Co-founder of venture firm focused on climate change solutions says growing up in Eagle County shaped her experience
Allison Myers is a 2002 Battle Mountain High School graduate
Allison Myers/courtesy photo
Growing up in Eagle County has shaped Allison Myers’ love of the natural world. It’s also shaped her new business venture, Buoyant Ventures.
Myers and partner Amy Francetic of Chicago are the cofounders and general partners in the new firm, a venture capital operation that recently closed its $76 million debut fund. That fund is specializing in “digital solutions to combat climate change.”
Myers said that growing up in the Vail Valley is “one of the things that defined me … I have such a respect for nature and a love of the outdoors.”
The partners believe that Buoyant is the largest female-owned venture fund outside the country’s coastal areas.
“Solutions that we need in Colorado and Illinois are different than what’s needed on the coasts.” — Allison Myers
Myers, now a Denver resident, is a 2002 graduate of Battle Mountain High School who attended schools in Vail and Edwards before high school.
Support Local Journalism
After college, Myers started at a startup firm, which is where she said she “got the startup bug.”
Myers said the space Buoyant wants to occupy is at the intersection of a “mind shift” by corporate executives and looking for ways to mitigate firms’ environmental efforts.
The digital part of those efforts is where Buoyant is concentrating its efforts. Working to combat climate change can use software in many ways, especially using that software across existing devices.
That way, efforts can have “an impact as quickly as possible.”
One of the companies Buoyant is funding, Audette, uses satellite data to look at large real estate portfolios. Owners of those commercial and light industrial properties are looking at the most effective ways to spend money on upgrades and “decarbonize” their building footprints.
The idea, Myers said, is to use software to determine needs before sending in people.
Raising $76 million — plus another $5.7 million in co-investments — is no small task. Myers said investors in Buoyant have come from a number of different firms, including Microsoft.
Xcel Energy is also an investor. Myers said the firm was attracted to Buoyant’s away-from-the-coasts focus.
“Solutions that we need in Colorado and Illinois are different than what’s needed on the coasts,” Myers said. Finding people and companies with that perspective was part of Buoyant’s appeal to Xcel and other firms, she said.
Another part of the pitch to investors is the partners’ expertise in their fields. Francetic’s expertise is in clean technology, while Myers’ focuses include energy, the environment, customer strategies and business models.
The partners have also built a network of experts from the University of Colorado, the Colorado School of Mines, the National Renewable Energy Laboratories, and other sources.
The response to Buoyant’s launch has been “incredibly gratifying,” Myers said. “We’re investing in really cool companies” with a focus on the “nearest term impact possible.”
While Buoyant is still a startup, the partners are already looking at the future.
“We’re building toward multiple funds in the future … this is not a short-term problem,” Myers said.
For more information, go to buoyant.vc.
