Funding translational R&D in climate tech

💡 Inside an Investor’s Funding Rolodex: Grant & Loan Providers I Trust 🎯 European Innovation Council Accelerator • grants up to €2.5 M + equity up to €15 M • ideal for deep‑tech teams with clear impact plans 📑 Horizon Europe RIA & IA • collaborative R&D grants €3 M–€10 M+ • partner with universities or industry leaders for stronger consortia 🏦 InnovFin SME Guarantee Facility (EIB‑backed) • loan guarantees up to 50 % on €25 000–€7.5 M financing • lower interest rates and better terms 🌱 Innovation Fund • grants cover up to 60 % of eligible costs for large‑scale clean energy projects • pair with national agencies like the Swedish Energy Agency for co‑funding 🇸🇪 Vinnova • feasibility grants up to SEK 500 000 • innovation project grants up to SEK 10 M • fast open calls, strong on sustainability metrics 💸 Almi • loans from SEK 50,000 to SEK 5 M at below‑market rates • local coaching to turn pilots into scale‑ups 🇫🇮 Business Finland • R&D grants up to 50 % + innovation loans up to €2 M • expert reviews and export market introductions 🇬🇷 Hellenic Development Bank • loans €50 000–€1 M + 80 % guarantee cover • digital platform for green transition schemes 🌍 EASME (COSME & LIFE programmes) • COSME guarantees on €25 000–€1.5 M loans • LIFE grants for environment & climate action pilots ⚡ EIT Climate‑KIC • combined grants, coaching & investor matchmaking • rapid follow‑on funding & corporate pilots 🔌 EIT InnoEnergy • equity investments + grants up to €100 000 • access to utilities & corporate partners 🚀 Fast Track to Innovation (Horizon Europe) • close‑to‑market grants up to €3 M at 70 % funding • accelerated timelines, clear market readiness 🇫🇷 Bpifrance (France) • innovation grants & soft loans up to €3 M • equity co‑investment in high‑potential scale‑ups 🇬🇧 Innovate UK • grant competitions up to £2 M for UK‑based R\&D • access to KTN networks and industry experts 🇪🇸 CDTI (Spain) • aid for tech projects: grants, repayable advances & soft loans • strong on international R&D partnerships 🇩🇪 KfW (Germany) • start‑up loans up to €25 M at subsidised rates • green financing for energy and climate ventures Founder Tips to Navigate Grants & Loans • align programmes with your tech readiness and reporting capacity • build clear impact metrics and stakeholder support • plan applications months in advance, allowing time for feedback • focus on quality over quantity, target two programmes max #startupfunding #grantwriting #non‑dilutivecapital #loans #EUfunding #innovation #cleantech #deeptech #founderjourney #investorinsight

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

Venture Capital is not set up for Climate tech. You don't need to spend a lot of time fundraising as an early-stage startup to know this. The rate of VC funds shot up between 2010-2020, valuations were at an all-time high and we started to think we could throw money at anything and it will give us 20 to 30% return annually (IRR). Well just about anything. As long as it was SaaS. Hard tech is a whole new ball game. Green steel and CO2 capture, for example, require substantial investment at an early stage and need more time to break even and scale. VC may eventually come in and play an important role but the early capital stack for climate tech startups looks different than traditional VC-backed companies. To get to product market fit Climate tech start-ups need a combination of the following in their capital stack: -Non-dilutive project Grants: from governments, philanthropic foundations, private grants and prizes -Angel Investors / Syndicates : High net worth individuals, previous founders etc Catalytic Capital: These are funds prioritizing impact potential over financial returns -Rolling funds: funds raised on a rolling quarterly basis, minimizing the hurdle to fund launch. Typically thematically or community-focused, with similar terms to VC deals  -Accelerators/ Incubators/ Fellowships: Programs offering funding and resources such as strategic partnerships, advisors, and workshops to help founders build and iterate on their ideas and technology.  (Kinda like what we are doing with Energy Tech Nexus) You should talk to VCs, but do so knowing that many may not ready to take the cost burden until you have sufficiently derisked your solution. And if that is the case, you have other options. #founder #climatetech #VC #entrepreneurs

📣 Breaking Down Capital Structure in #ClimateTech Startups Understanding the capital structure in climate tech #startups, particularly those hardware-based, can differ greatly from digital startups. 👇 Hers’s an illustration of the evolution of capital types over time - equity, grants, and debt - with actual 💶 figures. Key takeaway: The name of the game is Non-Dilutive Capital ⭐ 1️⃣ Embrace Non-Dilutive Capital: Scaling with equity alone is a non-starter. There's insufficient climate-dedicated VC money out there and it's far from the most efficient way to finance CAPEX due to ownership dilution and the Cost of Equity. 2️⃣ Optimise Timing: With careful planning, each funding round can be delayed, allowing your company value to mature by achieving higher TRLs. Leverage grants wisely and delay equity funding rounds. 3️⃣ Strike a Balance with Grants: While grants are attractive, an overdose can divert you from your main focus of selling products and turn you into an R&D centre. Exercise caution! 4️⃣ Consider Debt Early: It's rocket fuel for growth. Proper measures can ensure you secure it even before hitting TRL9. 💡Tips for Raising Non-Dilutive Capital: General: - Begin early, it takes time - Build a solid funnel (4:1 ratio is a good rule) - Engage experts, it saves time and ups your chances Grants: - Be prepared to have some fresh equity to unlock certain grants - Participate in competitions - every sum counts and it's free exposure! Debt: - Sign off-takes to significantly boost your chances - Get in touch with your regional bank - they look at more than just ROI. It's time to rethink and redesign your capital strategy! #venturecapital #funding #innovation

The climate tech ecosystem is growing 🌎 The climate tech sector has entered a new phase of maturity, driven by a more sophisticated and diverse capital stack. From early-stage innovation to full-scale deployment, the Climate Capital Stack highlights how funding sources have expanded to meet the evolving needs of climate solutions. The map illustrates the layers of this stack, showcasing key investors and capital providers across venture capital, growth equity, infrastructure, and catalytic funding. In the early stages, venture capital continues to play a critical role in financing innovation. Early-stage VC investors are supporting high-risk, high-reward opportunities, particularly in emerging technologies. Late-stage venture capital is increasingly selective, with a focus on companies that demonstrate strong market fit and scalability. These investments are essential for pushing breakthrough technologies past the “valley of death.” As companies grow, growth equity and private equity step in to provide larger checks for scaling proven solutions. Investors in this layer are gravitating towards mature business models with clear profitability paths, such as industrial decarbonization, energy software, and renewable supply chains. The rise of infrastructure funding reflects the sector’s shift toward deployment and project finance. Infrastructure investors are now more willing to support technologies beyond traditional solar and wind, expanding into energy storage, grid management, and low-carbon fuels. These funds offer lower-risk, long-term capital critical for financing large-scale, capital-intensive projects. Catalytic capital remains crucial for addressing funding gaps, particularly for first-of-a-kind (FOAK) projects and technologies that are too risky for traditional investors. This patient, impact-driven capital ensures that promising innovations can progress towards commercialization. At the base of the stack, corporate investors, banks, and governments are pivotal players. Corporate venture capital aligns strategic priorities with financial returns, while banks provide both venture and commercial debt for scaling operations. Governments, through grants and infrastructure funding, continue to accelerate climate action by backing early-stage R&D and incentivizing large-scale deployment. This evolving capital ecosystem underscores the need for alignment between funding sources and climate solutions. Matching the right capital to the right stage is essential to drive progress, enabling climate tech to move from innovation to implementation and deliver meaningful impact. Source:  Sightline Climate #sustainability #sustainable #business #esg #climatechange #climateaction #investment #tech

Step one in the financing journey for climate tech founders is often grants – especially for hardware companies that need lots of capital to prove market appeal. Grants are sometimes overlooked because they’re time-intensive – long applications and navigating the bureaucracies of government agencies or large institutions. But from conversations with hundreds of founders, particularly those financing hardware, the consensus is grants are worth the time investment for the payoff – non-dilutive funding in the early stages, when other financiers are not ready to take the risk. For more on navigating grants, check out Climate Capital Stack (and/or talk to Joel Armin-Hoiland at Climate Finance Solutions): https://lnkd.in/gfgEAEcc

FOAK (first of a kind) climate projects are all the rage right now - and it makes sense why. They're desperately needed. I've spent the last few months digging into this big opportunity for climate startups, the challenges that come with it, and the organizations who are working to fill the gaps. Here are the spark notes on what I’ve learned so far: Climate startups are facing a bottleneck. Many have built prototypes and shown proof of concept, mostly on the back of VC dollars, but taking the necessary next step of piloting and deploying their tech at a commercial scale is more akin to a massive leap. Challenges include… Funding - VC dollars are no longer enough. Building capital intensive infrastructure requires risk tolerant project finance, non-dilutive funding, and often philanthropy, all working in tandem. Expertise - Startup founders are innovators, not developers or financiers. Nor should they try to become those things. Rather, they can succeed by pulling in support from experts in these areas. Partnerships - This is the biggest one, in my opinion. Commercial-scale tech deployment by growth stage startups is a hugely multifaceted process. In addition to the startup team, the financial stakeholders, and the development experts, you also need buy-in from market incumbents (public or private) who can champion the technology within the market and serve as initial customers, as well as community-based organizations where projects will be built. And you need all of these stakeholders aligned and collaborating smoothly. Talk about herding cats! I will be focusing my efforts in 2024 on building more collaboration and better partnerships within this space, so that we can drive climate impact and get these amazing technologies to market. Here is a list of some companies I’ve come across who are already doing amazing work in this space: Elemental Excelerator is playing a big role as a convener with leadership from folks like Dawn Lippert, Saritha Peruri, and Danya Hakeem. Many orgs are focused on funding scale up projects, like Breakthrough Energy’s Catalyst group, Prime Coalition, Trent Yang’s Galway Sustainable Capital, Inc, Generate, FullCycle, Keyframe, and Wavelength Infra (Caroline McGeough). Third Sphere is making it easier for startups to understand the process and access capital (Shaun Abrahamson, Shilpi Kumar, Stonly Blue) Others are running programs to help connect growth stage startups with market incumbents for pilot projects, like Newlab (Shaina Horowitz, Carlos E. Trevino, Liz Keen), Uptake Alliance (Chris Richardson), Black & Veatch’s Ignite Program, Accenture (Jonathan Weitz), and Deep Science Ventures’s FOAXIAL Accelerator (Ahmad Butt). Sightline Climate (CTVC) wrote an awesome article recently about two successful FOAKs with LanzaTech and H2 Green Steel. I can’t list them all and even if I could, I’m sure there are so many who I’ve missed. So I’ll ask you: who are the orgs leading the way on FOAK climate projects?

❓ How can you raise #projectfinance for your #climatetech startup? As we navigate the complexities of financing climate tech startups, especially those in the hardware and infrastructure sectors, it's crucial to understand the role of debt and structured finance. I had the pleasure of speaking with Jeremiah Lim, CFA, a Director at Barclays Sustainable and Impact Investment Banking Group, who shared some valuable insights on how #climatetech companies can raise project finance. 3 key takeaways: 🤝 The importance of early engagement with banks and financial advisors - It's not just about securing funds; it's about building a relationship and getting guidance on structuring your project correctly from the start. 🛠️ Establishing an early track record or partnering with experienced operators is crucial ahead of securing project finance - For climate tech founders, it's crucial to demonstrate that your company can not only develop a technology but also operate it at scale. 💼The role of off-take agreements in securing debt- For lenders, the security of knowing there's a committed buyer at a fixed price for the output of a climate tech project is a cornerstone of making the debt issuance decision. 🔗 Link to the episode from Climate Tech 360: https://lnkd.in/eQvtcv3E This is the first episode in a series on how to finance climate #hardtech companies. Tag a hardtech founder who could benefit from learning more about how to raise debt 👇 Your feedback is always welcome, so please drop a comment or DM me if you have any thoughts or questions. #debtfinancing #StartupFunding #CT360 #carbonremovals #biochar #enhancedrockweathering #climatetech360

This CEO's team of 30 has mobilized $1.6B in non-dilutive funding for climate tech companies. He shared insights with our climate CEO peer group at EFI (Entrepreneurs for Impact). Here are some notes... Joel Armin-Hoiland is the founder and CEO of Climate Finance Solutions. His guest speaker session with our climate tech CEO peer group at EFI (Entrepreneurs for Impact) was a full-circle story for us two. We met in the MCJ Slack group in the early days of Covid when his work at CFS and mine at EFI were just little babies starting to walk. 😀 Not only has Climate Finance Solutions raised $1.6B in grant funding for their climate tech clients, but their success rate is 90%. (wow) Also surprising: They have a large footprint in Europe and are helping many US companies access the European grant market. Highlights included: - 80% of IRA funding is going to Republican districts. - Sectors most at risk of losing federal funding might be EVs, wind, and the Loan Program Office (new, not old, loans). - Sectors that might be the safest are nuclear, geothermal, and hydro. - State governments might make up for some of the changes in federal funding: CA plans to invest $54B across 5 years, and NY looks to invest $10B over 6 years. - The EU offers $75B across three programs over the next 5-10 years in non-dilutive climate funding. - There are six steps in raising non-dilutive funding, but you don't always need to start with step 1. - Startups should apply to fewer, not more, grants. It's not "spray and pray." - The capital raising process with VCs is very different from the strategy (and time per capital provider) with grant providers.