The Hidden Alpha in Emerging Climate Fund Managers
Emerging venture fund managers outperform established ones. This is not an opinion. It is what the data shows, consistently, across two decades of fund vintages.
The Colibri Institute's February 2026 analysis of nearly 2,500 VC funds raised between 2000 and 2024 found emerging managers outperformed established managers in DPI, IRR, and TVPI. StepStone's 2026 study found Fund I vehicles under $500M delivered above-median returns 67% of the time, with average Fund I IRR of 20.7% versus 17.5% for Fund IV and beyond. Cambridge Associates data shows 91% of the top 10 VC funds annually from 2013 to 2022 were smaller than $250M. And PitchBook found specialist funds under $250M are clear winners in both IRR and TVPI.
In climate specifically, the signal is even stronger. Climate tech funds are outperforming overall VC by a 9% IRR premium in the 2020 to 2024 fund vintage (SVB, 2025). Climate tech venture and growth investment hit $40.5 billion in 2025, up 8% year over year, even in the most uncertain policy environment in a decade.
Most allocators have never met the managers generating these returns. This panel puts them in the room.
Washington, DC sits at the intersection of policy, philanthropy, and private capital, making it one of the most important and underserved markets for climate investing. This event brings that ecosystem together. Hear directly from emerging climate GPs raising and deploying capital today, alongside LPs actively backing them, on where the next wave of climate venture returns will come from.
This event builds on our sold-out panels at DC Climate Week 2025 and NY Climate Week 2025. We expect this event to sell out. Register now to secure your spot.
Chatham House Rules. Bring your questions. 20 minutes of Q&A with the panel.
Additional speakers announced mid march.
VC Panel:
~Russel Sprole, Founding Managing Partner of Virta Ventures
~Justin Brodie-Kommit, Founding Managing Partner of Lichen Ventures
~Urvashi Bhatnagar, Founding Managing Partner of The Good Science Fund
Moderated by: Michael Luciani, Co-Managing Partner of Juniper Ventures
LP Panel:
~Katherine Hill Ritchie, Founder and CEO of Private Capital Investments
Lunch will be provided.
Who Should Attend: Limited Partners, family offices, fund-of-funds, institutional allocators, high-net-worth individuals, and accredited investors interested in deploying capital into climate. Priority given to allocators.
Attendees are also invited to the GP/LP Matching Catalyst later that evening. Separate registration is required.
This event is part of GP/LP Day during DC Climate Week 2026 (April 20-26).
DC Climate Week is not responsible for this event. It is organized by the organizing group, and being listed on the DCCW calendar is not an endorsement of content or partners.