Bonnie Rothman’s Post

Many climate tech startups fail to scale. One of the reasons is the lack of startup growth equity funding to bridge the venture capital and infrastructure capital - commercial valley of death. - Climate tech is mostly about hardware that requires expensive prototyping, testing, facilities, manufacturing before bringing in revenue. - Hardware is more capital intensive while return is less spectacular than software. - Current capital stack is set up to fund digital innovations, not hard tech. - Risk profile and understanding of risk: VCs place small bets across large field to chase 10X return, infrastructure aims for 50% backed by revenues. - Growth/scaling up needs deep understanding of technology, project execution, and market matching. - New thinking is needed to propel climate tech to take on the great challenge of climate change. https://lnkd.in/ghtheQX3 #climatetech #greentech #decarbonization #startup

EARTH IS THE PLACE TO BE—and the stewards of climate tech are fighting for it. 'Climate Brick' could be the investment bible climate tech startups have been looking for: Europe’s leading climate tech founders and investors join forces to a new community committed to addressing the climate crisis through technology. The initiative goes live with an extensive and highly detailed study on climate tech and includes unique, actionable advice on how to scale climate tech businesses from inception to becoming category leaders. https://lnkd.in/e7pi9qJy

At The Climate Brick we are building a common ecosystem framework to define how success looks like in the climate tech company scale-up journey

Part 2 of my series on SF Climate Week focuses on how to address the "missing middle" for cleantech startups -- #SFCW, #SanFrancisco, #SFClimateWeek, #ImpactInvesting, #InvestingforGood, #PurposefulProfits, #SustainableInvesting, #ESGInvesting, #SociallyResponsibleInvesting, #GreenInvesting, #ConsciousCapitalism, #ClimateFinance, https://lnkd.in/gG8gHCwb

Is winter coming for climate tech? This is what our CEO Jim Kapsis and Michael Sachse are asking this morning in Latitude Media https://lnkd.in/g2wPhiN3 While we're still in the midst of a climate tech boom, we're seeing signs that we're in the early stages of a climate tech liquidity crisis. Climate tech needs exits to keep investor dollars flowing, and we're still looking for winners. This isn't unexpected - many climate tech companies face longer timelines and steeper cost curves than software companies. But this sector's spotty history of returns puts it at more risk than traditional VC. We'd love to hear what you're seeing. Stay tuned for more! This is the first day of a three-part series. #climatetech #venturecapital #startups

Is winter coming for climate tech? Hardware is, well, hard - but keeping the industry afloat is so essential. Check out this first in a series of three from Jim Kapsis and Michael Sachse

Support us by casting your vote in the link below! https://lnkd.in/gqR_vwuH See Aquarry's video under land use category to hear our CEO, Kate, give a quick recap on what we are doing. Here is what you are voting for: "The effects of climate change continue to break grim records this year. The mercury is climbing. Species are dying. Atmospheric carbon is concentrating. But entrepreneurs keep inventing new technologies to counter these trends. Trellis’s annual 25 Climate Tech Startups to Watch features startup innovations for everything from plant-waste plastics to less toxic batteries to carbon dioxide removal. New climate technologies are critically needed — and proving resilient to a recent funding slowdown. Climate startups raised $3.4 billion, or 4.8 percent of all VC fundraising, in the first half of 2024. That’s up from 2 percent in 2023, according to Pitchbook’s 2024 Climate Tech Funds Report. Federal policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act, plus new U.S. and European Union regulations, offer a fresh push for businesses to adopt low-carbon solutions. Large corporations seek innovations from new ventures." We would love to be one of those 25 climate start-ups to make a change. Thank you for your support!

💰 Invest in Climate Moonshots! There's a shift in mindset towards climate change. With a growing awareness, most of us believe it is the biggest problem today and want to do our bit to save our planet. As an individual we try to do a lot of things in our capacity - consuming less, buying sustainable goods, using public transport/ bike, saving energy and water, making a career change into climate, making ESG/ Sustainable investing. All of these ways are undoubtedly incredible! In the times when the world is emitting about 50GT of co2e/ year, every small gesture matters! But what's missing is awareness about the big picture and access to make the best of our efforts against climate change. I'm talking about a shift from from - "I am doing my bit" to "I am doing my best" How many of us know that 🌊 The ocean is our largest carbon sink, and it's not functioning properly anymore due to to excessive CO2 emissions leading to ocean acidification. 🛢 The chemical industry, that produces our daily use products such as shoes, backpacks, clothes, toys, paints etc, emits a massive 2 Gigatons of CO2e each year. 🔥 The process heat in industries such as steel, cement, glass, chemicals etc requires temperatures as high as 1600deg C which accounts for 10% of global GHG emissions. 🚀 The solutions to these problems are currently being worked out by numerous companies/ startups and are in the very early stages. Climate tech VC’s bet on these solutions by investing in these startups. To learn about these problems and invest in the innovative and transformative solutions, I have recently become a part of closed and passionate community of change makers called Climate Insiders founded by Yoann Berno. Here, one can get access to high quality deal flow that’s generally available only to VC’s and invest along side them with investments as low as EUR 1000. If you’re also passionate about solving climate change and believe that only capitalism can solve problems it created in the first place, join me in Climate Insiders. Let’s save our planet, not bit by bit, but by Tons! Signup at https://lnkd.in/eUqRcPRK and use the code “changeclimatewithgowtham” to get 10% off on your annual subscription. #sustainability #climatetech #climatechange #startups #startup #entrepreneurship #climatechange #climate #technology #tech

Summary: The article discusses the challenges faced by climate tech startups as they transition from the lab to commercial outfit. These companies, which work on hardware and infrastructure projects for climate solutions, struggle to raise necessary funds and often face difficulties in scaling up production. Key takeaways: The transition from early-stage startup to commercial operation is difficult, especially for hardware and infrastructure projects in the climate tech industry. The lack of financing options and specialized expertise for these types of projects creates a "commercial valley of death" that many companies struggle to overcome. Startups often fall into the trap of trying to expand their business too quickly, losing sight of their core value proposition and failing to ensure proper execution. Counter arguments: Some may argue that this "first of a kind" problem is not unique to the climate tech industry and can be seen in other industries as well. Others may argue that with the increasing focus on climate change and need for sustainable solutions, more funding and support will become available for these startups. #venturecapital #vc #startups

🌍 Is the climate tech funding gap a myth? 💡 Freya Pratty's latest article on the topic features Yair Reem take on it. He challenges the notion that the primary issue in climate tech funding is a lack of capital. Instead, he believes the more significant problem lies in the quality and market readiness of the companies seeking investment. 📈 He highlights that we've seen successful startups secure funding by demonstrating product-market fit through #offtake agreements, which signal industry demand. While there is a need for more investors, well-performing companies still manage to bridge the funding gap. Read the full article here 👉 https://bit.ly/4eX8zq1 and let us know your take in the comments below. cc Sifted Tove Larsson Charles Lesser #ClimateTech #ClimateAction