In this episode of the Female VC Lab Podcast, host Barbara Bickham sits down with Mary King, Vice President at Aligned Climate Fund—the venture strategy arm of Aligned Climate Capital. Mary shares her journey into venture capital, inspired by early mentorship and hands-on experience in clean tech investing. The conversation dives into Aligned Climate Fund’s mission to accelerate the clean energy transition by investing in companies that are decarbonizing infrastructure, spanning clean energy, resilient infrastructure, electric transport, and sustainable land use.

Mary discusses their investment focus on proven solutions, recent activity in geothermal power, and the challenges of investing in emerging sectors like waste-to-fuel. The episode explores the evolving landscape of distributed and resilient energy solutions, including microgrids, point source carbon capture, and advancements in power electronics. Mary also offers insights on future trends in venture capital, including the impact of AI on deal diligence and the accelerating pace of innovation in climate tech.

Tune in to hear Mary’s perspective on building a more sustainable future, her thoughts on nuclear and geothermal energy, and how the next wave of climate technologies is shaping the VC world. Plus, find out the best way to connect with Mary for those looking to get involved in climate-focused investing.

Shaping the Future of Clean Energy: Insights from Mary King of Aligned Climate Fund

How Venture Capital is Driving Innovation in Climate Tech and Clean Energy

The Journey to Climate Venture Capital

On a recent episode of the Female VC Lab podcast, host Barbara Bickham sat down with Mary King, Vice President at Aligned Climate Fund, to discuss her path into climate-focused venture capital and how the fund is helping accelerate the clean energy transition. Mary credits her start in the industry to a formative internship at Hercules Capital, a venture debt firm in the Bay Area, where a mentor encouraged her to explore the intersection of finance, technology, and clean energy. This early experience sparked her interest in the sector and ultimately led her to Aligned Climate Capital.

Aligned Climate Fund: Investing in Decarbonization

Aligned Climate Fund’s mission is clear: "to accelerate the clean energy transition by investing in the assets and companies that are decarbonizing our infrastructure," says Mary. The fund operates a dual strategy—one team acquires solar and battery storage assets, while the venture side, where Mary sits, invests in seed to Series B startups with proven solutions in clean energy, resilient infrastructure, electric transport, and sustainable land use.

With an $85 million software-focused fund, Aligned Climate has already made 15 investments. The emphasis is on technologies that can make a real impact on climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience today.

Expanding the Clean Energy Frontier: Solar, Geothermal, and Beyond

A significant portion of the conversation focused on the future of clean energy sources and how Aligned Climate Fund approaches various technologies. While solar and battery storage remain key focus areas, Mary is enthusiastic about broader solutions, especially geothermal power.

"We actually have done both intermittent and base load clean energy investments," she explains. The fund recently invested in XGS, a company developing large-scale, closed-loop geothermal projects. While nuclear energy is of personal interest to Mary, it sits outside Aligned’s current mandate, but she acknowledges the innovative advancements in the sector.

In terms of alternative solutions like waste-to-fuel and plastics conversion for energy generation, Aligned has explored these avenues. However, challenges—including capital intensity and nascent technologies—have so far prevented an investment. The sweet spot for their checks is generally in the $2–6 million range, favoring companies that have exited the very early, highly technical stage.

Distributed Energy and the Promise of Resiliency

A recurring theme in the discussion was resiliency and distributed energy solutions. Mary talked about their investment in point-source carbon capture (through CarbonClip) and the advantages of distributed deployments, highlighting how these can enhance grid resilience and empower communities. Such approaches allow for energy systems where, if one segment fails, the rest remain operational—a particularly vital advantage for affordable housing and underserved areas.

Aligned has also backed a company developing renewable off-grid microgrids, combining solar, battery storage, and backup systems to deliver both environmental impact and cost savings. "It’s really evolving in the clean tech area," noted Barbara, with Mary agreeing that these distributed, hybrid models are reimagining what energy production and distribution can look like.

The VC Landscape: Faster Diligence and Accelerated Innovation

Looking to the future, Mary foresees major shifts in both general and climate-specific venture capital. Artificial intelligence and advanced tools will speed up transaction diligence, removing friction and synthetic bandwidth constraints. This improved efficiency could allow more innovative companies to move through VC pipelines faster, enabling quicker progress in climate tech.

Specifically for climate, Mary believes that as breakthrough technologies move down the risk and cost curve, they become "ventureable"—suitable for investment at earlier stages. This evolving risk profile, when combined with data-driven insights, will help funds like Aligned identify hot areas of innovation and deploy capital more effectively.

Staying Informed and Connected

Keeping up with emerging technologies is crucial in this rapidly changing landscape. Mary is currently delving into power electronics and exploring applications for geothermal heating and cooling—smaller-scale, yet commercially viable projects. She encourages founders and those interested in climate innovation to reach out via LinkedIn, where she reads and responds to messages.

Conclusion

Mary King and Aligned Climate Fund are at the forefront of clean tech investing, targeting impactful solutions to climate change across energy, infrastructure, and carbon capture. With a focus on distributed systems and a belief in the potential of emerging technologies, Mary’s insights shed light on how venture capital can drive and scale the clean energy revolution. As the sector evolves, faster diligence and more accessible data promise even greater opportunities for innovation—and a more sustainable future for all.