The "Holy Foak" Moment: How Sabanci Climate Ventures Met Fervo at a Currence Event

In September 2024, Fervo Energy CEO Tim Latimer took the stage at Currence's tentpole conference during New York Climate Week, to talk about building first-of-a-kind geothermal projects. At the time, Fervo was approaching a commercialization milestone that had eluded the geothermal industry for decades. Its pilot project with Google in Nevada, Project Red, had already switched on, delivering 24/7 carbon-free electricity to the local grid. A larger commercial project in Utah was breaking ground. And the AI boom was creating a new class of buyer, the data center developers who needed clean, firm power and were willing to pay for it.

In the audience was Murat Oguz Arcan, Managing Director of Sabanci Climate Ventures, the $200 million venture fund backed by Sabanci Holding, one of Turkey's largest industrial conglomerates. Sabanci's energy businesses hold 20% market share in Turkish electricity distribution, serve 12 million customers, and lead the country in renewable generation with close to five gigawatts under management. The fund, established in Austin in 2022 as part of a broader $1 billion climate commitment, invests in early-stage to early-growth energy companies across the US and Europe.

Currence (formerly Sightline Climate) is an AI-native market intelligence company for the teams that finance and build the energy system. Its coverage spans the energy and AI buildout, from the power behind data centers to grids, fuels, and frontier technologies. The NYCW conference brought together over 300 investors, corporates, policymakers, and startups to focus on what matters most in climate tech's current phase: deployment, commercialization, and the financing structures to support them.

Arcan was already familiar with Fervo through their investment in DCVC and close collaboration with General Partner Dr. Rachel Slaybaugh. But watching Latimer present on stage was the catalyst. He calls it his "holy FOAK moment" — the point where everything clicked. From there, with intelligence from the Currence team and support from co-investors, Sabanci Climate Ventures got into Fervo's highly competitive Series D in late 2024 and followed on in the Series E. 

How Sabanci Climate Ventures uses Currence to build investment cases

SCV's investment process runs through two key documents: an early one-to-two-page screening review when a company first hits the radar, and a full investment memo that goes to the investment committee for approval. Currence supports both.

"We leverage Currence insights and data heavily on the competitive landscape," said Alessa Sänger, investment manager at SCV. "That's where it comes in really, really handy."

When the team is evaluating a company, Sänger starts with the company profile on the platform, then explores the competitive landscape and comparable companies. For a recent investment in DG Matrix, a solid-state transformer company building data center enabling infrastructure, the team had to understand not just who else was in the space but which technologies were approaching commercial deployment and which projects were getting built. 

The Currence platform is also one of SCVs primary sources for tracking how much capital is flowing into specific sectors. "Currence is probably the number one platform where we would go for deals and capital allocated in specific areas," Sänger said. That data helps the team form views on technology areas before companies come to market, and it anchors the market sizing and capital deployment sections of the IC memo.

SCV reaches out to the Currence team directly for opinions on specific landscapes or individual companies during diligence or during investment strategy sessions. "I can guarantee you that Currence is quoted as a source in every document we write," Sänger said.

How Currence gives a small team full-market coverage

SCV's investment team is four people and two Senior Advisors spread across Berlin, Boston, and San Francisco, managing a portfolio of 14 direct investments and six fund-of-fund positions. There is no large in-house research department. Currence fills that role.

"I use the platform almost daily," Sänger said. "For case-specific diligence, but also when you have 30 minutes free time, you go in Currence and check on latest signals or market reports." She added: "Whenever I don't have the time to do it, I kind of regret not doing it more often."

That daily habit is how Sabanci Climate Ventures stays current on the areas where the fund is actively building conviction: data center enabling technologies, asset-light software for energy systems, and next-generation power infrastructure. The fund's recent investment in DG Matrix came out of that focus, and Sänger said Currence's reports on the data center buildout have been particularly useful as the team sharpens its thesis in that space.

Outcomes

On May 13, 2026, Fervo went public on the Nasdaq at $27 per share, opening 35% above its offering price. The market cap cleared $10 billion. It was the largest clean energy IPO ever.

For Sabanci Climate Ventures, the path from NYCW to the Fervo IPO is the clearest example of what the Currence relationship actually looks like in practice. The platform provides the daily intelligence the team needs to evaluate deals and build conviction. But the events and the team around it do something a platform alone cannot: they put investors and founders in the same room at the right moment, and sometimes that moment turns into a $10 billion outcome.

• SCV saw Fervo Energy at NYCW and invested in the Series D; Fervo IPO'd at a $10 billion valuation in May 2026
• Currence is cited as a source in every investment document Sabanci produces, from initial screening to IC memo
• The platform is used almost daily for company diligence, competitive landscaping, and tracking which technologies are approaching commercial deployment
• Currence is a primary source for tracking deal volume and capital allocation across energy technology sectors for SCV