The winners of BloombergNEF’s annual Pioneers awards are racing to deploy the next generation of climate solutions.
By Brian Kahn
Illustrations by Petra Péterffy
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Ten years out from the Paris Agreement, the outlook for climate tech is decidedly unsettled.
Funding for the energy transition crossed the $2 trillion threshold for the first time in 2024. Yet climate has tumbled down the international agenda this year. President Donald Trump has vowed to undo much of his predecessor’s support for clean energy, while other countries have been distracted by his sweeping tariffs on imports and other issues such as national defense.
In the fundraising community, venture capitalists are fleeing the sector for artificial intelligence. What can survive — and maybe even thrive — in this challenging environment? The winners of this year’s BloombergNEF Pioneers awards for startups with potentially transformative carbon-cutting technology offer some clues.
Investors chasing AI may eventually find themselves right back to funding the climate sector. A growing number of companies are using the technology to reduce climate harm and emissions rather than fueling them. The applications of machine learning run the gamut from high-tech beehives to improving the power grid.
At the same time, one of the most under-invested corners of the climate tech universe is finally getting its due. Adapting to climate change received just 7.5% of all climate tech funding from 2019 to 2020. But with relentless fires, rising seas and deadly heat increasing, it’s never been more important to prepare. Despite it being an underfunded sector, the startups working on reducing climate risk are quickly finding their services are needed.
“Climate adaptation companies are actually mature relative to everything else,” said Mark Daly, the head of technology and innovation at BNEF.
Energy storage also stands a strong chance of continuing to find backers. The need for more and better batteries will rise in tandem with demand for renewables and electric vehicles — a dynamic that might be buffeted by geopolitics but remains very much in play.
“Lithium-ion is likely to continue to power the majority of EVs and at the premium, longer range,” said Andy Leach, an energy storage expert at BNEF, citing the most widespread battery technology. He noted that alternatives like sodium-ion batteries could be used in more affordable vehicles while more energy-dense, solid-state batteries make inroads in higher-end models. (Though some recent lithium-ion developments could challenge that.)
Ultimately, some venture capitalists see the path to net zero as a marathon. And while Trump and the threat of a less cooperative world are real challenges, it doesn’t mean the race stops.
“We’ve seen a lot of these cycles,” said Brook Porter, a founding partner at G2 Ventures. He said his firm’s strategy, even before Trump, was to back companies that don’t rely on subsidies, including those in the Inflation Reduction Act that lavished billions of dollars on clean technologies. “Only 3% of our overall portfolio’s revenue is exposed to IRA dollars,” he said.
This year’s Pioneers awards were given out to 12 startups from a group of 230 applicants that were reviewed by a group that included Bloomberg Green editors. The winners include companies working on reducing light industry emissions, improving energy storage and adapting to climate change — three key sustainability challenges identified by BNEF. Startups that didn’t fit neatly in those categories were selected as wildcards.
Challenge 1
Light Industry
Industry emits about 25% of all the world’s climate pollution. Heavy industry gets the lion's share of attention when it comes to decarbonization. Steel and cement alone are sources of carbon emissions on par with individual countries. Yet light-duty industry, which runs the gamut from textiles to food and beverage, is still responsible for a third of all industrial greenhouse gas emissions.
Cutting those emissions means finding clean sources of heat, improving manufacturing efficiency and inventing entirely new means of production.
CompanyAtmosZero
LocationColorado
Founded2021
Funding$28.5 million
Key StatIndustrial heat is responsible for 6% of emissions globallySource: BNEF
Heat pumps are everywhere these days, but they traditionally don’t generate enough heat for industrial processes. AtmosZero’s heat pump is different, though, using heat in the ambient air and a unique two-stage process that turns it into steam. The shipping container-sized contraptions are essentially drag and drop for facilities and provide heat useful for food and beverage operations as well as pharmaceuticals. AtmosZero recently installed one of its heat pump boilers at Colorado-based New Belgium Brewery, which produces over 1 million barrels a year.
CompanyCirc
LocationVirginia
Founded2011
Funding$100 million
Key StatThe polyester market is projected to hit nearly $175 billion by 2032Source: MIT
Recycling rates for clothing are abysmal: Just 13% end up being repurposed, with the rest getting incinerated or landfilled. The US alone throws out 11.3 million tons of textile waste annually. One of the biggest issues? Blended fibers, which are quite literally hard to untangle.
Circ uses water molecules to tease polyester fibers out of polycotton blends. It then sells the fiber back to brands, including clothing giant Zara. Doing so not only diverts waste from landfills, it also reduces the need to use oil to make more polyester and harvest trees to make cellulose.
CompanyEver Dye
LocationFrance
Founded2021
Funding€5.7 million
Key StatDyeing is responsible for 3% of emissions globallySource: Bloomberg
Dyeing is a sneaky big source of emissions because it requires hot water to treat fabrics. With clothing largely being produced in countries that rely heavily on coal-fired power like China and Vietnam, dyeing’s heat-related carbon footprint is hard to address. (It also comes with a hefty wastewater footprint.)
Ever Dye’s answer is to cut out the heat. The company has developed a bio-based dye that can be applied at room temperature. The startup counts Victoria’s Secret & Co.-owned Adore Me among its customers.
CompanyRondo
LocationCalifornia
Founded2020
Funding$85 million
Key StatIndustrial heat is responsible for 6% of emissions globallySource: BNEF
The humble brick isn’t just for building. It can also be used to hold heat, almost like a battery. In fact, that’s what Rondo refers to its technology as: heat batteries. The startup uses electricity to heat bricks at temperatures of up to 1,500C (2,700F) that can then be discharged to power industrial processes.
They also work as utility-scale batteries, soaking up excess renewable energy and then releasing the heat to generate steam and spin turbines in power plants. The company deployed its first commercial installation in 2023 at an ethanol plant, and last year, it inked a deal with Portuguese energy company EDP to install 2 gigawatts of heat batteries across Europe.
Challenge 2
Energy Storage
Electrification is among the few bright spots in the climate investment world. The world spent nearly $730 billion on clean energy projects globally last year, according to BNEF. Grids also received a $390 billion infusion of cash. But the largest sector was electrified transportation, which saw $757 billion in investments. At nearly $1.9 trillion, those three categories account for the vast majority of the world’s clean tech investing.
Just as renewables costs have fallen, so too has storage. Lithium-ion battery packs are a quarter of the price they were 10 years ago. Lower prices and more mature technology have led to more deployments, a trend expected to continue, even in the US where Trump’s tariffs are projected to drive up prices. By 2030, BNEF estimates the market will hit $254 billion and rise to $319 billion five years later.
The battery world isn’t just resting on the models and chemistries that exist today. It’s also innovating to find novel forms and new materials that will help make energy storage even more ubiquitous and effective at propelling vehicles on carbon-free journeys.
CompanyHytzer Energy
LocationChina
Founded2022
Funding$50 million
Key StatBattery prices hit a record low $115 per kilowatt-hour in 2024Source: BNEF
Electric vehicle makers are chasing a new type of battery that uses solid electrolytes instead of liquid, which promises to be more energy-dense and safer. Hytzer’s approach is using two types of electrolytes to store energy. It has company in the space, with auto majors working on it and nearly $830 million in funding from China going to the likes of EV behemoth BYD Co. and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., the world’s largest battery company.
While the technology has yet to work at scale and recent lithium-ion battery developments have cast further doubt about solid state, companies are promising to begin rolling out larger trials of the technology for both stationary batteries and ones in EVs over the next few years.
CompanyInstagrid
LocationGermany
Founded2018
Funding$145 million
Key StatBattery metals production hit $140 billion last year and will rise to $165 billion this year.Source: BNEF
Portable batteries that can power a movie set or a construction site are going to be key to cleaning up dirty diesel generators. Instagrid’s systems do that, trading in growling machines that belch CO2 and noxious air pollution for silent batteries that weigh less than a golden retriever.
With production companies increasingly attempting to clean up sets, batteries like Instagrid’s are in demand. The company says its generators have helped offset more than 1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and 48 tons of harmful air pollution known as NOx.
Challenge 3
Climate Adaptation
Investing in technologies that dampen the impacts of warming temperatures rather than cutting emissions has always been a relatively quiet corner of the climate VC ecosystem. But that may be shifting as the costly toll of climate change becomes clearer.
Venture capital firms focused on specific sectors like wildfires and biodiversity — areas where adapting to climate impacts are key — have sprung up. And the urgency for adaptation solutions is growing, too. This year’s Los Angeles fires are just the latest example of the world’s lack of preparedness for the climate impacts of today, let alone the ones to come as the planet heats up further.
Company AiDash
Location California
Founded 2019
Funding $91.5 million
Key Stat Global investment in grid monitoring and analytics over the next 25 years will hit $832 billion in BNEF’s Net Zero Scenario Source: BNEF
Utilities are at the forefront of addressing wildfires, starting with their power lines. Some of the most deadly and destructive fires in the US have been caused by downed lines igniting vegetation. Vegetation falling on lines is also a major source of power outages, particularly during storms.
By assessing satellite imagery for risks using artificial intelligence, AiDash does some of the heavy lifting needed to identify problem spots and allows utilities to dispatch crews to clear the highest-risk areas. That’s a shift from utilities’ usual approach of rigid maintenance schedules.
Company BeeWise
Location California
Founded 2018
Funding $120 million
Key Stat Fifty-five percent of managed bee colony were lost for the 12-month period starting in April 2023 Source: Apiary Inspectors of America
The plight of bees is posing a monumental risk to agriculture. Bees provide up to $577 billion in value by pollinating crops, according to Bayer. In a bid to protect them from climate change, Beewise has developed a robotic hive that insulates them from harmful weather and uses AI to monitor their health. That’s helped cut colony losses to just 8% compared to 50% for traditional hives, according to the company.
The need for pollinator protection couldn’t be more timely: The US saw “unprecedented colony losses” deaths this spring, according to science nonprofit Project Apis m.
Company InnerPlant
Location California
Founded 2018
Funding $52 million
Key Stat US farmers lose an estimated $3.2 billion of yields due to fungal disease in soy annually Source: BNEF
Plants have a variety of ways to convey their needs, from drooping when they need water to turning yellow when they get too much sun. InnerPlant is working to help plants be even more expressive.
The idea isn’t to make the parlor palm by your window do, well, parlor tricks. The startup genetically engineers crops like soy, corn and cotton to emit a fluorescent signal when they’re stressed by insects, fungus or other threats. The plants flash an alert visible on satellite and drone imagery, and the startup has a software platform that can interpret what’s wrong and give farmers actionable advice.
Wildcards
The wildcard category is for climate tech solutions that don’t fit neatly in a box. Interestingly, the winners in the section this year do fit roughly into one: industrial decarbonization. That was unintentional, BNEF’s Daly said, adding that many of the winners wouldn’t have necessarily won even a few years ago.
“People’s understanding of the sector is deeper now, and some newer solutions have interesting business cases.”
This year’s wildcards’ main focus is on heat. High heat well above 1,000C.
So how do you generate such high temperatures with lower emissions? Do you even need heat at all? Or can you just use less of it? This year’s crop of wildcards provide a few of the potential answers.
CompanyBinding Solutions Ltd.
LocationUK
Founded2016
Funding$27 million
Key StatDecarbonizing the metals industry will cost $2.1 trillion from now through 2050Source: RMI
There are several ways to make green steel, the most common of which is using electricity to generate high heat. Binding Solutions Ltd. takes a different tack by refining raw iron ore key into pellets without the need for furnaces. Instead, it relies on chemical binders that make the ore suitable for use in steelmaking. The company says that this not only cuts carbon emissions but also air pollution.
A ton of crude steel results in two tons of CO2 emitted, according to the World Steel Association. And with 1.8 billion tons of steel produced in 2024, it’s clear why solutions to cut the material’s carbon footprint are needed.
CompanyCambridge Electric Cement
LocationUK
Founded2022
Funding£10.3 million
Key StatCement is responsible for about 8% of all emissions globallySource: Bloomberg
The world uses 4.2 billion tons of cement a year. It turns out that cement is a perfect feedstock to … make more cement. Cambridge Electric Cement is harvesting the material in construction waste and turning it into clinker. The startup’s cement paste can replace the lime traditionally used in electric steelmaking.
The high heat used in the process unlocks a transformation of the recycled waste into a material Cambridge Electric says is “virtually identical” to a base ingredient in Portland cement. Using it in new construction just starts the cycle again.
CompanyCoolbrook
LocationFinland
Founded2011
Funding€ 35.5 million
Key StatThe heavy industry sector is responsible for 2.4 billion tons of carbon pollutionSource: Coolbrook
Coolbrook generates heat by spinning turbines that propel a gas at supersonic speeds before slowing it down and harvesting the energy as heat, relying solely on electricity. Sound like rocket science? Well, it is. The unique technology can generate temperatures of up to 1,700C — enough heat to power industrial processes like steelmaking.
Run Coolbrook’s machines using clean energy, and you have a ready-made decarbonization solution. The startup is also working on technology that could help in the cracking process used to make plastic and other petrochemicals.
With Assistance by Michelle Ma
Edited by Siobhan Wagner and Emily Biuso
Art Direction by Somnath Bhatt
