Innovius Capital

Day Three in our Themes Highlight Series: Energy + Utilities The energy and utilities sector is undergoing a once-in-a-generation transformation. Rising infrastructure costs, surging electrification demands, and a shift toward decentralized energy systems are testing the limits of legacy processes—and opening the door for modern, intelligent solutions. What we’re seeing is a perfect storm of urgency and opportunity: massive budgets in motion, legacy systems cracking under pressure, and a wave of tech that's ready to scale. Here are three themes we’re especially excited about 👇 🏗 Navigating Rising Infrastructure Costs Supply chain challenges and tariffs on critical materials like steel, aluminum, and electrical components are pushing infrastructure and oilfield services budgets to the brink. These costs create pressure to do more with existing assets and are accelerating demand for smarter capital planning—tools that help operators optimize asset lifecycles, reduce downtime, and make better maintenance and investment decisions. We’re especially interested in predictive maintenance software, cost modeling platforms, and asset performance systems that can bend the cost curve without compromising safety or scale. 🔋 Electrification’s Pressure on the Grid From data centers and AI to EVs, the future runs on electricity—and the grid isn’t ready. Demand is growing faster than our ability to distribute it, exposing vulnerabilities in outdated infrastructure and planning models. We’re excited about companies building next-gen grid orchestration platforms, load forecasting tools, and smart energy management systems that ensure power gets where it’s needed—without tipping the system into chaos. 🌐 Decentralization of Power DERs are becoming central to how we generate and consume power—but the ecosystem is fragmented, unreliable, and hard to coordinate. Visibility into behind the meter resources is low, interoperability is limited, and control systems often lag behind the complexity of the grid. We’re looking for platforms that provide real-time asset visibility, normalize disparate data streams, and enable DER integration, VPPs, and microgrids at scale. From DERMS to infrastructure APIs, this is an urgent and foundational layer for the future of energy. If you’re building in energy or utilities space—or just jamming on how to modernize the grid—we’d love to hear from you. #EnergyTech #Utilities #Infrastructure #Electrification #GridModernization #DER #Founders #Startups #VC

Day Two in our Industry Spotlight Series: Construction Tech. The construction industry is at a critical juncture. It’s under growing pressure to deliver faster, safer, and more sustainably—while navigating labor shortages, tighter budgets, and increasing complexity. The opportunity to modernize how we design, build, and manage the built environment has never been greater. The market is massive, the need is urgent, and the technology is ready—but GTM remains a challenge. We’re particularly excited by products that wedge into repeatable workflows and deliver quick, tangible ROI. Pair that with a team that can win trust from both field and office, and you have the foundation for a category-defining company. Here are the themes we’re especially excited about 👇 🧠 AI-Driven Construction Intelligence Construction remains one of the most manual, fragmented industries—slowed by repetitive tasks like document search, spec review, and progress tracking. But with recent advances in AI, it’s now possible to extract insights from massive volumes of unstructured data and streamline decision-making across the project lifecycle. We’re excited about tools that unlock a step-change in productivity, safety, and profitability—augmenting human workflows without adding complexity. 🔗 Data Aggregation + Interoperability The industry runs on siloed systems and disconnected stakeholders—from owners to GCs to architects and subcontractors. This fragmentation creates friction, slows decisions, and limits visibility. We’re looking for platforms that serve as the connective tissue—extracting, standardizing, and syncing project data across tools. The winners here will power a more interoperable and intelligent construction ecosystem. 📄 Reinventing Permitting Workflows Permitting remains one of the most painful and universal friction points in construction. It’s fragmented across thousands of jurisdictions, governed by opaque rules, and still reliant on email-based workflows. Advances in AI and document understanding are finally making it possible to automate key parts of the process—from compliance checks to jurisdiction-specific requirements. We see permitting as a compelling wedge: high-friction, high-frequency, and budgeted. If you are building along any of these themes or have another perspective on the construction industry, we'd love to hear from you! CC: Koby Tseng #ConstructionTech #AI #Workflows #BuiltWorld #Founders #Startups #VC

As a concentrated venture firm, we spend our days digging into how the latest technologies can meaningfully improve business operations across industries. At the start of each quarter, we’ll share a short series of posts spotlighting the spaces we’re most curious about, the market signals we’re tracking, and the kinds of problems we’re most excited to meet founders tackling. If you’re building in the space—or just want a thought partner to bounce ideas off—we’d love to meet you! First up: Supply Chain. From conversations with industry practitioners, operators, and solution providers, we are particularly interested in the following three themes around supply chain tech 👇 🤖 Automation to Eliminate Manual Processes Despite billions spent on logistics and operations software, much of the supply chain still runs on spreadsheets, emails, and repetitive workflows. We're especially intrigued by Agentic AI’s potential to address challenges point solutions could not—automating processes end-to-end, replacing human “middleware,” and seamlessly navigating across fragmented data systems and platforms. We’re most excited about founders building workflow automation tools that reduce process friction, compress processing time, and make operations management feel like magic. 📦 Supply Chain Resiliency and Transparency From COVID-era shortages to shifting trade regulations and geopolitical shocks like “Liberation Day Tariffs”, the last few years have made one thing clear: global supply chains need to be smarter, more transparent, and vastly more resilient. We’re excited about solutions that provide real-time visibility, inventory and supply chain optimization, and predictive analytics—leveraging AI, IoT, and machine learning to help operators navigate complexity and stay ahead of disruption. The next generation of tools will help supply chains bend without breaking. 🌍 Sustainability as a Strategic Imperative With over half of supply chain executives now prioritizing sustainability, this is no longer a side initiative—it’s becoming core to how global enterprises operate and compete. We’re keen to back founders enabling more sustainable operations by design. Whether it’s ensuring compliance with new regulations, tracking carbon footprints, or embedding sustainability into day-to-day decision-making, we’re eager to meet teams making supply chains both efficient and sustainable. If you’re building in the supply chain space—or just want to jam on where the industry’s headed—we’d love to hear from you. #SupplyChain #Startups #AI #Automation #Sustainability #Founders #VC

Our colleague Xiaolei Cong will be attending the HumanX AI conference next week, reach out if you’ll be there to schedule a time.

With #SFTechWeek and #FleetWeek coinciding this year, Innovius Capital is looking forward to an electric week. This year, we are setting aside a few spots for our annual Fleet Week Rooftop Party for founders & builders visiting from out of town to come and experience one of our favorite SF traditions together. Message anyone on our team for details! CC: Justin Moore Stu Posluns Xiaolei Cong Ethan Smith Marci Medford Michael Cao Koby Tseng Nicholas Strautman Nikhil Uppal

Over the past few months, you may have noticed a few fresh faces at Innovius Capital. Our team has grown, and we are excited to officially welcome Marci Medford, Koby Tseng, and Michael Cao as the newest investors on our team! The three of them bring a wealth of prior experiences in entrepreneurship and investing and have diverse personal interests and passions for different areas of technology. Founders, expect to hear from them soon! With the newest additions, Innovius now has a local presence in both #SanFrancisco and #NewYorkCity, so you can expect to see more of us at in-person events on both coasts.  Please join us in welcoming Marci, Koby, and Michael; we are excited to have you on the team to build a new type of founder-aligned venture firm together. CC: Justin Moore Xiaolei Cong Stu Posluns Ethan Smith Mitchell Black

Awesome time last month to unwind with the team at Carmel Valley Ranch and strategize how we can better serve our companies and invest in this new environment. Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of general negativity and frustration with this tough period, but I see it as a prime opportunity to do something different and rethink how “venture capital” can support tech startups 💪🚀

Innovius Capital gathered in Carmel Valley last month for our Annual Offsite. The focus this year was all about how to #VentureDifferently. The venture capital and startup industry have drastically changed over the past year. Like the advice we give to our start-ups, we used the time together to reflect on how we can be nimble and thrive in this new environment and maximize the impact we make on the companies we support. Of course, it was not all work – the team took full advantage of the beautiful surroundings and had plenty of fun in the sun. Snippets from the week: 🧠 Engaging brainstorming sessions to find new ways to make a bigger impact on the founders we support 📊 Data deep-dive sessions to analyze the changes that have taken place in our industry and strategize how we can capture the opportunities ahead  ⛰ Daily morning hikes to explore the beautiful hills in the area over our shared love for the outdoors  🎯 A friendly archery competition to truly hone in on our focus We left the offsite feeling extremely energized for the exciting opportunity ahead to build a new type of venture capital firm focused on a unique stage of early company scaling. Stay tuned over the next few months as we unveil many of the exciting initiatives we have been working on coming out of this offsite! Team: Justin Moore Xiaolei Cong Stu Posluns Ethan Smith Marci Medford Koby Tseng Michael Cao Hunter van Adelsberg Nicholas Strautman Claire Ewers #Innovius #VentureDifferently #VentureCapital #SeriesB #Entrepreneurship #TeamOffsite

It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through the summer, and what an energetic and productive one it has already been for Innovius Capital! We are thrilled to welcome three outstanding summer interns to our San Francisco office: Claire Ewers (Georgetown University), Nicholas Strautman (University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business), and Hunter van Adelsberg (Harvard Business School). These talented individuals bring a diverse array of technical and liberal arts backgrounds and have quickly become invaluable members of our team. It’s truly incredible what they’ve accomplished in just six weeks, reinforcing the importance of aligned teams of talented individuals dedicating their full energy each day to the same goal. Claire, Nicholas, and Hunter have been instrumental in sourcing new opportunities, supporting our founders and portfolio companies, and advancing key strategic initiatives for the firm. We are incredibly fortunate to benefit from their fresh perspectives and have been thoroughly impressed by the significant impact they’ve made in such a short time. We are excited to have them with us for the rest of the summer and look forward to their continued contributions! Let's go 💪 #innovius #internship #venturecapital #entrepreneurship CC: Justin Moore, Stu Posluns, Xiaolei Cong, Ethan Smith, Marci Medford, Koby Tseng, Michael Cao