<p>Urban industrial green transition has attracted increasing scholarly and policy interest. Although existing studies have extensively examined its connotations and drivers, the role of market-based mechanisms in facilitating urban industrial green transition remains underexplored. Using panel data from 280 Chinese prefecture-level cities between 2006 and 2022, this study examines the impact of venture capital (VC) on urban industrial green transition to address this gap. We further investigate how two dimensions of cross-green linkages (i.e., intensity and diversity) moderate this relationship. Our findings indicate that: (1) VC significantly promotes urban industrial green transition, which is confirmed by multiple robustness checks. (2) Both the intensity and diversity of cross-green linkages amplify the positive impact of VC on urban industrial green transition. (3) The effect of VC is marginally stronger in core cities, in cities with weak government environmental attention, and in cities with low innovation capacity. This paper contributes to the literature at the intersection of evolutionary economic geography, environmental economics, and innovation studies. Moreover, this paper offers policy implications for leveraging VC and cross-green linkages to accelerate urban industrial green transition and advance sustainable urban development.</p>