Cleo Capital Thesis: Energy & Fertilizer
At Cleo Capital, we’ve always been drawn to the "boring" but essential rails that keep the world moving. We’ve spent years backing software plays, but as global events continue to expose the fragility of our physical world, it’s become impossible to ignore the most foundational layers of our existence: how we power our lives and how we feed ourselves.
So we are formalizing our investment thesis in Energy and Fertilizer.
The Success Stories So Far
While this is a formalization of our focus, it isn’t a new territory for us. We have already seen the immense potential in this space through our early investments in category-defining companies.
KoBold Metals: By using AI to find the critical minerals like copper, lithium, and nickel that are needed for the energy transition, KoBold is proving that the next generation of resource companies will be built on data science and machine learning.
Mill: In tackling the massive problem of food waste by turning it into nutrient-rich chicken feed, Mill is demonstrating how circularity can solve both environmental and supply chain headaches simultaneously.
These companies represent the tip of the spear in what we believe will be a massive wave of innovation.
The Fertilizer Crisis: Beyond Oil & Gas
Most of the world’s synthetic fertilizer is produced using oil and gas byproducts. This makes food prices a direct derivative of energy prices and geopolitical stability. As global supply chains weaken and regional conflicts disrupt traditional trade routes, the "business as usual" approach to agriculture is becoming a systemic risk.
We are looking for a new path. We are interested in:
Alternative Fertilizers: Solutions that utilize bio-waste including manure and urine to create closed-loop nutrient cycles.
Synthetic Innovation: New ways to create fertilizers that don't rely on the Haber-Bosch process or fossil fuel inputs.
Decentralized Production: Technologies that allow for local fertilizer production, removing the dependency on global shipping and volatile energy markets.
The Energy Mandate: A Broad Scope
When we look at energy, we see a horizontal opportunity that touches every part of the built world. We need more energy, more efficiently, with less friction. Our interest areas include:
Generation & Storage: Next gen solar, wind, and wave energy, alongside breakthroughs in nuclear (fission and fusion) and the battery materials required to store that power.
Efficiency: Better ways to build and manage the structures we live and work in to minimize waste.
Extractive Tech: Better, cleaner ways to extract the oil and gas we still rely on, as well as the development of alternative and synthetic fuels.
Who We Want to Back
This is a space where "move fast and break things" doesn't always apply and you have to actually understand how things work. We are particularly excited to meet:
PhDs and Researchers: Scientists who are taking their life’s work out of the lab and into the market.
Industry Veterans: People with deep hands on professional experience in energy, mining, or agriculture who have seen the inefficiencies firsthand and decided to build the solution.
The problems facing our global supply chain are only getting worse. If you are building the technology that ensures we can keep the lights on and the world fed, we want to hear from you.