Tom Whitehouse, contributing editor, interviewed Barbara Burger about Chevron Technology Ventures’ new Future Energy Fund and GCV’s Venture Houston conference next month, which she is co-chairing and Chevron is co-sponsoring.

What is new about Chevron’s new fund? The investment focus for Future Energy Fund will be different from our earlier funds. It will be focused on technologies that enable emissions reduction in oil and gas operations as well as investments in technologies that may break through or disrupt the energy vertical in the future. We have had investments in this space in the past, but having a parallel fund in our organisation brings specific focus to this area. We will, however, manage the fund using the practices we have developed over nearly 20 years. Is Chevron’s commercial deployment of venture-backed technologies still the ultimate end game? Our model is to add value to Chevron through being an on-ramp for promising innovators. We find, evaluate and integrate external startup technologies into Chevron. That will not change. In Europe, energy corporate VCs are increasingly being tasked with helping their parent companies grow their low-carbon and electric mobility businesses. How does it differ for Chevron? Our objectives for the Future Energy Fund are consistent with our corporate views on the expectations for our industry. We enable human progress by supplying safe, affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy. Chevron Technology Ventures has been active for about 20 years. Is there a cyclical element to the future energy investment theme? We have watched this space for a long time and have played in some areas before. That experience makes us better informed today. We have monitored the cost curves, the scaling opportunities and the impact of policies. So it is not about us joining a new cycle. We simply believe that now is the right time to build on our participation. And we have become smarter about what it takes to be successful in this area. In one of your portfolio businesses – Maana – you have co-invested with fellow energy CVCs, but also with Accenture Ventures and new Chinese CVCs. Is this a taste of the future? We have had a track record of investing with a diverse set of players and we see that as continuing and growing. There are two reasons. More and more corporations and other businesses are starting venture capital arms, as well as venture investments coming from family offices and other investors, and some of our investments – particularly in the digital realm – cut across industry verticals and thus attract a wide range of interested investors. What is special about the Houstonian and broader Texan venture ecosystem? How is…

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