At a Glance
Blue Bear Capital is a venture capital firm. Blue Bear is a venture capital and early growth equity firm focused on AI-powered solutions for the world’s energy, infrastructure, and climate challenges.We are backed by private equity investors, entrepreneurs, and technical operators who have spent our careers in the energy and technology industries. We are built on decades of energy and industrial investment experience, operational and strategy perspective, and network building in the same markets our portfolio company founders operate in. The firm focuses on Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B+ investments across sectors including Aerospace & Defense, Other, Consumer, Fintech, Climate.
Ernst Sack is a founding partner with roughly two decades of investing across energy private equity, solar project finance, and venture, including time at Riverstone and Deep Green Solar, and has sat on more than 30 energy and technology boards. Vaughn Blake, a partner, has worked as a deep technology investor, a growth-stage investor, and as a limited partner selecting managers across asset classes. Dr. Carolin Funk, also a partner, spent two decades in energy policy and corporate venture with the German Energy Agency and Siemens, and served as chief operating officer of two energy storage companies.
Dr. Robert MacInnis is partner and chief technology officer, running technical diligence on machine learning claims. Hank Hattemer is general counsel and chief operating officer, and Martin Rajcan is a venture partner. The advisory board includes Lord Browne of Madingley, Tim Kopra, Riaz Siddiqi, Joel Moxley, Jacquelynn Craw, and Alex T. Krueger.
Blue Bear Capital was founded in 2016 to put venture and early growth capital behind software and machine intelligence sold into energy, infrastructure, and industrial markets, a thesis built on the founding partners' prior careers in energy private equity rather than in consumer or enterprise software.
Fund II was announced in 2021 at $150 million. Fund III closed in November 2024 at $160 million, with additional follow-on vehicles bringing roughly $200 million onto the platform in that cycle. The limited partner base disclosed at the Fund III close skews toward mission-aligned institutions and family capital: the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the McKnight Foundation, Zoma Capital, UBS, and WovenEarth Ventures. Fund III had already made four investments at announcement, in ChargerHelp!, Pioneer, SKOON, and Delos, with three more unannounced. Earlier positions include Raptor Maps, TruckLabs, Urbint, Hydrosat, and Mira, which was acquired by Apple. The firm invests from seed through Series B and runs offices in Los Angeles and Jackson, Wyoming.
Blue Bear Capital primarily invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B+ stages. This means they focus on companies that are at the earliest idea or prototype phase.
Blue Bear Capital is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. Many of their portfolio companies are also based in this region, though they invest across geographies.
Blue Bear Capital focuses on investments in Climate, AI, Enterprise, Deeptech. Their portfolio reflects deep expertise and networks within these sectors.
Blue Bear Capital's typical investment check size ranges from $. to $.. Actual amounts may vary based on the stage, sector, and specific opportunity.
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