From lab to scale: Why climate tech is getting stuck
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From lab to scale: Why climate tech is getting stuck
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With all the discussion about promising VC-backed climate technology facing a "valley of death", what is actually needed to take these companies to scale? Building plants requires a lot of equity, a bit of senior debt, "but ultimately you need many more layers of the cap table", says Temple Fennell, co-founder and managing partner of Clean Energy Ventures. "You need insurance, you need wrappers of all types, you need EPC folks."
Fennell spoke to The New Private Markets Podcast on the sidelines of the Impact Investor Global Summit in London in May 2026. He is a veteran investor in climate technology, whose experience in sustainable investment was shaped by being part of the the Keller family office, which among other things converted its 3,500-acre farm to regenerative practices.
On the agenda:
- Clean Energy Ventures' expansion from the US to Europe;
- How clean tech companies can struggle when it comes to building plants;
- The specific project financing needs for these industrial companies;
- The recent glut of allocations to climate funds and how this is working through to returns.