Climate tech gets 70% of ‘built world’ VC investment, report finds

We have all seen the gloomy headlines over the past week. VC funding for European tech startups will have dropped by a whopping $45bn in 2023. However, some sectors, such as build world climate tech are faring… less horribly than others.

Specifically, a new report by sustainability investor A/O released today has found that despite the global downturn, climate tech is attracting as much as 70% of built world VC investment — up from around only 20% five years ago. In addition, investment in early stage rounds in European startups in the sector has, for the first time, exceeded that in North America.

The built world includes anything that is human-made and created to adapt the natural environment into a habitable and usable area for the purpose of living, working, and playing. This includes architecture and parks, and covers everything from road infrastructure to building construction and operations. Nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings — a number that is set to double by 2050 if left unchecked.

According to the report by A/O, the largest European built world VC firm, the trend has been driven by the energy crisis along with mounting pressures from regulators to decarbonise the real estate and construction industries.