Clean-tech investing has been through a few bubble-bust cycles and, like other areas in early-stage investing, there have been some high-profile successes and failures. While a lot of early attention in clean tech investing has been on grand, over-arching solutions, there is a growing and rich universe of companies working behind the scenes to tackle specific causes or effects of climate change.
Indeed, the sector has evolved, as have investors. Instead of looking for a silver bullet for desalination at scale, savvy investors are looking at software that regulates water systems pumps. Rather than banking on the next big thing in electric cars or batteries, smart early-stage investors are backing things like hardware to facilitate data collection and power optimization at charging stations.
These ideas may not make headlines— and that is often a good thing—but they are collectively creating the fabric for meaningful and incremental gains in their respective areas.