We've been operators in the industries we back.
Kora Power Ventures was founded by engineers and project finance professionals who spent careers building the energy infrastructure now being replaced. That background shapes how we evaluate founders — and what we're willing to bet on.
What we look for.
The energy transition requires more than capital. It requires partners who understand the difference between molecules and electrons, who know what it costs to permit a storage facility in Colorado, and who have sat on both sides of a utility procurement table. That operational literacy is what Kora brings.
We invest at Seed and Series A in companies solving grid storage, carbon removal, and industrial decarbonization. We prefer founders with deep domain expertise — often engineers, scientists, or infrastructure operators making the transition to company building.
We are generalists within the energy transition, not specialists in a single technology. This breadth is deliberate: the grid does not optimize one molecule or one storage medium in isolation. Our portfolio reflects that interconnected reality.
How we diligence.
Technical depth first.
Dr. Sasha Okafor leads materials and electrochemistry diligence on every investment. For process-energy and CDR companies, we evaluate the thermodynamic and mass-balance fundamentals before assessing the business. If the physics doesn't work at scale, capital won't fix it.
Project finance lens.
Marcus Whitehorse brings $3B+ in utility-scale project completions to every evaluation. We ask: how does this company's output get financed, offtaken, and connected? A technology that cannot be bankably financed will not scale, regardless of pilot results.
Our funds.
Kora Power Fund I
Deployed into 5 companies across grid storage and carbon removal.
Kora Power Fund II
Active deployment into grid storage, industrial decarbonization, and CDR.
Kora Power Ventures does not publicly disclose LP information. We are currently deploying Fund II. Institutional and family office LPs wishing to discuss future opportunities may contact us directly at [email protected].
We tend not to invest in:
- Pure software plays on existing energy infrastructure (no moat in hardware replacement cycles)
- First-generation wind or utility-scale solar (cost curves already commodity)
- Consumer-facing energy apps without grid or industrial integration
- Hydrogen plays that depend on carbon-neutral hydrogen at cost parity before 2030