Lowercarbon Capital

About

Lowercarbon Capital is a climate-focused venture capital firm co-founded by Chris Sacca and Crystal Sacca ¹². The firm is headquartered in Jackson, Wyoming ³. Sacca previously co-founded Lowercase Capital, which made early investments in Uber, Twitter, Instagram, Twilio, Docker, and Stripe, earning him the number-two spot on the Forbes Midas List ².

The firm was initially self-funded by Chris and Crystal Sacca when launched, focused on climate technology ⁴. In December 2021, Lowercarbon raised $800 million in outside capital, divided across four smaller funds, in a matter of days ⁵. In September 2023, the firm raised an additional $550 million across two new funds — one focused on pre-seed and seed-stage deals (“421.0”) and an opportunities fund for follow-on investments — bringing total AUM to over $2 billion ⁶⁷.

As of November 2025, Lowercarbon is raising a second fund dedicated to nuclear fusion technology ⁸. The firm has a team of 24 people, including 12 partners ³.

Lowercarbon also funds nonprofit research initiatives through a separate pool of capital when the science is critical but the business model is unclear ³.

Stated Thesis

Lowercarbon Capital publicly states its mission as backing “companies combining hard science with ambitious goals” to address climate change through three mechanisms: slashing new CO2 emissions, removing carbon from the atmosphere, and buying time through planetary cooling technologies ¹.

The firm states: “Fixing the planet is just good business. Shame and guilt won’t get us there, markets will” ¹.

Chris Sacca has publicly described the climate investment opportunity in sweeping terms: “The wealth that is being generated in climate tech right now will wildly eclipse all of the wealth ever generated by the Internet total. I mean, we have companies in our portfolio right now that we believe will have multitrillion-dollar market caps” ⁹.

The firm has also stated its commitment to ethical sourcing of investment capital, criticizing venture capital firms that accept capital from nations they view as “undermining democracy while trampling human rights and obstructing efforts to solve the climate emergency” ⁷.

Inferred Thesis

Based on approximately 93-233 investments (sources vary; Tracxn reports 93 as of September 2025 ³, PitchBook reports 233 ¹⁰):

Stage distribution: Lowercarbon primarily invests at pre-seed and seed stage, with selective follow-on at Series A and beyond ³⁶. The 2023 fundraise explicitly created a dedicated opportunities fund for doubling down on existing portfolio companies ⁶.

Sector concentration: The portfolio is entirely focused on climate-adjacent sectors, spanning energy, transportation, industrial materials, agriculture, carbon removal, and fusion ¹³. Notable sub-sector bets include thermal batteries (Antora), fusion energy (Commonwealth Fusion Systems), emissions-reduced computing (Crusoe), electric aircraft (Heart), and ocean energy (Panthalassa) ¹.

Deep-tech orientation: Unlike many climate-focused VCs, Lowercarbon specializes in leading deep-tech and hardware-heavy deals, leveraging in-house scientific expertise including a dedicated “Fusion Partner” (Dr. Scott C. Hsu) to underwrite advanced science ³¹¹.

Portfolio support style: The firm describes itself as “company-builders” where partners routinely help with technical decisions, recruit heads of science, and secure regulatory approvals ³.

Portfolio outcomes: The portfolio has produced 3 unicorns and 4 acquisitions, including Watershed, Carbon Engineering, and Crusoe ³.

Portfolio

This table represents a partial sample. Lowercarbon has invested in 93-233 companies total (depending on source) ³¹⁰.

In Their Own Words

Chris Sacca on the investment thesis: “The wealth that is being generated in climate tech right now will wildly eclipse all of the wealth ever generated by the Internet total. I mean, we have companies in our portfolio right now that we believe will have multitrillion-dollar market caps. Whether you look at energy transportation, food, building materials and management, industrial chemicals — whatever it is — every time you take carbon out of that equation, you’ve just left yourself an opportunity to make a lot more money” ⁹.

On the current state of climate: “Let’s be clear, shit is going to get worse before it gets better, but it will definitely get better” ⁷.

On portfolio relationships: “We love our portfolio founders, and they love us back” ⁷.

On ethical capital: Sacca has stated that Lowercarbon has “built all this without taking any blood money from countries actively working to undermine democracy while trampling human rights and obstructing efforts to solve the climate emergency” ⁶.

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found. The firm’s website describes Lowercarbon as providing “impactful guidance and hands-on help” and notes that the team brings “passion and experience” combined with the ability to “hustle and push to get the best out of” portfolio teams ¹.

Sources