Westly Capital Management III

Steve Westly serves as the firm's managing partner and lead decision-maker. He is supported by a compact investment team in Menlo Park that evaluates opportunities across energy storage, mobility, and industrial decarbonization. Westly's operations background at eBay and his policy experience as California State Controller shape the final investment committee's judgment on regulatory-risk and procurement-cycle factors.

The firm sources through three primary channels. First, Westly's policy network — built during his statewide electoral tenure and subsequent clean-energy advisory roles — surfaces startups navigating regulatory frameworks. Second, the eBay/tech diaspora produces referrals from entrepreneurs and operators Westly has known for two decades. Third, limited partners including sovereign wealth funds and corporate strategics often share co-investment and introduction pipelines.

The Westly Group makes direct venture investments into operating companies and does not operate as a fund-of-funds. The firm invests its own flagship venture funds directly into early- and growth-stage companies. It has not publicly marketed separate co-investment vehicles, though it may accommodate co-investors on a deal-by-deal basis.

The firm targets early-stage and growth-equity rounds, typically entering between Series A and Series C. Initial check sizes have historically ranged from the mid-single-digit millions, with reserves held for follow-on participation as companies reach commercial or regulatory milestones. The partnership avoids seed-stage spray-and-pray and late-stage pre-IPO check-writing, maintaining concentration in the venture middle where technology risk is derisked but scaling is underway.

The firm has publicly concentrated on digitally enabled sustainability and infrastructure technologies. It generally avoids sectors outside that thesis: healthcare, enterprise SaaS without a sustainability angle, consumer internet, fintech, and traditional oil-and-gas extraction. The partnership has also steered clear of deep-science therapeutics and hardware without a software overlay.

The firm is a private-sector venture capital partnership, not a political organization. However, Steve Westly's tenure as California State Controller from 2003 to 2007 — and his role in shaping the state's early climate-disclosure and clean-energy policies — informs the firm's investment thesis and deal-sourcing network. The Westly Group does not lobby, but its portfolio companies often operate in regulated energy and transportation markets where policy literacy is an advantage.

Steve Westly has been active in various philanthropic and civic initiatives, particularly around education, climate, and California public policy. However, he does not operate a formal foundation integrated with the venture firm. The Westly Group itself is a for-profit investment manager, and any charitable giving is handled personally by Westly outside the management company structure.