Underground Ventures
Venture capitalPre-Seed–Series A · 6 people tracked
Investment thesis
UGV invests in the enabling technologies — the 'picks and shovels' — that the geothermal industry needs to scale, rather than in individual developers or projects. It targets geothermal-specific challenges such as equipment temperature limits, corrosive geochemistry, and hard basement rock, spanning siting and characterization, drilling and rock destruction, well design, reservoir engineering, and power production. The firm is indifferent to resource model (EGS, AGS, SHR, conventional hydrothermal) as long as the technology is genuinely differentiated and transformational. Founded by startup founders, it takes early-stage technology risk and supports inventors and engineers scaling beyond first-of-a-kind deployments, deploying $40m across a handful of startups.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.
Team · 6 people
from the firm's website
What they invest in
from 5 of 8 portfolio companiesEnergy ×5Cleantech ×4Deep Tech ×2Hardware ×2Climate Tech ×1Robotics ×1
HQs:Switzerland×1United States×1
Investments · 8 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBorobotics develops an autonomous bore-robot called "Grabowski" for drilling, aimed at accelerating the energy transition.
CleantechEnergyRobotics
Hans-Jörg Dennig(Co-founder)Philipp GanzMoritz Pill
Co-investorsKickfund
Creates directional steel shot drilling systems for steered drilling and branched boreholes from shallow heat exchangers to deep geothermal.
Canopus develops directional steel shot drilling (DSSD) technology for constructing geothermal wells and borehole heat exchangers at shallow, deep, and ultra deep depths.
CleantechDeep TechEnergy
Co-investorsSHIFT Invest
GA Drilling develops drilling tools intended for energy projects.
CleantechEnergyHardware
Co-investorsNeulogy VenturesPlanet A VenturesExtantia Capital
Develops measurement-while-drilling tools that operate in superhot geothermal environments at temperatures above 210°C.
Spring, US
Steve Krase(Executive Officer, Director)John Clegg(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardTorsten Kolind(Director)inJeffrey Engelman(Director)Tove Lilliestierna(Director)Julia Wright(Director)
PartnerTorsten Kolind· quoted
Co-investorsAll AboardBaruch Future VenturesNew System Ventures
Hephae develops patented high-temperature electronics that operate above 200°C to support the drilling, completion, operation, and maintenance of next-generation geothermal wells.
Climate TechDeep TechEnergy
Co-investorsBaruch Future VenturesFuture Ventures
Terra Ferno develops patent-pending Autonomous Flow Control Devices (FCDs) designed for geothermal wells, aimed at improving flow distribution and addressing issues such as heel dominance and short-circuiting.
CleantechEnergyHardware
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesFrequently asked questions
- How many investments has Underground Ventures made?
- Underground Ventures has 7 tracked investments.
- What stage does Underground Ventures invest at?
- Underground Ventures invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A stages.
- What is Underground Ventures's typical check size?
- Underground Ventures typically writes checks of $500K – $2M.
- What sectors does Underground Ventures focus on?
- Underground Ventures focuses on Cleantech, Climate Tech, Deep Tech, Energy.
- Does Underground Ventures lead rounds?
- Yes, Underground Ventures leads investment rounds.
- Who does Underground Ventures co-invest with?
- Underground Ventures most often shares deals with Baruch Future Ventures, Future Ventures, Neulogy Ventures, among 6 tracked co-investors.
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