Exclusive: London investment vehicle rolls out to back climate tech startups
A new £20m investment vehicle has rolled out in London today to target early-stage tech firms tackling climate change, as UK investment into the space continues to swell.
Elbow Beach Capital, set up by three friends worried over the future of their favourite beach, said the new fund will seek out firms developing technology across areas including the circular economy, energy infrastructure and the decarbonisation of supply chains.
Co-founder Jonathan Pollock said early backing for climate tech firms was crucial if the net zero transition was to succeed.
“The sustainability and environmental technology sectors are expanding but growth will need to accelerate dramatically if governments are to meet their ambitious climate targets,” he said.
“We see a massive opportunity for value creation in early-stage investment across a range of impact verticals.”
Elbow Beach has an initial £20m to draw on, and the founders said they will be looking to pump the cash into firms in the UK and beyond, typically backing firms with injections of between £0.5m to £1.5m long-term growth capital.
The new investment vehicle comes as investment into UK climate tech swells as investors look to supercharge the net zero transition and reap the rewards.
Analysis from startup network TechNation found that in the 100 days since the start of Cop 26 in October, venture capital investment into climate tech firms surged 62 per cent to $926m.
VC investment into climate tech firms in November last year hit $345m, while December saw investment reach $354m, sailing past the monthly average of 2021 by more than 52 per cent.
The number of climate tech ‘unicorns’ – firms valued at over $1bn – also increased by 36 globally in the 100 days following COP26.