IMPACTASSETS 50™
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
ImpactAssets 50
An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers
Buoyant Ventures
Climate Change
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Water and SanitationFirm Overview
Buoyant Ventures is a female-owned venture fund started by Amy Francetic and Allison Myers. Buoyant is investing in digital solutions that address climate risk in the energy, agriculture, real estate and transportation sectors. Previously Amy founded and ran Energize Ventures and Clean Energy Trust. Allison was a senior manager in Accenture Strategy's utilities, sustainability and smart cities practices, and is an advisor to the Michigan Social Venture and Climate Funds. Buoyant has 1 investments so far. Buoyant’s LPs include Microsoft, Bank of America, a state pension fund, two major US utilities, and top performing technology venture capitalists, energy entrepreneurs, impact investors, and software entrepreneurs. Current AUM is $81.7M.
Years of Operation: Less than 3 years
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: Less than 25%
Buoyant Ventures invests in digital solutions to climate change, namely software, seeking both climate change adaptation and mitigation impact.
Buoyant screens all its investments for either climate change adaptation or mitigation impact. Buoyant only invests in capital-light software and hardware, not advanced materials or heavy manufacturing. Every investment is underwritten for a minimum of a 5x return, with a performance target for the broader fund of 3x. Digital solutions include software and hardware sensors that address climate risk in the energy, transportation, agriculture, water, and built environment industries. The portfolio strategy consists of ~20 companies, with a primary focus on seed and series A, meaning companies that have approximately +/- $1M of revenue and repeat customers. Amy and Allison intend to take board seats and help the companies hire talent, source and close customers, and fundraise. Buoyant will measure ESG Impact and DEI across its portfolio.
- 100% female owned - Deep domain expertise in climate and energy - Top quartile track record from past fund: Amy's Energize Ventures track record is 3.8x TVPI with one IPO and one secondary sale and several large markups - Focus on digital technologies - Research discipline to help proactively source deals - Measures both climate change mitigation AND adaptation impact
Investment Example
Buoyant led the series A and participated in the follow-on series B of RaptorMaps investing a total of $3M across the fund and SPVs. RaptorMaps makes software that helps optimize renewable energy production of utility scale solar assets. The firm is led by a co-founder/CEO of East Asian decent. RaptorMaps will book approximately $7M of revenue in 2023 and is one of the more mature companies in the Buoyant portfolio.
Leadership and Team
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Amy Francetic – Co-founder and Managing General Partner More Info
Amy's career spans over 20 years of high technology entrepreneurship, private equity, and research. Prior to founding Buoyant Ventures, Amy founded and led Energize Ventures, a $165mm venture fund that invests in digital energy technologies. She also co-founded and served as CEO of technology accelerator Clean Energy Trust (renamed Evergreen Climate Innovations), which has invested in dozens of early-stage clean energy companies across the Midwestern US. Earlier in her career, she was co-founder and CEO of a consumer technology company that was funded by Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen, and that she sold to the Danish toy company, Lego Systems. |
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Allison Myers – Co-founder and General Partner More Info
Allison spent almost a decade as an executive at Accenture Strategy developing transformational strategies for large corporations in the energy, mobility, and built environment. Her work focused on customer, regulatory, business model, and innovation strategies leveraging digital technologies to drive speed and scale. As a leader within her practice, she published thought capital and oversaw Accenture Strategy's MBA internship program. Allison started her career at a healthcare start-up, acquired by Walgreens focused on aligning care costs with care complexity. |
Financial Performance
Impact Performance
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Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments: |
100%
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Buoyant screens all its potential investments for climate change adaptation or mitigation benefits before doing any further diligence. Buoyant also has a preference for ethnically and gender diverse CEOs and founders. In the adaptation category, climate justice and resilient infrastructure are focus areas. In the mitigation category, emission reductions is the focus.
We write into our investment documents a commitment for the portfolio company to measure ESG impact and DEI on a quarterly basis and report to Buoyant. The metrics are developed in line with the portfolio company's core business that drives either climate change adaptation or mitigation benefits. Additionally, Buoyant will help the company create a DEI policy if it doesn't have one, and will help them recruit diverse candidates for job openings.
Impact Tracking and Monitoring
Learn More
500 W. Madison, 10th Floor, Chicago, IL 60045 USA
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