Website: [obvious.com](https://obvious.com) ### Introduction Obvious Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 2014 by Evan Williams, Vishal Vasishth, and James Joaquin. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, the firm focuses on early-stage investments in companies that aim to create a positive impact on the world, often described as "world-positive" startups. Their mission is to back entrepreneurs who are building solutions to significant global challenges in areas such as sustainability, health, and technology, with a particular emphasis on creating systemic change. While exact employee counts are not publicly disclosed in the latest available data, Obvious Ventures operates as a relatively small, focused team typical of boutique VC firms. As a private entity, Obvious Ventures does not have a public ticker symbol and operates outside the public market. The firm has established itself as a notable player in the venture capital space by prioritizing investments in mission-driven companies, often in sectors like energy, compute infrastructure, and health tech, aligning with broader societal and environmental goals. Their approach combines traditional VC strategies with a commitment to fostering sustainable and ethical business practices. ### Key Products and Technology As a venture capital firm, Obvious Ventures does not develop its own products or technologies but invests in startups across various sectors, including energy and compute infrastructure. Below are summaries of their investment focus areas relevant to energy and technology, based on portfolio highlights and stated priorities from their website and public statements: - **Energy and Sustainability Investments (Portfolio Focus)** - **Type**: Investments in clean energy, renewable technologies, and sustainable infrastructure companies. - **Technical Specifications**: Varies by portfolio company; for example, investments may include solar, energy storage, or grid optimization technologies with specific outputs or efficiencies determined by the individual startups. - **Fuel Type or Energy Source**: Primarily renewable sources such as solar, wind, and battery storage solutions, though specific details depend on portfolio companies. - **Key Differentiators**: Focus on scalability, cost reduction in clean tech, and systemic impact on carbon reduction. - **Development Stage**: Ranges from early-stage concepts to growth-stage companies with operational products, depending on the investment. - **Target Customers**: Utilities, industrial sectors, and government entities seeking sustainable energy solutions. - **Compute Infrastructure and AI Investments (Portfolio Focus)** - **Type**: Investments in data infrastructure, AI, and cloud computing startups, often tied to energy-efficient compute solutions. - **Technical Specifications**: Not directly applicable as a VC firm; specifics depend on portfolio companies (e.g., hashrate for crypto mining or server efficiency for data centers). - **Fuel Type or Energy Source**: Emphasis on energy-efficient compute solutions, often paired with renewable energy integration. - **Key Differentiators**: Support for technologies that reduce the energy footprint of data centers and AI workloads, addressing the growing power demands of tech infrastructure. - **Development Stage**: Investments span seed to Series B stages, with some companies in operational phases. - **Target Customers**: Tech companies, data center operators, and enterprises adopting AI and cloud solutions. Obvious Ventures’ portfolio includes companies like Beyond Meat (sustainability-focused) and Proterra (electric vehicle infrastructure), though specific energy and compute infrastructure investments are less detailed in public records for 2025. Their focus remains on backing innovative technologies that align with their mission of world-positive impact. ### Regulatory and Licensing Status As a venture capital firm, Obvious Ventures is not directly subject to regulatory processes like those of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or specific energy sector licensing. Instead, their regulatory oversight falls under financial regulations managed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for investment activities. There are no specific regulatory milestones or licensing statuses to report for Obvious Ventures itself, as their compliance is tied to standard VC fund management practices, including disclosures and filings related to fundraising and investments. For portfolio companies in energy or compute infrastructure, regulatory statuses would vary widely. For instance, clean energy startups in their portfolio may face Department of Energy (DOE) grant processes or state-level energy regulations, but no specific 2025 updates on such portfolio companies’ regulatory progress were found in the latest data. Investors interested in specific portfolio companies’ regulatory statuses would need to review individual company filings or announcements. ### Team and Leadership Obvious Ventures is led by a seasoned team of investors and entrepreneurs with deep experience in technology and impact investing. Key members include: - **Evan Williams, Co-Founder and Managing Director**: A serial entrepreneur, Williams is best known for co-founding Twitter and Medium. At Obvious Ventures, he focuses on identifying transformative ideas with societal impact. [@ev](https://x.com/ev) - **Vishal Vasishth, Co-Founder and Managing Director**: Vasishth brings a background in finance and technology, previously working at Patagonia Ventures and Goldman Sachs. He leads investment strategy with an emphasis on sustainability. - **James Joaquin, Co-Founder and Managing Director**: Joaquin has extensive experience in tech startups, having co-founded Xoom and When.com. His focus at Obvious Ventures is on scaling mission-driven companies. Additional team members contribute to investment analysis and operations, though detailed bios for all staff are not publicly available as of the latest data. The leadership’s combined expertise in tech entrepreneurship and impact investing positions Obvious Ventures uniquely in the VC landscape. ### Funding and Financial Position Obvious Ventures has raised significant capital across multiple funds since its inception. As of the most recent publicly available information, the firm closed its fourth fund, OV4, in 2021 with $535 million in commitments, aimed at early-stage investments in world-positive startups. No specific updates on new funds or total capital raised in 2025 were found in the latest search results or SEC filings accessible at this time. As a private VC firm, Obvious Ventures does not disclose detailed financial positions or revenue figures. Key institutional investors or limited partners are not publicly listed in 2025 data, though the firm has historically attracted support from impact-focused investors and family offices. The firm remains pre-revenue in the traditional sense, as VC firms generate returns through exits (IPOs or acquisitions) of portfolio companies rather than operational revenue. Notable exits include Beyond Meat’s IPO in 2019, though no major 2025 exits were reported in available sources. ### Recent News and Developments | Date | Event | Details | |---------------|------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Dec, 2025 | General VC Trends | AI and sustainability remain key VC focus areas, with Obvious Ventures likely active in these sectors based on historical patterns. [Crunchbase](https://news.crunchbase.com/ai/big-funding-trends-charts-eoy-2025/) | | Sep 27, 2025 | VC Industry Report | Obvious Ventures not specifically mentioned, but listed among impactful VC firms in global rankings. [Dealroom](https://dealroom.net/blog/top-venture-capital-firms) | | Jul 11, 2025 | Website Update | Obvious Ventures updated their site with new insights and essays on world-positive investing. [Obvious.com](https://obvious.com) | | Feb, 2025 | Industry Trend Analysis | Private equity and VC trends for 2025 highlight sustainability, aligning with Obvious Ventures’ mission. [EY Report](https://www.ey.com/content/dam/ey-unified-site/ey-com/en-in/insights/private-equity/documents/ey-private-equity-and-venture-capital-trendbook-2025-v1.pdf) | | Jan, 2025 | No Specific Event | Limited specific news on Obvious Ventures; focus remains on portfolio growth in energy and tech based on prior years’ activity. | Note: Due to limited 2025-specific news on Obvious Ventures in accessible data, some entries reflect broader industry trends or historical focus. More granular updates may be available via direct press releases or SEC filings not captured in this search. ### Partnerships and Collaborations Obvious Ventures does not form traditional operational partnerships like energy companies but collaborates through investments and strategic support for portfolio companies. Specific 2025 partnerships are not detailed in the latest data, but historically, the firm has backed companies with ties to major players in sustainability and tech. For example: - **Portfolio Company Support**: Investments in companies like Proterra (electric buses) have led to downstream partnerships with transit authorities and utilities, indirectly tying Obvious Ventures to broader energy infrastructure networks. - **Impact Networks**: The firm is part of a broader ecosystem of impact investors, collaborating informally with other VCs like [@[[DCVC]]](https://x.com/DCVC) and [@Lux_Capital](https://x.com/Lux_Capital), as noted in historical posts on X from 2020. No direct government or utility agreements for Obvious Ventures itself were found, as their role is financial rather than operational. ### New Hampshire Relevance Obvious Ventures’ relevance to [[New Hampshire]] is indirect, as a VC firm rather than an operational energy or compute infrastructure provider. However, their investment focus on clean energy and compute solutions could align with New Hampshire’s needs: - **Proximity to Infrastructure**: NH’s [[Seabrook Station]] (a nuclear facility) and ISO-NE grid could benefit from energy-efficient compute or renewable energy startups in Obvious Ventures’ portfolio, though no specific investments target NH directly. - **Technology Readiness**: Portfolio companies’ technologies vary in readiness, with some potentially deployable within NH’s timeline for grid modernization or data center growth, though specifics for 2025 are unavailable. - **Legislative Alignment**: NH’s HB 710 and interest in SMRs or clean tech could align with Obvious Ventures’ sustainability focus, though no explicit connection to NH [[Legislation|legislation]] exists in current data. - **Potential Applications**: Investments in energy-efficient data centers or renewable power could serve NH’s growing tech sector or industrial heat needs. - **NH Connections**: No direct ties to NH or expressed interest in the Northeast US were found in 2025 data for Obvious Ventures or its portfolio. ### Competitive Position Obvious Ventures operates in a crowded VC landscape with competitors like: - **[[Khosla Ventures]]**: Focuses on cleantech and AI with a larger fund size; Obvious differentiates through a narrower “world-positive” mission. - **[[Breakthrough Energy Ventures]]**: Backed by Bill Gates, it targets energy innovation with deeper pockets; Obvious competes by emphasizing early-stage impact. - **Lux Capital**: Invests in frontier tech, overlapping with Obvious in compute infrastructure; Obvious’ advantage is its broader societal impact lens. Risks include smaller fund sizes compared to competitors and reliance on portfolio exits for returns, which can be unpredictable. Their unique focus on mission-driven investing remains a key differentiator. ### Closing Note Obvious Ventures continues to carve a niche as an impact-focused VC firm with a strong trajectory in energy and compute infrastructure investments, poised for growth as sustainability and AI demands rise. *Report generated December 24, 2025*