A new report from the World Economic Forum estimates that damage to the planet from climate change is expected to cost the global economy $12.5 trillion. Many companies’ climate goals appear to have been postponed or hidden from view. This is where venture capital firm Climactic comes into play. The company’s $65 million startup fund is aimed at supporting founders looking to launch climate technology software companies.
Josh Felser and Raj Kapoor, co-founders and managing partners of Climactic, join Yahoo Finance to help address the challenges of climate change technology, invest in climate change technology, and reduce the impact of climate change on the world. discuss how they plan to advance climate change technologies to world economy.
“In general, people aren’t looking at distributions or liquidity from their existing venture portfolios, so that’s a bit of a setback,” Kapur says. “And in recent years, most of the existing venture managers have been doubling and tripling the size of their funding. They feel like their hands are full right now. There is light at the end of the tunnel for the future.” ”
For more expert insights and the latest market trends, click here to watch the full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor’s note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino.
video transcript
Akiko Fujita: What we’ve seen over the past few years is that these big companies have come out with very ambitious climate goals. And over the past year or so, we’ve been setting back and even setting back that goal, in part because we haven’t necessarily made the investments necessary to make that transition. Also a little reality check. You could also argue that shareholders aren’t necessarily demanding that change in the same way they have in past years.
I’m curious to know what you’re seeing from your perspective and how companies looking to invest can help accelerate that transition?
Josh Felser: right. Therefore, we believe that E should be freed from ESG. That’s another conversation. But we’re funding this innovation and it’s really going to help these companies create the innovation they need to achieve their goals. From allocating capital to energy infrastructure to using AI for insight and action, I think we’re seeing how companies are making big changes to their corporate goals.
And I think we’re going to see some really interesting developments around smart software, helping some of the world’s biggest companies find ways to meet the net zero goals they’ve set in a non-impact way. their income.
Rachel Akuffo: So, Josh, Rachel is here. There was a discussion about taking out the environmental part of ESG, so I would like to follow up on that. What do you think about VC funding in this space?
Josh Felser: Well, E–they’re all important. Everything is important, including ESG. They are lumped together for reasons that no longer make any sense. It’s very different. Therefore, I don’t think S and G should be taken lightly. But E is a different animal and needs to be seen as such. Different funding sources have different use cases. Even within organizations, there are different views.
So instead of lumping them all together, we hope to focus on all three.
Akiko Fujita: Raj, let’s talk about the VC environment right now. If you look at last year, we certainly took a bit of a step back. I’m looking at his PitchBook data, specifically that the number of active investors in the US fell by 38% in his first three quarters of 2023. What do you see there? How difficult was it to raise money for this fund?
Raj Kapoor: So I come from a background at Mayfield, which is one of the oldest funds in Silicon Valley. When you raise your first funding in a new field of climate change technology at perhaps the worst time in 15 years, the environment is very different. So it was definitely challenging. I did it. But in general, people aren’t looking at distributions or liquidity from their existing venture portfolios, so that’s a little bit of a setback.
In recent years, most existing venture managers have doubled or tripled the size of their funding. So they’re feeling really cornered right now. But what we are seeing, especially in recent months, is that there is light at the end of the tunnel for some sectors, such as climate technology and AI.
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