Xplor Ventures shifts from finding startups to making them work

Xplor Ventures, the startup investment arm of Thailand-based energy company PTTEP, is entering a new phase of operations. The $100m fund, set up in early 2023, is moving past its early establishment stage, with four startup investments made so far and plans for backing a fifth and sixth.

Now comes the stage of looking more at what happens after the investment is made, says Duangkamon Suttipat, principal at Xplor Ventures (pictured, below). With a growing portfolio, the unit’s role is becoming less about simply finding promising technologies and more about connecting those technologies to PTTEP’s operations.

“We can have lots of activities from those projects after we invest,” says Suttipat. That shift is also reflected in an internal restructuring that has given investment team members greater authority to work directly with portfolio companies.

A thesis built around strategic fit

Xplor Ventures’ invests in three main areas: future energy, decarbonisation and technologies that can advance exploration and production. This involves investing in some of the most capital-intensive technologies in the energy transition, from nuclear fusion and small modular reactors to carbon capture and advanced geothermal systems.

Its portfolio includes nuclear fusion reactor developer Zap Energy; advanced membrane technology developer Ardent; advanced sodium-cooled small modular nuclear reactor developer ARC Clean Technologies; and an advanced geothermal technology startup that is yet to be announced publicly.

The team aims to look beyond technologies that are generally important to the energy industry and find that ones that can make a difference specifically for PTTEP.

In exploration and production, for example, the unit is interested in advanced drilling technologies rather than established tools that can already be purchased.

“If a solution is already commercially available, PTTEP can often access it through conventional procurement channels,” says Suttipat. “But we are more interested in technologies that are still being developed, where strategic partnerships and co-development can create additional value.”

That makes maturity an important part of the investment equation. Xplor generally looks to invest from series B onwards, when a company has moved beyond the earliest stages of technical development but may still have significant room to refine its technology and commercial model.

The strategy is reviewed annually with Xplor’s executive leadership and board. Suttipat says the team tries to maintain the same broad themes while adjusting the allocation between them as technologies and corporate priorities change.

That flexibility matters because the investable universe is relatively narrow.

“Our investment thesis is highly focused,” she shares, “We look for technologies that are strategically relevant to PTTEP and sufficiently mature to support future collaboration and deployment opportunities.”

Five gates, two tests

The investment process reflects the constraints of corporate venture capital. Xplor sources opportunities through online research, LinkedIn, industry news and conferences, while also relying on relationships with other CVC investors to identify companies in their portfolios. Once a shortlist has been created, the team works with PTTEP’s technology function to assess the opportunities before beginning formal due diligence.

That diligence can take one to two months, shares Suttipat, followed by a five-stage approval process involving Xplor’s investment committee, management committee, risk management committee and ultimately PTTEP’s board. In total, an investment can take two to four months to complete.

While the multi-step process can be time consuming, Xplor sees value in having different parts of the corporation interrogate an investment from different angles.

“We’re looking for those two angles: the first one is technology, and the second one is commercialisation.”

Technology remains the dominant consideration. But a technically strong company is not enough. Xplor also wants to understand whether there is a credible route towards deployment, including the possibility of a first-of-a-kind project or commercialisation partnership with PTTEP.

Like most corporate venture arms, Xplor is looking for strategic returns more than conventional financial ones. The company wants to use its position as an investor to support co-development, operational deployment and potentially commercialisation in Southeast Asia.

The real test comes after investment

This makes post-investment engagement central to Xplor Ventures’ model. Once an investment is completed, the team works with the startup to frame potential projects. For a carbon capture company, for example, that could mean conducting a feasibility study to assess both the technology and its level of commercial readiness.

The approach has meant some shifts within the team. With four investments already completed and more expected, Xplor needs more senior people to engage directly with startups and develop projects alongside them.

The new structure places Thana Slanvetpan, head of CVC, at the top, supported by senior principal Narin Apisuitimitree, two principals – Vinithi Thongkampala and Suttipat – and Carunpol Songkiatsri as the investment lead.

Suttipat says Slanvetpan and the senior principal are responsible for preliminary investment decisions, with Slanvetpan acting as the final decision-maker within the CVC team before proposals go to the Xplor Ventures board.

The promotion of principals therefore represents more than a change in titles. It reflects a venture unit moving from portfolio construction towards portfolio activation.

Following the market without chasing it

The investment thesis has also become clearer since Xplor was launched. When Suttipat joined in September 2024, the three broad areas of investment existed, but the precise technologies within them were less defined. The emerging portfolio now gives corporate executives a clearer picture of what each mandate means in practice.

The themes are likely to remain constant. PTTEP still needs technologies that support its core exploration and production business, while decarbonisation remains relevant to its longer-term emissions targets. What can change is the weight assigned to each.

Suttipat notes, for example, the challenging environment for decarbonisation technologies but says it is an area Xplor continues to monitor selectively.

“We are evaluating opportunities across several energy transition sectors, including advanced renewable technologies,” she says.

The team does not stop looking a sector when market sentiment turns against it, but it may become more selective about where commercial traction exists and where PTTEP can add something beyond capital.

This is developing into a key feature of its model. The fund has the freedom to invest in technologies several years ahead of mainstream deployment, but its corporate parent provides a potential testing ground that purely financial investors cannot offer.

As Suttipat puts it, Xplor wants to engage with technologies while they are still developing so that it can “do the co-development and apply to our operation”.

See all the recent deals in the energy sector in the CVC Funding Round Database