Daniel Dart

Last week, I spent three days at Atomic 66—a self-described “SXSW for New Mexico”—a vibrant gathering of builders, technologists, artists, and investors all focused on one big question: How do we unlock New Mexico’s full potential through innovation? Given Montauk Climate’s recent success incubating and launching Clear Current—an energy software company based in New Mexico—and it's co-founder Eric Hines’ deep roots in the state, I wanted to see firsthand what’s happening on the ground. The short answer: a lot. The conversations at Atomic 66 ranged from space to climate to AI and to community. The dress code? Everything from ties to cowboy boots to bare feet. But amid the diversity of ideas and participants, one thing was constant: the sense that New Mexico is building the foundation of something big. Something that may one day rival Silicon Valley in originality, scope, and impact. In my talk, "The Electron Economy Runs Through New Mexico," I shared our investment thesis around the Electron Economy—the idea that electrification, digitization, and AI are converging to reshape our economy. The grid is being remade, software is optimizing energy systems in real time, and the surge in electricity demand is creating a generational opportunity to build and invest. Over $5T will be required just for digitization and automation of our energy grid by 2050—twice the amount we spent building out the internet. With abundant natural resources, deep technical talent, strong policy tailwinds, and leading clean energy job growth, NM can be a hub. While there, I connected with people who are actively shaping this emerging ecosystem: Rep. Meredith Dixon, championing policy and incentives to create and scale new technologies, Jessica Moose from Sandia National Labs, pushing tech from lab bench to market, investors like VamosVentures, Dangerous Ventures and UP.Partners who are committed to the state, and founders like Thomas Chepucavage who are building the future of energy storage. The momentum is real—but the opportunity is just getting started. New Mexico has the raw ingredients: sun, wind, deep technical talent, labs, and grit. What’s needed now is capital and conviction—to turn this foundation into the next generation of market-shaping companies. More to come.

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The "Investing in Secondaries" panel during Texas Capital's Winter Family Office Summit was one of those conversations that felt both practical and energizing. Secondaries can sound niche from the outside, but once you start talking about access to companies like SpaceX and other breakout private‑market stars, everyone leans in a little closer. What made this session especially interesting was how the panelists broke down the secondaries market in a way that felt accessible — even for people who don’t live and breathe private equity. They talked about how secondaries can offer a path into high‑growth companies that rarely open their cap tables, how pricing dislocations create real opportunity, and why family offices are increasingly using secondaries to diversify without waiting a decade for liquidity. With private equity funds taking longer to return investments, the secondaries market can be a liquidity source as well. There was a real sense that this market is evolving fast, and that the next wave of opportunity will come from investors who understand how to navigate GP‑led deals, LP‑led transactions, and everything in between. • Jason Demark – Managing Director, Head of Equity Capital Markets, Texas Capital (Moderator) • Todd Buys, CFA Buys – Managing Partner, Hobe Mountain Capital • Matt Kelsay – Partner, Sweetwater Private Equity • Alex Lurie – Co‑founder & Partner, The Oasis Fund Talking secondaries with this group made it clear: whether you’re looking for liquidity, discounted access, or exposure to companies shaping the future, this space is only getting more interesting.

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Today's guest is Nasir C. Qadree, Founder and Managing Partner of Zeal Capital Partners – a venture platform based in Washington, D.C., that’s reimagining how capital flows by focusing on inclusion, economic mobility, and systems change. Nasir was raised in Atlanta between two very different worlds – one shaped by his hardworking mother and the other by his father’s presence among Atlanta’s elite. He grew up acutely aware of who gets access to opportunity and who doesn’t. That contrast became his driving force. After earning his degree from Hampton University, Nasir entered the finance world during the 2008 crisis, working at Goldman Sachs and later State Street. But the turning point came when he co-owned a small café that became an informal hub for EdTech founders. He realized he wanted more than just returns – he wanted to drive change. Zeal was born from that vision. Rather than operate like a traditional VC fund, Zeal is a platform for change – one that backs diverse teams, overlooked founders, and innovation in fintech, health equity, and the future of work and learning. With $188 million under management, Zeal is proving that inclusion isn’t a concession – it’s a winning strategy. 🎧 Tune in to hear Nasir's story, how he is reshaping venture capital, and why investing in people who’ve been overlooked is both the right thing – and the smart thing – to do. 👉: https://lnkd.in/eR37V2MR #SRI360 #ImpactInvesting #SustainableInvesting #Sustainability #InclusiveInvesting #VentureCapital #StartupFunding #ZealCapitalPartners #NasirQadree

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Engine Capital Issues Presentation Highlighting the Case for Boardroom Change at Lyft and Opportunities for Meaningful Value Creation "Engine’s multiple attempts to work constructively with Lyft to strengthen the Board were met by entrenched directors who rejected Engine’s highly qualified candidates without even meeting with them. "The current Board lacks public company experience and financial sophistication. Seven of the Company’s 10 directors have never served on another public company board besides Lyft. "Lead Independent Director and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Chair Sean Aggarwal and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee member Betsey Stevenson have overseen negative total returns during their tenures, lack financial sophistication based on their track records at Lyft, and support the dual-class share structure. "Engine’s nominees – who have cumulatively served on 16 public company boards and who have exemplary track records of significant value creation – would advocate for eliminating the Company’s dual-class share structure, de-staggering the Board, optimizing the balance sheet, reassessing equity compensation practices to reduce dilution, and exploring all strategic alternatives." #corporategovernance #boardsofdirectors #governance #shareholdervalue #activistinvesting #shareholderactivism #institutionalinvestors https://lnkd.in/gf47jVQq

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Looking forward to our #SXSW conversation on venture trends in #Texas, the rise of frontier models and their implications on company building, and what’s ahead for founders starting companies in Texas!

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Excited to launch the 2026 Climate Tech course with Bruce Usher and Alan West! Teams now will include Columbia Business School, Columbia Engineering and Columbia Climate School grad students. These interdisciplinary teams will work with 10 VC funds on deep dives in sectors for innovation in climate mitigation, resilience, efficiency, and decarbonization. Thanks to the participating funds - Active Impact Investments, Aligned Climate Capital, Blackhorn Ventures, Blue Bear Capital, Buoyant Ventures, Clean Energy Ventures, Congruent Ventures, Lime Rock New Energy, Prelude Ventures and Renewal Funds!

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I had the opportunity to speak to the CEOs of the startups funded by Shift4Good, which is investing in sustainable transportation. In full disclosure, I chair their impact committee. I argued that firms should think about scaling deep (building stronger relationships in existing communities), rather than simply thinking about scaling fast (wide geographical spread). Research by Suntae Kim and Anna Kim shows that scaling deep can build resilient organizations and communities. The standard Silicon Valley orthodoxy is to scale up and fast, which arises often because of investor pressures. Many people do not question this orthodoxy, and yet it comes at a cost. There are numerous firms that sit in a graveyard of companies that scaled too fast and failed. I could sense the skepticism from many of the CEOs. Yet, one CEO and cofounder, Sriram Kannan, of Routematic agreed with me. I had the privilege to talk to him again and he was able to articulate so clearly how the scaling deep model works, partly by contrasting how scaling deep model of Routematic contrasts to the scaling up model of Uber. The fundamental principles of scaling deep are: 1. Grow organically from profits, not from investor cash 2. Master one market before opening up others 3. Focus on relationships, not transactions I think my biggest epiphany was that scaling deep does not mean slow growth or weak profits. Routematic has been able to achieve 8-10% month-over-month growth in revenues and has largely been profitable since it began offering its transportation services. Uber took almost 15 years to be profitable. I captured these ideas in the Forbes article I posted today, which was fun to write and taught me a lot. This is one of the many ideas I am exploring to see how systems thinking is encouraging a different way of thinking--where businesses can contribute to and benefit from stronger communities and a natural environment. As always, I welcome your reactions and provocations. Ivey Business School at Western University, Innovation North, Network for Business Sustainability (NBS), Kavitha Ramachandragowda, Ameya Uchil, Sebastien Guillaud, Thierry de Panafieu, #systemsthinking, #ScalingStrategy #SustainableGrowth #StartupStrategy #ProfitableGrowth #Entrepreneurship #Leadership #ImpactInvesting #SustainableTransportation https://lnkd.in/gM74UmYM

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One of the most important conversations I heard in Davos today wasn’t about more AI. It was about whether we trust the systems we’re building enough to deploy them at scale. At a Rethinking Risk session at Davos 2026, leaders from media, government, multilateral institutions, and global finance kept circling the same concern: the erosion of trust. The conversation included Ravi Agrawal, Editor-in-Chief, Foreign Policy; Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General, UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Amer Bisat, Minister of Economy and Trade, Republic of Lebanon; Amb. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Nigeria; Stephanie von Friedeburg, Managing Director & Global Head of Public Sector, Citi. Across very different vantage points, the message was consistent: misinformation, selective or low-quality data, and a growing post-truth environment are undermining consensus, multilateralism, and sound risk analysis. When trust erodes: — due diligence weakens — uncertainty rises and risk premia increase — fact-based decision-making breaks down for governments and businesses alike The key takeaway: AI doesn’t fail at deployment because the models aren’t powerful enough. It fails when the systems around it aren’t trusted. Rebuilding trust isn’t just a technical challenge. It requires rigorous verification and higher-quality data; transparent analytics and governance; and inclusive, cross-stakeholder consensus-building. As the World Economic Forum continues to emphasize, trust isn’t a soft value layered onto innovation. It’s a prerequisite for scale, resilience, and long-term economic coordination. If we want AI to reduce risk rather than amplify it, we have to start by designing systems people and institutions can trust. That may be the hardest work ahead. And also the most important.

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Excited with this announcement of a coalition of committed climatech investors focused on driving companies through FOAK (first-of-a-kind) plants. From 2021–2024, climate tech saw a wave of early-stage, high-risk bets. The next phase—2025 and beyond—demands focus: narrowing those bets to solutions that are ready to FOAK & scale, to compete with fossil fuels in the near term. A coalition that pursues this rigorously, free of bias toward existing individual fund positions, is the right approach to collectively win. Thrilled to partner with investors who share this vision, and looking forward to engaging with the top 20 companies selected for our first event later this month. Great FOAK opportunities are emerging across a) geothermal & nuclear to enable 24x7 baseload power for data centers b) US mfg leadership across infra buildout (cement & steel) c) batteries to support high growth solar around the world d) AI for critical minerals & materials discovery .. and many more.

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Thanks to everyone who joined us for last week's Columbia Business School panel on Deriving Business Value from Sustainability. To start, Alex Gold, CEO moderator from BWD Strategic, led a lively debate with our panelists to discuss : "Is Sustainability dead?". Here are some panelist discussion highlights: SUSTAINABILITY IS EMBEDDED WITHIN OUR OPERATIONS - Jennifer Evans, ED Sustainability and Social Impact, shared that by strategically addressing climate risks and related opportunities, BMS looks to not only enhance its resilience, but also drive competitive advantage and long-term value creation. Her team works across BMS to help embed sustainability across the organization – and beyond. For example, through initiatives like the BMS Supplier Decarbonization Accelerator and the Responsible Sourcing Program (RSP), BMS engages with suppliers to enhance sustainability across the supply chain. - Christina Shim, CBS Alum and Chief Sustainability Officer, also discussed how at IBM, they’re working to embed sustainability across their corporate functions (e.g., M&A, treasury, procurement), as well as how they build their software/hardware products. HELPING COMPANIES MEET THEIR CLIMATE AND TRANSITION GOALS WITH CREATIVE AND FLEXIBLE CAPITAL SOLUTIONS - Michael Kashani, MD at Apollo, shared that his team is constantly working with companies to help solve one of their greatest challenges: access to capital. He shared an example from his team's work with Air France, where a portion of the most recent transaction with Air France - KLM included a commitment related to the company's sustainable aviation fuel goals. SUSTAINABILITY CAN BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INNOVATION - Christina Shim sees Sustainability through a business lens to drive growth and revenue opportunities. She gave examples of new, sustainable innovations from IBM’s investment in geospatial foundation models (i.e., how they can help with extreme weather mitigation and adaptation, including policies) and sustainable materials, specifically PFAS (forever chemicals) identification and sustainable substitution within value chains. SUSTAINABILITY IS STILL A PROFITABLE BUSINESS STRATEGY - Gernot Wagner, Professor Climate Knowledge Initiative CBS, shared that globally, while regions are going in a different directions on policy and regulation, companies/major markets can still benefit from participating in the energy transition. He shared that Texas, despite being a major source for fossil fuels, is one of the leading states in transitioning to renewables as sources for electricity. Specifically, 75% of Texas counties are receiving revenues from renewables production/battery storage and these projects will pay billions in state taxes over their lifespans. For those who'd like to understand more: https://lnkd.in/ecd6cESv Columbia Business School Columbia University Sustainability Management Brad Pickar

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It’s tough pitching to VCs with no funds, but here’s the good news: These firms have fresh capital and are keen to invest. 🔴 Austin-based Yonder closed its first $4.64M fund to focus on early-stage marketplaces and network-effect businesses. 🔴 New York-based Escape Velocity closed its $61.74M EV3 Venture Fund II to invest in crypto. 🔴 Inovia Capital and Mila are joining together to launch a $100M Venture Scientist Fund. The fund will back AI-native companies. 🔴 Paris-based daphni closed its $307M fund to support science-based startups. 🔴 San Francisco-based Voyager Ventures closed its second $275M fund to invest in energy, industrials, and climate technology companies. 🔴 Bethesda-based Epidarex Capital closed its $145M fund to focus on life sciences startups. 🔴 Berlin-based seed + speed Ventures closed its third $106M fund to support European B2B and Enterprise software startups. 🔴 Switzerland-based b2Venture closed its fifth $177M fund to back European tech leaders. 🔴 Kolkata-based Navam Capital raised its first $34.3M fund to invest in deeptech startups. 🔴 Colorado-based Boulder Ventures is raising $60M for its ninth fund to focus on IT services, life sciences, software, storage, and communications companies. 🔴 Copenhagen-based The Footprint Fund closed its first $89.8M fund to back early stage climate deep-tech and scale-up companies throughout Northern Europe. Check out the full list of latest VC funds closed on our website: https://lnkd.in/eWCmpB8C

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🔋 Infrastructure resilience is the next cybersecurity. I firmly believe that. Utilities are increasing spend on resilience by ~20% annually, our telecom infrastructure (read: data centers) are expanding into water stressed regions prone to extreme weather, and our water systems are increasingly facing significant challenges. 🤖 We invested in Rhizome as they are an emerging early leader in using AI to help utilities model resilience investments and get those investments approved by regulators. And also Mishal Thadani might be the hardest working CEO in the grid space...the guy just knows how to close utilities which is an unbelievable skill. Thanks for including us at MCJ, Mish!

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I kicked off the new year in Houston last week at the inaugural Power Resilience Forum, hosted by The Ad Hoc Group and Latitude Media. It’s always refreshing to hear directly from industry operators rather than just the investor circle. It was especially timely that this was amid a major winter storm that swept the US over the weekend (including our host state of Texas) and left more than 800,000 customers powerless (roughly the population of SF). These conversations solidified why I remain long 📈 on energy resilience as a core investment thesis for 2026. Here are some of my takeaways: ⌛ US infrastructure is aging and historically reactive. Using an extreme lens may galvanize bipartisan conversations to tackle our resilience problem: we risk repeating the “buckle under pressure” failures seen during WWI and WWII during defense production surges. Layering in climate change, which ignores geopolitical borders, heightens pressure. Meanwhile, China is investing 2x the US in power, storage, and its grid (and 4x in clean energy). 💰 Capital markets are finally pricing in physical risk. Resilience is shifting from a “nice-to-have” to a core input into cost of capital. In high-risk zones, active mitigation is the only way to remain insurable/bankable. 🏘️ Affordability is the breaking point that will drive a wave of investment in modernization (and resilience). With power prices outpacing inflation - driven by tariffs, inefficiency, and increased disasters - climate risk and aged infrastructure is rapidly making assets uninsurable/prices unaffordable. ⛈️ Weather is the #1 infrastructure disruptor. A total shutdown can cost billions per day for a local economy. Weather events don’t just strain the grid – they disrupt the bedrock sectors of our economy (manufacturing, transportation, agriculture) Because these are interdependent, one failure triggers a cascade. ⚖️ Utilities investing in resilience deserve credit for this. But there is also an urgent need for better standardization in risk mitigation and streamlined auditing to create a critical feedback loop between safety and premiums. 🔥 Upstream prevention (vegetation management) remains a priority, but community resilience (home hardening) is emerging as a high-ROI focus for utilities looking to protect the “last mile.” We are actively investing in all things energy resilience at Congruent Ventures. If you’re innovating in this space (hardware or software), we would love to hear from you

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NEW fellowships! Time to open some doors. 🚪 Issue 22 of The Climate Code is here on a Monday! Check out these three awesome fellowships: 1️⃣ Stanford’s Ethics & Technology Practitioner Fellowship: A year-long, non-residential program offering $15K, mentorship, and project funding for mid-career professionals tackling real-world tech ethics challenges. 2️⃣ Berkeley’s BIDMaP Postdoctoral Fellows Program: A two-year research fellowship uniting AI, materials science, and climate innovation for PhD graduates solving global sustainability problems. 3️⃣ CAIDP AI Policy Clinic (Spring 2026): A global cohort empowering early- and mid-career professionals, especially from under-represented regions, to shape the next wave of AI governance and policy. Want in? Check it out: https://lnkd.in/eurNtuKT #AI #ClimateTech #Fellowships #Policy #Sustainability #GreenAI #ClimateCode --- The Climate Code: https://lnkd.in/eurNtuKT AI & Environment Resource Hub: https://lnkd.in/dCuj6hnM Portfolio website/book a meeting: https://lnkd.in/eVErGB4m

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The subject business of today's interview is unusual. It exists to solve a consumer pain point in a few key markets, primarily Dallas and Houston. Taylor Mattingly is based in Houston and was actually a customer of Energy Ogre, a service that helps households optimize their electricity costs in Texas's unregulated and convoluted energy market. Taylor did a traditional search, which unlike an SBA deal allows for an acquisition of this size. We don't say revenue explicitly but suffice it to say that hundreds of thousands of customers pay $10 per month for the service. Now, consumer businesses tend to have low quality revenue, and traditional searchers therefore prefer B2B opportunities. But Energy Ogre is unusual in this way as well; the revenue quality is very high for a B2C business. We get into it. We also talk about deal structure, which looks different than the 80/10/10 style of an SBA deal. You'll hear Taylor comment that the 55% leverage they used is actually high-ish for a deal like this. (And they could do that thanks to the aforementioned revenue quality.) Finally listen for Taylor's enthusiasm for his partnership. Taylor and his search fund partner John were friends going back to high school, so when they embarked on this journey together there was already trust there, built up over years. A great feature of a partnership if you can get it. OK, here he is, Taylor Mattingly, co-CEO of Energy Ogre. 👉 link to interview in comments below

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🌱 Way beyond Offsets: Insetting is Collaborative Supply Chaining Half of Earth’s land is tied up in agriculture. Only 1% or so is regenerative. Our soils are still by and large running on empty. And yet, the greatest lever we have to heal ecosystems and future-proof supply chains sits right beneath our feet. We’ve spent decades outsourcing impact. Now, a new model is emerging...insetting where companies invest inside their own value chains. It’s not just better accounting. It’s a rewilding of responsibility. A return to relationship. 🔁 Insetting embeds action in farms, forests, fisheries. 📊 It offers visibility as transparency breeds trust, and trust scales change. 🌱 It builds anti-fragile supply chains by investing in regenerative ag, water cycles, biodiversity, and human dignity. 💰 It aligns incentives, turning suppliers into collaborators, not cost centers. 🌀 It’s bioregional by design being rooted in place, shaped by context, resilient to disruption. As we told the Financial Times nearly two years ago: “Now you’ve gone from planting trees in a country you probably haven’t visited… to incentivizing your suppliers to make key changes.” This isn’t just climate strategy. It’s strategic regeneration. 📖 FT: Is Carbon Insetting the Next Big Thing?: https://lnkd.in/ekDaxxYX 📰 Bloomberg: ‘Insets’ Are the New Offsets: https://lnkd.in/eTf9dNaw

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Drove along the Bay Bridge with Shaun Johnson, Founding Partner at AIX Ventures ($250M AUM), backing deep technical founders building category-defining AI companies from day zero. We talked about growing up in Texas selling refurbished computer parts, why he left CS for electrical engineering after a summer at Intel, and how building six startups before business school gave him the operator lens that now shapes his investing. We also got into AI’s leap from software to robotics, the case for humanoid form factors, and why AIX is betting big on TechBio, where AI-native companies are launching with 10+ therapies, skipping animal trials, and patenting proprietary wet-lab data.

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Frontier tech finds its ground zero in the Midcontinent The Midcontinent is now emerging as a pivotal region for frontier tech and investment. SVB’s recent insights spotlight this growth, particularly in industries like energy, infrastructure, and deep tech—momentum that the Midcontinent region is already capitalizing on. At Cortado Ventures, we’re doubling down on early-stage frontier tech that reimagines legacy industries. Our 2025 Midcon VC Summit in Tulsa underscored this momentum in an outstanding presentation by Josh Pherigo, who builds on that theme with this article. https://lnkd.in/gpFVeDVw

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