CapitalG co-founder introduces $175M early-stage venture fund

Valo Ventures, a new firm focused on social, economic and environmental megatrends, has closed on $175 million for its debut venture capital fund.

The effort is led by Scott Tierney, a co-founder of Alphabet’s growth investing unit CapitalG, as well as Mona ElNaggar, a former managing director of TIFF Investment Management and Julia Brady, who previously worked as a director at The Via Agency, a communications workshop.

“Google is like being a kid in a candy store,” Tierney tells TechCrunch. “It’s a great place to be. For me, I thought, ‘alright, I’ve been here for seven years, I have this opportunity to create my own fund and be more entrepreneurial and take all the learnings I was fortunate to have inside of Google and apply them.’ ”

Tierney joined Google in 2011 as a director of corporate development after five years as a managing director at Steelpoint Capital Partners. In 2013, he co-founded CapitalG, where he served as a partner for the next two years. He completed his Google stint as a director of corporate development and strategic partnerships at Nest Labs, a title he held until mid-2018.

The Valo Ventures partners plan to participate in Series A, B and C deals for startups located in North America and Europe. Specifically, Valo is looking for businesses solving problems within climate change, urbanization, autonomy and mobility. 

The goal is to bring an ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) perspective to venture capital, where investors infrequently take a mission-driven approach to deal-making. To date, Valo Ventures has deployed capital to Landit, a career pathing platform for women, and a stealth startup developing an AI platform for electricity demand and supply forecasting.