Climate infrastructure

1. To VC or not to VC

   While climate cashflows have been bubbly for some time, only a handful of powerful VCs have touched high-capex, high-risk ventures so far.

   Infrastructure startups will need to keep exploring creative capital streams outside of standard return-based VC, including public funding, convertible notes, partnerships and debt.

2. It’s not only energy – foodies, hear us out

   If you don’t know how to build a nuclear fusion plant, don’t worry. With climate-friendly rules developing quickly, new physical assets are also expected to be in demand outside of traditional energy verticals.

   Assuming they get the thumbs up from European regulatory bodies, subsectors like alternative proteins will also require big, physical assets — in this case bioreactors to develop lab-grown meat.

3. Keeping it in Europe (plants and people alike)

   It’s not only the actual infrastructure: specialised talent to build it is pricey too, and enticing later-stage ventures overseas are a threat to keeping workers in Europe.

   Stiff competition from China and the US in particular, with its massive green subsidy plan, risks causing more projects to pivot away from Europe – although it’s prompting proportional subsidiary responses from Brussels and national governments.

4. Innovation or integration

   New climate tech isn’t that new anymore – startups have figured out the basics and are moving onto integration with existing infrastructure systems.

   Infrastructure startups are looking into renting partners’ plants to integrate their tech, including using data centres for thermal energy, which also slashes capital expenditure.

Who early stage startups are up against