In this article, Diane Cozian has mapped 130+ climate tech start-ups, using four main pillars: Food & Agriculture, Energy Transition, Mobility & Urbanization, Sustainable Systems.

Diane

Mapping the 4 Pillars of Climate Tech with 130+ Startups (early-stage with recent / ongoing fundraising)
Hello from San Francisco, Climate Tribe! I’m Diane, ex-M&amp;A investment banker on my journey to break into Venture Capital (VC) Climate Tech. Eager to “learn by doing”, I decided to leverage my connector skills to build my own network within climate and create my deal sourcing. Since the beginning of 2021:
<ul><li>I’ve been on 400+ zoom calls (with startups and VCs) / online webinars / in-real-life events</li></ul>
<ul><li>I’ve joined 20+ networking platforms related to Climate Tech: fellowships, Slack groups, webinars, newsletters, startup lists, etc. (see bottom of the market map below)</li></ul>
<ul><li>I’ve met with 20+ VCs and 130+ startups focused on Climate Tech</li></ul>
<ul><li>I’m in ongoing dialogue with climate investors through monthly startup updates</li></ul>
To better understand “who” is investing in “what” in climate tech, I created Market Maps compiling the portfolios of 20+ VCs, showing 400+ VC-backed startups and categorizing them within the 4 Pillars of Climate Tech (recap of all market map images at the end of this post):
I. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/climate-tech-vcs-may-missing-out-compelling-food-ag-diane-cozian/">Food &amp; Agriculture</a>​ 
II. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/market-map-energy-transition-3-hot-topics-climate-tech-diane-cozian/">Energy Transition</a>​ 
III. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/market-map-mobility-urbanization-3-hot-topics-climate-diane-cozian/">Mobility &amp; Urbanization</a>​ 
IV. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/market-map-sustainable-systems-3-hot-topics-climate-tech-diane-cozian/">Sustainable Systems</a>​ 
After the fantastic inbounds from VCs and startups on these market maps (30,000+ views and 100+ inbounds on LinkedIn!), I am now ready to conclude this chapter: one Market Map summarizing all 130+ startups that I’ve met so far in all 4 Pillars of Climate Tech. In a nutshell: a big picture of my work throughout this crazy year of 2021 😉
<h1>1. How I Created the Map</h1>
First, I got SUPER-active on 20+ climate tech networking platforms, cold-emailed some founders, got warmly introduced to many others, which led me to meet with 130+ startups presenting the following profile:
<ul><li>Source: Insightful 1:1 zoom calls with founders / C-suite</li></ul>
<ul><li>Sector: Climate Tech (Food &amp; Agriculture, Energy Transition, Mobility &amp; Urbanization, Sustainable Systems)</li></ul>
<ul><li>Geography: global</li></ul>
<ul><li>Technology: software; hardware; deeptech / hardtech (concept defined in my previous <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ive-met-100-climate-tech-startups-what-did-i-learn-diane-cozian/">LinkedIn post</a>)</li></ul>
<ul><li>Stage: early-stage (pre-seed, seed, Series A)</li></ul>
Then, I mapped the 4 Pillars of Climate Tech (each including 5 categories) with these 130+ startups… and voila! ;D
<h1>2. Result: the Map</h1>
Market Map of Climate Tech: 130+ startups (early-stage with recent / ongoing fundraising)
<img src="https://illuminem.b-cdn.net/articlebody/15350be895c02c77d78bf3671bdf25f31ece59a9.png" alt="undefined">
<h1>3. Metrics and Insights</h1>
Taking a further step back on the above map, I used the 3 following lenses to bring further insights on my group of startups:
<img src="https://illuminem.b-cdn.net/articlebody/f5c2c9c82953a5e41cd720bf8950f5ba7a7d338b.png" alt="undefined">
<ul><li>By Sector: I strived to cover all 4 Pillars of Climate Tech (and not only the most investable one: Energy), as I truly believe that we need “all hands on deck” - meaning all sectors - to make a real dent in climate change. All companies can and should become climate companies!</li></ul>
<ul><li>By Geography: I met most startups in the US, with a fair amount in California. As I live in San Francisco, I’m immersed in a tremendous innovation ecosystem comprised of founders with PhDs from Stanford and UC Berkeley, accelerators / incubators in the Silicon Valley, investors in the Bay Area… and an (oh-so-inspiring) optimistic mindset!</li></ul>
<ul><li>By Technology: I decided to cover all technologies (software, hardware, deeptech) in order to get a holistic view of “Climate Tech”. I am firmly convinced that deeptech would enable the most impactful startups to restore the planet (by reducing our current emissions and also capturing the CO2 already in the air – important part of the warming issue).</li></ul>
Climate Tech could be considered the most exciting treasure hunt of our time: searching for the most disruptive startups who can have a massive impact on the environment and solve the biggest issue of our world today – climate change. In my journey, I was able to find 130+ fascinating startups and introduce 20% of these “gems” to VCs with confirmed interest, fingers crossed for the best outcome!
Energy Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Energy &amp; Sustainability writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.
Recap with deep-dive Market Maps of the 4 Pillars of Climate Tech (mostly early-stage and VC-backed):
1. Food &amp; Agriculture
<img src="https://illuminem.b-cdn.net/articlebody/f21ef7412b62c97ba8c59432b3292b52150eb4da.png" alt="undefined">
2. Energy Transition
<img src="https://illuminem.b-cdn.net/articlebody/5ad1475549f35858f845a4f44a4b19649160655b.png" alt="undefined">
3. Mobility &amp; Urbanization
<img src="https://illuminem.b-cdn.net/articlebody/db1ce1ed51707cc2c2335893942ce590b41c6d4c.png" alt="undefined">
4. Sustainable Systems
<img src="https://illuminem.b-cdn.net/articlebody/e16a11655cef3f3109388a870c2368b07d2e19b0.png" alt="undefined">

You can’t miss it!

Diane Cozian

Diane Cozian

Landscape of Climate Tech

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