Convective Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in hardware, software, and financial services companies building disaster resilience. Founded by Bill Clerico, the firm launched in 2022 as a specialist in wildfire technology before broadening its mandate to cover risk management across the physical world, wildfire, flood, grid failure, and other systemic disaster threats. The firm's core thesis is that the convergence of rising global temperatures and aging infrastructure has created a trillion-dollar market opportunity: America now suffers a billion-dollar disaster once every 18 days, a frequency that has tripled since the 1980s, with total annual costs exceeding $1 trillion. Convective operates Updraft, a 10,000+ person practitioner network spanning utility companies, state and federal agencies, insurance carriers, forestry services, emergency management agencies, and fire departments, which has generated over $100 million in revenue for its portfolio companies. The firm also runs the Red Sky Summit, an annual gathering in San Francisco bringing together leaders from utilities, insurance, government, and asset owners to evaluate emerging resilience technologies, and Disasterproof, a storytelling platform focused on resilience companies.
Convective invests in companies providing risk management in the physical world, spanning AI-powered detection systems, autonomous firefighting and inspection hardware, robotic fuels management, insurance products for high-risk properties, grid protection technology, timber and forest management, supply chain resilience, manufacturing, infrastructure design, and commodity price hedging tools.
The firm sees the growing frequency of natural disasters, combined with the withdrawal of incumbent insurers and the bankruptcy of utilities, as creating large new addressable markets for technology solutions. AI-driven data center construction is an additional demand driver, adding stress to the energy and water infrastructure systems Convective's portfolio companies serve.
Fund II closed at $85 million in May 2026, backed by the Arbor Day Foundation, John and Patrick Collison, Pathstone, StepStone Group, and WovenEarth Ventures, alongside two insurance companies, several foundations, and a pension fund. Fund II is primarily institutionally backed, contrasting with Fund I, which was largely funded by high-net-worth individuals. The team was also expanded in late 2025 ahead of the fund close.
Fund II will make approximately 18 investments across pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages, with larger check sizes than Fund I. Initial Fund II portfolio companies are The Lumber Manufactory (robotic timber mills for forest management), Drafted (AI-powered home design), Voltair (Y Combinator-backed drone power line inspection), and Edge Technologies (commodity price insurance).
Fund I closed at $35 million in 2022. Its portfolio companies have collectively generated $100 million in revenue and are worth $2 billion in aggregate, with 79% graduating from seed to Series A.
Leadership
Bill Clerico is the founder and Managing Partner of Convective Capital. He previously co-founded WePay, a payments startup sold to JPMorgan in 2017 for $300 million. The team expanded in late 2025, though no additional named partners are identified in available sources.
Investment Strategy
Convective leads at pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages, writing larger checks from Fund II than Fund I. A defining feature of the firm's model is its Updraft network, which functions as a business development engine connecting portfolio companies with institutional buyers, utilities, government agencies, and insurers, that most venture-backed startups find difficult to access. The Red Sky Summit serves as an annual convening point for these same stakeholders.
Notable Investments
Emails:
kat@convectivecapital.com
mike@convectivecapital.com
Bill Clerico - Founder & Managing Partner
Mike Trapanese - Partner
Kat Mañalac - Partner
United States
