Clean Energy Ventures requires every investment to be capable of mitigating 2.5 gigatons of CO₂ by 2050 using their own quantitative calculator, and more than 60% of their investment team has advanced science or engineering degrees to provide hands-on technical support rather than just financial backing. The firm grew out of a group that has been investing since 2005 with only about 15% write-offs in hardware-focused cleantech—an unusually low loss ratio in a sector where over 90% of companies funded after 2007 failed to return capital.