Coming from the dog-eat-dog world of private equity, the collaborative nature of CVC investing – where forming syndicates is a must – has been a pleasant change for Alejandro Solé, chief investment officer of TechEnergy Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of Argentina-based energy company Tecpetrol, part of Italian conglomerate Techint Group.
Based in Milan, Solé has been at the helm of the unit since launching it in late 2021 and navigated his early tenure amid the shifting sands of the venture market, seeing financial VCs retreat and open up space for CVCs, especially the more strategically minded ones like TechEnergy Ventures.
Even with world events taking the focus off the global climate change agenda, and macro conditions having a big impact on the highly capex-driven sector, the amount of talent coming into climate technology has been beyond impressive, according to Solé.
Take rapid feedback and translate what your corporate says they want into what’s going to work and what makes sense.
Within TechEnergy Ventures’ focus areas – which broadly include hydrogen, carbon capture, clean power and minerals – Solé is particularly excited about technologies that are “nature-enabled”, working on the lithium and battery value chain, clean and turquoise hydrogen, and anything that can use gas without emitting CO2.
Solé says people just starting, especially those building a new unit, should test their hypotheses very quickly, not just in terms of what they want to invest in but also in the value it will bring to the corporate. The importance of having clarity about, and laser focus on, the objectives you’re trying to achieve here cannot be overstated.
“You’re going to come in with some guidelines of what people think they want the CVC for, and you’ll rapidly realise some of those make sense and some don’t. Take rapid feedback and translate what your corporate says they want into what’s going to work and what makes sense. If not, you risk pursuing things that won’t have an impact,” he says.
See the full list of GCV Emerging Leaders for 2024 here.