We haven’t been this excited about a New Year since last year
Happy New Year! By almost all measures, 2023 was a tough year for the climate and for venture capital. Venture funding dropped significantly along with deal count and average deal size. We focused our company support (particularly at the beginning of the year) on healthy revenue pipelines, extending cash runway and reducing expenses in order to decrease the reliance on follow-on financings given the foreseen dip in investing activity. Though, we didn’t foresee a banking crisis with SVB that would shock the entire sector.
Happily, most of our companies continued to grow and several countered the fundraising slump with successful up-rounds, adding new investors. Fund I companies have grown revenue an average of 11X since our initial investment, Fund II companies grew revenue 12X in the past year, and seven companies closed financings at increased valuations with only one down round. We also bucked the downward VC fundraising trend by launching Fund III in April and announcing the initial close with $70M committed in October.
Climate change doesn’t care if markets are down or if it’s a tough economic environment for raising capital. In 2023 the whole world felt climate change—heat, fires, drought, floods—the urgency of deploying every viable climate tech solution was more acute than ever. So in addition to our annual round-up of our fund’s activities below, we’ve also included a selection of ‘holy shit’ moments in climate AND some important progress. Just as many of our companies and our fund showed meaningful momentum in the face of a stark reality, there was real, collective climate progress that we hope will motivate you like it does us.
January
Fund II investment #13 in Dispatch Goods
55% of the continental US is experiencing a drought
February
Launched our Earth Month Challenge with Genus Wealth Management, Spring, Pace Zero, Fulmer & Company and SVX
Antarctic sea ice shrank to a record low with only 66% the amount usually detected
March
ChopValue Series A
Run on Silicon Valley Bank triggers a cash emergency for multiple portfolio companies that Active jumps in to help, no companies suffered any permanent losses
April
Hosted our first in-person AGM and Founder Summit featuring Bill McKibben as a guest speaker
Earth Month Challenge collectively raised $22K for the Nature Conservancy of Canada
Canadian GHG Disclosure Standard comes into effect that requires government procurement to be in line with the Paris Agreement
May
Fund II investment #15 in Othersphere
Metafold follow-on investment
IEA reports that for every $1 invested in fossil fuels, ~$0.017is now going to clean energy
June
Released our 2nd Climate Impact Report
Future follow-on investment
Jaza follow-on investment
Clean Crop follow-on investment
Canada passes the Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Health Canada Act, enshrining the right to a healthy environment for the first time
July
Fund II investment #16 in Relyion
Sustain.Life follow-on investment
Hottest month ever recorded!
August
Carbon America follow-on investment
Optiwatt follow-on investment
One year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act that catalyzed 265 clean energy and manufacturing projects worth $100B+ in investment and 170,000 clean energy jobs
September
Encycle acquired by Instone Capital Partners
Lahaina wildfire is the deadliest wildfire in US history
6765 fires have burned 128.5M hectares across Canada–the worst wildfire season ever recorded
October
Fund III initial close with over $70M committed toward the $120M goal
SWTCH follow-on investment
IEA reports that 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity was added in the first half of the year accounting for 25% of all US electricity–a new record
California, the world’s 5th largest economy, mandates that companies make public disclosures of their scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions–Sustain.Life and Manifest Climate quickly feel the benefit from increased demand
November
Fund I exit #3 (still confidential)
National Automobile Dealer Association announces 1M EVs were sold in the US in 2023, up 50% over 2022. 1 in 5 cars sold is now an EV
December
Fund II investment #17 in JulesAI (our final company to be added to the Fund II portfolio)
COP28 agreed to ‘transition away’ from fossil fuels for the first time