Pachamama Ventures Announces the Final Close of Fund I Backing Breakthrough Technologies Driving the Second Industrialization
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Led by Fortune 100 Operator Karen Sheffield, the San Francisco Bay Area-Based Pre-Seed Fund Pairs Deep Sector Focus With Unmatched Commercial Access to Fortune 500 Buyers Across Climate and Industrial Technology
 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – June 23, 2026 – Pachamama Ventures today announced the final close of Fund I, its inaugural fund focused on backing founders building the foundational technology layer of the Second Industrialization — rebuilding the physical world through breakthrough materials, energy systems, and industrial platforms.
 

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Pachamama Ventures invests at the pre-seed and seed stage across four core areas:
 

Advanced materials and industrial processes: Breakthrough material science replacing carbon-intensive legacy inputs across construction, manufacturing, and industrial applications.
 

Energy systems and infrastructure: Hardware, software, and platforms electrifying and decarbonizing the energy stack — from distributed generation and storage to grid-edge intelligence.
 

Industrial and freight technology: Platforms modernizing the physical movement of goods and industrial operations, reducing emissions embedded in global supply chains.
 

Climate data and decision infrastructure: AI, Software and SaaS platforms enabling operators, asset owners, and energy stakeholders to measure, manage, and monetize decarbonization outcomes.
 

"We are living through the most consequential reindustrialization of the physical economy since the original Industrial Revolution. The companies that will define the next century are not being built in software-only sandboxes — they are being built in labs, factories, and logistics networks, replacing the materials and energy systems that have powered carbon-intensive industry for generations. Pachamama was formed to back those founders, and to give them something most venture funds cannot: direct access to the Fortune 500 buyers, procurement officers, and commercial relationships that determine whether a climate technology actually scales."

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— Karen Sheffield, Founder and Managing Partner, Pachamama Ventures
 

Pachamama's differentiated value proposition is rooted in Sheffield's 16 years of Fortune 100 operating experience across Visa, PepsiCo, and American Airlines — a background that translates directly into commercial access for portfolio companies. Eighty percent of Pachamama Fund I portfolio companies have secured Fortune 500 customers, and 43% have raised follow-on capital at meaningful markups within 18 months of initial investment.
 

The fund's seven portfolio companies span the full breadth of the Second Industrialization thesis: ElectricFish (distributed energy), Ventrix Labs (modular CO2 industrial supply), Mars Materials (carbon sinks), Matereal (bio-based materials), Trainsit (freight technology), Celeste (water fintech), and Gentian (biodiversity AI).
 

"The founders we back don't just need capital — they need a partner who has sat on the other side of the procurement table at a Fortune 500 company and knows how those buying decisions actually get made. That commercial access is structural to what Pachamama offers, and it's what makes the difference between a climate technology that pilots and one that actually scales."
 

— Karen Sheffield
 

Pachamama's limited partners include 54 investors spanning institutional climate foundations, family offices aligned with the decarbonization mission, and individual operators with deep domain expertise across energy, industrials, and enterprise technology. Our institutional LP Environment Next — a climate foundation that invested from their endowment — anchors the fund alongside a community of operators and domain experts who bring active commercial relationships across the sectors Pachamama's portfolio companies are working to transform.
 

About Pachamama Ventures
 

Pachamama Ventures is a San Francisco Bay Area-based pre-seed stage venture fund backing founders building the breakthrough materials, energy systems, and industrial platforms driving the Second Industrialization. The fund's thesis is grounded in the belief that the physical economy — long the largest source of global carbon emissions — is now the largest untapped opportunity in technology investing.
 

Founded by Karen Sheffield, who brings 16 years of Fortune 100 operating experience across Visa, PepsiCo, and American Airlines, Pachamama offers portfolio companies something structurally rare at the pre-seed stage: direct access to Fortune 500 commercial and procurement relationships. In June 2026, Pachamama Ventures announced the final close of Fund I. Learn more at https://www.pachamamavc.com.