Visitors walk on the bottom of the melting Svinafellsjokull glacier as icebergs falling from the glacier drift in a meltwater lake on August 13, 2021 near Svinafell, Iceland.
Sean Gallup | beautiful pictures
Investments in companies that develop technology to try to combat the climate crisis rose to $87.5 billion in the year to June 30, according to new research from PwC released Wednesday.
This is up 210% from the $24.8 billion invested in climate technology in the same period a year ago, the financial services company said in its PwC report “State of Climate Tech 2021,” which is a 210% increase from the $24.8 billion invested in climate technology in the same period a year earlier into technology. climate.
But venture capital and private equity firms are not necessarily backing the right climate tech companies, according to PwC.
The company focuses on what they say are the top five technology solutions: solar energy, wind energy, food waste technology, green hydrogen production, and low greenhouse gas protein/alternative foods. It said these five companies received only 25% of their investment in climate technology between 2013 and June 2021, even though technologies in these areas account for more than 80% of their emissions reduction potential by 2020. 2050.
The majority of funding for climate technology, about $58 billion, has gone to mobility and transportation companies, PwC said. That includes companies focused on e-scooters, electric vehicles and flying taxis.
The average size of a climate technology deal almost quadrupled to $96 million in the first half of 2021, up from $27 million a year earlier, PwC said, adding that The number of active climate technology investors has grown from less than 900 in the first half of 2020 to more than 1,600 in the first half of 2021.
Climate technology SPACs (special purpose acquisitions) raised $25 billion in the first half of 2021, representing more than a third of all climate tech funding for the period. this.
While overall growth is picking up, the number of early-stage, seed and A-chain investments in climate technology has mostly remained stagnant since 2018, PwC said, adding that more funding is needed for young climate tech startups that have the potential to become $1 billion or even $10 billion companies.
On Tuesday, French climate tech startup Sweep announced that it had raised $22 million in a Series A round led by Balderton Capital, a London-based venture firm, which has also raised supports urban navigation app Citymapper, e-scooter company Elephant and on-demand car service Virtuo.
In terms of geography, US climate tech companies are attracting the most venture capital, with $56.5 billion going to startups in the country in the year to date. June 30. PwC says Chinese climate tech companies have raised the second-highest amount, with $9 billion.
Emma Cox, global climate leader at PwC UK, said: “Innovation is key to meeting the challenge and the good news is that investment in climate technology is growing dramatically.”
“However, our research has found that there is potential to better channel and encourage investment in technology areas with the greatest potential for future emissions reductions. the interest of policymakers?”
For decades, many investors chose not to back climate tech startups out of concern that they might not deliver the right financial returns. There was a period of rapid growth from 2013 to 2018, but investment in climate technology fell between 2018 and 2020, according to PwC, due to macroeconomic trends and the pandemic, according to PwC. global deceleration.
However, investment rebounded strongly in the first half of 2021 as the environment, society and corporate governance (ESG) took notice and companies committed to a zero-net strategy.
