Founders researching Contrarian Ventures funding are looking at a firm that went all-in on climate before it was fashionable: a Vilnius-based, founder-first venture capital firm established in 2017 by ex-investment bankers Rokas Peciulaitis and Tomas Kemtys. The firm aims to be every portfolio company's first cheque and first-choice partner, investing at pre-seed and seed in technologies that attack climate change across transport, industrial processes, energy and buildings. Its second fund, Contrarian Ventures Fund II, closed in March 2024 at nearly €100 million, per the firm's own ESG & Impact 2024 report — a big step up from the €12.5 million debut fund, which the firm says was returned with significant profit.

Thesis and focus areas

Contrarian Ventures calls itself "Founder-first. Climate always." The thesis is simple: the world's carbon budget is finite and running out fast, and technology is the only way to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy and mobility. The firm invests with conviction at the earliest stages in companies whose technology could help decarbonise transportation, industrial processes, energy and buildings — explicitly excluding agriculture for now. It backs founders in Europe and Israel, positioning itself as the aligned, hands-on partner for the hardest problem of all. In its own words, the firm plays "long-term games with long-term people — solving for long-term impact."

Cheque size and stage

Contrarian invests at pre-seed and seed, and aims to be the first institutional cheque in. Typical initial investments start around €500K, with flexibility to size up or down depending on founder needs; industry listings put its usual range at roughly €1.5M–€3M per investment. With Contrarian Ventures Fund II closed at nearly €100 million — backed by LPs including Molten Ventures and the Grantham Foundation — the firm has substantial dry powder for its seed strategy, and it has expanded its footprint with bases in London and Berlin alongside Vilnius.

Notable portfolio

The firm's portfolio page showcases early bets now scaling globally: PVcase, the Lithuanian solar development platform trusted by 1,800+ customers in 80+ countries; BeZero Carbon, the independent carbon ratings agency; Chooose, which builds middleware for the lower-carbon fuels market; Zoomo, the light electric vehicle platform for urban fleets; and Beebop, the power orchestration platform for residential and commercial energy assets. Its ESG report notes more than 80 founders across 29 portfolio companies, with earlier investments including H2Pro, Eliq and Urbio.

Team

Co-founders Rokas Peciulaitis and Tomas Kemtys lead the firm; both came from investment banking — Peciulaitis from inflation trading at Bank of America — before pivoting to climate. The team includes Patrikas Feiferas, who partners on investments alongside Kemtys, and Iohan Dessard on finance and operations.

How to apply for funding

Contrarian Ventures welcomes direct outreach from founders. The firm's website, cventures.vc, carries a contact form for introductions, and its general enquiries inbox is listed as [email protected]. Because the firm leads or co-leads early rounds and works hands-on, founders should come with a clear view of how their technology decarbonises its target sector — and be ready for a process-driven partner rather than a passive cheque.

Why it matters for founders

Contrarian is one of the few climate-only VCs that genuinely leads at pre-seed: it was doing this in 2017, before climate tech was a category, and its €12.5 million first fund returned with profit before it raised nearly €100 million for fund two. For European and Israeli founders who want a specialist first cheque — not a generalist dabbling in green — it belongs on the shortlist.