The first climate technology fund raised from Hawaii launched today with its first $60 million close.
Earthshot Ventures from the Elemental Excelerator aims to scale global, equitable climate solutions by bringing together new and existing networks in the climate tech space.
The spin-out is backed by Emerson Collective, the Employees’ Retirement System of Hawaii, Microsoft, Stafford Capital Partners, Impact Engine, McKinley Alaska, Kleiner Perkins chairman John Doerr, NextGen America founder Tom Steyer, and Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox.
Elemental Excelerator is a global climate tech organization that pioneered the use of the accelerator model for climate technologies. Since 2012, Elemental has evaluated over 5,000 companies, invested alongside 2,000 co-investors, and built an inclusive community to advance climate investing.
“Earthshot raises the bar for equitable climate tech investment,” said Laurene Powell Jobs, Elemental Excelerator board chair and president of the Emerson Collective. “Our deeply aligned group of investors is seeking the most audacious entrepreneurs to rapidly address the climate crisis.”
Three of Elemental’s team members will lead the fund: Dawn Lippert, Elemental founder and CEO, Mike Jackson, who has served as Elemental’s investor-in-residence since 2017, and Ramsay Siegal, former head of Elemental’s portfolio.
“We built Earthshot Ventures to increase catalytic funding for bold and diverse founders who are transforming markets,” said Lippert. “Earthshot gives us a new tool to help founders tackle enormous challenges, while providing investors access to the world’s biggest growth opportunity: combating climate change.”
“Microsoft is investing in Earthshot because of their ability to deliver impactful and equitable climate solutions, two top priorities for our Climate Innovation Fund,” said Brandon Middaugh, director of the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund. “We look forward to supporting the new technologies made possible by this investment, which are key to a net zero carbon future.”
About Earthshot Ventures
Earthshot Ventures is a $60 million early-stage venture fund investing in entrepreneurs solving the toughest climate challenges. The fund invests in both hardware and software companies from Seed through Series B, and helps companies scale by plugging them into our global network of customers, investors, and policymakers. In 2021, Earthshot was spun out of Elemental Excelerator, a global climate tech organization that pioneered the use of the accelerator model for climate technologies. The fund is led by Dawn Lippert, Elemental founder and CEO; Mike Jackson, who served as Elemental’s investor-in-residence since 2017; and Matt Logan, who previously evaluated startups and led corporate partnerships for Elemental. For more information, please visit earthshot.vc.
About Elemental Excelerator
Elemental Excelerator is on a mission to redesign the systems at the root of climate change. In 2009, the non-profit launched a new model for funding climate tech deployment. Breaking down barriers to innovation alongside entrepreneurs provides Elemental unique insight into the policy, market, and technology innovation needed to build systems to uplift people and communities around the world. Elemental has invested in over 115 growth-stage companies and celebrated more than 20 exits, funded more than 70 technology projects, and built a platform for scaling equitable, market-driven solutions to climate change. For more information, please visit elementalexcelerator.com.