Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Thin Line Capital Launches New Energy, Sustainability Fund
Pasadena-based Thin Line Capital announced this morning that it has launched a brand new, energey and sustainability fund, which will invest in cleantech investing. The new firm, led by serial entrepnd investor Aaron Fyke, said its seed stage fund has had its first close of over $5 million. Fyke previously had been CEO of multiple companies for Idealab, and also was a cleantech investor at Starfish Ventures in Australia. According to Fyke, Thin Line Capital is looking to capitalize on the "second wave" of cleantech investing, taking advantage of much of the progress in clean tech investments which--unlike the first wave--are a better fit for venture capital investors. The initial investments in clean technology companies had been very large investments in companies working on such technologies as solar power, automobiles, batteries, and other capital-intensive areas; Fyke says that now, there are many startups which are serving established solar, wind, EV, battery storage, and grid modernization markets, which do not require those capital outlays. Thin Line Capital is linked with venture capital firm Wavemaker, which is partnering with Thin Line Capital to establish the new fund. Wavemaker, led by Eric Manlunas, says the partnership allows it to leverage its assets, reach, and expertise; the fund already has similar deals with Wavemaker 360 Health, and early stage healthcare fund run by Jay Goss; and Wavaemaker Labs, a venture studio. Thin Line says it has already made three investments to date: Sistine Solar (low cost solar roof technology); Digital Harvest (predictive analytics for crop harvest forecasts); and Kevala Analytics