital

Convective Capital is an investment firm focused on companies building systems that make the world disaster-proof, spanning hardware, software and financial services that manage physical-world risk. It operates Updraft, a 10,000+ person resilience network connecting utilities, agencies, insurers and emergency services.

Both backed · 1

Both backed · 1

Norrsken VC is a European early-stage venture capital firm investing in technology addressing major global challenges across energy, industry and healthcare, born out of the Norrsken ecosystem for impact-focused founders.

Both backed · 1

Granular Energy

$1.1M – $3.2M

Data Point Capital

Data Point Capital invests in revenue-stage technology companies disrupting large B2B and B2C markets, targeting businesses that are both capital efficient and high growth.

Both backed · 1

Raptor Maps

Pale Blue Dot

Seed-stage ClimateTech venture fund investing in companies that reduce and reverse the effects of climate change. The firm typically wants 10% shareholding.

Both backed · 1

Overstory

$200K – $2.2M

Active Impact Investments

Active Impact Investments is a climate tech seed fund based in Canada, backing early-stage companies that advance planetary sustainability by innovating across production and consumption industries.

Both backed · 1

Thinklabs

$1M

▶11 more co-investors

Vela Partners SV Angel First Round Capital Everywhere Ventures Union Square Ventures (USV)Giant Ventures Global Llp GFT Ventures Amazon Alexa Fund Prelude Ventures Salica Investments Verve Ventures

Firms observed investing alongside Powerhouse, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with Powerhouse's recorded portfolio.

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