Elemental Excelerator, a nonprofit investor in climate tech startups including BlocPower and ChargerHelp, says it is “doubling down” following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
Elemental intends to pump $43 million more into climate tech startups, $13 million of which will be set aside for its 12th accelerator program, starting in October. The investor has not yet secured all the money; he is “in the process of raising funds,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch.
In a nod to both the VC slowdown and the SVB run, Elemental said it intends for the cash to “fill in the funding gaps” and “accelerate climate solutions with profound community impact.” Climate tech escaped the 2022 funding drought, but SVB’s slump appears to have shaken the sector, given the bank’s longstanding work with climate tech startups.
Elemental’s interests are as broad as climate technology itself: they span electric vehicles, energy storage, recycling technology, cement decarbonization, seaweed farming and composting.
The company’s funding goal represents a step up from previous years. In 2022, he chipped in $8 million for 17 climate startups, offering them between $300,000 and $600,000 each. This time, Elemental wants to pump between $350,000 and $1 million into up to 20 companies.
As for the remaining $30 million, Elemental CEO Dawn Lippert told TechCrunch that the nonprofit will “invest an additional $30 million in catalytic project financing for three to six expansion projects.” The firm said that projects implemented by startups must demonstrate that they will have a “profound impact,” which it defines as “demonstrable” greenhouse gas reductions and a “significant positive community impact.”
Elemental takes shares in exchange for your investments. Lippert told TechCrunch that the nonprofit “invests any profit from these investments to support future entrepreneurs.”
To date, Elemental says it has invested $43 million in climate technology businesses.
