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Friends of ClimateHaven,
Welcome to ClimateHaven Dispatch, ClimateHaven’s twice a month newsletter on all-things-climate tech, with the occasional dad joke added for good measure.
It’s been about 9 months since I last sat down to write a newsletter, and for all the chaos in the world, the world of climate tech feels much the same. We’ve made incredible progress on so many fronts. But in terms of decarbonization, it’s easy to get the sense that we’re behind schedule. In fact, global emissions grew in 2022. Yikes!
All of which begs the question: how do we get on schedule?
Simply put, getting on schedule requires a relentless commitment to implementation AND innovation.
We need to rapidly implement the proven technologies that will be essential to our decarbonization push (think renewables, energy storage, electric vehicle infrastructure, and building electrification, to name a few). And we need to enthusiastically support entrepreneurs developing the innovations that will unleash the next set of breakthrough climate technologies. Undoubtedly, ClimateHaven will focus on the innovation side; it is core to what we do. But we’ve got an important role to play in implementation, too. More on that below.
But first...
What lies at the heart of the ClimateHaven community? Startups!
We are looking for promising climate tech startups to join the ClimateHaven community. Our membership application portal is now open, and we’re excited to review applications this summer in anticipation of welcoming our first startups into the incubator this fall.
You can learn more about ClimateHaven membership here. And if you’re interested in visiting our space in downtown New Haven or discussing the benefits of membership, then reach out to Kiko Wong, our Startup Portfolio Manager.
This week, I’m excited to be at the Yale Innovation Summit, which will feature a dedicated climate track for the first time! With panels, keynotes, and plenty of networking across May 31 and June 1, there will be plenty of great content and conversations.
Plus, I will moderate the Climate Pitch Contest on Thursday, June 1, during which the audience will hear from 10 Yale climate tech startups pitching for three prizes, including a one-year membership to ClimateHaven. We’ll highlight the best of these startups in a future newsletter.
In addition to building a community of climate tech startups, we’re building our own team!
We’re hiring a Community Manager who will build and manage inspiring and meaningful programs, events and workshops designed to bring our community of climate tech entrepreneurs together to learn from experts and one another, connect with climate tech leaders, and have fun! Know a passionate professional who would be a good fit? Folks can apply at careers@climatehaven.tech.
Lookout for more roles in marketing and operations to come in the coming weeks!
These numbers won’t always be so self-serving. Next time, we’ll focus on the three most interesting investment numbers from the previous weeks.
Speaking of investment, I’m proud of my colleagues at the ClimateTech Fund for closing our first investments out of the fund. We announced our investment in Bright Feeds, with a few more announcements coming in June. What I love about our portfolio: these companies are solving thorny climate challenges and doing so with great products and teams.
Plenty of great work to come between ClimateHaven and the ClimateTech Fund. We’re lucky to have the Fund as a great tool to support the best and most promising of the ClimateHaven community!
Okay, back to where we started.
Deploying physical infrastructure is hard. And the many challenges of deployment need to be factored in at the early stages of technology development. Climate tech entrepreneurs who think about implementation at the earliest stages increase the likelihood of solving a true problem and building an enduring business.
But–and this is a BIG but–implementation is becoming increasingly challenging. In many instances, implementation, especially for those deploying large-scale physical plants, has become a second valley of death for climate tech startups to cross, which is why we need to do more than just think about implementation at the early stages of innovation. We need to apply innovation–in technology, finance, policy, and business models–to make implementation move faster for a multitude of climate technologies.
Much, much more to discuss on this topic in future newsletters and something we’ll definitely be working on at ClimateHaven.
In the meantime, I was going to end with a joke about pizza, but I figured it was too cheesy.
Until next time,
Ryan
P.S., follow ClimateHaven on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram to keep up on our progress between newsletters.
