Why Toniic members invested with Overture VC (Part 1/2) — Overture Fund I
Governments will play central roles in the energy transition: as regulators, partners, customers, and financiers. Successful climate startups will navigate and leverage governments most effectively. In the U.S., recently enacted federal policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and CHIPS Act have collectively unlocked $1.2 trillion for climate and the clean energy transition.
However, to date, climate tech startups have had limited knowledge of how to engage with or optimize policy without paying for expensive support.
Overture VC
Overture VC is an early-stage firm at the intersection of climate and government, founded by Shomik Dutta, Michael O’Neil and Brandon Hurlbut, three former White House officials who worked in the Obama administration, and entrepreneur Tamim Mourad.
Overture’s unique value is in working with portfolio companies to accelerate their ability to gain government support and navigate regulatory complexity. With an investment from Overture, each company receives in-kind support from Boundary Stone Partners, the country’s leading climate focused government affairs firm.
Boundary Stone Partners was founded by Overture partner Brandon Hurlbut and is a full-service 50-person strategic advisory and lobbying firm comprised of senior energy and climate leaders with experience in the highest levels of the U.S. Government.
Overture makes initial investments of $1 million to $1.5 million in hardware and software technologies across energy, transportation, built environment, carbon management, climate adaptation, and agriculture — not gov-tech or startups whose outcomes are singularly dependent on government actions.
Overture Fund I
Overture recently announced the $60 million closing of Overture Fund I. LPs include Schneider Electric’s SE Ventures, fund-of-funds WovenEarth (also invested by a few Toniic members) and former director of speechwriting for President Barack Obama Jon Favreau, as well as family offices across the US and UK.
The fund has already invested in 21 startups, including thermal battery developer Antora, geothermal heating and cooling startup Bedrock Energy, tax financing market Crux, flood monitoring service Floodbase, and electric trucking startup Forum Mobility.
Example of Overture’s unique approach:
Overture’s specialized insights and network are unparalleled in this era of serious government tailwinds for clean-tech
Bedrock is a geothermal heating and cooling technology company. Bedrock’s novel drilling rig is portable and utilizes telemetry and ML models to enable drilling in dense urban areas. Bedrock’s technology doubles geothermal’s addressable market by unlocking commercial and multi-family sites.
Bedrock’s founder and CEO Joselyn Lai shared more on how Overture and Boundary Stone have supported her company.
“Overture was Bedrock’s very first check in the door, and their specialized insights and network are unparalleled in this era of serious government tailwinds for clean-tech. The Overture team and their Boundary Stone partners occupy a distinct place on our cap table compared to our conventional tech venture investors; thanks to their hustle and public sector expertise, Bedrock Energy has enjoyed valuable bizdev, recruiting, and grant opportunities that draw on Overture’s unique support.”
Overture and Toniic
Overture was referred to Toniic by a Venture fund manager whose impact fund was previously featured in our investment programs and which successfully raised over $7M from Toniic members and other investors close to Toniic members.
Overture’s collaboration with Toniic also resulted in a positive outcome, with two Toniic members committing to the fund.
Toniic member Ernest C. who invested in Overture:
“I liked Shomik Dutta and his partners and team at Overture for their mission driven focus on facilitating the climate tech transition. They have a differentiated investment thesis related to their experience in government and political affairs and their partnership with Boundary Stone Partners. US government policy and programs will have a central role to play in mobilizing capital and innovation towards climate solutions. Overture made the case for how they can help portfolio companies to navigate the evolving policy, funding and regulatory landscape. That capability strengthens their deal flow and pipeline due to their differentiation as an investor and co-investor. This is a part of our climate impact portfolio and I see them as additive due to their thesis. I see them acting as connectors across the ecosystem of climate startups, investors, government, business and nonprofit organizations, helping to foster a collaborative and mission driven network.”
Ernest C. also further added how Toniic has been helpful in the process:
“I very much appreciated the Toniic team and process. They facilitated several calls with Shomik and made it easier for me to get to know the firm (and vice versa), and to participate in due diligence discussions with other investors.”
In this part I, we focused on investments from Toniic members in the Overture Fund I. Following the success of the collaboration between Overture and Toniic, both organizations worked together again on a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in one of Overture’s portfolio companies. We’ll cover why Toniic members invested in this SPV in our part 2, which we will be publishing next week.
About Toniic:
Toniic is a global community of private asset owners seeking to steward wealth and use influence to enable a thriving world. Our members — more than 500 high net-wealth individuals, family offices and foundations from more than 25 countries — are active impact investors and philanthropists, for whom Toniic provides education, investment opportunities, impact support, events, and community. Toniic also seeks to build the field of deep impact investing, moving money and mindsets and leading by example.
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Contact Julien Gafarou, Director of Investment Research if you’d like to learn more about the Toniic membership or to share an investment opportunity
