Investment & Innovation Trends

VC funding in the energy sector remains well above pre-pandemic levels, continuing a five-year trend, with robust early-stage and exit activity emerging as highlights thus far in 2025.

While 2025 global dealmaking in the energy sector is expected to moderate by year’s end compared to 2024 activity, the difference is marginal, and annualized figures remain consistently and significantly higher than pre-pandemic norms, even in light of new pressures like tariff uncertainties, and high U.S. inflation and interest rates, reflecting the sector’s importance and resilience, as well as investor commitment to funding energy innovation.

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ABOUT PILLSBURY

Pillsbury is one of the world’s foremost law firms, advising technology companies and their investors across industries. A leader in the modernization of energy and advanced technologies, Pillsbury advises clients ranging from entrepreneurs working out of a garage to the largest public and private companies. We are consistently ranked among the top 6 most active law firms globally for venture capital financings (LSEG) and twice recognized as the Energy Transition Law Firm of the Year (Financial Times). Operating across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, our lawyers help entrepreneurs and investors take shoestring startups to market-leading positions, assisting on everything from company formation to financings, corporate governance, technology transactions, regulatory compliance, acquisitions and public offerings.

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New Energy Technologies

Median energy VC deal value by stage

Share of energy VC deal value by stage

CVCs have completed more than half of 2025's deals with non-traditional investor participation. Big tech funds are an increasingly active, as AI ambitions drive energy demand and nuclear power-supply agreements.

While broad sector exit volumes are in line with 2024’s figures, global exit deal value has more than tripled, thanks to several blockbuster Asian deals. Strong post-pandemic oil futures and the robust performance of oil stocks have made the exit path an attractive one for the oil and gas category, where exits have more than quadrupled from 2024, generating $400 million YTD.

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Source: PitchBook Geography: Global *As of August 6, 2025

Energy VC deal activity

Share of energy VC deal value with CVC investor participation (top 5)

Explore 2021 subsector trends

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Spotlight on Mobilitytech

Deals over $10 million have accounted for 23.7% of global energy VC deal volume YTD—nearly doubling in the last decade—and the median venture-growth check has hit a 10-year high of $30 million.

Explore 2021 investment & valuation trends

Series A transactions have captured the largest share of deal activity YTD, representing nearly half of the capital invested and a third of the total deal volume.

Explore 2021 climatetech exit trends

Download Our Spotlight on Mobilitytech

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INVESTMENT & INNOVATION TRENDS

“If corporates are not keeping pace with technology now, they’re going to lose ground in the long run. The investment thesis of CVCs appears to have evolved to provide a more balanced portfolio across early, growth and deployment stages.”

“Reliable, scalable energy has become a national security and competitiveness issue. Energy is now attracting both mission-driven and market-driven capital, which is reshaping who shows up on cap tables and how founders pitch their vision.”

Partner London

Sarah Melaney

Partner Silicon Valley

Christina Pearson

Climatetech: 2023 Year in Review

Climatetech: Investment Trends & Macro Influences

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Partner Corporate

Veronica T. Nunn

“As with all new legislation, it takes time to clarify meaning and implementation, but that's an opportunity to assess and understand long-term implications and align them with investment goals.”

“Companies that have developed expertise in extracting hydrocarbons from underground reservoirs can now reconfigure their operations to inject captured carbon into those sub-surface structures”

Partner Energy

Gavin Watson

Emerging Growth & Venture Capital

Counsel Washington, DC

Sidney Fowler

“Big tech investors understand that nuclear companies can power their data centers, so investing in them is a good way to capture value on both ends.”

Partner Tax

Don Lonczak

“The manufacturing category continues to show resilience, which may be connected to increased interest among investors on the basis of the generous incentives accessible under the IRA.”