Climate Tech Investors & VC Firms

An Early-Stage Startup’s Guide to Climate Tech Fundraising

Most VCs say they invest in climate. Fewer actually write checks to startups building climate solutions, not just climate-themed SaaS. If your tech depends on IP, infrastructure, or regulation, your fundraising path is very different. The bar for traction is higher. The risk perception is real.

This guide breaks down what serious climate VCs actually look for, which funds move at your stage, and how to structure a deck that earns attention. If you’re raising, OpenVC can help you cut the guesswork and connect with aligned investors faster. Let’s dive in.

What’s the Current Climate Tech VC Landscape?

If you think climate is just another vertical, think bigger. Climate tech isn’t a niche anymore. It cuts through energy, SaaS, agriculture, fintech, mobility, manufacturing, and more. Every corporate quarterly letter has climate targets now. Regulators are writing bigger checks (US IRA, EU Green Deal, APAC net-zero moves). And as of 2025, global investment is bouncing back, but you’ll notice the focus is shifting.

• Hardware and grid tech are hot again.
• Climate adaptation is catching up to pure mitigation.
• Startups with “just an app” won’t cut it for most serious funds.

Big lesson? Don’t spam random VCs. Most “climate funds” are generalists with a green FAQ on their site. Target the teams who know the difference between a deck and a decarbonization pathway. OpenVC lets you filter climate tech investors by sector focus, check size, and geography, so you’re not wasting intros on the wrong crowd.

What Climate Tech Investors Are Actually Looking For

Stop guessing. Here’s what serious climate tech VC firms care about when evaluating a deal:

• Can your tech drive real decarbonization, circularity, resilience, or adaptation? Bonus points if it does more than one.
• Science is a baseline—but so is commercial sense. Most top funds want to see teams with deep tech/circular econ/chemistry chops and go-to-market muscle.
• Have you de-risked execution? Early pilots, paid partnerships, or soft commitments help. “We built a prototype in my garage” is a universal red flag.
• Burn rate and CapEx needs. Unlike SaaS, climate is capital intensive. You have to show runway, plausible CapEx, and a path to scalable revenue.

VCs in this space also care about regulations and offtake agreements. If there’s a major policy dependency or your plan bets on EU subsidies, call it out. Don’t dance around the tough stuff.

Top 10 Climate Tech VC Funds

These are the largest, most well-known funds backing real climate solutions:

• Breakthrough Energy Ventures – Bill Gates’ squad. Deep science, global scale, multi-stage. Looking for “gigaton impact.”
• Energy Impact Partners – Energy transition nerds. Grid, storage, cleantech software. Deep connections to utilities and heavy industry.
• Prelude Ventures – Early and growth, all things advanced energy, food, mobility, and carbon engineering.
• Fifth Wall Climate – Real estate and infrastructure focus. Decarbonizing the built world, not just smart thermostats.
• The Westly Group – Mobility, grid, smart cities. Backed early winners in batteries and energy management.
• Planet A Ventures – EU-based, nerdy about carbon lifecycle analysis and circular economy modeling.
• Congruent Ventures – Early-stage leader in all things decarbonization—from carbon capture to alternative proteins.
• Extantia – Europe-based, deeptech. Seed to growth with a genuine focus on hard tech and climate science.
• Lowercarbon Capital – Climate-focused, wild ideas welcome. Back anything from fusion to cow burps if it can move the needle.
• Elemental Excelerator – More than just money. Offers pilot funding plus hands-on support to prove tech in the real world.

There are hundreds more, but these actually do the work.

Slides That Matter When Pitching Climate VCs

You can’t pitch hardware or deeptech the same way you pitch SaaS. Climate investors expect more rigor and way less hand-waving. Nail these slides:

Problem Slide: Frame what you’re solving like the stakes are global. Be clear about the science, the urgency, and the upside. Numbers beat adjectives.

Solution Slide: How exactly does your tech work? What’s novel? Why can’t incumbents do this themselves? Be brutally honest about what’s proven and what’s still theory.

Market Slide: Climate VCs want a vertical breakdown. Who pays? What’s regulated? Is there an offtaker pipeline? Map the market; don’t just size it.

Business Model Slide: Spell out where the money comes from, how capital flows, and if you have CapEx spikes or policy triggers. Don’t dodge the “how fast to revenue” question.

(Extra reading from OpenVC: How to Structure a Startup Pitch Deck)

How to Find Your Best-Fit Climate Tech VCs

Here’s the untold truth: Most “climate investors” are generalists with climate as a flavor of the month. You need to filter hard by sector focus, stage, geography, and check size.

OpenVC does the heavy lifting:

• 20,000+ verified investors, with climate focus tags
• Filter by stage (from pre-seed cleantech angels to late-stage growth funds)
• See firm cheque sizes before you pitch
• CRM and deck tracking built in for your whole raise

Why waste cycles mass-emailing VC lists when you can get right to your shortlist?

Related Industries to Watch

Climate tech is never isolated. If you’re raising, check these OpenVC lists:

• Energy Investors
• Agtech Investors
• Sustainability Investors
• AI Investors

Don’t stay stuck in one lane. Plenty of cleantech and deeptech funds span these verticals.

Start Raising With Less Noise

You’re solving problems that actually matter. Fundraising shouldn’t be harder than climate science. If you want to skip the Google Sheet graveyard and pitch climate tech investors who “get it,” OpenVC is your unfair advantage.

Create your free OpenVC account now and start pitching climate tech investors today!