Reinventing Venture Capital for the Energy Transition with Evan Caron (Montauk Climate)

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Sep 24, 2025

Evan Caron, founder and CEO of Montauk Climate, shares his expertise as an entrepreneur in the energy sector. He discusses the transformative 'electron economy' and why traditional venture capital models struggle with energy complexities. Evan reveals how Montauk Capital's innovative incubator approach builds companies from the ground up and highlights examples like Adaptive Insurance and GridFree. He also addresses infrastructure challenges and advocates for pragmatic solutions in emissions reduction, including cleaner coal technology.

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INSIGHT

Venture Studio Beats Traditional VC

Montauk Climate uses a venture-studio model that originates ideas, recruits expert co-founders, and funds companies until they scale.
This flips traditional incubators by providing deep domain expertise and long runway for capital-intensive energy ventures.

ANECDOTE

From Back Office To Building ElectronX

Evan traced his career from Morgan Stanley back-office to trading complex electricity books and co-founding Amperon and Electron X.
He used that trading experience to help build Electron X as a democratized CFTC-regulated electricity exchange.

INSIGHT

Power Quality Is The New Constraint

The grid transition emphasizes power quality, not just quantity, as renewables and new loads stress voltage and reactive power flows.
Grid-enhancing technologies and MVAR-capable assets can avoid long utility-led infrastructure buildouts and speed interconnection.

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Traditional models of company building often fall short in the energy transition space. Unlike apps or SaaS, energy is complex, capital-heavy, and tied to physical assets that keep the lights on.

But the rise of the 'electron economy' see’s a new approach to building companies, and could help unlock the next wave of innovation for the energy transition, supporting the convergence of electricity, technology, and infrastructure.

In this conversation, Evan Caron CEO and Founder of Montauk Climate joins Quentin to explore all things energy and venture capital. Key topics covered include:

Key topics covered include:

• How the ‘electron economy’ is reshaping markets and business models.

• The shortcomings of the traditional venture model in energy and infrastructure.

• How Montauk Capital flips the incubator model to build companies from the ground up.

• The importance of deep expertise and management teams in scaling climate businesses.

• What investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers can learn from this new approach.

About our guest

Evan Caron is the founder of Montauk Capital, a venture studio dedicated to building companies for the energy transition. He brings extensive experience across energy markets, venture capital, and infrastructure investment, with a career dedicated to advancing the intersection of finance and the energy system. Evan leads a structured approach to building businesses in the electron economy identifying high-impact opportunities, developing strategies, and assembling expert leadership teams to scale solutions that address some of the most complex challenges in energy and climate. For more information on Montauk Climate, head to their website

About Modo Energy

Modo Energy helps the owners, operators, builders, and financiers of battery energy storage solutions understand the market - and make the most out of their assets.

All of our interviews are available to watch or listen to on the Modo Energy site. To keep up with all of our latest updates, research, analysis, videos, conversations, data visualizations, live events, and more, follow us on LinkedIn. Check out The Energy Academy, our bite-sized video series breaking down how power markets work.