The Westly Group Research
Investment Thesis
The Westly Group, founded in 2007 by Steve Westly (former Controller and Chief Fiscal Officer of the State of California, and an early eBay executive who helped take the company public), invests exclusively in the industries that together represent more than half of global GDP: energy, industrials, and mobility. The firm's stated view is that these sectors do not follow Silicon Valley cycles, require transformation regardless of market conditions, and reward investors with deep operational knowledge and durable commercial relationships. The current framing, refreshed for the firm's 2026 site relaunch, is backing AI-native founders building software and hardware companies that rebuild "the industries that run the physical world" -- explicitly Energy, AI, Reindustrialization & Robotics, Mobility, and Cybersecurity.
Stage Focus
The firm runs two vehicles: a Seed Fund covering Pre-Seed and Seed, and a Venture & Growth Fund covering Series A through early growth, intended to accelerate portfolio companies with existing traction. Jason Kalira, who joined as Partner in 2023, leads the seed-stage strategy.
Check Size
No explicit check-size range is published on the site. Observed recent rounds the firm participated in span a $5.5M-$6M seed (Magentic, Tenet Security) up to leading a $40M Series B (Squint) and participating in a $41M seed (Noetive), suggesting the fund writes both early anchor checks and larger growth-stage checks depending on vehicle.
Lead Tendency
The firm explicitly describes itself as leading rounds in its own announcements (e.g., "We're proud to lead Squint's $40 million Series B funding round alongside TCV, Sequoia Capital, and Menlo Ventures"), and multiple portfolio announcements use "led" or "our investment" language, consistent with an active lead investor rather than a passive follower.
Recent Activity
The firm has been highly active through 2025 and into 2026: Sightline (Seed, Jan 2025), AttoTude (Series B, Apr 2025), Magentic (Seed, Jul 2025), Squint (Series B, lead, Aug 2025), Tenet Security (Seed, Jun 2026), Generalist (investment, Jun 2026), and Noetive ($41M seed, Sept 2026, alongside Eclipse, Craft Ventures, and Swish Ventures). The firm publishes regular thesis essays on its Medium blog covering physical-world AI, edge infrastructure, and industrial buyer needs, including "What Industrial Buyers Really Need in 2026" (Aug 2026, based on an LP-syndicate survey of industrial leaders) and "Voice AI in Physical Industries" (Aug 2026).
Portfolio Highlights
40+ portfolio companies claimed on the current site, with 9 IPOs including four multi-billion-dollar outcomes: Tesla (Steve Westly served on the board for three years), SentinelOne (2021 IPO, one of the largest cybersecurity IPOs), Procore, and Luminar. Other IPOs/exits include Planet Labs, View, ShotSpotter, CREG, Comfy, Simple Energy (acquired into Uplight), and WaterSmart. Active portfolio spans energy (Antora Energy, Giga Energy, Enpal, WeaveGrid, Ampcontrol), industrial/robotics (Gecko Robotics, Fictiv, Condoit, Circulor), mobility (Optimal Dynamics, Skylo, Cleverciti), cybersecurity (CyCognito, Network Perception, Tenet Security), and physical-world AI (Noetive, Generalist, Magentic, Squint, AttoTude, Matter, Clutch, Currence, Ethos, Diagon).
Team
- Steve Westly, Founder & Managing Partner -- former California State Controller, early eBay SVP, Tesla board member
- Danny Cotter, Managing Partner -- ex-PG&E, ex-Prelude Ventures
- Emily Fritze, Partner -- ex-Obama White House energy/climate, ex-Powerhouse Ventures
- Jason Kalira, Partner -- leads seed strategy, ex-Parsable COO, ex-Battery Ventures
- Shaun Chaudhuri, Partner -- AI/infrastructure, industrial and cybersecurity focus, ex-Apple, ex-PG&E
- Bob Rowe, Venture Partner -- former CEO of NorthWestern Energy
- Timothy Wang, Venture Partner -- led the Luminar investment, sits on boards of RapidSOS, Optimal Dynamics, TREX, Aquicore
- Megan Cain, Principal -- ex-Morgan Stanley Power/Utilities/CleanTech banking
- Jamie Daudon, Principal -- ex-Cadmus decarbonization strategy consulting
- Noemi Walzebuck, Senior Associate -- manages seed-stage strategy, ex-Bessemer Venture Partners
- Kelly McCarthy, Associate -- ex-Barclays Climate Technology & Energy Transition banking
- Nick Albanese, VP of Research & Strategy -- ex-BNEF Head of Intelligent Mobility Research
- Kerry Wu, Associate VP, Research & Partnerships -- ex-Waymo, ex-CB Insights
- Jennifer Gunn, CFO -- ex-Sunstone Partners CFO
- Courtney Hamilton, Talent; Cathy Siciliano, GTM Expert; Maricar Mahoney, HR Manager and Fund Assistant
Decision Process
Structured as a multi-partner investment team (Managing Partners, Partners, Venture Partners, Principals) rather than a solo-GP shop, consistent with a partnership decision process.
Founder Preferences
The firm backs AI-native founders building software and hardware companies in energy, industrials, and mobility -- sectors it argues "don't follow Silicon Valley cycles" and reward deep operational knowledge and durable commercial relationships.
Geographic Focus
Primarily United States (Menlo Park and San Francisco offices), with at least one notable European investment (Enpal, Germany) and a global corporate LP syndicate spanning 33 partners across the US, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia (ABB, American Electric Power, Alaska Airlines, APS, Audi, Avista, Bridgestone, Chubu Electric Power, CLP, CNH, Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, ENEOS, Evergy, Geotab, Hitachi Energy, Idaho Power, NorthWestern Energy, ONEOK, Origin Energy, Oshkosh, PPL Electric, Puget Sound Energy, State Farm Ventures, Trane Technologies, Vistra, Xylem).
Global Syndicate / Differentiation
The firm's signature differentiator is its 33-member Global Syndicate of large energy, industrial, transportation, and insurance corporations, which it positions as giving portfolio founders "unfair access to customers" and "introductions that become outcomes" from day one, rather than typical VC network access alone.