Leo Banchik (Voyager) / VC Breakdown & Contact

About Leo Banchik

To Voyager, Leo brings two decades of climate tech experience across consulting, startups, research, and policy. Leo joined Voyager from Global Founders Capital, where he was the Partner responsible for GFC's global climate and deep tech investing. Prior to GFC, Leo drove sustainable investing and energy transition strategy engagements at McKinsey and led product innovation at advanced desalination startup, Sandymount. Leo earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT as an NSF Fellow focused on low-carbon desalination. He began his career as a scientist at two National Labs and researcher at the Department of Energy's office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

A graduate of MIT and UNLV, Leo lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children.

Where they've Worked

This is some text inside of a div block.

Video Interview

On why the highest valuation is not always the best outcome for founders

"Taking a term sheet at too high a valuation means that you have to earn that valuation at the next round or you risk a flat round or a down round at the next round, which can harm morale, dilute shares, it can affect your momentum."

Leo Banchik

Partner, Voyager

On what it really means to have the right VC in your corner

"The best VCs in my opinion... are like Conseglieri, we're lieutenants. We're there to be strategic sound boards, to open our networks, to be a second opinion, to support on hiring. And that support is real if you pick the right partners."

Leo Banchik

Partner, Voyager

On why calendar density during fundraising is a strategic weapon, not just hustle

"When you speak to too few VCs, it makes it hard to generate that sense of momentum. And when you get one term sheet, if you play the end game with too few in the funnel... you lose your leverage to negotiate on round size, valuation, other terms as well."

Leo Banchik

Partner, Voyager

On how the best founders handle deep due diligence questions

"Having really good answers to the VC questions as they go from click zero down to click five... at some point what breaks you out of that cycle ultimately is the founders. It's like, I trust that they're gonna be able to answer these next set of questions very well."

Leo Banchik

Partner, Voyager

On the two ways startups fail

"There are two ways that startups can fail. One, they run out of money or two, the band breaks up. The co-founders break up and the dream dies."

Leo Banchik

Partner, Voyager

About their Fund

Voyager

Sectors

Climate, Energy, Deeptech / Hardware, Materials, Transportation, AI

Rounds

Pre-Seed - Series A

Avg Check Size

$500K - $5M

Notable Investments

This is some text inside of a div block.

Voyager is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in frontier energy, industrial, and climate technology companies. Voyager partners with founders modernizing the base layer of the economy, spanning energy production and distribution, advanced manufacturing, critical materials, applied AI, and compute.

Other partners at the fund