Ushering in the future of Climate Tech in Australia

Since the public announcement of the Investible Climate Tech Fund late last year, we have raised tens of millions of capital and have already begun to back ground-breaking companies led by visionary climate-focussed founders — all intent on making a dent in our net zero future.

Through the evening, we heard from Investible’s leadership, founders we’ve backed, and members of our Investible Climate Tech Fund team. There was a powerful feeling of energy in the room around the convergence of urgency.

Australia is ready to push climate innovation forward

Australians made it clear in the recent election that addressing climate change must be higher on our nation’s priority list. A wave of optimism from those hoping the country will invest in the climate have seen a great deal of progress in recent months. Rod Bristow, CEO of Investible highlighted the moment.

‍“I’ve always been fascinated by the intersection between environmental and financial markets. Getting this intersection right is the keys to be able to solve for climate change. If we can help foster the right culture and back those visionary founders developing solutions across the sector, we’ll be able to proudly say we played a role in fixing this global problem,” he said.

‍Katerina Kimmorley, an independent member of the Fund’s investment committee also nodded to the progress we’ve made.

‍“Someone once told me that ‘Australia's really cool. You're like a clean tech petri dish!’ While I didn’t know if that was a compliment, in many ways, I agree. From the highest amount of disposable income spent on renewable energy to the number of unsung pioneers in the space, we have the best conditions to grow and incubate clean tech companies, anywhere in the world.”

‍Patrick Sieb, Co-head of the Investible Climate Tech Fund highlighted a truth that is starting to manifest not just here in Australia, but around the world.

‍“There is momentum growing. Trillions of dollars are beginning to be reallocated right now, driven by customers, employees, government regulations and many other tailwinds. But the great thing is that at the same time, a number of technologies have been maturing as great enablers, and accelerators of this transition to a net-zero future,” he said.

Nurturing the local ecosystem

Among the components that will accelerate our climate tech sector is the community and networks that must underpin it. This is the catalyst behind Greenhouse, an emerging hub for the ecosystem.

Over the past two years, Investible has begun building the foundation for Greenhouse, with support from the City of Sydney. Startups, scaleups, corporates, together with investors and advisors, governments, accelerators and talent from across the sector will come together within Greenhouse to drive climate innovation.

Investible co-founder Creel Price is leading this new initiative.

‍“Greenhouse will give founders an unfair advantage to be able to grow their business, to find the talent, to find the networks, and access the resources that can help them scale their businesses overseas. The virtuous circle that ultimately will help the companies we invest in, create more invested returns.”

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Unique insights inspiring breakthrough tech

Christiaan Jordaan, Founder and CEO of Sicona, is developing better battery materials for use in existing EV lithium-ion batteries. The company is addressing a total addressable market of nearly half-a-trillion dollars per year.

“The materials that go into batteries alone will be huge opportunities, and at the moment, the only game in town is China. We give credit to them for being at the forefront of, of developing the supply chain and actually investing in technologies and building manufacturing capabilities, but the West really needs to catch up. We believe Sicona can help drive that change.”

‍Another founder present was Car Next Door’s Will Davies. Fresh off his recent sale of the business to global mobility giant Uber, Will knows firsthand that technology can help encourage positive behavioural change for the climate.

‍“As an entrepreneur, I made the decision years ago that I wanted to focus all of my efforts on reducing carbon emissions. I’m proud to say that our years of hard work building Car Next Door’s 180,000-odd user base will continue driving this impact within a public company that’s has the environment top of mind.”

Shifting into a higher gear

Since the launch of the Investible Climate Tech Fund, we’ve looked at nearly 1000 opportunities for investment. We’ve met with hundreds of founders from around the world, and have already made our first investments, which we’ll be sharing news of in the weeks ahead.

As we turn toward the future, we feel the immense possibility within the opportunity in front of us. We’re as excited as ever to play a part in this shift toward a net-zero future.

‍Are you building a company in the climate tech sector? We’d love to meet you.