Pachamama Ventures is a San Francisco Bay Area-based pre-seed venture fund founded by Karen Sheffield. The firm is built on the thesis that the physical economy, historically the largest source of global carbon emissions, is now the largest untapped opportunity in technology investing. Sheffield calls this the Second Industrialization: the reindustrialization of the physical world through breakthrough materials, energy systems, and industrial platforms. She brings 16 years of Fortune 100 operating experience across Visa, PepsiCo, and American Airlines, and offers portfolio companies direct access to Fortune 500 procurement and commercial relationships as a core part of the investment model.
Pachamama backs pre-seed and seed stage companies across four domains: advanced materials and industrial processes (replacing carbon-intensive legacy inputs across construction, manufacturing, and industry); energy systems and infrastructure (electrifying and decarbonizing the energy stack); industrial and freight technology (modernizing how goods move and how operations run); and climate data and decision infrastructure (AI, software, and SaaS enabling operators to measure, manage, and monetize decarbonization outcomes).
Pachamama Ventures Fund I reached final close in June 2026. Fund size is not publicly disclosed.
The fund has 54 LPs, anchored by Environment Next, a climate foundation investing from its endowment, alongside family offices, operators, and domain experts across energy, industrials, and enterprise technology.
80% of Fund I portfolio companies have already secured Fortune 500 customers, and 43% have raised follow-on capital at meaningful markups within 18 months of initial investment. The fund has made seven investments.
Leadership
Karen Sheffield is Founder and Managing Partner. She spent 16 years as a Fortune 100 operator across Visa, PepsiCo, and American Airlines before transitioning to venture. She holds an MBA and has been recognized as an award-winning climate leader and board member across multiple organizations.
Investment Strategy
Pachamama invests at pre-seed and seed stage with a commercially-oriented, hands-on partnership model.
Sheffield's Fortune 100 operating background translates into structured commercial access for portfolio companies, direct introductions to procurement officers and commercial relationships at large enterprises, rather than occasional warm introductions.
The fund targets founders building foundational technology layers of the physical economy, not incremental SaaS improvements, and prioritizes technical defensibility alongside clear paths to Fortune 500 customer adoption.
Notable Investments
United States
