About us

Climate change is here and we must invest in both mitigation AND adaptation

We partner with early-stage companies that can rapidly deploy and scale bold solutions, homing in on software and simple hardware.

We invest for financial results with a commitment to measure climate impact across our portfolio.

MEET THE TEAM

Bringing decades of climate and entrepreneurial experience to climate founders.

As early-stage investors, we align with you from the very start.

Our drive is not to simply keep you afloat, but to help you best navigate the full depths of your potential.

Amy Francetic

Amy Francetic

Managing General Partner
Founder

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Read Amy's full Bio

Alex Behar

Alex Behar

Partner

Laura Katzman

Laura Katzman

Partner

Lori DeLuca

Lori DeLuca

CFO

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Joanna Taddeo

Joanna Taddeo

Executive Assistant

VISION

Accelerate a climate-resilient world

MISSION

Invest in scalable digital solutions for climate change while delivering exceptional outcomes for our stakeholders

CORE VALUES

Cultivating the climate community.

Partnering deeply with our entrepreneurs and investors.

Being curious, open minded, and constantly learning.

FINANCIAL
IMPACT

+

CLIMATE
IMPACT

Digital Focus

We invest in Seed and Series A companies with digital solutions.

Our digital foundation focus allows for maximal financial & climate impact on our key investment sectors:

BUILT
ENVIRONMENT

food &
agriculture

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

MOBILITY

climate
intelligence

WATER

ENERGY

IMPACT INTENTIONAL

We screen all potential investments for climate impact.

We require that our founders commit to measuring climate impact and diversity across their company.

Mitigation

GHG Emissions reduced/avoided

Waste reduced/avoided

Increased efficiency/output

(e.g., renewable energy, crop yield, electric vehicle usage)

Adaptation

Cost Avoided

Risk assessed/detected

Vulnerabilities decreased

(e.g., flood or fire area protected, increased crop resistance, improved water quality)

In alignment with:

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

We are hands-on partners.

We invest capital, but also, dedicate our time & passion to help grow businesses in the best way possible.

Early Stage

Seed & Series A

Climate Impact

Mitigation & Adaptation

Digital Solutions

Software Focused

Amy Francetic is co-founder and Managing General Partner of Buoyant Ventures, a new venture fund in Chicago with $81M AUM that invests in digital climate solutions for energy, transportation, agriculture, water, and the built environment.

Her career spans over 20 years of high technology entrepreneurship, private equity, and research. Amy previously founded and led Energize Ventures, a $165mm venture fund that invests in digital energy technologies.

She also co-founded and served as CEO of technology accelerator Evergreen Climate Innovations (formerly Clean Energy Trust,) which has invested in over 40 early-stage clean energy companies across the Midwestern US. She now serves as Chair of its Board of Directors. Amy also held roles at private equity firm MVC Capital, and at Stanford Research Institute where she worked on an early version of the voice recognition technology that became Siri. Earlier in her career, she was co-founder and CEO of a consumer technology company that was funded by Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen, and that she sold to the Danish toy company, Lego Systems. Amy also helped fundraise for mobile gaming company, GluMobile, on whose board she served until it went public on the NASDAQ.

In addition to the Evergreen Climate board, Amy serves on the boards of Buoyant Ventures portfolio companies FloodFlash, ReelData, Beni, and Raptor Maps. She also serves on the Advisory Board for the WISER Institute at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 2020 Crain’s recognized her for the third time as one of Chicago’s Top 50 Technology Leaders. In 2019 she was honored by Streetwise as one of the “20 Most Inspiring Chicagoans.” In 2015 she was an Emerging Leader at the Chicago Council for Global Affairs. In 2014 she was awarded the Corporate Citizen of the Year Award from the Executives’ Club of Chicago, and Leading Woman in Technology from the Illinois Technology Association. Amy is a regular lecturer in energy and entrepreneurship at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago’s Law School. She has a BA from Stanford University.

Amy lives in Lake Forest, IL with her husband and two teenage daughters.

Allison Myers is a co-Founder and General Partner of Buoyant Ventures, an early-stage venture
fund focused on digital solutions for climate.

Allison spent almost a decade as an executive at Accenture Strategy developing
transformational strategies for large corporations in the energy, mobility, and built environment.
Her work focused on customer, regulatory, business model, and innovation strategies
leveraging digital technologies to drive speed and scale. As a leader within her practice, she
published thought capital and oversaw Accenture Strategy's MBA internship program.

Allison started her career at a healthcare start-up, acquired by Walgreens focused on aligning care
costs with care complexity.
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Allison received her BA from Dickinson College and her MBA at the University of Michigan,
where she was an Associate for the Michigan Social Venture Fund. In 2021 she was a Chicago
Council for Global Affairs Emerging Leader. Today Allison sits on the board of Michigan Climate
Venture, a student-run climatetech fund at the University of Michigan.
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Allison lives in Denver and spends her free time enjoying the outdoors in every season.