Seyed Madaeni is the co-founder and CEO of Verse. Verse develops software that helps organizations understand, plan, and manage clean energy. Their platform simplifies the complex clean energy procurement process, enabling companies to meet their emissions goals in the most economical way possible. 

MCJ is proud to be a repeat investor in Verse through our venture capital funds, including participation in their recent Series A round alongside GV and Coatue. To us, Verse embodies the inevitable shift where large companies must integrate clean energy management as a core business capability.

Hyperscalers have led this trend, driven by their insatiable need for electricity to power data centers—a demand that’s only growing with AI. We believe this focus on clean energy will expand across major corporations, much like the widespread adoption of IT and cloud technologies over the past two decades. But enough from us—let’s hear directly from Seyed about what he’s building with Verse.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [1:43] Overview of Verse’s mission and focus
• [2:05] How Seyed founded Verse
• [4:54] Lessons from Seyed’s time at Fluence
• [6:02] Insights into the buyer side of the market
• [10:03] Rising demand on the U.S. energy grid
• [13:02] Breakdown of Verse’s customer base
• [17:44] Challenges corporate buyers face with energy and emissions
• [19:14] Overview of virtual PPAs and additionality
• [25:14] How Verse helps buyers make energy decisions
• [27:28] Importance of data in pricing and forecasting
• [30:40] 24/7 carbon-free energy vs. carbon matching
• [35:00] The role of batteries in increasing emissions
• [38:56] How Verse is expanding its offerings
• [41:15] Understanding Verse’s approach
• [44:00] Verse’s funding history and goals

Episode recorded on Oct 17, 2024 (Published on Jan 2, 2025)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant