Silicon Valley investors often have greater regard for their place in their local ecosystem than long-term commitment for whichever group is currently paying them, with more than a few corporate venturers choosing to leave an employer if asked to relocate from California.
After 25 years with oil major Chevron, however, the last nine of which have been as a venture executive in its corporate venturing unit, Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV), Rich Pardoe was not in that camp.
Kemal Anbarci, managing executive at CTV, in his nomination said: “Rich not only took over our most significant investments like Maana from Bob Grazer [who retired from CTV last year], but he led our investments in critical deals such as Airborne Oil and Gas.
“He is also truly the ‘glue in the unit’. With three new venture execs joining Chevron in the last 12 months we pulled Rich from his base in the San Francisco Bay area to Houston, CTV headquarters, for a more central leadership role within the group in mentoring and showing the ropes not only to venture execs but also to our new support groups in finance and supply chain.”
Pardoe, who had spent five years at a startup, Ebonex Technologies, before its failure and his move into Chevron in 1991, said: “The venture activity within Chevron is focused on identifying technology being developed in startups that provide value to Chevron’s operations and then working to get that technology trialed and adopted.
“I was brought into the venture group more for my knowledge of Chevron’s operations than for prior CVC knowledge. My own experience in Chevron has been in areas such as refinery plant design, supply and trading, pipeline and marine scheduling, and refinery operations planning.
“When reviewing our total portfolio of investments, it is exciting to see that nearly 80% of the companies have been involved in a trial within Chevron. And about a quarter of those trials led to the adoption of the technology within Chevron.”
This trial-and-adoption rate comes despite what Pardoe said were challenges for industry. “Beyond the obvious economic climate facing the energy industry, it is always a challenge to get an initial toehold for a new technology. To find partners willing to give it a try, recognise the uncertainties inherent with an emerging technology, and to work towards reducing those uncertainties so that the technology can be fairly evaluated.”
Which is why Anbarci referenced his deals. In October, Netherlands-based thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) equipment provider Airborne Oil and Gas raised €23m ($25.5m) in a series C round that included a €10m investment from energy and petrochemical company Saudi Aramco and following an undisclosed amount from CTV at the start of last year as these TCPs promise fewer leaks and easier and cheaper installations.
Meanwhile, Maana’s Emergent Semantic Graph is an advanced analytics platform that helps businesses optimise their assets by collecting information on operations and business processes. The company emerged from stealth in May 2015 having raised $14m from Chevron Technology Ventures, GE Ventures, Intel Capital, Frost Data Capital and ConocoPhillips before adding Shell and Saudi Aramco to the syndicate a year later with a $26m B round.
Pardoe said what attracted him to CVC was being “interested in a variety of subjects and how things interrelate.
“CVC offers a great opportunity to connect the dots by applying technologies to solve challenges.
“CVC is also a dynamic field where one is presented with new and varied challenges and opportunities to contribute to their solution on a regular basis.”
And Pardoe unwinds from such challenges by cycling and baking – “no machines, all by hand”.