Elemental Impact Injects $18.6M Into Climate Technologies Creating Jobs and Local Economic Impact

Non-profit's strategic investment tackles the funding gap between climate innovation and widespread adoption.

HONOLULU and SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Elemental Impact, a leading non-profit technology investor, announced today $18.6 million in investments across 16 companies deploying projects in Texas, Nevada, Oklahoma, Colorado, Tennessee, and international markets.

This announcement is part of the non-profit's larger investing strategy that includes initial investments to build a pipeline of critical climate companies and projects, follow-on funding to promising projects with local impact, and the newly announced Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) program for later-stage commercialized technologies, for which investments are expected to be announced in the new year.

These investments represent one of the many ways Elemental continues to tackle the $150B "Scale Gap," a critical challenge and funding shortfall climate companies face during first-of-a-kind (FOAK) and early commercial deployments. While these technologies have proven their potential, this funding gap often results in a lack of necessary capital to scale up these innovations, creating a barrier to the widespread adoption.

"We are seeing extraordinary demand for capital from entrepreneurs who are ready to scale, but who face a critical funding gap," said Dawn Lippert, CEO of Elemental Impact. "These 16 new investments prove that philanthropy can enable projects in rural towns, Tribal lands, urban areas, and wild ecosystems -- and unlock significant private investment."

After vetting more than 700 companies this year, Elemental selected companies representing four emerging themes: accelerating the next era of U.S. manufacturing, building a resilient supply chain, strengthening rural and tribal access, and scaling a regenerative food system. They will now join a portfolio of more than 160 companies that have created over 10,000 jobs, all working to scale their solutions and create meaningful economic benefits in local communities. In addition to capital, Elemental provides expert coaching and services for project development, policy, permitting, community engagement, and project finance to bridge critical market gaps and achieve lasting impact.

The full list of Elemental's newest investments can be found below:

• Artyc Battery-powered thermal shippers for cold chain logistics that expands access to medical care in underserved areas.
• Aspiring Materials Delivering industrial decarbonization and vital mineral resources that capture CO₂ and produce low-emission materials for industries like steel, energy, and cement.
• Fleet Robotics Autonomous maintenance and data collection for maritime vessels, reducing fuel use by 5% and saving $150,000 or more per ship each year.
• Foray Bioscience Unlocking biomanufacturing for ecosystem regeneration up to 100x faster and 80% less land-intensive than traditional methods.
• Found Energy Transforming waste aluminum into industrial heat with double the energy density of diesel.
• Inevitable Technology Advancing plant propagation technology to give plants the best possible start to life, allowing growers to produce more food using fewer resources.
• Klim Transforming food supply chains towards regenerative agriculture by helping food companies improve their supply chain resilience and reduce emissions.
• MetOx High-temperature superconducting wire to make the electrical grid 10x more efficient.
• Noon Energy 100% reliable renewables with a new kind of battery for grid resilience in distributed settings like isolated communities.
• Plantible A better plant-based protein for consumer products that uses 10x less water while producing 8-9 times more protein per acre than soy.
• Seabound Carbon capture for ships that can trap up to 95% of their CO2 emissions.
• SIMPLi Empowering smallholder farmers to grow regenerative organic pantry staples to accelerate the transition from conventional farming methods.
• SuperCircle Powering textile recycling for a circular fashion economy, with over 3 million garments already recycled.
• Symbium Instant permitting for home energy and electrification projects that translates complex approvals into an intuitive real-time experience.
• Verdi Automation tools for climate-smart agriculture that reduce water use by up to 70%.
• Xplorobot AI-powered methane detection that delivers a 10x cost reduction from traditional methods.

About Elemental Impact

Elemental Impact is a non-profit investor with 15 years of experience scaling innovative technology projects with deep climate and community impact. Elemental invests catalytic capital and provides expert services to a growing portfolio of 160+ companies in energy, agriculture, transportation, industry, and nature-based solutions. The Elemental non-profit is supported by more than 40 philanthropic and government funders, and is part of an expanding family of funds working in concert to mobilize capital from philanthropy, government, and private investors.

Media Contact: [email protected] 

SOURCE Elemental Impact