Contrarian Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Contrarian Ventures is a Vilnius-based early-stage climate tech fund. Its tagline is "Founders first. Climate always." The firm says it backs "the boldest climate tech founders at the earliest stages, before it's obvious, before it's crowded," and that it acts "with speed, conviction, and full-stack support." It wants to be the founder's first cheque and first-choice partner, and describes itself as playing "long-term games with long-term people." The focus is decarbonization across energy, transport, buildings, industry and carbon markets. Portfolio examples include solar development software (PVcase), carbon ratings (BeZero Carbon), lower-carbon fuels middleware (Chooose), light electric vehicles (Zoomo), power orchestration (Beebop) and EV charging payments (Cariqa). Recent press and founder quotes also show interest in OT cyber for critical infrastructure.
Stage Focus
Pre-seed and seed. The portfolio page tags companies as Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A or Exited. PVcase was a pre-seed partnership in 2018; most other names came in at seed. Follow-on participation in later rounds is common (Metafuels Series A, Delfos seed extension).
Check Size
Third-party profiles put typical initial cheques at about EUR 1M to EUR 4M, with smaller pre-seed tickets also reported. The firm's own site does not publish check sizes, so confidence is moderate.
Lead Tendency
Both. Contrarian led or co-led several rounds (Delfos 2024 seed with Headline, Altrove 2024 seed, Bees & Bears 2025 seed, Cariqa 2025 seed with Anthemis, Sun.store 2025 seed). It also joins rounds led by others (Beebop led by Angular Ventures, Metafuels with Energy Impact Partners). A Delfos founder says Contrarian was chosen to lead their round.
Recent Activity
Fund II (about EUR 100M target, closed first tranche 2022, backed in part by InvestEU via the EIF) is the active vehicle. Tracked deals: Delfos Energy USD 3.5M seed extension (March 2026), Bees & Bears USD 5M seed (October 2025), Sun.store USD 7M seed (August 2025), Cariqa USD 5M seed (July 2025), Beebop USD 6M seed (September 2024). The portfolio page lists 34 companies across 12 countries and 79 founders. The firm published The Nordics Report 2026. The firm returned Fund I with a single investment (Dragon) in 2023. The portfolio page was refreshed in November 2025 with Marvin, Cariqa, Sun.store and Starflow.
Portfolio Highlights
- PVcase (Lithuania): solar development platform, 1,800+ customers in 80+ countries
- BeZero Carbon (UK): carbon ratings agency, 650+ projects rated
- Zoomo (UK): light electric vehicles for urban fleets, about USD 80M raised
- Chooose (Norway): lower-carbon fuel programs for aviation and freight
- Delfos (Spain): renewable energy analytics, backed by YC, Founders Fund, CRV
- Metafuels (Switzerland): sustainable aviation fuel
- Exits listed on the site: Moixa, Lastmile, Voltaware
Team
- Rokas Peciulaitis: Founder and Managing Partner, Lithuania; Kauffman Fellow
- Tomas Kemtys: General Partner, Lithuania; co-founder
- Thomas Poitrineau: Investor, France
- Patrikas Feiferas: Principal, UK
- Two investment analysts, plus a CFO, chief of staff, ESG and impact analyst, data scientist and finance analyst
- Venture partners: Kobi Weinberg, Michael Huerta, Christopher Brown (US), Steven Meersman (Belgium), Eryk Frontczak (Poland), Marc Wesselink (Netherlands), Bunmi Adekore (US)
Decision Process
Partnership model with named deal partners per investment (Rokas Peciulaitis or Tomas Kemtys, with Patrikas Feiferas on newer deals). Founders describe a thorough but transparent process. Pre-investment screening applies SDG alignment and Do No Significant Harm tests, followed by ESG due diligence. Fund II uses an impact-linked carry model: a share of returns depends on portfolio impact KPIs being met.
Founder Preferences
Founders attacking hard, unorthodox climate problems with initial traction and ESG readiness. Founder testimonials stress engagement, network in cleantech and energy, and pragmatism. Many portfolio founders are technical and from deep-tech or energy backgrounds.
Platform
Energy Tech Summit (since 2019), Climate50 (investor ranking, since 2020), The Climate Brick (scaling blueprint, 2024), Growth Meets Capital (2024) and the Contrarian Summit.
Geographic Focus
Europe and Israel. The portfolio spans Lithuania, UK, Norway, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, Estonia, Sweden and Israel.