A two-part session on low-carbon investing at the 2017 GCV Symposium was moderated by Tom Whitehouse, a contributing editor at Global Corporate Venturing who is also a founder of advisory firm LEIF (London Environmental Investment Forum).
Whitehouse started by quoting poet William Blake, who had written “Energy is eternal delight,” and the session included speakers from both energy startups and corporate venturers.
Jonathan Tudor, managing director of energy producer BP’s corporate venturing unit, BP Ventures, highlighted the transition to a low-carbon economy and how emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence will make the shift smoother.
Paul Carragher, founder of BiSN Oil Tools, a downhole sealing technology provider backed by BP Ventures as well as Schlumberger, GE and ConocoPhillips, gave a presentation on the company´s business.
Founded in 2010, BiSN specialises in sealing solutions made of bismuth, a non-toxic corrosion-resistant dense metal, with viscosity similar to water and that also expands like ice.
Shaun Gray, executive chairman of another BP Ventures portfolio company, seaborne fuel monitoring technology developer GreenSteam, also spoke. Founded in 2008 on the Faroe Islands, GreenSteam subsequently moved its head office to Denmark and is now based in the UK.
The company’s technology monitors vessel operating conditions and collects live data from sensors, streaming it to a console on the bridge and onshore, allowing fleet managers to optimise their vessels, and Gray emphasised how much its business is data-driven.
The audience then heard from Amanda King, chief financial officer of Origami Energy, a provider of grid-scale energy management services. Origami’s smart technology dynamically matches energy demand against the available supply across an electricity network, saving money and increasing reliability.
Edward Pratt, director of business development for acelylated wood producer Accsys Group, which partnered with BP Ventures to get its business off the ground, came next.
Accsys’ acelylated wood is a material that, unlike regular wood, is a high-performance, high-margin and high-growth product with a wider range of applications in the construction of commercial and residential buildings and a “$50 to $70bn market proposition,” Pratt claimed.
On the second day of the Symposium this morning, Akira Kirton, BP Ventures’ managing director of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and the MOW region of the Asia Pacific region, took to the main stage.
BP Ventures investments revolve around both core operations and the company´s vision of a low-carbon future, Kirton said, adding that BP targets both because: “There are going to be more and more people who are going to need more energy.
“The world’s population will increase to 9 billion people in the next 20 years and at the same time we really want to help the planet meet this demand.”
Kirton also mentioned mega partnerships including the $1bn OGCI Climate initiative in November 2016 as an important factor.
“20% of the world’s oil & gas companies believe in climate change,” he said. “We need to make sure we are meeting society’s energy needs. You do not do venturing just to try to stay incumbent, you do it because you are trying to be an innovative entrepreneur.”
Imran Kizilbash, vice-president of oil and gas company Schlumberger’s Venture Fund, spoke about the increased capital and investment mandate of the fund,
Schlumberger Venture Fund has expanded into categories like renewables, software and the internet of things under Kizilbash’s leadership and its function essentially comes down to “being ready to transform if and when required,” he said.
Markus Moor, partner at Switzerland-based venture capital firm Emerald Technology Ventures, which raises funds with multiple corporate partners, added that the last fund it closed was backed solely by corporate limited partners, naming Henkel, Evonik and ABB as contributors.
