Energy Innovation Capital
Energy Innovation Capital is a San Francisco venture firm that backs energy-technology startups, from grid and storage to industrial decarbonization. Water is an occasional theme, not the focus: as of 2026 it has backed two water companies, Moleaer and KETOS, across four deals. It runs three funds with roughly $350M in assets.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Energy Innovation Capital is an energy fund first. The San Francisco firm was built in 2016 by people who spent their careers inside the energy majors: George Coyle ran corporate venture at Chevron and ConocoPhillips, and co-founder Kevin Skillern ran GE's energy investing program. Its three funds back the unglamorous middle of the energy transition, grids, storage, industrial efficiency, methane monitoring. Water shows up at the edges, not the center.
Energy Innovation Capital's two water bets are worth a look anyway. The firm has backed Moleaer, which builds industrial nanobubble systems, and KETOS, a water-intelligence company that turns pipes and tanks into live data, both names I track. Each arrived through an industrial lens rather than a utility one, and both sit under Kevin Skillern, the co-founder who carries EIC's water bets from a board seat (he also sits on the board of ocean-robotics company Ocean Aero).
Energy Innovation Capital is a useful tell for a water investor rather than a destination. It is the kind of generalist energy fund that backs water only when the technology reads as energy or industrial infrastructure, a nanobubble reactor that cuts chemical use, a sensor network that stops loss. Its last water deal closed in 2021, so the signal here is the thesis, not a busy pipeline: when water looks like an energy-efficiency play, funds like this one will write the cheque.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Energy Innovation Capital invest in?
- Energy Innovation Capital backs energy-technology startups across the energy transition: grid modernization, storage, distributed energy, industrial decarbonization, methane monitoring, and digital tools for heavy industry. Water is an occasional theme rather than a focus, reached when a technology reads as energy or industrial infrastructure rather than a classic utility play.
- Does Energy Innovation Capital invest in water?
- Energy Innovation Capital invests in water only occasionally. As of 2026 it has backed two water companies, Moleaer and KETOS, across four deals, with its most recent water investment in 2021. (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional, a side bet rather than the core thesis.
- Who runs Energy Innovation Capital?
- Energy Innovation Capital was co-founded in 2016 by Managing Partners George Coyle, a former Chevron and ConocoPhillips venture lead, and Kevin Skillern, who previously ran GE's energy investing program and now sits on the boards of EIC's water-linked companies. The senior team works from San Francisco, Houston, Boston, and New York.
- Where is Energy Innovation Capital based?
- Energy Innovation Capital is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with team members across Houston, Boston, and New York. Founded in 2016, it manages roughly $350 million across three funds focused on energy and energy-adjacent technology.
- Is Energy Innovation Capital the same as EIC Rose Rock?
- EIC Rose Rock is a separate, roughly $50 million seed-stage fund that Energy Innovation Capital launched with Tulsa Innovation Labs and the George Kaiser Family Foundation to back Oklahoma energy-technology startups. The main Energy Innovation Capital funds, profiled here, invest nationally across energy tech.