Emerald Technology Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Emerald Technology Ventures ("Emerald") describes itself as investing in sustainable industrial innovation. The firm backs start-ups that solve large industrial problems in climate change and sustainability, and it connects them with the corporations that become their customers, partners and acquirers. Its roots are in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index: Emerald was founded in 2000 as the venture capital arm of Sustainable Asset Management (SAM) and rebranded as Emerald Technology Ventures in 2007 after separating from SAM. The mission is to earn returns for limited partners while having a positive impact, linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The pitch to founders is that Emerald is an active partner with a deep corporate network, with skills in strategy, governance, IP, sales and marketing, talent, finance and M&A.
Sector Focus
Emerald runs sector-specialist funds and teams across six areas:
- Energy: decarbonization, efficiency, renewables, electrification, storage, green fuels, fuel cells, grid technology and fusion
- Water and wastewater: filtration, smart infrastructure, treatment, smart water grids, conservation, predictive maintenance
- Materials and packaging: sustainable packaging, plastic replacement and recycling, industrial materials, coatings, nano-structured materials
- Automation and industrial AI: advanced AI applications, wireless sensors, industrial automation, physical AI and robotics
- Food and agriculture: alternative proteins, smart agriculture, biopesticides, aquaculture, soil monitoring
- Mobility and urbanization: autonomous navigation, green buildings, electric powertrains
Stage Focus
The firm invests from early to growth stage. Recent examples include leading an $8M Series A in Alitheon (June 2026), participating in a $100M Series B in Thea Energy, and joining a $17M round in Switched Source led by Cubit Capital (October 2026). Third-party data sources list Pre-seed through Series C+ activity, but the stated focus is early to growth stage industrial technology with proven market demand.
Check Size
Emerald does not publish a typical check size, so none is recorded. Fund sizes give context: Global Water Fund II has reached EUR 100M toward a EUR 150-180M target, and the firm manages and advises over EUR 1.3B in total.
Lead Tendency
Both. Emerald leads some rounds (the Alitheon Series A) and joins syndicates led by others (Switched Source, led by Cubit Capital, with ABB, Red Cedar Ventures, Southern States and Southwire alongside). Co-investment with dedicated partners is part of how it manages risk.
Recent Activity
- June 2026: led the $8M Series A in Alitheon, a Bellevue, Washington biometrics-for-things company
- June 2026: announced its exit from SewerAI after a strategic investment led by JMI Equity; Emerald first invested in 2022
- October 2026: joined the $17M+ Switched Source round (grid power-flow control, Chicago)
- 2026: Global Water Fund II reached EUR 100M with Temasek and Grundfos Foundation added to investors that include Veralto, Ecolab, SKion Water and Oxy Technology Ventures
- 2026: DIC Corporation set up a $62M physical AI investment platform with Emerald as its strategic venture partner in Europe and North America
- 2026: Cummins and Btomorrow Ventures joined as corporate investors in Emerald
Portfolio Highlights
Emerald lists more than 90 portfolio companies since founding and over 25,000 deals reviewed. The portfolio page shows 82 companies, including INERATEC, Thea Energy, Alitheon, Kilimo, FIDO, Genecis, xFarm, INDRA, Sewts, PulPac, Xampla, Nanograf and Tropic Biosciences. Exits named by the firm include SUEZ, Xylem and BASF as acquirers in water, plus SewerAI (2026). The site also shows an exited tag on many names, but the tags could not be reliably matched to companies, so no per-company exit status is recorded.
Team
- Gina Domanig, Managing Partner and CEO
- Markus Moor, Senior Partner and Chief Investment Officer
- Hans Dellenbach, Senior Partner, CFO and Head of Corporate Development
- Charles Vaslet, Senior Partner and Chief Revenue Officer
- Helge Daebel, Partner, Head of Water
- Christoph Frei, Partner, Head of Energy
- Fredric Petit, Partner, Head of Materials
- Mehran Zaker, Partner, Head of Industrial AI and Robotics
- Cedric Mutz, Partner, Head of Portfolio Performance
- Michal Natora, Senior Investment Director, Future and Frontier Technology Lead
- Frank Balas, Senior Investment Director, Energy
- Neil Cameron, Venture Partner
The firm has over 50 professionals across Zurich, Toronto and Singapore, plus an advisory council of senior industry executives.
Decision Process
Partnership model with sector heads (water, energy, materials, industrial AI) leading deals within their funds. Corporate limited partners and mandate clients are closely involved in sourcing and evaluation, and the firm runs themed Emerald Sprints that pair startups with corporates.
Founder Preferences
Experienced management teams with a clear commercialization path in a large or fast-growing market, and an innovative product with a sustainable competitive advantage. Emerald wants founders who will use its corporate network and board-level expertise.
Geographic Focus
Global, with offices in Zurich, Toronto and Singapore. Portfolio companies span Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America. DIC's platform targets Europe and North America, and the firm is expanding in Japan and Southeast Asia.
Business Model and Funds
Emerald combines venture funds with corporate venture capital as a service. It launched the first flex-term evergreen fund in 2016, a Swiss government Technology Fund mandate in 2014 (a CHF 350M debt guarantee program), and later dedicated water (2020), energy (2021) and packaging (2022) funds. It manages external CVC mandates for Nabtesco Technology Ventures (2018), Sasol Ventures and SIG InnoVentures (2023), and works with Idemitsu and DIC. It reports over 50 blue-chip corporate LPs and over EUR 1B in commitments since founding.