Catalytic Investing
Prime Coalition channels catalytic capital to companies, projects, and funds that have significant potential to mitigate gigaton-scale greenhouse gas emissions and aren’t attracting mainstream investment. Since 2014, Prime has mobilized $315MM with 247 partners to back 38 companies.
Investment Criteria
Prime provides catalytic capital investments to support climate solutions that demonstrate they have potential for significant impact, are unlikely to receive sufficient or appropriate type of support from conventional sources, and have a business model that best serves the solution's impact goals.
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Impact
We only invest in companies, projects, or funds with potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For Prime’s investment vehicles to-date, this means solutions that could lead to emissions reductions or removal of at least 0.5 GT CO2e cumulatively through 2050. Learn more.
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Additionality
We only invest in companies or projects that are unlikely to raise enough or appropriate kinds of financial support from “conventional” investors — investors providing capital under terms, like amount, rate of return, or expected exit, that are typical of their asset class. Learn more.
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Commercial Potential
We only invest when there’s a strong case that the team will be able to advance a business model that meets the impact goals after our investment. For example, if the company must scale quickly to reach impact goals, then our investment should position it to raise more capital to scale.
Trellis Climate
Trellis Climate is an impact-first catalytic capital program enabling novel climate infrastructure solutions to achieve commercial scale at speed. Committed to accelerating the deployment of first-of-a-kind (FOAK) climate projects, Trellis Climate focuses on opportunities with significant climate impact potential, a clear path to scale, and an acute need for catalytic capital. Trellis Climate addresses both financial and systemic barriers by offering risk-tolerant investment capital and sector transformation nonprofit programming. By leveraging philanthropy to crowd in as much commercial capital as possible, Trellis Climate aims to expedite the scaling of climate technologies to achieve net-zero targets by 2050.
Azolla Ventures
Prime Coalition and Azolla Ventures, an impact-first investing firm launched by Prime, have announced a $239 million blended fund. The new fund invests in companies that could significantly alter the trajectory of climate change, but are overlooked by traditional capital sources.
Prime Impact Fund
Prime Impact Fund (PIF) is a $50 million, 100% catalytic capital fund formed in 2018. Prime Coalition governs PIF and works with its investment team, tightly tethering our nonprofit structure and charitable purposes to PIF’s corporate form to ensure and maintain the primacy of mission and impact. PIF’s final initial investment was made in October 2021.
Syndicated Investments
From 2014-2018, Prime mobilized $24MM in catalytic capital to support 10 companies with significant gigaton-scale GHG reduction potential. These early direct investments demonstrated that catalytic capital could be deployed effectively to support early-stage climate innovators for the very first time.
