I’m one of those folks who thinks “if I say it out loud, it won’t come true.” That theory may work when blowing out your birthday candles, but it makes sharing predictions a bit challenging. In other words—no 2024 predictions from me!
I will, however, share a theme which I think will become increasingly relevant in the climate tech universe over the next few years:
Acquisitions.
I’m not going too far out on a limb here, as acquisitions are a common exit strategy for early-stage companies. But there are a few reasons why I think acquisitions will be very important for the climate tech community, especially in 2025 and 2026.
In other words, corporations and startups need each other. And, I predict that need will become more evident over the next few years as their respective challenges become more acute. The good news—climate tech startups and corporations can solve each other’s problems, with the help of some well-timed acquisitions!
Our first Green Drinks of 2024 is February 8 at ClimateHaven from 5:00pm – 7:30pm. Spend time catching up with your climate colleagues, meeting new friends, and connecting with ClimateHaven’s community of startups, investors, and partners. There’ll be some announcements—and a few surprises, too!
This edition of Green Drinks is proudly sponsored by GSB, the only bank you’ll ever need.
Register below and don’t hesitate to share this link with the climate curious in your orbit!
The ClimateHaven team is excited to welcome our 2024 Executive in Residence (“EIR”) cohort. We have 5 incredibly talented folks who are enthusiastically sharing their wisdom and experience with our community of founders. A big welcome to:
Melissa Fensterstock, VC at Material Impact
Gabriel Parisi-Amon, CEO and co-founder of Nebia (acquired)
Sara Harari, Associate Director of Innovation at CT Green Bank
Justin Freiberg, Managing Director of the Carbon Containment Lab
Eric Rubenstein, Managing Partner at New Climate Ventures
Collectively, our EIR cohort brings decades of industry experience to ClimateHaven, offering expertise in product development, green infrastructure deployment, accelerating climate solutions to commercial scale, investing in early-stage innovations, and more. We look forward to the work we’ll do together this year!
Not that anyone is looking beyond Green Drinks on February 8, but if you are like me and thinking about longer days—and warmer weather—I wanted to share three spring dates that need to be on your calendar:
First, our friends (and my esteemed colleagues) at the Connecticut Innovations ClimateTech Fund are hosting their climate tech networking event on Wednesday, March 27. Registration will open soon.
Second, our next Green Drinks will take place on Thursday, May 2, and will include programming earlier in the day from our friends at FORGE.
Third, the 2024 Yale Innovation Summit will take place on May 29 and 30 in New Haven. Like last year’s event, this year’s Summit will feature a dedicated climate track. Early bird registration is now open, so don’t wait! And, be on the lookout for other climate events popping up that week at ClimateHaven.
Speaking of spring, we are excited to host the ReGen Accelerator’s 2024 Spring Cohort at ClimateHaven in April and May. It will be a busy two months of intensive work with our partners at Kaplak Ventures and the selected companies—and we can’t wait!
Look for our "Who's Who" announcement of the Spring Cohort in February. It will be an impressive group of founders who are developing a wide array of decarbonization technologies.
We’re also excited to share our showcase dates, too. Spoiler alert, we’ll have a showcase event at ClimateHaven during the Yale Innovation Summit. Then, we’re taking our show on the road... to NYC! More to come soon.
We’re grateful to be working with an awesome community of climate tech founders. Earlier this week, I sat down with Simon Wootton, founder of T4P, and I left the conversation inspired by his work and enthusiastic about his transition from an impressive career in supply chain logistics to climate tech.
T4P, or Trailers for Power, installs thin-film solar panels on the roofs of commercial trucks and tractor-trailers, forming a distributed renewable energy grid that generates power as the vehicles remain idle. This sustainable solution will create new revenue streams within the transportation, logistics, and manufacturing sectors, all while supporting global ESG and decarbonization goals.
As we expand our community in 2024, we’re looking to work with more amazing founders like Simon in our incubator program. If you are a climate tech founder at the early stages of building your company, then connect with us to learn more about the community we’re building and how we can help you scale your climate tech solution.
All right, I’ll make one 2024 prediction: it is going to be a big year. A BIG year for our startups, A BIG year for ClimateHaven, and a BIG year for the planet.
There’s a lot going on this year. In fact, at times it may feel like too much is going on. As we are bombarded with political ads and deep fakes, just know the ClimateHaven team will be focused on working with great founders, investors, and partners who are committed to decarbonizing the planet one startup at a time.
If you’re in need of a dose of climate pragmatism, a distraction from what’s going on in the rest of the world, or simply a good cup of coffee, then come join us at 770 Chapel Street. We’ll be here!
Until next time,
Ryan
P.S. Follow ClimateHaven on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram to keep up on our progress between newsletters.
