A New Capital Model for Planetary Challenges

Climate Tech ventures require patient, aligned capital partners willing to navigate longer commercialization timelines and stringent customer adoption criteria.

This is fundamentally incompatible with traditional venture capital fund structures.

By Mike Casey, Bill Steen, and Ashley Elliot

The current model is failing everyone

  • Startups aren’t getting the patient capital they need to reach product-market fit
  • Customers aren’t getting the solutions they need for their most acute challenges
  • Asset owners aren’t seeing adequate returns
  • Planetary impacts aren’t being addressed at the pace we need

Since 2000, private markets clean tech investments have returned just 1.1x to investors. Early-stage deals have returned only 70 cents on the dollar. Meanwhile, the number of investors participating in later-stage Climate Tech rounds has collapsed by roughly 50% since 2021.

The problems are structural, not incidental.

Marginal improvements won’t bridge the chasm between venture timelines and commercialization realities.

What’s required is something fundamentally different.

What’s in the report?

In this report, we draw on our experience as permanent-capital investors, company advisors, and entrepreneurs to examine each point of failure—and outline a path forward.

We cover:

  • Why Climate Tech adoption is a structural problem, not a technology problem — and what that means for how companies build products and engage customers
  • How the traditional VC fund model creates a brutal financing cliff that destroys companies and capital alike
  • The “dual-use delusion” — why the growing defense pivot is a symptom of misaligned capital, not a strategic expansion
  • Four principles for a new capital model: focused on acute customer needs, redefined metrics, aligned ownership, and concentrated strategic investment
  • Specific opportunities for founders, corporates, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and development finance institutions

Download the full report

Enter your details below and we’ll send you a copy.