NYC VC Fund Launch: Planeteer Capital Raises $54M Maiden Climatetech Fund

Planeteer Capital raised $54 million for its maiden fund, with formation counsel announcing the close on May 30, 2025 — a NYC climatetech vehicle anchored by institutional and operator capital.

Key facts

• Firm: Planeteer Capital
• Date announced: May 30, 2025 (formation counsel); June 2 coverage followed
• Fund size: $54 million (Fund I)
• Focus: Climatetech pre-seed and seed
• Stage: Often first check, globally
• Lead: Sophie Purdom (Partner), Maggie Mullooly (Team)

Anchor LPs

• Ivy League endowment (anchor)
• Mike Schroepfer — Meta's former CTO
• Additional university endowments, mission-driven foundations, climatetech organizations

Investment themes

Industrial decarbonization, climate risk & intelligence, sustainable supply chains, factory & farm yield optimization, grid management, resource resilience — across hardware-enabled to software spectrum.

Why this matters

Planeteer represents NYC's continued strength in climate capital formation — pairing institutional endowment capital with operator credibility (Schroepfer) at the earliest stages. Sophie Purdom is a recognized climatetech investor and educator in the space.

A later industrial-climate comparison

Planeteer’s formation counsel describes an asset-light pre-seed and seed strategy. AP Ventures’ $300M Fund III, closed in October 2026, offers an adjacent model focused on industrial processes and materials. The distinction matters because capital needs, customer qualification and deployment timelines can differ substantially.