About David Helgason
David Helgason is an Icelandic entrepreneur and climate investor, best known as the co-founder and former CEO of Unity Technologies, a leading game engine company. He currently serves as a Partner at Transition VC, focusing on early-stage venture investments in climate and sustainability. Helgason is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs and addressing global warming through technology and investment.
Career
Partner
Building an abundant and resilient society that can thrive within our finite planet.
Transition is a cross-Atlantic early stage venture fund, bringing leading entrepreneurs and climate operators together to partner with the best founders who develop the best products focused on climate and sustainability.
Transition invest in hard tech, software and marketplaces, with the unflinching belief that large swathes of the old industrial system are dumb, dangerous, and inefficient, and can be replaced with new efficient and clean solutions.
Founder
Selling clean power to games, directly through app markets.
Founder
Founder
Founder & Board Member
Since 2003 and until further notice I try to help making Unity the best it can be – first as CEO for nearly 12 years, and now on the board of directors and supporting the leadership. Founder & Board Member
Founder & CEO
Founder & CEO
Principal
Personal platform focused on fighting climate change and related crises. Also an angel investor and adviser to exciting and useful projects. Sometimes even philanthropy when nothing else seems to do the job.
Partner
A group of ten top Nordic angels working closely together to be the best angel investors in the Nordics. We did some good investments and improved the local ecosystem in the process.
Board Member & Investor
Labster is a fast moving, award-winning company that focuses on revolutionizing the way science is taught to students all over the world. Our platform offers a Virtual Laboratory provided as a supportive curriculum based e-tool where students can work with real-life challenges in an online environment that simulates reality.
Board Member
Realm is a YCombinator company building a mobile database, which rapidly became the second most deployed database in the world. Realm lets you build apps faster, build apps that are faster, and craft amazing user experiences. Acquired by MongoDB.
Investor & Board Member
Founded in 2015, Spiri was a visionary on-demand carpooling service for urban transport. Spiri developed its own vehicle connectivity and operating system, as well as an ultra-light electric vehicle, bespoke for on-demand carpooling.
Investor & Board Member
First angel investor and subsequently a board member at a game company which hit 1m users in just a week, and then went on to entertain over 100m people before being acquired by Glu Mobile.
Co-founder
World on a Hanger was a web based services to the apparel industry.

Co-founder & CTO
Took at stab at something similar to iTunes LP. Since even Apple couldn't make it succesful, I guess I don't need to feel bad that we didn't pull it off either.

Co-founder
Co-founded a tech shop. Set up business processes, and worked as consultant for Nokia most of the period. Learned a fair bit, but in the end I couldn't become passionate about doing work for hire.

Backend Programmer
Backend Programmer

Web Programmer
Web Programmer
Education
Physics
Physics - Arabic
Skills
Core technical, leadership, and investment competencies derived from founding Unity and transitioning to climate-focused venture capital.
Venture Capital
Climate Investing
Early-Stage Investment
Due Diligence
Portfolio Management
Strategic Partnerships
Entrepreneurship
Startup Scaling
Business Strategy
Executive Leadership
Product Vision
Team Building
Democratization of Technology
Game Development
3D Graphics
Software Architecture
Programming (Backend/Web)
Mobile Development (iOS/Android)
SaaS
Domains
Venture Capital, Climate Tech, Sustainability, Renewable Energy
Game Development, Software Technology, Mobile Gaming, Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
Tags
Visionary, Entrepreneurial, Climate Advocate, Tech Pioneer, Strategic, Results-Oriented
Democratization, Sustainability, Technology, Future of Gaming
Frequently Asked Questions
Five verifiable facts about David Helgason, focusing on his transition from Unity Technologies to climate investment.
How long was David Helgason CEO of Unity?
What is David Helgason's role at Transition VC?
He is currently a Partner at Transition VC, a role he has held since March 2021, focusing on early-stage climate and sustainability investments.
How many followers does Helgason have on LinkedIn?
Helgason's LinkedIn profile has 21.1K followers, and his Twitter/X account has 16.8K followers.
Where did David Helgason attend university?
Helgason is an Icelandic entrepreneur who attended Københavns Universitet - University of Copenhagen.
Is David Helgason currently involved with CleanPlay?
Yes, Helgason is currently involved with CleanPlay, a company he joined in March 2024.


