Ramsay Siegal
Partner, Earthshot Ventures
2022 C3E Social, Economic, & Policy Innovation Award Winner
Ramsay Siegal is a Partner at Earthshot Ventures, a venture capital fund that supports entrepreneurs building technologies to address climate change. Earthshot aims to bring more catalytic funding into the climate tech space while drawing on new and existing networks to help founders accelerate their paths to market. Siegal sits on the investing team leading several deals each year, in addition to managing human resources and communications functions for the organization. She has been working to increase diversity and inclusion within her organization and the new ventures she supports. In 2021, Earthshot Ventures spun out of Elemental Excelerator, where Siegal led a portfolio of 100+ climate tech companies. Additionally, she led the nonprofit’s corporate partnerships and established the organization’s deal flow engine.
Prior to working in the venture capital space, Siegal worked at eMeter, a smart metering software company that was acquired by Siemens. Following the acquisition, she supported the international expansion of eMeter’s software technology through channel partners in the Asia Pacific region. She began her climate-focused career selling commercial-scale solar photovoltaics in Northern California.
Siegel holds a Master’s in Planning and Design from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Bachelor’s in Policy, Management and Planning with a Minor in Architecture from the University of Southern California.
+ Learn More About Ramsay Siegal's Clean Energy Journey
In high school, Ramsay Siegal chose to pursue an architecture degree, a way to utilize her interests in math and art. During her studies, she discovered the focus on form over function to be limiting and became inspired by the emerging green building field. Ramsay designed a library in architecture school that included solar panels and became ‘obsessed’ with grid decarbonization. This was her lightbulb moment which has led to a lifelong career in climate.
As a venture capitalist, Ramsay funds and supports climate tech companies creating innovative technologies that address carbon emissions in energy, mobility, food, and the industrial sector. Ramsay’s experience with selling solar technology to commercial and residential customers exposed her to the challenges of creating demand for new carbon reducing technologies. She got the startup bug while working on smart grid technology for eMeter, a startup that was later acquired by Siemens AG. Over the years, she has learned that being an entrepreneur requires having a meticulous risk mitigation strategy, and she works directly with startups to ensure they balance risk with moving quickly.
“In your early career, your main job is to figure out what you are good at and what topic areas you are passionate about. Then do more of that, get to know everyone in the field, and work as hard as you possibly can,” says Ramsay. “Once you get your footing, figure out how to lift others up as you continue to climb.” This is Ramsay’s personal mantra and advice to any woman considering future career options. She encourages people to start with principles: what do you love, what are you good at, and what can you do to help others? In Ramsay’s case, it is helping to bring the fastest solutions to address global climate change.