Shell Technology Ventures (STV), the corporate venturing unit belonging to petroleum company Royal Dutch Shell, made 11 investments over the course of 2014, it revealed on Friday.
Four of those investments were in oil and gas companies, STV providing a $4m convertible note to Magseis and contributing to a $3m series A round raised by motor monitoring technology developer Veros Systems, as well as rounds raised by maritime pipe technology producer Airborne Oil and Gas and shale gas exploration company Welldog.
STV also made three renewable energy investments and was one of the backers in a $36.8m series E round for advanced battery maker Aquion Energy. It also supplied funding to a €26.5m ($31m) series B round for wind turbine developer 2-B Energy and a US-based home energy efficiency company, the identity of which remains undisclosed.
Spanning the oil and gas and renewables sectors, the unit additionally led a $53m round for Glasspoint Solar, a developer of solar-powered oil recovery technology, in July.
STV backed up its direct venture capital investments by becoming a limited partner in new funds raised by oil and gas-focused firms Energy Ventures and ProVenture, and by taking up a position as anchor investor in US-based energy accelerator Surge.
Geert van de Wouw, managing director of STV, told Global Corporate Venturing in October: “The timing for corporate venturing groups is almost perfect, as entrepreneurs and venture capital firms increasingly recognise the strategic value we can bring to the table – pilots and demos, lab tests, acting as launching customer, client and supplier network, technical expertise, global reach and money.”