Virescent Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Virescent Ventures is Australia's largest and most active specialist climate tech venture capital firm. Founded in 2022 after spinning out of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Virescent manages over $500 million AUD across two funds and has backed more than 37 innovative climate tech businesses.
The firm's core thesis is that there is no need to choose between emissions impact and commercial impact. Virescent seeks investments that address the largest, hardest-to-abate sources of emissions, believing the current decade will see companies emerge that remake the physical economy in the way the internet remade the digital economy. The fund invests in founders, technologies, and businesses helping achieve zero emissions and beyond.
Virescent was built on the belief that Australia is uniquely positioned as a 'bellwether' for international climate tech markets, often leading the world in energy transition dynamics that later play out in Europe, the US, and elsewhere. Most portfolio companies have global aspirations, leveraging Australian innovation for international scale.
Focus Areas
Virescent organises its investment thesis around four key thematics:
- Clean Energy Transition: Low-cost renewables, green hydrogen, decentralised generation, and battery technology
- Mobility and Smart Cities: Electrification of transport, EV infrastructure, multiple transport modes, better built environment, embodied carbon reduction
- Food and Agriculture: Feeding more people with less waste, resilient soils, digitisation, regenerative agriculture, precision fermentation, and new food categories
- Circular Economy and Industry: Redefining waste, efficient industrial production, new industrial processes, battery recycling, and sustainable materials
The firm invests in deep tech and business model innovations, encompassing both software and hardware solutions across the decarbonisation stack.
Stage Focus
Virescent invests from pre-seed to late-stage growth capital, continuing to back great founders and companies as their needs evolve. The firm's primary focus is Seed and Series A stages, where it can add the most operational value to founders, with selective pre-seed and late-stage follow-on investments.
Check Size
Based on disclosed investments, Virescent's typical check size ranges from approximately AUD $2M to $15M:
- Seed investments: ~$2M–$10M AUD (e.g., co-led DryFlow's $10M seed, $2.6M in Renewable Metals)
- Series A: Participating in larger syndicated rounds (e.g., Novalith's $23M Series A)
- Portfolio follow-ons: Participated in Amber's $45M Series D
Virescent frequently takes lead or co-lead positions at seed stage, targeting meaningful ownership stakes.
Lead Tendency
Virescent frequently leads or co-leads seed rounds in Australian climate tech companies. Examples include leading DryFlow Magnetics' $10M seed round as co-lead alongside Orion Industrial Ventures and Taronga Group, and co-leading IND Technology's first institutional capital raise alongside Energy Impact Partners and Angeleno Group. They participate in later-stage rounds for portfolio companies.
Funds
- Fund I — Clean Energy Innovation Fund (CEFC): Manages this fund on behalf of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). By early 2024, the fund had deployed over $260M across 33+ climate tech companies. Total capital deployed ~$300M+.
- Fund II — Virescent Ventures Fund II: Launched August 2024, targeting AUD $200M. Made its $100M first close in October 2024 with cornerstone commitments from Westpac, CEFC, QIC (Queensland Investment Corporation), and Breakthrough Victoria. Subsequently raised over $155M from approximately 70 investors including family offices and high-net-worth individuals. As of 2025, four companies had been invested in with plans for ~12–15 total investments.
Recent Activity
Fund II investments (2024–2026):
- IND Technology (April 2026): Melbourne-based grid-tech company pioneering early fault detection for transmission and distribution utilities; joining the first institutional capital raise alongside Energy Impact Partners and Angeleno Group
- DryFlow Magnetics (2026): Australian industrial tech company with patented dry magnetic separation technology for iron ore; co-lead in the $10M seed round
- NRN (December 2025): Sydney-based marketplace providing no-upfront-cost rooftop solar and batteries to consumers
- Amber (October 2025): Australia's most popular energy retailer for home battery owners; participated in $45M Series D led by UK's ETF Partners
- Kwetta (October 2025): New Zealand-based company commercialising ultra-fast EV charging solutions to unlock the grid
- Xefco (May 2024): Geelong-based startup with novel waterless textile dyeing and finishing technology
Fund II also invested in Relectrify (cross-fund investment with Fund I).
Portfolio Highlights
Notable Fund I (Clean Energy Innovation Fund) investments include:
- Loam Bio: Raised $105M Series B — one of Australia's largest climate tech raises — for microbe-based soil carbon sequestration
- Hysata: Novel capillary-fed electrolysis technology achieving record efficiency for green hydrogen production
- Morse Micro: Wi-Fi HaLow chip developer enabling ultra-low-power IoT connectivity for energy monitoring at scale
- JET Charge: Australia's leading EV charging infrastructure installer; grown into a globally recognised company
- Novalith: Raised $23M Series A for novel CO2-based lithium extraction from hard rock ores
- HydGene Renewables: Raised $6M Seed for synthetic biology approach to converting organic waste to green hydrogen
- Relectrify: Advanced battery control technology achieving world-first certification for cell-level control in a commercial product; expanding into Europe and the US
- SunDrive Solar: Replacing silver with copper in solar cells to improve efficiency and reduce costs
- AgriWebb: Farm management platform for sustainable cattle and sheep grazing
Realised exits include Carbon Revolution (carbon fibre wheels), Redback Technologies (solar + battery), and SEA Electric (electric truck conversions).
Team
- Ben Gust, Managing Partner — Co-founded Virescent after spinning out of CEFC; previously built the CEFC's climate tech portfolio over approximately six years
- Kristin Vaughan, Managing Partner — Co-founder; leads Fund II fundraising and investor relations; experienced climate tech investor from CEFC
- Blair Pritchard, Partner — Co-founder; leads deal sourcing and execution in deep tech and industrial sectors
- Diane Connor, Head of Finance — Manages fund administration and finance operations
- Alex Oppes, Investment Director — Leads investment analysis and portfolio management
- Tess Englund, Operations Manager — Oversees fund operations
- Jonathon Cronin, Investment Manager — Investment execution and portfolio support
- Mathew Velcic, Investment Associate — Early-stage deal evaluation
- Madison (Madi) Benton, Investment Associate — Deal sourcing and evaluation (involved in DryFlow investment)
- John Clifford, Non-Executive Chair
- Sara Leong, Non-Executive Director
- Gerd Goette, Investment Committee Member
- Ian Learmonth, Investment Committee Member — CEO of CEFC; CEFC holds a minority shareholding in Virescent
Geographic Focus
Virescent primarily invests in Australian companies, with selective investments in New Zealand (Kwetta). The firm believes Australian companies solving energy transition problems are well-positioned for global scale, with Europe, the US, and Israel showing increasing interest in Australian climate tech. Portfolio companies including Amber, Relectrify, and Kwetta are actively expanding into European and North American markets. Australia's energy market dynamics typically lead global trends by a few years, making it an ideal proving ground.
Decision Process
Virescent operates with a three-partner founding team (Ben Gust, Kristin Vaughan, Blair Pritchard) supported by an Investment Committee that includes Ian Learmonth (CEFC CEO), Gerd Goette, and Non-Executive Chair John Clifford. Investment decisions require partnership consensus and Investment Committee sign-off, indicating a collaborative decision-making process.
Founder Preferences
Virescent backs founders who are deeply technical and commercially ambitious. They favour:
- Deep technical expertise (researchers, engineers with strong domain knowledge)
- Companies solving clear, large-scale emissions problems in hard-to-abate sectors
- Australian founders (or NZ) with global ambition and scalable technology
- Both hardware and software companies; particularly strong in deep tech hardware and industrial processes
- Founders who have spent time validating technology before seeking first institutional capital