Emerald Technology Ventures

Gina Domanig, Managing Partner and CEO, leads the firm's strategy and management. Senior Partner and Chief Investment Officer Charles Vaslet oversees investment activities, while dedicated partners head each sector practice — including Water, Energy, Materials & Packaging, and Automation & Industrial IT — giving deal-level authority to deeply specialized teams.

Emerald operates both fixed-term venture funds focused on specific sustainability themes — water, energy, packaging — and a flex-term 'evergreen' fund that it built from scratch to hold positions beyond a standard fund life. It also manages external corporate venture capital organizations, such as Nabtesco Technology Ventures and SIG InnoVentures, and oversees the Swiss government's Technology Fund, a CHF 350 million debt guarantee program for cleantech SMEs.

Emerald was originally the venture capital arm of Sustainable Asset Management (SAM), the Swiss firm that created the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. It later separated from SAM and rebranded as Emerald Technology Ventures, carrying forward a deeply embedded sustainability mandate that predates the broader climate-tech investment wave.

Yes. Emerald raises capital from institutional investors and counts more than 50 blue-chip corporate limited partners. It also manages tailored mandates for governments — most notably the Swiss government's Technology Fund — and for other corporations that outsource their venture operations to Emerald's team.

The firm extends from early-stage seed and startup investments through expansion and growth-stage rounds. Its evergreen flex-term fund allows it to hold positions across a broader maturity spectrum than its fixed-term specialist funds, giving it the flexibility to support companies well beyond a typical 10-year venture fund cycle.

Emerald concentrates on sustainable industrial innovation, with dedicated practices in energy transition, water, advanced materials and packaging, industrial IT and automation, robotics, and agri-food. It does not invest in consumer internet, general enterprise software, or healthcare services outside of an industrial-sustainability link.

With offices in Zurich, Toronto, and Singapore, Emerald sources globally. The firm says it has reviewed over 25,000 deals since inception and leverages its network of more than 50 corporate LPs to surface startups. Its advisory council, drawn from large industrials and utilities, provides additional origination into sectors such as water, energy, and advanced manufacturing.