Welcome to the 2024 edition of the SOSV Climate Tech 100, a list of SOSV’s top climate portfolio companies. We’re very pleased to launch this list On Earth Day as part of SOSV’s Earth Day +, which includes a VC-Founder Climate Matchup and some great conversations with climate investors and founders.
In 2024, we have added 30 new companies to the Climate 100. The aggregate valuation of the Climate 100 reached $11.09 billion and in total the companies have raised $3.68 billion to date, including $151 million from SOSV. The complete Climate 100 is at the bottom of this post, along with a list of the 30 new companies.
This year’s Climate Tech 100 includes startups in every climate category, including food and agriculture, energy, transport, manufacturing, and MRV (Measurement, Reporting, and Verification). 59 of the Climate 100 companies graduated from SOSV’s startup development program IndieBio (life sciences) while another 34 started at HAX (hard tech). Two originated in SOSV’s Consortium.
What changed year on year?
In the big picture, last year represented the first year-on-year drop in climate tech investment in three years. Overall, capital flows to climate founders declined 30% to $32B, according to Sightline Climate. Given the downturn, it’s remarkable that 22 of the Climate 100 (including 19 from last year’s list) saw valuation gains in the past year. That’s a testament to their resilience and promise. At the same time, the Climate 100 clearly felt the market chill: two firms closed, two pivoted to address new markets, and several faced headwinds, including downrounds. We also tightened our criteria for climate tech, in line with the deep tech focus of SOSV’s new, $306M Fund V, which resulted in two companies dropping from the list.
When we rolled up the valuations and capital raised for the new Climate 100, we were gratified that the total valuation for the Climate 100 was off year-on-year by only 5%, and the total raised by the companies dropped just 3%. And SOSV funding for the Climate 100 was up 5%.
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| Total Valuation | Countries | Total Raised | Female Founders | SOSV Funding | PhD Founders | |
| 2022 | $11.5B | 19 | $3.81B | 38% | $138M | 43% |
| 2023 | $11.7B | 18 | $3.77B | 38% | $144M | 47% |
| 2024 | $11.1B | 19 | $3.68B | 37% | $151M | 51% |
| Change | -5% | -3% | +5% |
From SOSV’s perspective, the turnover on Climate 100 – the removal of 30 companies and addition of 30 news ones – is healthy and welcome. We have many rising companies worthy of joining the list given that our HAX and IndieBio programs launch 80 companies a year, the majority of which are in climate.
We fully expect that the climate category will roar forward again soon because it must for humanity’s sake, of course, but also because there are so many remarkable tailwinds, including the adjacent themes of industrial sustainability and reshoring US production capabilities. – Sean O’Sullivan, SOSV Managing General Partner
The trends in new entrants reveal something about emerging (and declining) categories of investment. For example, six new companies on the Climate 100 are in agriculture (California Organic Fertilizers, Ceres Waves, CroBio, Earnest Agriculture, and Farm Minerals), four in green fuels (Carbon Bridge, Carbonade, SpiralWave, VIA Fuels), three in batteries and energy storage (MIMiC Systems, Material, Qnetic), and two in sustainable apparel (BioFluff, Silana).
On the other hand, there are categories that saw a winnowing, notably food, with several down rounds and a closure. Even so, SOSV’s food portfolio also saw breakthrough commercialization agreements at unicorn Notco with Kraft, at Voyage with Cargill, and at California Cultured with Meiji, as well as a $30 million series B at Prime Roots. SOSV’s IndieBio, a pioneer in alternative proteins, also doubled down on technologies that will make alternative protein production more efficient to produce, such as Cauldron Ferm (precision fermentation) and Prolific Machines (optogenetic biomanufacturing). The food category is undergoing a correction, but we believe it will return stronger than ever.
Another interesting trend in the Climate 100 is the rise of corporate venture capital investors, such as Amazon, Equinor, Honda Innovation, GS Futures, Toyota Ventures, Lululemon Atheletica, and Petronas, to name a few, joining early stage rounds at our portfolio companies, a welcome trend given that corporates usually bring not only capital but accelerated paths to commercialization. In tandem with that trend, 25% of the new capital in the new SOSV V fund came from corporate limited partners, most of them also co-investors in SOSV companies. In addition, we also saw strong check-writing from funds qualified under the EU’s sustainable finance disclosure regulation (SFDR) Article 9.
It’s safe to say that SOSV is more excited about the climate tech category than ever. As our founder and managing general partner Sean O’Sullivan wrote earlier this year: “We fully expect that the climate category will roar forward again soon because it must for humanity’s sake, of course, but also because there are so many remarkable tailwinds, including the adjacent themes of industrial sustainability and reshoring US production capabilities.”
“Part of that momentum comes from the Biden administration’s unprecedented boost for the manufacturing sector through new legislation like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the CHIPS and Science Act. At the same time, since 2021, private industry has committed more than $500 billion to reshore American industry, which means vast new capital investment in production technologies that are likely to meet the tests of automation and efficiency, climate impact, and sustainability.…
“…I have been investing in deep tech for 20 years, and I am confident that as the venture crash fades into history these times will be remembered above all for the new waves of technology that made our world a better place. Now, more than ever, is the time to invest.”
One last note: SOSV produces the annual SOSV Climate Tech Summit, which is a free, virtual event that features the top VCs and founders working on climate. Close to 10,000 participants were registered in 2023, and past speakers include Bill Gates, Vinod Khosla, Jennifer Holmgren, Katie Rae, Chris Sacca, and many more.
Please register for this year’s event, Oct 14-18. It’s free.
The 30 New Companies on the Climate Tech 100
Aqualith (US): Next-generation batteries and battery materials
Atlantic Fish Co (US): Developing cultivated seafood to provide the world with delicious and sustainable protein
Bioeutectics (Argentina): Green Natural and Biodegradable Solvents
BioFluff (France): The future of fashion is plant-based and biodegradable
Bloom Labs (US): Silks, wool, and cashmere, made from waste
California Organic Fertilizers (US): World’s first organic ammonia fertilizer, made from farm waste with anaerobic digestion
Carbon Bridge (US): Replacing bunker fuel with microbial methanol
Carbonade (Israel): Sustainable aviation fuel with single step carbon capture and utilization
Cauldron (Australia): High performance continuous precision fermentation
Ceres Waves (South Korea): World’s first “electrofertilizer” device — Crops and livestock growth are dramatically boosted by our ultra-low energy electric field.
Cocoon (UK): Decarbonising the hard-to-abate sectors of steel and cement
CroBio (UK): Regenerating soils with our superhero microbes
Earnest Agriculture (US): Helping farmers to turn their waste into sustainable soil products
Farm Minerals (US): A small amount of fertilizer can now cover 1000x the acreage
Fullfily (India): India’s Fastest Growing Tech-Enabled Full Stack EV-as-a-Service
Material (US): Creating Li-Ion batteries by 3D printing
microTERRA (Mexico): Powering the plant based future
MIMiC Systems (US): Designing solid-state heating and cooling systems at a building scale.
Mitico (US): Unlock carbon capture
MUTA (Columbia): End-to-end waste management platform to turn waste into opportunity and boost recycling rates in LATAM.
PureLi (US): A cleantech startup boosting lithium production from brine sources
Qnetic (US): “Our mission is to help unlock the fossil fuel-less civilization. With enough energy storage—and it requires a staggering amount— humanity can fully transition to renewables and see the end of fossil fuels.”
Silana (Austria): Revolutionizing the Fashion Industry with Deep Tech Robotics
SpiralWave (US): A new class of plasma that converts flue gasses into marine methanol via Direct Air Utilization
Terra Bioindustries (Canada): Creating upcycled ingredients, decarbonizing supply chains
Transition Biomining (US): Harnessing the power of native microbial communities to accelerate metals extraction
VIA Fuels (US): A shortcut to jet fuel — scalable today
Windfall Bio (US): Nature-based technology that enables farmers to transform methane into organic fertilizer
Xias Bio Limited (UK): Replacing Animal Proteins