Impact Alpha, a news service for “impact” investors, reports on stepped up investment by climate-savvy investors, willing to make long-term bets and data from Cambridge Associates showing a rebound in cleantech returns.
Despite this rosy overview and the addition of a few new climate-focused funds within the last few years, the total venture funding for high-risk, high-impact innovation is well off the 2008 peak. Still, some of the capital being deployed is coming from limited partners with a mission to fight climate change and willingness to be more patient. Some of these are philanthropic donors.
“Everything is moving in the right direction,” according to Matthew Nordan, of Prime Impact Fund, a group that raises philanthropic dollars to invest in risky climate ventures that provide “additionality,” yet there’s still an enormous amount more capital needed, “particularly at the high risk, high impact early innovation stage.”
Read Dennis Price’s article in ImpactAlpha: “Cleantech venture capital rebounds with smarter, more patient investors.“