Deploying catalytic capital to bridge financing gaps for climate action

Prime Coalition launched in 2014 to fill an “idea-to-impact gap” for capital-intensive startups that have the potential to eliminate at least half a gigaton-scale CO₂ emissions by 2050. 

The Cambridge, Mass. nonprofit taps philanthropic capital to make equity investments that provide patient capital and additive impact. 

In 2014, that was a fairly simple determination of whether or not a promising startup would be able to raise capital without Prime Coalition coming in. Usually the answer was no. 

Now that venture investors are hot on climate tech, that additionality assessment has become more nuanced, says Prime’s Sarah Kearney. Now it might look at whether Prime can make a difference in helping a company achieve its optimal climate impact, or provide an alternative to overly competitive or usurious terms, or enable a company to prioritize a product application that finance-first investors might discourage.  

“It’s a much different world than we were living in when we founded Prime in 2013,” Prime Sarah Kearney told ImpactAlpha. Prime’s $52 million impact fund “would never do a hot deal” that investors are scrambling to get into, “because of our catalytic mandate,” says Kearney.

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