Climate Startup Funding
Class is in session
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.
Class is in session
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.
Get notified about the next cohort
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.
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
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
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
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)
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)
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.
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.
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
Blake Sturcke
Prageet Nibber
Brent Beerley
April Mendez
Scott Frazier
Elena Cavallero
Jack Sullivan
Daniel Lie
Chris Shugart
L. Julian Keniry
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."
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
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.
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 ⏰
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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