Cleantech and climate-focused tech has seen a boost in the first quarter of 2024. This article looks at 10 companies who made the news over the past three months, from established firms and big funding rounds to those just starting out.
It has been an extremely strong quarter for sustainable-focused technologies if funding sheets are anything to go by. According to data from PitchBook released at the start of May, climate tech venture capital deals hit $2.8 billion (£2.24bn) in total deal value in the first quarter of 2024. This represents a 37.9% quarter-over-quarter growth, although noting a downturn of almost 19% year-on-year.
Whether you call it climate tech, cleantech, or anything else, it represents an extremely broad ecosystem. PitchBook centred its analysis around four pillars of the carbon and emissions tech landscape. The first is carbon tech itself, featuring well-known solutions ranging from direct air capture, to carbon accounting and analytics software, to biological carbon removal. This is followed by industry – mining and recycling, be they lithium batteries to polymers – built environment, and land use.
Yet there are other areas where tech-focused companies can make a difference. As Sustainability News has previously reported, the ‘S’ in ESG is frequently neglected. Capsule Cover, a B Corp certified, purpose-driven insurance firm, cited two companies in this space earlier this year as fellow B Corp holders; from recruitment software which targets unbiased – and therefore more diverse – hiring, to a wider portal providing guardrails for social value.
Here, Sustainability News outlines 10 of the most interesting companies who secured a funding round in the first quarter of 2024:
