Activate Capital is a San Francisco-based growth-equity firm founded in 2017 by David Lincoln, Raj Atluru, and Anup Jacob, investing in the technology backbone of energy, critical infrastructure, and industrial systems. The firm's founders lived through the first cleantech boom and bust of the late 2000s, having co-founded Element Partners ($860M AUM) and DFJ Element, and built Activate's strategy around commercial traction and unit economics rather than pre-revenue technology risk. With the close of Fund III, Activate has crossed $1B in AUM with a portfolio of 10 companies generating more than $3B in cumulative revenue.
Activate backs growth-stage companies building the software, hardware, and infrastructure that keeps energy grids, critical infrastructure, and industrial production running.
Core areas include AI-driven compute infrastructure and data centers, grid modernization and electrification, industrial automation and robotics, supply chain intelligence, clean energy generation, and sustainable infrastructure operations.
The firm focuses on the intersection of energy, compute, and industrial systems, a convergence point it identified as the defining infrastructure buildout of the AI era.
Activate Capital Fund III closed in July 2026, pushing total firm AUM past $1B. Fund size was not publicly disclosed; the fund's publicly reported target was approximately $500M when in market in 2025.
Fund III already holds 10 portfolio companies generating more than $3B in cumulative revenue. LPs are not publicly disclosed; the firm highlighted returning investors who have backed it since inception.
The fund invests across North America and Europe at growth stage.
Leadership
David Lincoln is Managing Partner and Co-Founder, who previously founded Element Partners (an $860M series of cleantech funds) and co-founded EnerTech Capital and DFJ Element.
Raj Atluru is Managing Partner and Co-Founder, who co-founded DFJ Element with Lincoln as one of the leading dedicated cleantech firms of its era.
Anup Jacob is Managing Partner and Co-Founder, formerly at Mubadala Capital, Masdar, and the Virgin Green Fund, bringing deep ties to sovereign and strategic energy capital.
Eric Meyer, Jon Guerster, and Paul Jordan serve as Partners, supported by a team of principals, vice presidents, and a dedicated portfolio-operations function.
Investment Strategy
Activate writes growth-stage checks into companies with demonstrated commercial traction in energy, critical infrastructure, and industrial technology, not pre-revenue science bets.
The firm's domain depth, understanding long sales cycles, project finance, utility procurement, and the operational realities of deploying hardware at scale, is its core differentiating asset for founders in sectors where generalist growth funds regularly underestimate complexity.
The fund covers North America and Europe.
Notable Investments
Notable Exits
Raj Atluru — Managing Partner & Co-Founder
raj@activatecp.com
Anup Jacob — Managing Partner & Co-Founder
anup@activatecap.com
David Lincoln — Managing Partner & Co-Founder
david@activatecap.com
United States
