Climatize, an SEC-registered impact investing platform that allows investors to fund renewable energy projects, has officially secured a sum worth $1.75 million in pre-seed financing. Led by Myriad Venture Partners, the round saw further participation coming from the likes of Climate Capital, Techstars, Responsibly Ventures, and Temerity Capital. Apart from them, several notable angel investors also joined the mix, with that contingent seemingly made up of GoFundMe’s co-founder, the former operating partner of Bessemer Ventures, and the head of Americas for a utility-scale renewable energy developer, Low Carbon. To understand the significance of such a development, though, we must try and understand how, if we talk from a historical standpoint, small and medium-sized US renewable energy projects have long been severely underfunded. This is largely because projects at this scale are not large enough for institutional capital, but at the same time, they’re often too big for community lenders that aren’t familiar with renewable energy technology or economics. Now, the conundrum becomes even more serious once you acknowledge S&P Global Clean Energy Technology Market Outlook’s projections that claim small-scale solar systems installed at or near the point of consumption will likely demand $1.5 trillion between 2022 and 2030, a figure which is even larger than the utility scale demand of $1.3 trillion over the same period.
Fortunately enough, Climatize solves that problem through active collaboration with experienced renewable energy developers across states like North Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado, and Georgia. Leveraging these partnerships, the company would find high-quality projects and list them on the Climatize platform. Once the projects in question are listed, any investor over the age of 18 who has a US bank account can seamlessly fund these opportunities, and they can do so with as little as $10.
“We see a tremendous demand from businesses large and small for cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy. Climatize is helping to achieve this by advancing renewable energy generation projects that are often underserved by traditional project financers,” said Tim Chiang, co-founder and partner at Myriad Venture Partners. “The future of clean energy is distributed, and Myriad is proud to support Climatize’s work to make clean energy financing more efficient, transparent & accessible for communities and businesses. We look forward to working closely with the Climatize team as they expand their offerings, partnerships, and ultimately, impact.”
With there being a need to deploy solar and other renewable energy technologies at a much faster clip than what we are currently witnessing, Climatize has made some big strides towards its mission of creating a global network for climate-focused investors, who on their part, will propel billions of dollars into renewable energy projects. You see, up until now, the company has funded 11 projects across seven states thanks to the 950+ members who have invested over $4.6 million dollars. These investments have played a big role in the context of installing solar energy and battery storage for farms, community centers, and houses of worship. On a more specific note, the said projects have got well over 965 kW of new solar capacity and 1,357 kWh of energy storage hopping on the grid. As for what Climatize plans on doing with the latest inflow of cash, the company is expected to invest it in expanding product and technology roadmap, improving the customer experience, developing partnerships with key stakeholders, and attracting top talent.
“Climatize was born from the 2019 Global Climate Strikes when we realized that traditional activism lacked tangible change,” said Will Wiseman, co-founder and CEO of Climatize. “We built the Climatize platform to enable anyone to become an active stakeholder in the energy transition by investing directly in renewable energy projects. We’re incredibly excited to continue deploying solar and other renewable technologies while giving investors an opportunity to increase their impact and diversify their portfolios.”
