A New Era for Climate-Focused Venture Capital

<p>During the height of the pandemic in 2020, venture capital poured into climate technologies at record levels. It was a happy surprise amidst a collapsing economy and years of investment stagnation.&nbsp;</p><p>Venture investments in climate tech topped $17 billion in 2020 across more than 1,000 deals. Five years ago, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/cleantech-venture-capital-continued-declines-and-narrow-geography-limit-prospects/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">it had fallen</a> to $5.2 billion — a 30 percent decrease from a previous peak in 2011.</p><p>Our guest co-host this week is Emily Kirsch, the founder and CEO of Powerhouse. She’s also the host of <a href="https://www.powerhouse.fund/wattittakes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Watt It Takes</em></a>, the entrepreneurship series about founders tackling climate change.</p><p>Suddenly, it’s cool to be putting your money into the sector again. And there’s something different about today’s rise in enthusiasm. The first wave was all about the “coolness” of cleantech — thin-film solar, electric sports cars, printable batteries. It was also about proving cost curves.</p><p>Kara Swisher <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/opinion/microsoft-climate-change-technology.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">put it bluntly</a> in the NYT last year: the world’s first trillionaire will be a greentech entrepreneur.”</p><p>Today, there’s much more technological maturity — bigger scale, bigger and better data, and more resources to tap for startups.</p><p>There is also a deeper moral responsibility infused with investments. If you are running a major VC firm or a corporate venture arm, you are out of the loop if you don’t have a climate component of your portfolio. Andrew Beebe of Obvious Ventures argues <a href="https://worldpositive.com/we-have-entered-the-climate-decade-70b7f433271b" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">we’ve entered the “climate decade”</a> in VC.</p><p>This week: climate tech isn’t