Windlift’s Post

What are the primary barriers preventing capital flow to climate and social startups in low- and middle-income countries? This was one of many questions discussed by a panel of impact and institutional investors at our National Platforms Gathering. Dive into our latest article where these investors share barriers, opportunities and effective financing mechanisms for climate action: https://bit.ly/3LxWHNy #ClimateAction #ClimateFinance #SustainableFuture

German VC sentiment shows signs of recovery in Q1 2024, bouncing back from Q4 2023 slump. Business expectations and IPO climate warming, but entry valuations satisfaction nosedives. More insights at https://lnkd.in/ei4atr8s #VentureCapital #Investing #BusinessClimate

Venture capitalists have a role to play in stopping climate. But only when they follow the science. This article in The New York Times does an excellent job of laying out some of the tensions between the functions of science and venture capitalism – and the risks when they're misaligned. When it comes to direct air capture, climate scientists and venture capitalists see two entirely different pictures. 🧑🔬 Climate scientists see a technology that is fighting against physics to remove an exceedingly small fraction of our annual emissions at an economically unfeasible cost of hundreds of dollars per ton. It is a complementary technology in a broader climate toolkit. It might one day help offset the hardest-to-abate emissions, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 – 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 – 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞. 👩💼 Venture capitalists see a nascent technology that, while unproven, would provide unbelievable returns if it ever manages to work at scale. It's not just a unicorn; it's a stable of them. Why would it be so lucrative? In part because it would provide a pathway for high-polluting, high-profit industries like oil and gas to continue their extractive business practices. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬-𝐚𝐬-𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐩 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Given the possible returns, it would be unreasonable to expect venture capital to avoid direct air capture entirely. But it's also ludicrous to see billions of dollars pouring into it when dozens of climate solutions are much more promising and profitable. It's bad business 𝑎𝑛𝑑 bad science. We are at a crossroads where venture capital and climate science can align. There are many fortunes to be made funding climate solutions that actually work, and there is a wealth of sound, readily available science – including from Project Drawdown – detailing which solutions those are. Scientists are illuminating the most promising path toward a prosperous future. Venture capitalists would be wise to listen.

Check out the latest article from Hortidaily.com shedding light on the Climate First scale-up program and our recent roadshow. "The London Roadshow, which marks the program culmination, provides unparalleled opportunities to connect with major financial institutions and industry leaders, helping the companies amplify their impact, scale, and global presence." Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dx_G9BUE

VCs are turning their attention to European climate tech. This is a good thing, because many important emerging technologies need capital in order to scale. Investment is a key piece in the climate puzzle. Without it, it's hard for entrepreneurs to bring their work to a place where it can have a real impact. As the planet gets hotter, making sure that climate tech thinkers and doers get the backing they need to work is a pressing issue. Read more: https://lnkd.in/d3T_qph3 #climate #sustainability #energytransition #investment #vc

$230 trillion! That's the investment required to reach zero carbon emissions over the next 25 years. Positive to see that climate tech investment bounced back in Q1 and more investors recognizing the demands for new tech & new business models across sectors. Investors still focused on revenue generating start-ups. What takeaways do you have? #climatetech #ESG

Part II of our thoughts on the climate tech ecosystem!

The Subversion of the #Climate Performance Potential Thesis Climate Performance Potential, or variants thereof, is the "in" term for measuring the investability of a climate startup. The measure is supposed to show the effect (performance) of a startup and its technology on improving our climate or mitigating its breakdown. The logic works like this. First we have the underlying assumption that #decarbonisation is important. Climate science tells us that we need to cut emissions and increased activism and awareness is demanding that this happens. From this we jump to the idea that in the future, through regulation and consumer behaviour, any product or service that is emission-free (or captures emissions) will be the preferred choice in the market. Therefore, a high Climate Performance Potential not only predicts the best environmental outcome. It also predicts the best financial outcome. To quote WorldFund: 👉 Climate performance is a predictor of financial performance. This is the thesis under which most #impact and #climatetech investment operates. It’s not bad logic as far as it goes. Where it falls apart is that somewhere along the way from founding to scaling the thesis gets inverted, and subverted, to the following: 👉 Financial performance is a predictor of climate performance. Essentially, having done the CPP work early on to raise money, the #startup switches to full-on growth mode because scale is the only way to deliver those predicted financial returns. The underlying assumption then switches to 👉 If my [product] delivers better CPP, then selling more must be a good thing. This is how we end up with dissonant situations where companies strike up ridiculous, greenwashing partnerships and accept dirty money. (Like COP promoting Coca-Cola and InnovationZero promoting BP.) Examples abound. The solution lies in how companies are structured and built in the first place. Despite platitudes, #VC funded companies are organised around the profit motive, and when the profit motive kicks in it trumps everything. More examples and detail in the full post. #degrowth #BadAtMonopoly

The Climate Crisis and Industrialization are opposite sides of the same coin. Climate risk is financial risk. Climate risk is industrial supply chain risk. Industrial supply chain risk is financial risk. Therefore, we are in the early-stages of the largest sector-driven investment opportunity of our lifetime - the technology-driven refashioning of industrial supply chains to mitigate the climate crisis. Join us at REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund. #IndustrialTransformation #SupplyChainTech #Innovation #Technology #Startups #VentureCapital