Jeff Yolen

Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) illustrates the current "readiness" of #ClimateTechs + their potential impact on carbon reduction. As shown, many techs are at an early stage of being able to have a material impact. Concerningly, some tech funds recently returned capital back to investors recently + closed their funds - citing inability to fund capital intensive techs, found in areas like ClimateTech. This in part may be contributing to the $2 trillion shortfall in ClimateTech, that Deloitte estimates. What this may mean for the future? - The migration of LPs to global, super VC funds within ClimateTech, given the large capital pools needed to fund tech development - Greater specialization from smaller funds, energizing more niche elements of the ClimateTech market - but also altering their / LP's risk profile - A greater role to be played by debt financing in funding growth entities at an earlier stage - impacting cashflow dynamics Will be an interesting space to watch moving forward. We at The Proptech Connection are constantly working with all parts of the Proptech ecosystem. From the leading LPs, funds, techs and adopters in market, providing an independent view. Reach out to us today to find out how we can help. #InvestorTrends #Strategy #Global Ivo van Breukelen Stuart Daun Kiki C. Ethan Ward

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Last week, I had the pleasure of moderating a discussion on navigating FOAK in climate tech at the Greentown Labs Summit in Boston (which had >600 people!!). Here’s a quick rundown of what was shared by Katherine St. James of Spring Lane Capital, Paris Smalls, PhD of Eden GeoPower, and Hannah Friedman of Planeteer Capital: 🌱 What is the definition of FOAK? We discussed how the term can be controversial - it's almost too general because it doesn't identify what kind of "First" FOAK refers to - first team project? First geography? First of a technology in a sector? First time for the integration of a system? It's also too specific because it has the word "first" in it, which can be anathema to later stage / project finance investors. 💰 Partnerships for Funding FOAK Projects We discussed how important it is to build a blended capital stack & use off-balance sheet capital for a project so you're not using the most expensive equity dollars to fund an infrastructure project with low-ish IRR. We also talked through being creative about using corporate partners to provide in-kind services or ink some agreement (at least an LOI) to attract this funding. 🏛 Role of Government We talked about how government capital is seen by investors & how it can be catalytic for FOAK. Government capital can provide validation that a startup has passed a rigorous diligence process by a third party - and incentives like grants or credits can help improve returns for the first project- but it's important to be doing this in conjunction with getting customer validation and to be able to present line of sight to competitive economics without concessionary capital. 👥 Advice for FOAK startups The panelists offered some very specific pieces of advice for startups going through FOAK: how to get creative with things like revenue sharing agreements or convertible notes, getting smart with project development early on (like with DeveloperU), being careful about using FOAK too liberally with certain investor groups, getting the right commercialization / FOAK talent in and around you early Huge thanks to the panelists and the team at Greentown Labs (Jill Kirkpatrick, Julia Travaglini, Aisling Carlson, etc you rocked it!!) for hosting this discussion on bridging the FOAK gap. Also immensely enjoyed the rest of the agenda. Check out the full recap & videos here: https://lnkd.in/d9ApYe9Y #ClimateTech #FOAK #ClimateFinance #ProjectDevelopment #GreenTech #CleanEnergy

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Check out my recent post on why President Trump is the forcing function for us to solve the “Missing Middle” and catch the industrial Tsunami of onshoring coming to the US!

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Excited to announce our investment in Alta Resource Technologies alongside Leonardo Banchik (Voyager Ventures) with participation from Orion Resource Partners, Overture Ventures, and WovenEarth Ventures. Rare earths are critical in products from magnets to ceramics and it's important for the US to develop its own supply chain. While the US has some of the best rare earth resources, separating them has historically proven expensive and environmentally unfriendly. Alta through it's computationally designed and optimized proteins allows the US to bring back rare earth production with a cleaner, lower capex, and lower opex solution - and that's just the beginning. Congrats to Nathan Ratledge and the entire Alta team. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gbGnAJn3

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In the work I do at Earth Finance, I see everyday that the large companies, with complex value chains and net zero strategies, require and rely on innovative technologies to achieve their goals. Being able to meet their need is vital not only to their success, but also for an emerging technology startup’s success. In this episode (our third which I think officially makes this a series 🤠), we talk basics of securing the business and trust of a large customer when they take a chance on your new tech and aim to scale it across their business.

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📢 Some big news this week that marks another pivotal step in the evolution of carbon markets… The Biden administration, led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, will be unveiling the first broad US government guidelines on the use of carbon credits as part of decarbonization strategies. It’s a much needed step that will promote high-integrity carbon markets, and boost corporate confidence in using carbon credits. The Bloomberg article's sources suggest the upcoming framework will align with the government’s stance that: “voluntary carbon markets have a role in reaching net zero, as long as they promote high-integrity emissions reductions and channel meaningful amounts of capital into nature-based projects today as well as carbon-removal technologies in the future.” And that is the key. There is no silver bullet for the climate crisis. Whatever the critics may say about carbon credits, more transparency, clarity and official endorsement on their use will serve to unlock billions of much needed corporate dollars for carbon projects. Couple this news with recent initiatives by major tech companies like the Symbiosis Coalition of Google, Meta, Microsoft and Salesforce and we’re starting to stride in the right direction. Read more and sign up for the live stream: https://lnkd.in/ddDRA8yd #carbonmarkets #carboncredits #naturalcapital #climateaction #breakingnews

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💡 Interesting takeaways (+ my own commentary) from this #SFClimateWeek session on startups engaging with #utilities - Bits (software) and atoms (hardware) will both be required to power #decarbonization and the #energytransition. Enterprise SaaS is a proven business model that needs to complement innovations in deeptech. Start by targeting the customers most open to moving quickly with new approaches - which might be municipal and coop utilities. Referencing those early customers and successful deployments then helps when you start targeting more risk-averse companies, who have higher expectations and potentially more to lose from new technologies. I've seen the latter play out many times in SaaS markets. Successfully penetrating more mainstream (and conservative) segments of a market requires thoughtfully sequencing and orchestrating product development, partnerships & integrations, go-to-market capabilities, and delivery/service capabilities. Would have loved to be at the session to hear firsthand from Adriana Penuela-Useche Louisa White Page Crahan Andrea Sguazzi Giancarlo Savini.

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I really enjoyed recording this episode of The Digital Industrial Podcast with Ty Findley. We talked about common misconceptions for deep tech, the "Why Now" for the category, and differences between investor diligence for deep tech and traditional tech. https://lnkd.in/eKtwjauu

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'Drill, baby, drill' isn't just for oil and gas - it could unlock geothermal energy and geologic hydrogen too. That's the fascinating paradox of climate tech I discussed in a recent TechCrunch feature examining how VCs are viewing the sector's future. The reality is that policy impacts are rarely straightforward - deregulation of drilling and permitting, such as for overhauls in transmission and distribution, could actually accelerate clean energy solutions. Furthermore, the sector has shown remarkable resilience through multiple administrations and market cycles. The core message I shared with Tim De Chant and Rebecca Szkutak rings true: technological advancement and declining cost curves will keep driving solutions forward, regardless of the political situation. The energy landscape continually presents new opportunities at every turn. Worth a read for anyone interested in the exciting future of climatetech investing. https://lnkd.in/gjNdm4DW #ClimateInnovation #VentureCapital #Geothermal #GeologicHydrogen

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Wonderful article about Emily Knight and the whole The Engine Accelerator team on the amazing work their doing changing the world with #ToughTech!

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Listened to Bloomberg’s Zero: The Climate Race recently—worth a listen for anyone in the climate tech space. Akshat Rathi interviews Eric Toone from Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Key topics: ⚡️ Carbon removal ⚡️ Grid modernization ⚡️ Nuclear fusion and fission ⚡️ Green hydrogen—the hype, promise vs reality Good insights on where innovation is heading in sustainability and energy. #ClimateTech #Sustainability #Energy #Innovation

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Cambridge Future Tech builds DeepTech ventures and last week we hit another milestone; we're co-founding our 15th venture 🤘 It's awesome building new ventures from the ground up. It's why we started CFT in the first place. It always feels great to be at the start of the build phase, helping founders articulate a new venture’s tech and potential, building a strong narrative. We’re collaborating closely with founders to transform groundbreaking ideas into companies. 🚀🚀🚀 More to come on this. I'm hyped to share what we're building 🤘 #venturebuilder #deeptech #startups #cambridge

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From an outsider's perspective, it looks like direct air capture (DAC) companies are battling a two-front war. Last week, VC-backed startup CarbonCapture announced that it was scrapping plans to build its first commercial-scale DAC project in Wyoming, one of the world's largest facilities, expected to remove 5M metric tons of CO2 annually by 2030. To put that in context, there are only ~50 DAC facilities operating in the US, Canada, and Europe today, capturing about 0.1M metric tons of carbon annually. One the one hand, DAC and many other carbon-abating/sequestering technologies rely on clean electricity to power their operations. However, they face increasing competition from emerging, energy-intensive industries like AI and crypto for that resource. These industries, backed by some of the largest enterprises in the world like Microsoft and Alphabet, reflect a buying base that utilities are likely incentivized to service first. CarbonCapture's CEO directly mentioned competition for clean power as a core reason for pausing its Wyoming development. On the other hand, the product that comes out of DAC - carbon credits - has faced criticism as a form of greenwashing because it does not incentivize companies to address carbon emissions in their own operations. It's clear that technologies like DAC are needed as we look to achieve our target emissions, but there will inevitably be challenges in its rollout. I would love to learn more about what's going on at the heart of the industry if you're an operator or investor in the space!

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What do you do when a radical new technology puts your main product right in the crosshairs of disruption? Listen to David Okuniev — co-founder of Typeform | Ask awesomely — discuss the challenges of innovation within existing structures. David shared a game-changing insight: Radical innovation is really, really difficult to do inside your own product. He emphasized the need to break free from the constraints of familiarity and embrace change from outside the box. Henrik Werdelin and I have both seen our fair share of this in our respective careers. What struck us most was how David leveraged structure to overcome the innovator’s dilemma. By creating a culture of experimentation and providing space for bold ideas, he propelled Typeform beyond incremental improvements. What other hacks have you seen or employed to help your organization overcome the innovator’s dilemma? Share your stories below! 👇 And if you want to dive deeper into our conversation, click the link in the comments to catch the full podcast episode!

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What CEOs of VCs do.

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Excellent blog post on the realities of Climate & VC. While these are "tough times for the transition," there are also many opportunities. Significant capital will continue to flow, with Corporate VCs playing a larger role in financing this transition. Through this process, they will strengthen their LP positions in funds tackling climate challenges. I receive weekly calls from large Holding & Corporate VCs seeking introductions to Climate / Energy / Infra VC Funds. When I ask about their target sub-verticals within Climate / Energy, they often mention that they default to focusing on specific regions due to limited resources and coverage. In other words, rather than evaluating whether a DACH VC is better positioned for solar or grid-tech compared to a Nordic or US VC, they simply pursue whichever regions they can access—a haphazard approach at best. I always advise LPs to evaluate VCs within their operating market context. Since sourcing is crucial in venture capital, Holding Cos. and Family Offices should carefully assess a VC's location, regulatory context, and market environment before investing and building a portfolio of Funds. I've heard "I wish I had discovered this VC / region sooner" far too many times... * At ComposeVC's Built World Fund, we do not invest in Climatetech or Energytech directly, only as it relates to our Built World thesis.

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Great coverage on Carbon Quest and their amazing #carboncapture solution for decarbonizing “hard-to-abate” sectors, especially in regions where facilities like data centers are significantly increasing power demand👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

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