From Chemistry at Chevron to Investing in Clean Energy at BEVC, a Natural Progression for Joshua James

By Bella Liu.

Transitioning from a chemicals development job at Chevron to investing in clean tech in a university environment may seem like a dramatic and counterintuitive change of pace. But for Joshua James, there’s a line — or two lines — connecting the dots.

James currently works as an investor in the clean energy sector for BEVC, Bakar Labs’ affiliated venture capital fund. But before joining BEVC in late 2024, James worked at Chevron for more than seven years, starting out as a research scientist. There, he developed new chemistry to reduce emissions from car, ship, and plane engines. He also worked on scaling up corresponding processes to prepare for their eventual transfer to commercial plants.

“Working in R&D was a very rewarding experience,” James says. But “after five years [at the lab bench], I joined the Future Energy Fund at Chevron Technology Ventures.” Why the change of direction?

He says it was the natural outgrowth of his desire to help Chevron invest in technologies to decarbonize: to reduce the carbon intensity of their oil and gas business; enable new lower carbon business units; and support cleaner energy and chemical technologies with positive climate and economic impact.

“The group was sincere, skilled, and passionate about helping startups scale lower carbon technologies,” James says. “Once I transitioned to the venture capital team, I learned how new technologies might integrate within large companies and broader value chains. I developed the skill of analyzing markets, valuing technologies and the impacts of policy changes.”

Learning how to make sound financial investments in startups proved invaluable, but after two years at the Future Energy Fund, he wanted to take on a more active role as an investor.

“Sometimes in corporate VC, you take on board observer roles which can be less hands-on,” James says. “I wanted to be deeply involved with founders, with companies, and be able to really just dive in and help them.”

That instinct — to roll up his sleeves rather than simply write checks — is exactly what drew James to BEVC. Founded by Risa Stack, Rowan Chapman, and Widya Mulyasasmita, the fund’s model is unusually immersive: it sits at the crossroads of Berkeley’s research depth and Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial speed. BEVC doesn’t just invest in companies; it helps form them, often spinning out startups directly from university labs. For investors like James, who combine scientific rigor with venture savvy, it’s a rare ecosystem — a place where they can stay close to the science while still driving real-world impact.

“At BEVC, our team is quite hands-on at the startups we invest in and we even help build companies from the ground up,” James says. “I’m quite privileged to work with and learn from the co-founding BEVC team consisting of prolific venture capitalists who are thoughtful investors and exceptional people.”

According to James, successfully determining which companies will truly enable positive climate impacts can be difficult because of the significant time, capital and scale required to bring such technologies to market. But he says his engineering and investment experiences at Chevron (as well as his PhD in reticular chemistry) have all helped him navigate the field to assess technologies for BEVC — especially when working with companies like AIMATX, the brainchild of Berkeley professors Jennifer Chayes and Omar Yaghi, the recent Nobel laureate, that also work on climate-related issues.

With all of James’s acumen, it’s easy to see the benefits of having someone in the Bakar Labs ecosystem who understands both investing and the energy industry from the inside.

“I appreciate the opportunity to work collaboratively with early-stage technical and academic entrepreneurs,” James says. “I look forward to investing in more technologies that will enable clean energy.”