Q&A with Girish Nadkarni, president, TotalEnergies Ventures
Girish Nadkarni serves as president for TotalEnergies Ventures (formerly Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures), the corporate venturing unit of France-headquartered energy group TotalEnergies (previously called Total).
Amit Narayan, CEO of US-based energy management technology developer AutoGrid, said: “Girish is not just an influential venture capitalist but also an outstanding human being. Girish’s advice and support have been invaluable to AutoGrid over the years.
“I have found him to be very thoughtful and considerate of the interests of all stakeholders – not just his fund – when making a decision. He has assembled an outstanding team at TotalEnergies Ventures that embodies his style of constructive engagement with companies and management teams. I am proud to count Girish amongst my friends and mentor!”
Peter Rowe, CEO and co-founder of UK-based carbon dioxide recycling company Deep Branch, added: “TotalEnergies Ventures are not just an important part of our investor base at Deep Branch, but also a hugely valuable strategic partner. Our shared vision of the future of decarbonisation enables us to see synergies beyond our current value chains and work towards developing ecosystems that benefit us both.
“TotalEnergies Ventures’ financial support and extensive expertise in the decarbonisation ecosystem, such as capture and recycling of CO2 and low-carbon hydrogen production, will accelerate the execution of our vision of scalable, environmentally friendly production processes. Together, we are working to build a regular supply of a price-stable, price-competitive, and nutritionally optimal bulk protein.”
1. What are your plans for the year ahead?
Focus more on companies and sectors contributing significantly to carbon neutrality. This includes areas like bioplastics, recycling, circular economy and agtech.
2. Pain points and opportunities you have encountered in corporate venturing.
Recruiting and retaining talent. Making sure you have a real climate impact.
3. What do you think all corporations or CVCs could do better to make it a stronger industry?
Be seen as the agents of change.
4. For colour, what did you do prior to your venture role or in your spare time?
Before joining TotalEnergies, I started and ran ABB Technology Ventures, [a corporate venturing arm of power and automation equipment maker ABB]. Before that, I managed one of the robotics businesses. I also have a background in healthcare services.
