Structuring for Scale - Solving Scale-Up | Hosted by IFM Investors & Clean Energy Ventures
The hosts:
Adelaide Morphett, IFM Investors
Amy Zhao, Clean Energy Ventures
What is this Ripple about?
As climate technologies scale, they venture into the world of infrastructure finance, where capital efficiency is the name of the game. We will explore the role of private credit, as well as the those of other important stakeholders around the project development table: corporates, insurance, and vendors/supplier, as we discuss how long-term partnerships pave the road to bankability.
Innovations around financial and contracting structures will be just as important as the climate innovations themselves.
Why this topic timely or urgent in 2026
We urgently need competitive solutions and creative methods of stakeholder alignment/contracting that can scale-up and disrupt large markets like steel, cement, building energy efficiency and grid decarbonization.
Key questions or challenges being explored
How can we develop risk architectures that lead to an increase in cost-effective lending to early commercialization projects.
What emerging financing and contracting structures have successfully enabled technologies to scale towards bankability.
How can corporates and other partners lend their balance sheets (and beyond) to support new technology commercialization while benefiting from lower-cost offtakes.
The main tension or debate at the heart of this discussion
Technology and performance risk is perceived as an intractable challenge for which counter-parties are reluctant to engage.
Who would get the most value from attending this Ripple?
Companies at the scale-up level, commercial lenders and private credit providers, asset managers, corporates, philanthropic and catalytic capital.
ABOUT IFM INVESTORS
IFM Investors is a global asset manager, founded and owned by pension funds, with capabilities in infrastructure equity and debt, private credit, private equity, real estate and listed equities. Our purpose is to invest, protect and grow the long-term retirement savings of working people. With assets under management of US$177.5 billion (as at 31 December 2025), we prioritize the interests of 831 institutional investors worldwide. IFM operates from 17 offices across Australia, Europe, North America and Asia.
ABOUT CLEAN ENERGY VENTURES
Clean Energy Ventures is an early/mid-stage climate VC fund that invests at the intersection of climate necessity and commercial reality, focusing on transforming Seed-Series B companies into market-leading companies with gigaton-level emissions abatement potential. Initial checks range from $2-8M, and we are actively supportive post-investment to provide hands-on scaling resources across leadership coaching, marketing strategy, follow-on capital introductions, IP guidance, and active board participation. CEV invests across North America, Europe, and Israel.