Friends of ClimateHaven -
A lot to get to in this newsletter. ClimateHaven Playbook Live registration is open. Water Innovation Hub news. And not one joke about the Coldplay concert.
In May’s newsletter, we talked about the importance of solving meaningful problems for customers. Many climate tech companies start with the intention of solving a meaningful problem for the planet. It is a laudable intention, but our recent federal legislation has cemented, in a very carbon intensive way, the proposition that we will not be pricing the externality of carbon anytime soon. The planet will not be your customer, which leaves climate tech founders to build low-carbon, market-based solutions that must go head-to-head with – and win against – a high carbon incumbent.
This isn’t a death knell for climate tech startups. Far from it. Far, far from it. But the bar for invest-ability has been raised dramatically, and the opportunity to build a scalable, climate tech startup just got a lot harder. That’s okay, provided you have the right tech, the right determination, and the right folks around you. Cue ClimateHaven’s intro music (the high schooler in me votes for Sweet Child O’ Mine, but I’m open to suggestions).
At ClimateHaven, we’re lucky to have a great space, access to great pizza and great universities, and a passionate community (here’s to you, dear readers!). But the special sauce of ClimateHaven is a platform purpose-built to provide talented climatetech founders at the earliest stages with the wisdom and honest feedback needed to:
(a) pressure test the marketability of their technology,
(b) identify credible pathways to profitability, and
(c) find the right funding to scale the business.
The core of that platform is the ClimateHaven Playbook, a members-only encyclopedia of all things needed to build a climate tech business. If you’re the founder of an early-stage climate tech company – or about to become one – and you’d like to learn more, then reach out to our membership lead, Regina Sung.
Interested in joining us?
CLIMATEHAVEN PLAYBOOK LIVE!
The ClimateHaven Playbook is an incredible resource for our member community. But its a lot more fun when it’s live and includes bad puns and dad jokes! Welcome to the Playbook Live Sessions, which bring a critical topic from the Playbook to life in a 60-minute session taught by your truly and other more talented folks from the ClimateHaven community.
Our first Playbook Live Session is Gross Margins, Green Premiums and the Path to Profitability on Thursday, July 31 at 1:00pm ET. We’ll tackle the issue of the moment: why we need to stop talking about green premiums, start talking about gross margins, and focus obsessively from Day 1 on building a pathway to profitability.
4 more Playbook Live Sessions to follow this summer and fall – including Chief Storyteller: Crafting a Compelling Climatetech Story on Thursday, August 14. You can register for that session here.
JOIN US: WATER INNOVATION HUB WEBINAR
The application deadline for our 2025 Water Innovation Challenge is Friday, August 1. One startup will be selected for a $30,000 paid pilot with the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority to deploy their solution in a municipal water utility.
Want to learn more? Join our Innovation Challenge Informational Webinar tomorrow, July 23 at 1:00pm ET.
This year’s challenge focuses on three urgent areas: non-invasive lead pipe detection, real-time water quality sensing, and autonomous inspection drones for water infrastructure. Our latest blog post on Water Innovation Watch breaks down how startups are tackling these critical gaps.
YIMBY TIME!
Housing and water have much in common: despite being absolute necessities, the supply of each cannot keep up with the demand. And much like water, there’s so much innovation we can bring to the housing sector to create sustainable, abundant and affordable housing, which is why we’re proud to support YIMBYtown.
YIMBYtown 2025 is the biggest national pro-homes conference in the United States. It will descend on New Haven from September 14-16 with a fantastic line-up of keynote speakers and panelists from across the political spectrum. Register here.
CLIMATEWEEK NYC
I feel like I should be forced to drink a Pumpkin Spiced Latte for typing this sentence: ClimateWeek NYC is right around the corner. The ClimateHaven team will be there, and we’ll share more about our plans in the August newsletter. In the meantime, if you’re planning to be in NYC that week, we’d love to hear from you.
PARTNER SHOUT-OUT’S
A big thank you to our friends at FORGE for hosting a Supply Chain Office Hours day at ClimateHaven next Thursday, July 31. We’ll welcome experts from FORGE, Big Bang, Samtec, and PTA Plastics to meet with startups navigating manufacturing challenges. Hardware is, well, hard, and partners like FORGE are a big help.
While we’re talking hardware, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention another great partner two floors below us: MakeHaven. It is a prototyping wonderland, with more tools, equipment and machinery than you could imagine. It is not only a wonderful resource for our members, but it is a fantastic resource for the community. Individuals can join and get full access to all the MakeHaven community has to offer. Learn more here!
While we’re talking partners, a BIG thanks to the amazing restaurants in New Haven that make our Founder Fuel lunches possible and delicious – WOW Tikka, Olmo Bagels, Ben and Jerry's, Shake Shack, House of Naan and Ninth Square Market! Spoiler alert – New Haven has amazing food!
THE LEGISLATIVE DUST HAS SETTLED
Federal legislation passed earlier this month upended the incentive structures set forth in the Inflation Reduction Act. No need for color commentary, but there is a need for clarity.
The amazing folks at Heatmap News spotlighted this detailed and digestible overview of clean energy policy from 2005 to 2025. I highly recommend a download if you’re curious about all the ways those policies have changed in the past month. You can access it here.
CLOSING THOUGHT
ClimateHaven held its first ever community ping pong tournament earlier this month (check out some highlight photos below), and it was a big hit. It was a lovely reminder of power of camaraderie … and New Haven pizza … and ping pong. The next tournament will be this fall – this time with prizes beyond bragging rights – which gives you plenty of time to join ClimateHaven an individual climate champion or startup member.
In the meantime, for those in and around the climate tech ecosystem, let’s not lose sight of the fact that it is a great time to build a climate tech company, provided you build it the right way.
Until next time,
Ryan
P.S., follow ClimateHaven on LinkedIn and if you are a member, follow the Weekly Digest newsletters to keep up with our progress.
