To fight climate change, we need to accelerate climate technologies at all stages of development. But infrastructure projects built after a technology leaves the lab face a variety of capital gaps before they reach commercial acceptance. And very few investors are filling them today.
How do entrepreneurs experience these and other early deployment gaps, and why aren’t investors filling them? Who can provide right-fit financing, and what do entrepreneurs need to do to access it? Finally, what unique roles can catalytic capital play in “de-risking” projects to make them more attractive to a wider pool of investors?
This open discussion explore the capital gaps from multiple perspectives. In addition to hearing from panelists, participants shared their thoughts on how we can work collectively on solutions to support early deployments with the potential to transform our world.
Speakers
Hernan Cortes, Department Of Energy Loan Programs Office
Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech
Sarah Kearney, Prime Coalition
Karine Khatcherian, Closed Loop Partners
Ananth Pharshy, Prime Coalition
Lou Schick, Clean Energy Ventures
Agenda
Welcome
Panel Discussion: Understanding the Gap, from Multiple Points of View
Hernan Cortes, Department Of Energy Loan Programs Office
Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech
Karine Khatcherian, Closed Loop Partners (facilitator)
Lou Schick, Clean Energy Ventures
Chat: Filling the Gaps: Potential Roles for Catalytic Capital
Sarah Kearney, Prime Coalition
Ananth Pharshy, Prime Coalition
Q&A & Closing
Before the Discussion
We're prioritizing discussion over presenting research; to come prepared, see a few tips below.
Read the report on barriers for early deployments in climate. Don't forget to take a look at the appendix, which features over 100 amazing practitioners who were critical to shaping this research.
Read an op-ed by Karine Khatcherian and Sarah Kearney. This essay includes a brief summary of the 4 gaps in early deployment identified in the report and the main takeaways on how catalytic capital may offer solutions.
Share or submit to our investment inquiry form. If you have a project that seems like a good fit for catalytic capital in our Early Climate Infrastructure program, please feel free to fill out this form to explore financing with us! If you know people who could benefit from this program, we appreciate you spreading the word.
See deep dives in ImpactAlpha and Penta. These recent news articles provide a different perspective on the research from writers focused on impact investing and climate finance.
Post Event Debrief Poll
Following the discussion, if you have a chance, please fill out this short survey by Friday June 17th to share your feedback. We'll read every word!
Impromptu Post-Discussion Dialogue
If you can stay after the hour, we're ready to extend the Q&A to take a few more questions. Depending on the number of people who can stick around, we may organize you into impromptu breakouts with this flexible agenda to help you start conversations.
Introductions Round-Robin: Your background and what brought you here today
What Can You Contribute? (On this on this topic, or around climate and investing in general?)
What Do You Need? (To further your climate goals?)