Andrew Chung has left Khosla Ventures to launch a new firm, 1955 Capital, where he said he plans to invest in U.S. and European tech companies that can help solve challenges in the developing world.

On the heels of last year’s Paris climate change talks and multiple geopolitical and environmental crises there’s a flood of new cash coming in to finance sustainable technologies and development in 2016.

Here's a question you probably don't think about that often: what's so special about the year 1955?

Venture capitalist Andrew Chung is jumping ship from Khosla Ventures, where he led investments in energy tech over the last five years, to start his own firm called 1955 Capital.

A former partner of the venture capital giant Khosla Ventures, Andrew Chung, today launched his own venture firm, 1955 Capital. The fund, which has raised $200 million at first close, will invest in startups in the energy, food and agriculture, education and health sectors.

Andrew Chung hasn’t had the easiest job in venture capital. For the past ten years, the investor has maintained his focus mostly on cleantech startups when the majority of his VC peers have long since abandoned that market for companies that don’t burn through so much cash. He began first at Lightspeed Venture Partners and most recently at Khosla Ventures.

Los Altos, CA, Feb. 24, 2016 – 1955 Capital announced the launch of its venture capital firm with an initial close on $200 million in anchor commitments, exceeding its initial target and making it one of the largest first­-time independent venture firm launches in recent years. The firm will invest in technologies developed in the Americas and Europe that can help solve the developing world's greatest challenges in areas like energy, food, agriculture, health, education and sustainable manufacturing. 1955 Capital is founded and managed by Andrew Chung, a former partner at Khosla Ventures, with extensive experience and success investing in these sectors and commercializing numerous technologies in China and other regions.

Last year, I went to a dinner where Madeleine Albright was the guest of honor, and she said some things that really resonated with me: The U.S. and China are more codependent on each other than any two countries have ever been in history. There’s no escaping the fact that we need each other. More importantly, we need to find the right way to work together.

That’s why the launch of 1955 Capital is so important to me. It’s a new venture firm I founded focused on funding technologies in developed countries that can be rapidly commercialized and scaled to solve pressing challenges in the developing world — starting with China.

We’re talking about taking on big, bold challenges like air pollution, renewable energy, food security and safety, health care delivery, accessible education, and sustainable manufacturing. I’ve watched as fewer and fewer firms pursue these sectors in recent years due to risk and fear of failure.