A funding platform designed for climate startups

The new platform offers funding for early-stage climate startups that will not dilute those company’s shares

Spotted: While action to fight global warming is accelerating, it can still be difficult for early-stage climate startups to find financing. A lack of finance options hampers growth in this space, which in turn has an impact on the ability of the world to meet the target of keeping global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. In addition, much of the capital that is available is expensive and dilutive, meaning it largely consists of the issuance of new shares. This further limits the ability of businesses to effectively develop their solutions.

To alleviate this situation, Enduring Planet has recently launched a lending platform with the goal of providing fast debt financing specifically to climate startups. Enduring Planet funds projects using revenue-based financing. According to a press release, “The company issues term sheets in under a week and can finance a business within thirty days using API integrations with Plaid, Stripe, and QuickBooks to make underwriting easier.”

Since its formation in 2021, Enduring Planet has raised a pre-seed round from a number of angel investors and funds specialising in green energy, including Climate Capital, Portland Seed Fund, Common Sense Fund, and Susquehanna Foundation.

“Every sector of our economy needs a face-lift; as we undergo this climate transition, we believe it should be done equitably and inclusively,” explains company co-founder Erin Davis. “We estimate there are thousands of climate entrepreneurs who lack the right types of capital to scale. We’re changing this in a way that’s inclusive and gets money into the hands of underrepresented founders, managers, and companies serving underserved communities.”

In the world of startups, there tends to be a lot of attention on ideas, but less attention on funding. This is important, because most climate tech start-ups need early-stage funding in order to grow. This may be why we are starting to see more models for small-scale investment. For example, a social media company that makes it easy for users to own shares and an equity crowdfunding platform for socially responsible investment. But much more is needed.