Shell Ventures
Corporate venture funds in the oil and gas industry
Shell Ventures was established in 1996 as one of the first corporate venture funds in the oil and gas industry, they act as an investor and a partner to help commercialise innovative businesses. Shell Ventures works with startups and companies from their early stages to their scale and growth phases. They make minority investments that help to develop new technologies and disruptive business models that work to accelerate the energy and mobility transformation.
Shell Ventures investment focus is a mix of power, mobility, emission management, resources and digital. Shell Ventures is more than a route for capital: they specialise in deployment and scaling-up, and have a team dedicated to implementation and deployment. They can offer companies access to technical and scientific expertise, research and development facilities, and can assist with field trial pilots to further develop and demonstrate concepts. Shell Ventures also provide unique access to a global customer base and to an extensive supplier and contractor network.
The investment strategy is to be a significant minority investor – a typical initial investment is $2-5m, with a total of $15-22m over the lifecycle of an investment. They will lead or follow funding rounds, meaning that they actively form syndicates with other venture capital funds and corporate venturing teams.