Sep 05, 2024
We are pleased to announce we have successfully closed our second fund at MCJ, bringing in $80.6M in total capital commitments. This is a huge milestone for us, pushing our total assets under management to over $115M. As with our earlier funds, this capital is dedicated to backing startups driving the transition of energy and industry and solving the inevitable impacts of climate change.
The need for greater climate resilience drives us to seek solutions that make our infrastructure stronger and our world safer. Conversely, humanity will unlikely embrace austerity in the face of climate change (our societal drive for ever greater computing needs are but one example of this) and so we are continuously seeking clean solutions to meet an increasing demand for power.
These dual themes of energy transition and climate resilience have been driving much of our recent investment activity. We’ve backed startups in residential battery storage and power management (Base Power), power supply planning and management (Verse), limestone-based carbon removal (Heirloom), fleet-scale nuclear development (The Nuclear Company), water-risk forecasting and intelligence SaaS (Waterplan), and software for green infrastructure developers (Paces), to name a few.
The MCJ Ecosystem
Our network is a key differentiator and a critical part of our success. With Fund II, we will continue to strengthen our investments through a vetted member network that connects talented tech and industrial leaders with our portfolio and with one another. To date, we’ve helped portfolio companies hire over 50 individuals from this network and have facilitated hundreds of connections. Our media platform, including the My Climate Journey podcast, continues to spotlight key perspectives critical to our portfolio and the transition at large, reaching tens of thousands of professionals multiple times per week.
We’re also proud to welcome dozens of new LPs, including corporate strategics from insurance, maritime shipping, construction, steel, automotive, software, and consumer electronics. Our LP base is uniquely MCJ, with a wide range of backgrounds represented including successful founders, partners from major venture funds, and leaders of industry and large tech companies. This breadth of experience provides invaluable support and insights to our portfolio companies.
Shashank Samala, CEO and Co-founder of Heirloom, sums it up well:
“Including MCJ in our cap table was an obvious choice. The support and expertise from the MCJ partners, plus their ability to bring key players into one room for a meaningful conversation have been invaluable to building our team and rapidly scaling low-cost, high-quality carbon removal.”
Our Brand Identity
With this fund, we’ve made a few key changes to our outward appearance. Our firm is now simply “MCJ.” You’ll notice that our website and letterhead going forward will use a simple and strong MCJ logo, and our web address has moved to MCJ.vc (don’t worry, existing links will redirect!). The name “MCJ Collective” will now refer to our member network, which we’re excited to evolve through our new member portal, directory, AI-powered search tools, 1:1 connection tools and more.
The My Climate Journey podcast continues to be a leading platform for discussing the inevitable impacts of climate change and the extraordinary leaders working to solve them. And the MCJ Newsletter continues to feature key insights from industry leaders weekly, reaching more than 35K subscribers and counting. In September, we will be on the road, hosting live audience recordings of the pod with some incredible guests. We’ll be at Houston Climate and Energy Startup Week on September 9th and 10th, hosting live recordings with Zach Dell of Base Power and Vicky Hollub, CEO of Oxy. We’ll be at Climate Week NYC on September 24 hosting a live recording with Tom Steyer. We’ll be at The Drop in Malmö, Sweden, and are co-hosting “The Drizzle” on September 16. RSVP to join us if you’ll be in town!!
Team Evolution
With the closing of Fund II, we have continued to invest in and refine our reach as an investment team. Cody and David are leading the firm as Managing Partners, Courtney recently joined as our first CFO, Yin drives our robust portfolio support strategy, and Thai activates opportunities between corporate partners and portfolio companies. Casey has joined the firm this week as our first Investment Analyst.
On our platform team, Jenn heads marketing and content with the help of Zoë, MCJ’s Content Producer. Leone drives membership and talent with the support of Lauren who recently joined as Talent Associate.
As the firm has grown, Jason, our entrepreneurial Founder, has realized that the part he’s loved the most about his climate journey has been the journey itself, including formulating our roadmap and building relationships with so many people motivated to solve climate change. With the team now in place and cranking, he has shifted his role to Founder and Venture Partner, where he will continue to help guide strategy and foster connections for MCJ for years to come.
As we enter the next chapter, we remain inspired by extraordinary founders rewriting industries for the future – to be cleaner, more profitable and more resilient. We are grateful for the ongoing support from our active network of investors, MCJ Collective members, and engaged leaders and entrepreneurs, all of whom play a vital role in this journey.