Reflecting on 2025: A Year of Adaptation, Focus, and Execution

It’s hard to believe that just 12 months ago, we kicked off 2025 by announcing our rebrand from S2G Ventures to S2G Investments. The new name captured where we were already headed: operating across asset classes to back solutions that enable a more resilient and efficient economy across food & agriculture, energy, and oceans.

Much has already been said about the forces that shaped 2025. From rapid advances in AI and intensifying geopolitical tension to devastating extreme climate events, it was undoubtedly a year defined by system-level volatility. As a firm, we spent a lot of time talking about what we call the Age of Adaptation: a period driven by secular trends that we believe will continue to create market dislocations in the years ahead. My colleague Sanjeev Krishnan recently shared his perspective on how these 2025 dynamics are reshaping the macro landscape through that lens. 

But as is natural at the start of a new year, I wanted to reflect inward on how S2G has, in turn, been adapting as a firm — not by treating volatility as something to manage around, but by leaning into it as an opportunity to rethink how value gets created and where disciplined execution really matters. In a year marked by tighter capital markets, higher execution risk, and deeper scrutiny of fundamentals, we stayed focused on delivery and building businesses designed to perform in a more complex environment.

• S2G catalyzed $292 million in capital across food & agriculture, energy, and oceans.
• Realized seven exits, including Urbint and Maple Hill Creamery, underscoring the importance of building businesses with clear strategic relevance and defined pathways to liquidity.
• Grew our portfolio to more than 120 companies, reflecting disciplined new investments and continued support of our highest-conviction platforms.
• Welcomed eight new companies into the portfolio and funded 41 existing companies as they continued to scale.
• Catalyzed over 2,000 strategic meetings, introductions, and new connections through our ecosystem engagement efforts, expanding commercial pathways and long-term value creation across the platform.
• Welcomed ten new team members and operating partners, strengthening our ability to support companies across sectors, stages, and asset classes.
• Received Platinum recognition from BlueMark’s Fund ID assessment, the highest designation available under BlueMark’s methodology, based on an independent evaluation of the design and implementation of our impact management practices.

We also anchored our strategy through the launch of our Theory of Change, a framework designed to guide new investments and map our portfolio to the long-term system outcomes we aim to influence. These North Stars help us measure success not only through risk-adjusted, market-rate returns, but also through tangible outcomes such as tons of CO₂ mitigated, calories made more nutritious, megawatts installed, and acres sustainably managed. We reflected on our progress against this framework in our inaugural Annual Report.

Building a Platform for Execution

At our core, S2G is focused on creating value by partnering with management teams in their execution. We apply our sector expertise to fit-for-purpose strategies across growth equity, credit, infrastructure, and real assets. Our ambition has never been to be everything to everyone. It has been to build a firm that drives market-rate returns in sectors essential to the economy, where the solutions required to strengthen and modernize these systems are among the hardest to scale.

In 2025, we sharpened our platform around the realities of the markets we operate in: industries defined by tight margins, heavy capital requirements, regulatory complexity, and concentrated market structures. These characteristics are often seen as obstacles, but for us, they define both our moat and our mission. The complexity of these markets rewards sector expertise, investment patience, operational rigor, and real partnership.

We believe our right to win lies in consistently delivering strong performance and impact across these environments. By combining signal and human intelligence, we pair long-duration, high-quality capital with disciplined investment and value creation capabilities, working shoulder-to-shoulder with companies driving scale.

Lessons From 2025

With a year like 2025 comes reflection — not just on outcomes, but on what it actually takes to perform in today’s markets. A few lessons stood out to me:

• The market rewards focus and depth. As capital becomes more selective, specialization matters. Platforms that understand regulatory and operational complexity, the complex channel dynamics, and the corresponding unit economics of these sectors are being rewarded.
• Investor expectations are rising. Allocators are demanding greater clarity and proof. Credibility is built through repeatable outcomes, not narrative alone.
• Start with the exit in mind. Strong outcomes rarely happen by accident. Early clarity on exit pathways shapes better capital allocation and governance from day one.
• Scaling requires saying ​“no.” Growth is not about doing more. It’s about doing the right things exceptionally well.

As we enter 2026, the transition to a more resilient and efficient economy represents a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity. 

Progress in these sectors is rarely linear, but it is precisely this complexity that creates opportunity for those willing to invest with patience, rigor, and long-term conviction. We don’t believe the future belongs to the loudest voices or the fastest capital, but to those willing to do the hard work of building what actually lasts. 

I’m deeply grateful to our partners, portfolio leaders, and team for the trust and collaboration that make this work possible. With the foundations firmly in place, we’re energized by what lies ahead and committed to compounding progress where it matters most.