Deep Tech for Climate Adaptation Funding

The Opportunity for Private Equity in Climate Adaptation 🌍 2024 was the hottest year on record, with temperatures rising 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. Extreme weather events are creating systemic risks for economies and businesses. Damages from climate change are already surpassing the costs of mitigation. If warming reaches 3°C by 2100, corporate profits could decline by 5 to 25%. Global adaptation needs are projected at $0.5T to $1.3T annually by 2030, compared with current spending of around $76B. This gap represents a significant investment frontier. Governments will fund much of this effort, but private capital is essential to scale solutions. Public policy creates demand certainty while investors provide innovation and capacity. The Climate A&R Opportunity Map identifies seven themes: food, infrastructure, health, water, energy, biodiversity, and community resilience. Two market categories dominate: early-stage pure-play innovators and large diversified incumbents integrating A&R activities. Both provide different investment pathways. Six subsectors stand out for near-term action: climate intelligence, resilient building materials, flood defense, agricultural inputs, water efficiency, and emergency medical solutions. Attractive subsectors combine strong benefit-cost ratios, manageable financing models, and clear demand signals from both public and private actors. Markets are highly localized. Wildfire management is prominent in North America, drainage systems in Asia, and flood basins in Europe. This enables geographic expansion and roll-ups. Investment strategies include buyouts of mature companies, growth capital for scaling, and venture investment in high-potential innovators. Value creation can be achieved through portfolio alignment, geographic expansion, vertical integration, and pursuing solutions that deliver both resilience and decarbonization benefits. Climate adaptation and resilience offers a financial and societal opportunity. Early investors can capture emerging value pools, support resilience, and shape a defining market of the future. #sustainability #business #sustainable #esg

Global Grants for Indian Climate Startups- India’s climate solutions are rooted in local realities — but their impact goes far beyond. From watertech innovation in Karnataka, to bioplastics and recycling in Maharashtra, to sustainable fabrics in Gujarat. From agri-waste transformation in Punjab and Haryana, to offshore wind tech rising off Tamil Nadu’s coast, to climate-resilient innovations in Odisha and West Bengal, and air filtration breakthroughs in Uttar Pradesh — I’ve had the privilege of meeting the founders building them — makers, engineers, scientists, and storytellers who are quietly reshaping the future. Through Bharat Climate Startups, I’ve been traveling across India to learn from these ground-up solutions — and I’m constantly reminded that while the problems may be global, so are the solutions. If you're building something in this space, here are 5 international grants and programs that Indian startups can apply to 👇 🔹 1. GSMA Foundation Innovation Fund for Climate Resilience & Adaptation 💰 Up to £100,000 (~₹1 crore) in equity-free funding 📌 For digital climate solutions improving resilience in underserved communities 🌱 Open to startups in South Asia, Africa, and Indo-Pacific 🔹 2. The Earthshot Prize Prize 💰 £1 million (₹10+ crore) per winner 📌 For scalable solutions tackling nature loss, water, air quality, waste, or climate 🌱 Indian startups are eligible — and have been finalists! 🔹 3. Echoing Green Fellowship 💰 Seed funding + 2 years of support 📌 For early-stage climate and social entrepreneurs 🌱 Open to Indian founders with bold ideas and deep impact 🔹 4. ACT For Environment – by ACT Grants (India) 💰 ₹20–50 lakh in catalytic seed grants 📌 For climate innovations in green mobility, clean energy, agriculture, circularity, and carbon removal 🌱 One of the boldest Indian philanthropic funds backing frontier environmental solutions 🔹 5. Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance (by CPI) The Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance 💰 Seed + pilot support + investor connections 📌 For ideas that unlock private finance for climate solutions 🌱 Several India-based innovations have already been selected 🔹 6. Imagine H2O Accelerator Program 💰 Non-dilutive funding + mentorship + access to a global investor network 📌 For startups working on water conservation, wastewater treatment, and climate resilience 🌱 Open to startups worldwide, including India 📩 Know someone working on a globally relevant climate solution? Or building one yourself? Message me if you want help navigating these grant calls — or just want to swap notes. Here's to building a vibrant support ecosystem for climate innovators! 💚 The world is watching — and India’s innovators are ready. 🌏 #ClimateAction #ImpactFunding #BharatClimateStartups #ClimateFinance

Impact startups in MENA are growing fast but funding strategies must evolve just as quickly. One of the questions I’m asked most often by founders is: “Where do we start when it comes to raising funds for climate or sustainability-focused ventures in this region?” Here’s how I usually break it down in 4 key pathways I’ve worked with or closely observed, each requiring a clear narrative, regional awareness, and the right positioning: 1. Government-backed innovation platforms These are not just about incubation, they are increasingly designed to de-risk startups and connect them to capital. 🔹 Example: Hub71 (Abu Dhabi) offers access to corporates, sovereign investors, and a growing base of VC partners through its Incentive Program. It's a launchpad for startups aligned with national priorities. 2. Climate-aligned positioning Framing your solution around climate resilience or adaptation is no longer optional—it’s a strategic funding move. 🔹 Example: ALTÉRRA, the $30B climate investment fund launched by the UAE at COP28, is designed to mobilize capital into areas like clean energy, food security, and nature-based solutions. Startups that clearly align with these priorities stand a stronger chance of attracting institutional and private funding. 3. Corporate sustainability partnerships Corporates in MENA are increasingly partnering with startups to accelerate their ESG goals—often offering pilot funding, technical support, or access to infrastructure. 🔹 Example: PepsiCo Middle East has launched several open innovation challenges in the region, focusing on sustainable packaging, water reuse, and food system transformation. These partnerships are a valuable entry point for startups ready to co-create scalable solutions. 4. Strategic VC alignment Venture capital in MENA is increasingly aligning with long-term sustainability themes—especially in climate tech and resource efficiency. 🔹 Example: VentureSouq, a MENA-based VC, launched its Climate Tech Fund I to invest in technologies tackling the climate crisis—from energy and mobility to the circular economy. They’re actively backing companies that blend strong commercial potential with measurable impact. The takeaway? It’s not just about raising funds, it’s about raising strategically. That’s how you align with where capital is moving in the region. If you found this useful, share it with a founder or ecosystem builder working on climate and impact in MENA. Let’s make these conversations more visible ;-) #ClimateFinance #MENA #ImpactStartups #StrategicFunding #GreenTransition #BusinessWithPurpose

🌍 Climate Adaptation Tech: Europe’s Hidden Investment Gem 💧🔥🌾 When we talk about climate tech, most of the spotlight goes to mitigation—clean energy, carbon removal, EVs. But there's a parallel revolution brewing in climate adaptation—and Europe is at the forefront. I’ve spent my career across both and see a better time than ever to focus on emerging adaptation technologies so have been researching this a lot lately. From early flood detection in the Netherlands, to AI-driven drought forecasting in Spain, to wildfire risk management in Southern France, a wave of startups is rising to meet the realities of a changing climate. This isn't speculative. It’s pragmatic—and it’s being backed by policy, capital, and necessity including the rising costs underinvestment. 🇪🇺 The EU is allocating billions through initiatives like the European Climate Adaptation Mission. 🌱 Insurance, agriculture, water management, and urban planning are all demanding adaptive solutions. Allianz has repeatedly warned how escalating climate risks could destabilize financial system from mortgages to supply chain finance. 💼 And the investor landscape is still relatively uncrowded—meaning early-stage access with upside. Exciting to watch some fast growing companies targeting this space like Climate X, Hydrosat, Muon Space, Pano AI and more. Adaptation tech is often viewed as niche but the reality is it’s pervasive and one of the most investable frontiers of resilience. #ClimateTech #Adaptation #Resilience #EUInnovation #SustainableInvesting #VC #ImpactInvesting #EuropeanStartups

France just dropped €54B to say what Silicon Valley won’t: We need slower, smarter, long-term capital. "Traditional 10-year cycles and SaaS-style traction don’t match the timelines of climate hardware or deep tech." —Raphaele Leyendecker Fabbri, Techstars Sustainability Paris ⏳ These aren’t apps — they’re atomic. We’re talking microreactors, carbon-negative cement, and circular battery ecosystems. France’s bold €54B bet through #France2030 isn’t just about funding — it’s a roadmap. It shows us what the future of climate investing must look like: 👉 Patient capital 👉 Corporate partners at the ground floor 👉 Investors with a vision beyond their fund cycle, committed beyond political winds of the moment And guess what? It’s working. Some French climate companies I'm watching: ✅ Back Market – Europe’s first refurbished electronics unicorn (at peak, valued at $5.7Bn), reducing e-waste at scale "you should have a right to repair your phones!" (Led by Thibaud Hug de Larauze as CEO, Dawn Baker as CTO) ✅ Innovafeed – 🐛 Led by founders Clément Ray and Aude Guo; the team is scaling insect protein to decarbonize agri-food systems. ✅ Fairbrics – CO₂ into textiles? With €22M raised in 2023 and chemists like Fatou Coundoune, led by co-fouder & CTO Tawfiq Nasr Allah these folks are reimagining fashion’s footprint. ✅ Verkor – €2B for low-carbon EV batteries, backed by Renault Group & Schneider Electric. In September 2023, Verkor secured over €2 billion in financing to construct its first gigafactory in Dunkirk, France. The gigafactory is expected to be operational by 2025, creating around 1,200 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. ✅ newcleo – Next-gen nuclear from a French base, going beyond traditional cleantech. Led by Elisabeth Rizzotti, a physicist who after a brief stint at CERN built a 30+ year track record in the world of finance. ⚡ Let’s fund the future, not just fast exits. 👇 Know a woman-led climate startup we should keep our eyes on? Drop it in the chat! Link in comments for my full conversation with Raphaele Leyendecker Fabbri filmed in the office of Techstars Sustainability Paris for Billion Dollar Moves Podcast Beyond The Billion® 🔥 #venturecapital #startups #climate

500+ deals analyzed. Five sectors getting funded. Climate tech isn't PR theater anymore, it's an infrastructure play. I just reviewed Q3 2025's angel and VC climate deals. Smart money is flowing into must-have systems, not nice-to-have stories: 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗹: Direct air capture, mineralization, industrial scrubbers. Real hardware solving real emissions. 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀: Bio-based plastics, low-carbon concrete, lab-grown everything. The stuff we actually build with. 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮: Seawalls, flood defenses, wildfire systems, resilient ag. Because the climate already changed. 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 + 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗱: Batteries, thermal storage, AI grid optimization. Making renewable power actually work. 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀: Waste-to-value, advanced recycling, product-as-a-service. Economics that make sense. The pattern is clear: climate tech is becoming the infrastructure layer, not the virtue signal. VCs aren't funding feel-good stories. They're funding the picks and shovels of the energy transition. If you're a founder, which sector surprises you most, and which one are you quietly building in? Come for the posts, stay for the comments.

🇫🇷 France isn’t just playing catch-up in climate tech — we’re setting the pace. After backing 72 climate startups and building the Techstars Sustainability Paris ecosystem from scratch, I’ve seen firsthand what real, long-term impact actually requires. Spoiler alert: it’s not just capital. In my recent conversation with Sarah Chen-Spellings on the Billion Dollar Moves Podcast, we talked about what it takes to build the next generation of climate solutions — and why 🇫🇷 France’s bold €54B commitment is such a game changer. Here are 3 big takeaways: 1️⃣ VC models must evolve. 10-year fund cycles and SaaS-style traction don’t fit the pace of climate hardware or deep tech. We’re talking microreactors, CO₂-into-fabrics, circular battery systems. These aren’t apps — they’re atomic. We need patient capital, not just fast exits. 2️⃣ Government + private sector = momentum. France2030 is more than a funding plan — it’s a roadmap. Sovereign backing (Bpifrance), deep corporate support (TotalEnergies, VINCI, Renault Group), and founders from around the world are finding a uniquely founder-ready ecosystem here. 3️⃣ Support doesn't stop after writing a check At Techstars, my belief is simple: be the constant in a founder’s journey. The real work starts after the accelerator ends and we invested. Building in climate takes a village — and a long view. 💥 Some standout French climate startups I’m watching: ✅ Back Market — circular electronics at scale ✅ Innovafeed — insect protein transforming agri-food systems ✅ Fairbrics — turning CO₂ into sustainable textiles ✅ Verkor — €2B gigafactory powering low-carbon EVs ✅ newcleo — reimagining nuclear with next-gen innovation Let’s fund the future, not just the fastest exits. 💬 Know a woman-led climate tech startup we should be watching? Drop it in the comments. 🔗 Full episode link in comments! #France2030 #ClimateTech #DeepTech #Techstars #BillionDollarMoves #ImpactInvesting #VC #Sustainability #WomenInClimate #ParisTech #BeyondTheBillion

Very excited to share my latest piece from Forbes, focusing on the business case for climate adaptation. Many thanks is due to Benjamin Zehr (Reciprocal), Tamer El-Raghy (Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF)), Alina Truhina (The Radical Fund) and Emilie Mazzacurati (Tailwind) for lending their time and insights for this article. If anyone is developing a fund, studio, accelerator, etc. focusing on climate adaptation, I would love to hear from you. Here's the TLDR: - We need to meticulously build the business case around climate adaptation. For years we rarely talked about adaptation because it would constitute “giving up”. After-all, why adapt to a warming planet when renewable energy, electric vehicles and carbon capture technologies can limit global warming? - However, as the planet becomes hotter, and staying below the 1.5 C threshold is less likely, we have to adapt. But the adaptation funding gaps are enormous, over 300 BN annually according to some, and potentially over 1 TN according to others. - There is no single explanation for the gap, but we know at least a few key reasons: 1) Adaptation tends to be highly localized, so finding one-size fits all approaches that can scale globally can be a challenge in investors' eyes. 2) Pipelines of adaptation-focused companies are nascent and still growing in many parts of the world; 3) Perceived low returns on investment - many investors still think adaptation solutions are public goods, which yield low or no returns; 4) Impact measurement hurdles - unlike mitigation, there is no single "north start" or success indicator for adaptation. So how do we start building a business case? 1) First, we have to educate the market. For a while we did not discuss adaptation, so there is a time lag we are fighting against. Many people when they hear "climate investment” and “climate technology” still think of energy and mobility. 2) Second, we need to think beyond venture capital - many different types of capital need to be used to fund adaptation - grants, debt, ETF's, etc. 3) Third, we need to be comfortable with not having a single metric that represents adaptation impact. Just as adaptation solutions are often highly-localized, many will have a unique theory of change. 4) Fourth we need to look at new company building models like venture studios/builders. We need to make sure we're building a pipeline that not only attracts investors, but is sustainable and durable, standing the test of time. 5) Fifth, we need to know where demand will be most predictable and bankable. For example, large corporates will likely have growing demand for adaptation solutions. 6) Lastly, we may need to stop using the term “adaptation” as an asset class or business vertical. Adaptation has far too many dimensions and use cases to be lumped under one heading. Many thanks again to the amazing experts who lent their time here, and would love to hear any and all comments!

$45m bet on climate just got real Not a niche anymore. India��s climate startups are crossing scale. WestBridge Capital just led a $45m round in Varaha. With an initial $20 million infusion. That is not small experimental capital. That is conviction capital. For years, climate tech in India sat in pilot mode. Good ideas. Limited absorption capacity. Investors waited for scale. Scale waited for investors. This round signals the loop is breaking. Here is what stands out to me: • Varaha is turning carbon removal into revenue • Farm projects linked to verified carbon credits • Corporate buyers get measurable climate assets • Capital now sees a scalable operating model This is climate moving from narrative to infrastructure. At the same time, Unicorn India closed its third fund at ₹1.2kcr, above its ₹1,000 crore target. Early traction already visible. 7 to 8 portfolio firms raising follow-ons. Deeptech and climate are no longer side themes. They are becoming core venture theses. We are watching capital reprice the future. Not slowly. Systematically. Climate is shifting from ESG language to balance sheet language. And once markets price something into balance sheets, it tends to stay. Curious to see which Indian sectors build the next wave of climate scale. What are you watching in this space?

🌱 Climate Tech Trends of 2024: A Pivotal Year of Transformation and Resilience 🌍 As 2024 comes to a close, the climate tech ecosystem reveals a more reserved venture landscape. This was particularly felt in the "Valley of Death," the relative lack of funding available for Series A/B rounds (especially for first-of-a-kind, "FOAK" technologies) -- tech often too expensive and high-risk for VCs but also too experimental (and too high-risk) for PE. The Valley of Death intensified this year, with only 10% of deals at Series B stage. (That being said, there are great funds uniquely dedicated to climate tech at these critical stages, and CVCs like Woven Capital, Toyota's Growth Fund tend to fund later stages, so hope remains!) 1. The Climate Tech Funding Landscape According to PwC's State of Climate Tech 2024 report, global climate tech investments decreased by $23 billion globally, shrinking from $79 billion in late 2023 to $56 billion by Q3 2024. This decline in venture funding reflects the broader VC trend of decreased capital flowing into startups across all industries, a steady decrease since the 2021 peak. 2. Financing Dynamics The PwC Climate Tech Report highlights the following critical transformation in funding structures: - Hybrid capital models now constitute 42% of climate tech financing -- reflecting increased diversification in capital stacks. - Non-dilutive funding (grants, government incentives) increased to 23% of total investments. - Longer times between rounds: median funding rounds extended to 22 months between raises, compared to 16 months in 2022. 3. Tech Trends Renewable Energy Innovations - Energy tech remained strong (the most-invested-in climate tech vertical), increasing to 35% of total funding - Solar efficiency reached 30.2% in commercial panels (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) - Long-duration energy storage costs decreased by 37% year-over-year (International Energy Agency (IEA) Global Energy Report) Industrial Decarbonization Milestones - Green hydrogen production costs dropped to $1.87/kg in select markets (International Hydrogen Council) Carbon capture technologies now achieve 92% capture rates at commercial scale (Global CCS Institute) Impacts of AI - AI climate tech saw and increase of >2x -- rising to 14.6% in 2024 from 7.5% in 2023. Top verticals include autonomous vehicles, smart energy systems, and agricultural innovations. - Key areas to watch in 2025 are AI applications to EVs -- and EV venture funding, given the uncertainty of the IRA as we head into the new U.S. political administration -- as well as power grid stability in the global south. 4. Climate Tech Investment Sector Breakdown by Geography North America: 45% ($35.3B) Europe: 32% ($25.1B) Asia-Pacific: 20% ($15.7B) Rest of World: 3% ($2.3B) Check out the PwC report here: https://lnkd.in/dYVY-K9s. #ClimateTech #VentureCapital #Sustainability #ClimateInnovation