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Climate Startup Funding

8.9

(15 ratings)

·

5 Days

·

Cohort-based Course

In 8 hours of live class, 500+ resources, and personalized group coaching, we'll teach you a 5-step capital raising process.

Hosted by

Dr. Chris Wedding (lead) and Jennifer Wagner (guest)

Course overview

$100+ billion has been invested in climate tech startups since 2020.

We want to help you get your piece of that.


Can you also avoid $100,000+ in opportunity costs in the process?


We'll help you leapfrog costly mistakes and find the right investors.


You can't afford that risk. Ditto for the planet.

Who's this course for?

01

Entrepreneurs


Pre-seed. Seed. Series A. CEO. COO. CFO. Business development. Strategy leader.

02

Future entrepreneurs


Freedom seekers. World changers. Climate experts who want “MBA skills.”

03

Career Switchers


Got experience in other sectors but want to help climate tech startups find the right capital? Join us!

After this course, you’ll be able to…

🤔 Get smarter on climate tech trends so you can tap into the right opportunities.


Did you know that 2021 saw $40 billion invested in 600+ companies across 1,400 climate-curious investors?


If your blinders are on, you'll miss the climate megatrends, wasting time and money.


Learn which sectors are most crowded, and which big problems still need solutions.

📝 Craft your 1-page business plan that investors actually want to read.


The days of a 40-page business plan are dead.


The world is changing quickly. So is your team. And so are you.


It's time to rethink old assumptions.


Create a process for gathering the wisdom of your team, without just settling for group think.

💎 Stand out from the crowd so that you get investors' attention.


40+ climate tech companies have become unicorns, raising $45+ billion.


But thousands of impact entrepreneurs want to tackle climate change.


Don't just be another green lemming.


Build your moat of competitive advantage. Define your most likely exit strategy.

💪 Avoid common startup mistakes to save yourself 2-3 years of wasted time.


45% of businesses fail in the first five years.


But you don't need to step in the same dung patties as everyone else.


Conduct a pre-mortem analysis.


Define ways to mitigate key risks — before they happen.

🎯 Optimize your investor pitch.


"A new bus comes for investors every 5 minutes."


That is, they see A LOT of pitches.


Yours needs to be simple, clear, and convincing.


You'll practice pitching to peers and get access to dozens of sample pitch decks.

💸 Create a smarter plan to raise capital with my 5-step method.


99% of investors are likely to say no.


Yet many people think that finding growth capital is easy and only done every 18 months.


Not true.


It is an evergreen process with proven rules for greater success.

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Climate Startup Funding

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With this course, you'll get...

 

  • 500+ climate investor list (and emails)
  • 5-step process for raising capital
  • 9 steps to optimize your 1-page business plan
  • 6 tools for assessing your competitive edge
  • 20 startup mistakes to avoid
  • Your pitch deck shown to 25 early-stage investors

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Plus, this course is new and improved since the last cohort:


  • More small breakouts with peer feedback
  • More practice pitches
  • More months of online community Q&A support from your peers and me
  • A new library of climate tech funding resources
  • A verified certificate of completion

Meet your teachers

Dr. Chris Wedding (lead)

Dr. Chris Wedding (lead)

Founder, Entrepreneurs for Impact

I’m on a mission to tackle climate change through investment, startups, and education.

 

To get there, we need more shots on goal:

More solutions. More companies. More investments.

 

That’s where you come in.

 

I want to help you fund your current (or future!) climate tech startup.

 

Why me?

 

I have made too many mistakes in this sector to keep them all to myself.

 

This experience comes from $1B+ of investment experience as a former environmental PE investor and impact investment banker, 3x founder, climate CEO coach and mastermind leader, and professor with 60,000 students taught at Duke University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Coursera.

 

Want to learn more?

 

Climate CEO Mastermind peer groups that I lead – Current members manage $8+ billion in market value:

 

My newsletter – A weekly 3-minute summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work:

 

My podcast – Interviews with climate investors and CEOs where we cover business insights, life lessons, and personal growth:

 

So, who's going to solve climate change by funding the growth of new businesses?

 

You are!

Jennifer Wagner (guest)

Jennifer Wagner (guest)

Climate tech executive

Jennifer Wagner is on a mission to help launch, nurture and scale innovative startups with massive climate change mitigation potential.


(Um, that's you, my dear founders reading this bio!)


She is an experienced startup advisor, investor, thought leader, speaker, and team builder.


Jennifer has been recognized as one of 20 Women Driving The Future of Climate Tech, Business Insider’s Clean Energy Rising Stars, Canada’s Clean50 Emerging Leaders, and the Climate Action Summit’s Climate Trailblazers.


As the former President of CarbonCure Technologies, a high-growth climate tech startup, she was responsible for overseeing the company’s operations amidst a period of rapid growth, launching the carbon removal credit business, shaping and nurturing the company’s team culture, and helping to recruit and retain top talent, while attracting the world’s most sought-after climate tech investors.


She also led Team CarbonCure to win the grand prize for two major global innovation competitions: the Carbon XPRIZE and Grand Carbon Challenge.


Jennifer is a dedicated advocate committed to fostering a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive climate tech sector.

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Special VC Investor Guest Teacher


Our second visiting instructor is a surprise climate tech VC investor managing over $130M in capital for early-stage companies. He brings experience as a software engineer, angel investor, and mentor with Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy program.

8.9

(15 ratings)

See what people are saying

        Project finance and development capital are critical to the growth of our solar business. Chris’s guidance has been super helpful for us raising millions of dollars from the right kinds of investors at great company valuations.
Blake Sturcke

Blake Sturcke

President, Encore Renewable Energy
        I’m an expert in cleantech and blockchain technology, but not in financing our venture’s growth. Chris has improved our capital raising strategy, understanding of investor terms, and confidence along the way.
Prageet Nibber

Prageet Nibber

CEO, Rewatt Power
        Starting and growing a climate tech company is a roller coaster. Chris is able to cut through the noise, provide actionable advice, and do it with authentic care about my journey (while having fun along the way). I highly recommend Chris.
Brent Beerley

Brent Beerley

CEO, Community Energy
        Chris has been an ideal mentor for me, helping me identify blindspots and providing the kind of practical counsel that you can only get from someone who really knows the climate and impact sectors.
April Mendez

April Mendez

CEO, Greenprint Partners
        Chris has an incredible breadth of insights for entrepreneurs since he actively works with so many as a mentor. He also has a broad and deep grasp of decarbonization technologies and business models. I am deeply grateful to get to work with him.
Scott Frazier

Scott Frazier

CEO, Carbon America
        I've learned so much from Chris about climate tech startups and investors. His caring mentorship and helpful feedback were instrumental in guiding my journey through climate change solutions. And his podcast is awesome!
Elena Cavallero

Elena Cavallero

Investment Analyst, The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment
        Chris Wedding is a thoughtful and knowledgeable voice in our climate fight. It was an honor to take his inaugural Climate Course. His course provided both strategic and tactical nuggets of wisdom that I’m currently using as I prepare for my own fundraising effort. I recommend Chris’s course to anyone gearing up for a serious fundraising effort.
Jack Sullivan

Jack Sullivan

CEO, RedCarbon
        Chris’s course provided immediate value to me as a climate tech founder – e.g., a practical playbook, a drill-down of non-traditional sources of funding, and a helpful cohort that brought everyone's game up. Chris went above and beyond in running the course. If you want to save you a ton of time on climate tech investments, this course is for you.
Daniel Lie

Daniel Lie

CEO, Pronoia Energy
        After moving from the big corporate world to a startup, I needed a comprehensive overview of fundraising strategies for a startup in an affordable, time efficient format – and Chris Wedding’s class delivered!
Chris Shugart

Chris Shugart

SVP, Ambient Fuels
        Not a week goes by when I don't think of your program or tap the new insights gained there. Whatever you did to make that a really magical cohort, please keep doing it! I have enthusiastically promoted your course to my team and network.
L. Julian Keniry

L. Julian Keniry

CEO, ESDI Group

Who's this course NOT for?

01

Mr. Quick Money


"I'm into climate tech just for the profits. The mission stuff is for tree huggers."

02

Mrs. Know It All


"I'm a savvy business pro, so I really have nothing new to learn."

03

Mr. What's In It For Me


"I'm too busy to give feedback to my fellow entrepreneurs. I'm #1."

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Climate Startup Funding

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After this course, you'll have...

 

  • More confidence in your 2-year funding plan
  • Smarter playbook for raising capital
  • 25 potential investors to target
  • 5-point failure prevention plan
  • Improved 1-page business plan
  • Weekly climate trends curation system
  • Network of peers to support

Want to kick the tires first?

🎤 My podcast

Interviews with climate tech CEOs and climate investors via Entrepreneurs for Impact. Listen here.

✍🏽 My newsletter

My 3-minute weekly summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work. Read it here.

💻 My Coursera course

I've taught 60,000+ students in my "Renewable Energy and Green Building Entrepreneurship" course, with 4.7 out of 5.0 stars. View it here.

🔈 My LinkedIn

I know, I know. Kind of boring. But worth a scan if you're having doubts about signing up for this course. See it here.

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Climate Startup Funding

Course Structure

  • Only 1 week

    • 4 live class sessions — 11:00-12:30 ET on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
    • 2 live Q&A sessions — 3:00-4:00 ET on Wednesday and 11:00-12:00 ET on Friday
    • If you have to miss one, no problem — they'll be recorded
    • 2 months of online forum Q&A with me and your peers
  • Content

    • Action-oriented projects
    • Lessons, tools, and war stories
    • Peer-to-peer feedback
    • Practice pitches
    • In-class review of students' work
  • ⏰ Seats are limited ⏰

    • Capped at 25
    • First come, first serve.


    📅 Sign up today. 📅

Learning is better with cohorts

Learning is better with cohorts

Active, not passive

This course focuses on live workshops and hands-on projects

Learn with a cohort of peers

You’ll be learning in public through breakout rooms and an engaged community

Learn with a cohort of peers

Surround yourself with like-minded people who want to grow alongside you

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I can’t make a live session?
I work full-time, what is the expected time commitment?
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