Energize is thrilled to welcome a new member to our investment team! Meet our principal, Kevin Stevens, who joined us in January.
Kevin brings more than a decade of experience in the energy and renewables space, with roles spanning business development, product marketing and finance. But if you ask him, you’ll learn his career in energy started well before his first post-graduate job. In fact, Kevin’s ties to the industry run generations deep.
“Growing up, I was exposed to the day-to-day operations of an electric utility because my father and grandfather worked in the industry,” said Kevin. “My first job was converting old blueprints into AutoCAD. I’ve been working at the intersection of energy and emerging technology before I was even aware of what it meant.”
Since then, Kevin has been on both the operating and investing side of the energy venture ecosystem and has become well-versed in the unique challenges tied to building and scaling a company. Combined with his keen eye for outperforming investment opportunities and emerging market trends, it is this quality that makes Kevin perfectly suited to run Energize’s newly deployed growth fund.
Prior to joining our team, Kevin was a founding partner at Intelis Capital, an early-stage venture firm focused on energy transition and climate change startups. His value-add as an investor in this market can largely be attributed to his experience at both incumbent and nascent companies serving the energy sector: NRG and Choose Energy.
Kevin began his career in business development at NRG, a leading U.S. integrated power company. He transitioned into a finance role within the firm and completed his MBA at Southern Methodist University before moving on to his next endeavor at the then-startup Choose Energy — an online energy marketplace (where he serendipitously met Energize managing partner John Tough!). It was at Choose that Kevin established the foundation for his current role as a growth fund manager. As one of the earliest employees, he helped guide the company through several fundraises — totaling $27 million in capital — and an eventual exit. While holding positions in business development, product marketing and head of product, Kevin was exposed to the growing pains companies in this stage experience as they scale. He developed a deep understanding for how products get built, how internal processes evolve and what it takes to preserve team culture amidst growth. Put simply: Kevin’s superpower is the ability recognize when companies are ready to scale and systemize operations.
“The energy transition is a generational opportunity in one of the world’s most important industries, and climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our lifetime,” said Kevin. “I’m humbled to work alongside some of the brightest minds working to solve this problem.”
As the top energy-producing state in the U.S., it might be no coincidence that Kevin marks our fifth team member with a connection to Texas. We’re excited that he and his family will be relocating from Dallas to our home base in Chicago once it’s safe to re-open our office. Please join us in welcoming Kevin to the Energize team!
