Climate Capital has invested in 300+ climate startups since 2015. CC Insights shares what we are learning about the early stage climate tech ecosystem. Co-invest with us.
2023 TL;DR:
We’ve expanded our investment offerings:
Climate Capital Seed: Investing in early stage founders across verticals, from energy production to climate adaptation.
Climate Capital Bio: Backing founders building biotech climate solutions that accelerate the decarbonization of the largest and least sustainable sectors of the economy.
Climate Capital Syndicate: Climate Capital Syndicate is a group of founders, execs & developers, led by a team of former founders & domain experts.
We’ve built media channels:
And we’ve built programs:
It’s a testament to how busy we’ve been that we’re publishing our 2023 look back this far into January – but busy we are! Over the last year, we’ve launched a podcast, a newsletter, an angel education program, a scout fund, and an incubator – all while supporting and learning from the smartest people on the planet as they tackle the grand challenges posed by climate change.
Since 2018, our objective has been straightforward: back exceptional founders addressing emissions reduction & climate adaptation. In pursuit of that mission, we have landed among the most active early-stage climate investors in the world.
2023 @ Climate Capital
A few companies we invested in this year:
In 2023, we invested in 133 clean energy & climate companies. Here’s a snapshot:
*Scalvy: Modular powertrains for EV OEMs.
*Hephaestus: Simulation acceleration engines for plasma system design.
*Found Energy: Upcycling aluminum into fuel
*Carbon Crusher: Carbon-negative road repair.
*Channing St Copper Co.: Energy-storage-enabled induction cooking ranges.
*Wild Microbes: Biomanufacturing with microbial innovation.
*Aralez Bio: Developing non-canonical amino acids for chemical design.
*Pomodyne: Growing fresh fruit anywhere in the world.
*Climate Robotics: Soil carbon sequestration with robots.
*Lightship: All-electric RV trailers.
*Presto: Fleet EV charging network & software.
*Vaulted Deep: 10K year permanence through geologic CDR.
We’ve grown our team!
Mackenzie Scurka, Program Director
Catherine Bautista, EA+
Ian Campbell, Associate
Our pillars are Capital, Community, and Content. In addition to backing 133 companies across climate technology, we’ve been building out our community & content:
Climate Capital Bio Incubator: Climate Capital Bio has secured a multi-million grant from the Biden administration to build an early stage incubator for underrepresented founders at the intersection of Biotech and Climate. This program will nurture early-stage ventures in critical sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, and chemical synthesis, fostering solutions led by female founders and people of color who may not have access to capital, networks, or familiarity with entrepreneurship, and will be free for all accepted participants. Read more here or email Program Director Mackenzie Scurka to learn how to get involved.
Climate Scout Fund: The Climate Scout Fund combines the global networks of Climate Capital, Earthshot Ventures, and Elemental Excelerator to empower a diverse set of today’s climate-tech leaders with capital and community to seed tomorrow’s most impactful climate solutions. Read more here.
Climate Angels Program: A new initiative that aims to prepare new & emerging angel investors to start or accelerate their climate investing journey by learning alongside the Climate Capital team. Read more here.
Climate Capital Podcast (CC Pod): The 5/5 rated Climate Capital Podcast (CC Pod), is a weekly dive into the stories of climate tech entrepreneurs shaping our sustainable future. So far, we’ve featured companies like *Enduring Planet, *Living Carbon, *Gelatex, *Aralez Bio, *Spira, *Tandem Repeat, *Wild Microbes, *Rubi Laboratories, *California Cultured, *Melibio, *Pomodyne, and *Concert Bio.
Looking ahead to 2024
If 2023 was the year to launch new initiatives to build out our offering, 2024 will be the year in which we develop these initiatives into industry-leading programs. In other words, our mantra this year is “focus & execute.”
Still, we have the DNA to build; a few things we’d like to launch include:
While we soft-launched a new portfolio page (check it out!) enabling visitors to sort our 300+ portfolio companies by industry, stage, geo, and more, we want to relaunch the website as a hub for early stage climate innovation as much as a website about our firm.
A more robust community for our founders, and a better way to enable them to connect with relevant parties who can support their journey (LPs, corporates, potential hires, etc.)
You’ll see us expand our scope a bit beyond strictly climate to also include biodiversity, detoxification, and select other areas for a healthier people & planet.
If you have ideas or want to help with any of the above initiatives, please reach out & let’s chat! At the least, let’s stay in touch; we have lots to build together:
Explore our website to know more about who we are and what we do.
Stay updated by subscribing to our Substack.
Tune in to CC Pod for more exciting discussions.
_________________________________________________________________________
Note: Companies marked with an asterisk (*) are Climate Capital portfolio companies.
Disclaimer: Under no circumstances should any information or content in this email be considered an offer to sell or solicitation of interest to purchase any securities, including any securities advised by Climate Capital or any of its affiliates or representatives. Further, no content or information herein is or is intended, nor should it be construed as, an offer to provide any investment advisory service, financial advice, legal, tax, accounting, investment, or other advice from Climate Capital or any of its affiliates (collectively "Climate Capital”). Under no circumstances should anything herein be construed as fund marketing materials by prospective investors considering investing in any Climate Capital investment fund. Content contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell — or a solicitation of an offer to buy — any securities and may not be used or relied upon in evaluating the merits of any investment. Information regarding companies highlighted herein has been provided by third parties, and Climate Capital makes no representations or warranties as to its accuracy, as to the viability of any company listed herein, or the results of any investment in a listed company.