Managing Partner & Co-Founder at Augur VC
Investing at the watt-bit frontier: AI for energy, energy for AI
Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Augur VC, an early-stage Energy AI fund investing globally at the pre-seed and seed stages. Augur's "watt-bit" thesis backs both AI solutions that bolster and balance the world's energy systems, and the energy infrastructure powering the next wave of AI. The flagship Augur Energy AI Fund I LP ranks in the top 5% of funds globally by MOIC and TVPI for its 2023 vintage, with portfolio companies including Pano AI, Daedaline, HyLight, Iron Grid, Aravolta, gosimply.ai, Simply Silicon, and Inference. Previously President of Harvest Builders, the Calgary-based venture studio, where he succeeded co-founder Chris Simair in December 2022 after serving on the board since inception. While at Harvest he led the Climate and Energy AI vertical. Earlier roles include Past Chair of TELUS Spark Science Centre, Founder and Director of Nutana Power Ltd, and time at Smokey Capital. Began his career as a lawyer at Bennett Jones in Calgary after earning a JD from the University of Calgary and a Bachelor's from the University of Saskatchewan. Also runs Watt-Bit Research, an AI-native studio whose flagship open-source product OVERCLOCK is a watt-bit sandbox currently in closed alpha with 35+ enterprise and researcher users. Based between Calgary, Alberta and San Francisco, California, and a recurring voice on Canadian energy policy for AI — most recently on CGAI's Energy Security Cubed podcast.
Augur VC is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2023 and headquartered between Calgary, Alberta and San Francisco, California. It invests at the pre-seed and seed stages globally in what it calls the "watt-bit" intersection — AI solutions for energy systems, and energy infrastructure for AI. The legal entity is Augur Capital Management Inc., and its flagship fund is Augur Energy AI Fund I LP.
Watt-bit is Augur's framing for the convergence of energy (watts) and computation (bits). As Graeme puts it: "At Augur, we focus on two things. First, we invest in AI solutions that can bolster and balance the world's energy systems and infrastructure." The second leg of the thesis is the energy infrastructure required to power AI itself — the data centers, grids, and generation capacity that the AI buildout depends on.
Augur Energy AI Fund I LP is in the top 5% of funds globally by MOIC and TVPI for its 2023 vintage. The first closing was announced in April 2024.
Augur has three co-founders: Graeme Harrison (Managing Partner), Dan Chapman (General Partner), and Dan Balaban (Partner, also CEO/Co-Founder of Greengate Power). The broader team includes Investment Partners Greg Putnam and Mike Smith, Operating Partners Oma Wilkie (CFO) and Julie Liao, and Venture Partner Ryan Cunningham.
Public portfolio companies include Pano AI (AI-powered wildfire detection), Daedaline (custom LLMs for energy infrastructure), HyLight (methane monitoring via autonomous airships), Iron Grid (AI insurance for critical hardware), Aravolta, gosimply.ai, Simply Silicon, Inference, and GPU StealthCo (GPU-energy infrastructure integration).
Graeme was President of Harvest Builders, a Calgary-based venture studio, succeeding co-founder Chris Simair in December 2022. He had served on the Harvest board since inception and led its Climate and Energy AI vertical. Earlier roles include Past Chair of TELUS Spark Science Centre and Founder and Director of Nutana Power Ltd. He began his career as a lawyer at Bennett Jones in Calgary.
Watt-Bit Research is an AI-native studio Graeme runs alongside Augur VC. Its flagship open-source product, OVERCLOCK, is a watt-bit sandbox — a simulation environment for the energy-compute frontier — currently in closed alpha with more than 35 enterprise and researcher users.
Graeme holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a JD (law degree) from the University of Calgary. He articled and practiced law at Bennett Jones, a major Canadian law firm, in Calgary before moving into venture and operating roles.
Graeme appeared on CGAI's Energy Security Cubed podcast in an episode titled "Adapting Canadian Energy Policy for AI" (recorded July 14, 2025; published July 16, 2025), alongside Kelly Ogle and Joe Calnan, discussing how Canada should think about AI energy demand.
