EnVest is an investor membership organization that connects top environmental investors with the most compelling environmental companies and investment opportunities. We host invite-only events to accelerate the environmental economy to protect our planet, while generating returns for investors.
Member Investors
EnVest screens each member to ensure they are actively deploying capital – namely pre-Seed to Series B at $1-30M annually – into the environmental field. Members can attend the annual main event and investor salons throughout the year, as well as receive exclusive access to environmental deal flow. Our network with over $8B in assets under management includes leading environmental VC funds, angel investors, family offices, and foundations. Our committed environmental investors:
Advisory Board
Ira Ehrenpreis, DBL Ventures Geoff Eisenberg, Ecosystems Integrity Fund David Griest, SJF Partners Catha Groot, Radicle Impact Jake Hanft, Schmidt Marine Adrian Horotan, Safer Made Rob Kaplan, Circulate Capital Thomas Knowles, Gratitude Railroad
Chris Larson, New Island Capital Rob LeClerq, AgFunder Brock Mansfield, Salmon Innovation Fund Jason Scott, Encourage Capital Mike Veilings, Aquaspark Kelly Wachowitz, Catch Invest Marisa de Belloy, High Tide Foundation Peter Bryant, The Builders Initiative John Robinson, Mazarine
Ira Ehrenpreis, DBL Ventures
Geoff Eisenberg, Ecosystems Integrity Fund
David Griest, SJF Partners
Catha Groot, Radicle Impact
Jake Hanft, Schmidt Marine
Adrian Horotan, Safer Made
Rob Kaplan, Circulate Capital
Thomas Knowles, Gratitude Railroad
Chris Larson, New Island Capital
Rob LeClerq, AgFunder
Brock Mansfield, Salmon Innovation Fund
Matt Mulrennan, Oceans X Prize
Jason Scott, Encourage Capital
Mike Veilings, Aquaspark
Kelly Wachowitz, Catch Invest
Our events and membership are designed by and for active environmental investors, fund managers, family foundations, and venture philanthropies – to meet a curated lineup of green startups. EnVest screens investor members to ensure they are actively deploying capital into environmental companies.
Apply for Fall 2021. Presenting companies are vetted early stage environmental companies with a core technology or service providing clear sustainability benefits. Strong preference for previews to groups raising the following year. We take referrals from member investors, and an expert advisory board selects the finalists.
Private capital has always been a primary driver of innovation and scale, and the Environmental Economy will be no different. But private capital requires quality investment opportunities and strong smart syndicates to thrive. Getting the world’s most committed environmental investors together to evaluate high quality opportunities makes EnVest a “can’t miss” event for me.Brock Mansfeld Managing Partner, Salmon Innovation Fund
It is more important and timely than ever before for investors to back ground-breaking companies addressing climate change, energy systems, transportation, etc. I look forward to attending EnVest to meet serious, active investors, and inspiring entrepreneurs who together will help solve these issues while earning meaningful positive returns.
Howard Fischer, CEO of Basso Capital and Co-Founder of Gratitude Railroad
EnVest was an incredibly good and efficient use of time. Anyone interested in finding the next great company and interfacing with a great community of like minded investors should attend.Ira Ehrenpreis, Managing Partner at DBL Partners
EnVest is an event whose time has come. We are in a unique period of history that will be characterized by unprecedented opportunities for investment in resource-efficient technologies. I’m looking forward to connecting with the entrepreneurs and other investors leading this revolution at EnVest.Trevor Zimmerman, Co-Founder and Managing Partner Blackhorn Ventures
The best part about EnVest is the companies that they manage to put together. Really, really well curated event…among the best ones I’ve seen.Adrian Horotan General Partner at Safer Made
History has shown that technology is the sustainable solution to addressing global environmental challenges. What excites me about EnVest is the opportunity to interact with passionate entrepreneurs who are driven to solve our biggest problems.Jim Kim, Founding Member and Partner at Builders VC
Environmental Investment Themes
EnVest is an investment conference shaped by and for sophisticated, active environmental investors. As such, it is designed to allow attendees to see multiple opportunities that fit their asset class and environmental themes. These themes include:
Captures food scraps from grocery stores, turns into premium agricultural inputs
Frequently Asked Questions
What is EnVest?
EnVest is the world’s leading environmental investing event. Through an invitation-only format it connects the best environmental investors with the most compelling environmental companies and investment opportunities. The goal is to accelerate the environmental economy to help protect our planet, while generating returns for investors.
EnVest is built around key environmental economy segments. Both invited investors and presenting companies are selected based on their ability to impact: Energy & Transportation, Clean Air, Water, Climate, Fisheries & Oceans, and Waste & Circular Economy.
EnVest is a passionate, carefully curated ecosystem of the world’s leading environmental investors, start-ups, and philanthropists who believe in the power of entrepreneurship to revolutionize our protection of the environment. EnVest is not a research or educational event. There are no panels or speakers educating attendees about the world’s environmental challenges.
The event is meant to be an efficient way to deploy more capital into environmental companies and their innovations with the goal to generate $1 billion of early stage investing by 2030 through connections made at EnVest.
Where and when is EnVest?
The main EnVest event in 2021 is being planned for November 18th in San Francisco, and we plan to host EnVest events each year until 2030 to accelerate the environmental economy. EnVest has been held three times, in 2017 in Seattle at the Rainier Club, in 2018 in San Francisco at the Commonwealth Club and in 2020 virtually on Hopin. These events showed the EnVest network can drive significant early stage investment into environmental companies, and can succeed across multiple geographies, and virtually. Alongside the main event, we also host investor salons for member investors virtually to do deep learning on environmental investing topics, and continuously source deals and network between investors.
What does it cost to attend and become a member?
$1000 for investors - with early registration discounts
$100 for presenting companies - with financial hardship discounts
Ticket price includes attendance, receptions, and meals at the annual main event as well as year-round membership in EnVest including investor salons and access to environmental deal flow. Tickets are provided to investors and companies who are accepted and receive a request to attend, and seats are limited. EnVest can provide discounts to founders having any financial issues, and does not ask for equity in the presenting companies.
What are the benefits of membership?
Members can attend the annual event to see pitches from top environmental companies and will receive a quarterly newsletter about environmental investing announcements from other members and presenting companies, invites to regional investor salons, and sneak previews at upcoming deals. Member logos are recognized on the EnVest website.
Why is EnVest happening now?
The decade from 2020-2030 may be one of the most important in human history, as we need to transform our entire economy to help save our planet. Environmental entrepreneurs are needed more than ever, and EnVest brings them an incredible opportunity to pitch in front of an exclusive network to grow their innovations and companies. At the same time, environmental investors are constantly seeking good quality deal flow that has been vetted. EnVest is an efficient, action-oriented event that fosters these relationships to deploy the resources needed to protect the environment. Environmental investing is still a nascent field which needs community building, collaboration, and attracting more investors into the fold, so EnVest also hopes to help grow this field and empower this ecosystem.
What will make EnVest successful?
We define the success of EnVest in three ways:
The amount of money invested into environmental opportunities as a direct result of EnVest;
The number of investment opportunities that receive investment as a direct result of EnVest; and
The number of member investors that return to EnVest in subsequent years.
What will happen at EnVest?
The core of EnVest is a one or two day investment conference held annually. This conference will provide curated investment opportunities for investor members, broken down by asset class and subject. Companies pitch their ideas before programmed time for networking and any discussions on deals. The focus is on private asset classes including seed, venture, growth capital and private equity. On either side of the conference there are social events aimed at giving investors and management teams the chance to share ideas and ambitions around environmental investing.
Who leads EnVest?
In 2020 Matt Mulrennan became the CEO of EnVest. Prior to joining EnVest full time, Matt served on the Advisory Board for the 2017 and 2018 EnVest events, recommending and vetting ocean-based companies. Matt was the Director of the Ocean Initiative at the XPRIZE Foundation for six years working on fundraising, designing, and operating prizes for innovations that solve the ocean’s grand challenges. He also worked as a marine scientist at ocean conservation group Oceana, as a lab researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and as an advocate on congressional and environmental campaigns. He was one of 20 candidates nominated for the 2018 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award and was the Grand Prize winner of the Con X Tech Prize a prototyping competition for conservation technology. He is a public speaker and community builder, with a passion for supporting entrepreneurs, innovations, and investors working to preserve the environment. His work has been featured in various media outlets; Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, BBC, and National Geographic. Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Miami University and a master’s in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego.
EnVest is also supported by its Co-Founders Brock Mansfield and Nancy Reid, a small Steering Committee, and a larger Advisory Board broken into vertical specific committees. The Advisory Board committees are filled by experts in their fields responsible for identifying, vetting, and preparing investment opportunities for their respective theme.
Metrics
$130+ Million
Invested in presenting environmental companies to date via EnVest members
3 to 1
Minimum ratio of environmental investors to presenting companies
Top 50
Experts vet applications and select up to 50 top environmental companies to pitch
$1 Billion
2030 goal for the total amount of curated early stage deals to accelerate the environmental economy
Media
EnVest media and stories about the alumni presenting companies. Companies can share updates and stories here publicly at least one year after presenting to the investors. Member investors receive regular updates about the alumni companies.
“EnVest is the best investor event out there in the climate space. We rely on it to meet a curated set of high-impact companies.”
Marisa de Belloy, Executive Director, High Tide Foundation – Catalyst Sponsor
Sponsorship Opportunities
EnVest is seeking sponsors – Seed, Impact, and Catalyst Levels – to support the event and the growth of the environmental economy.
Sponsor benefits include:
Over 100X return for sponsor money invested into innovative environmental companies each year
Necessary community building for early stage environmental investing
Recognition in website, programming agenda, public relations, and signage
Introduce presenting companies in thematic investment rooms (Food and Agriculture etc.)
Year-round ‘first-look’ introductions with leading environmental companies
Sponsorship Inquiries
Newsletter
DISCLAIMER
EnVest does not provide advice, endorsement, analysis or recommendation in connection with investment in any company or fund attending the event. EnVest does not make any warranty related to the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of information provided by any company or fund. Investors must conduct their own due diligence in connection with any investment, including but not limited to legal, tax and investment advice.
