Over a decade supporting climate innovation
Evergreen Climate Innovations, formerly Clean Energy Trust, supports entrepreneurs and startups that are bringing impactful climate technologies to market.
Structured as a nonprofit, we pioneered our 501vc® Investment Fund to align philanthropic and corporate contributions to deliver environmental, economic, and social impact.
Upon investing, we work actively with our portfolio companies to provide strategic guidance, mentorship, and help in achieving critical milestones and connections to funding, demonstration opportunities, and customers. Evergreen is committed to advancing climate innovation and expanding access to such innovation across the Greater Midwest.
Critical early-stage climate solutions are underfunded
Climate change is humanity’s greatest challenge but represents a small fraction of total venture investment and philanthropic support. Evergreen Climate Innovations addresses the capital gap that exists for early-stage climate tech companies. The Midwest is particularly underserved with only 3% of early-stage climate tech investment going to the Midwest.
Our Impact Thesis
We invest in startups developing innovative solutions with the potential to make outsized impacts on the climate emergency and related environmental and sustainability challenges. Moreover, these companies create jobs and drive economic development.
Our 501vc® Investment Fund: a unique approach
Evergreen’s 501vc® model is a seed stage investment fund capitalized with philanthropic dollars. Our fund’s revolving evergreen structure enables us to recycle our investment returns to generate compounding impact.
Bringing Climate Technologies to Market
Our unique model allows us to be more patient and absorb more risk than a traditional investor, helping to bridge the early-stage commercialization gap. We are hands-on investors. We work closely with our portfolio companies to identify and execute a clear, well-funded path to market. Beyond the money we invest, we provide invaluable resources and opportunities that arise from our extensive network throughout the climate tech innovation ecosystem that we have spent over a decade cultivating.