{"id":143276,"date":"2024-11-18T17:25:40","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T16:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/challenges-and-opportunities-for-climatech-after-the-us-elections\/143276\/"},"modified":"2024-11-18T18:28:44","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T17:28:44","slug":"challenges-and-opportunities-for-climatech-after-the-us-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupbusiness.it\/en\/challenges-and-opportunities-for-climatech-after-the-us-elections\/143276\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenges and opportunities for climatech after the US elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The refrain from all seasons of the Games of Thrones series, ‘winter is coming’, can also be a good metaphor for venture capital <\/strong>and start-ups.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The term valley of death in the venture capital world refers to the period when a start-up spends money (on research, personnel, labs or offices) but does not yet generate revenue.<\/p>\n\n

For the climate technology startups<\/strong> going through this phase, as Pitchbook<\/a> puts it, ‘it’s going to be a tough six months<\/strong>‘. As the industry adjusts to a new energy policy regime under newly elected President Donald Trump,<\/strong> ‘there will be a chill in the air for project funding and major fundraising for companies in the line of fire’. <\/p>\n\n

In the eight years since Trump’s first victory, early-stage climate-tech investments have become the norm. Huge amounts of capital flowed into infrastructure funds dedicated to the energy transition,<\/strong> driven by pressure from pension holders and students, as well as the belief that the energy transition was a profitable investment . Nel 2024 i fondi per le infrastrutture di transizione energetica hanno raccolto 33,5 miliardi di dollari <\/strong>, compared to $9.5 billion for non-energy transition infrastructure funds, according to PitchBook research.<\/a><\/p>\n\n

This is because institutional investors operate with a long-term perspective, looking at ten-year horizons rather than single election cycles.<\/p>\n\n

A decisive impetus in this direction was given by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)<\/strong> of 2022, sponsored by the Biden administration, which allocated over a trillion dollars to finance energy transition technologies over ten years<\/strong>. This legislation has found bipartisan support, thanks in part to policy measures such as creating more resilient supply chains<\/strong>, relocating production of essential minerals<\/strong>, and creating clean energy jobs<\/strong> in swing states. <\/p>\n\n

Now, with the new president, something might change. First of all, one cannot forget the symbolic decision of Trump’s fight against the ecological transition, namely the exit <\/strong><\/a>of the United States from the Paris Agreement<\/strong> <\/em>on climate and the near-absence of participation in UN COPs during his presidency. Not least, the famous pre-election <\/strong>statements, such as: <\/p>\n\n

“The biggest threat is not global warming, where the ocean is going to rise an eighth of an inch in the next 400 years… and you’re going to have more oceanfront property… The biggest threat is nuclear warming… For me, the biggest problem is not climate change.” (August 2024 [completely false statement: today the sea is rising<\/em><\/a> about 4 millimetres every year, ed]). <\/p>\n\n

“We want to end the Green New Deal scam. (August 2024)’. <\/p>\n\n

“We will drill, baby, drill… A lot depends on energy. And remember, we have more liquid gold under our feet than any other country by far. We are a nation that has the opportunity to make an absolute fortune from its energy. We have it and China does not’. (July 2024). <\/p>\n\n

Finally, there is the conservative and sovereignist action plan, Project 2025<\/strong><\/a>, which<\/strong><\/em> would frown upon democratic climate policies:<\/p>\n\n