It’s hard to believe that New York Climate Week was only two weeks ago! My time there was filled with meaningful dialogues, partner connections, and promising commitments.
At Builders Vision, we’re encouraged by emerging technologies and innovations that can address challenges facing our climate, and it is our belief that not one single entity can take on these challenges alone. All actors — investors, philanthropists, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders — must work together to expedite the climate transition.
As I reflect on my time in New York, I see a few areas ripe for expanded collaboration:
Unlocking Capital for Climate Tech Solutions
Innovators are coming up with new climate technologies, designs, and processes every day to support the climate transition. Many of these solutions focus on decarbonizing sectors that are vital to our economy, such as cement, aviation, shipping, steel, and industrial heat. Entrepreneurs are developing technologies that reduce emissions in these industries while maintaining profitability, but the multi-year de-risking process for commercialization is often constrained by limited funding sources. This theme emerged throughout the week, sparking fruitful conversations about how investors and other stakeholders can support this commercialization.
Rebecca Carland participated in a panel with Activate Capital, Spring Lane Capital, and CalSTRS that explored the “missing middle” of the capital stack. The discussion highlighted the importance of fit-for-purpose capital, the need for investor flexibility to foster innovation, and the development of new funding structures, all while highlighting the exciting opportunity for both impact and returns in this space.
Builders Vision also hosted a workshop with Goldman Sachs and CREO, led by James Lindsay and Andrew Yi, to address funding hurdles for first-of-its-kind (FOAK) projects. Equity investors, debt providers, foundations, government agencies, and insurance providers met with entrepreneurs to explore bridging the gap between initial venture capital and commercial funding. The workshop not only outlined challenges but also actively brainstormed actionable solutions and facilitated conversations among critical stakeholders who don’t often find themselves in the same room.
Some other highlights on this topic include my time at the Clean Industrial Revolution Reception hosted by Breakthrough Energy and CBRE, where we tackled the cost and accessibility barriers that keep novel climate technologies from going mainstream (more to come from Builders Vision soon on this topic!). Plus, our partners at S2G held a climate finance event with Deloitte on the heels of the release of their new Climate Finance Relay Race report, which looked at how asset owners are currently approaching climate investing.