Changing who and what gets funded: Catalytic capital for climate
Early-stage climate ventures face a structural funding gap. The timelines, risks, and pathways to scale for emerging climate solutions do not always align with the expectations of traditional investors. At the same time, capital continues to flow disproportionately toward familiar founders and familiar solutions, leaving significant areas of innovation underfunded, including climate ventures co-led by women.
Could philanthropy help fill the missing layer?
This conversation will explore how philanthropic capital can be deployed differently to absorb early risk, give promising innovations room to prove themselves, and ultimately unlock other forms of investment. Recoverable grants are one emerging approach: non-dilutive funding that can support ventures before they are ready for conventional investment, with the potential for returned capital to be recycled into the next generation of solutions.
But the session will go beyond any single financial instrument. The larger question is how allocators across the capital spectrum can work together to change who and what gets funded. Where can philanthropic capital take risks that other capital cannot? What needs to happen for promising ventures to move from early support toward larger pools of investment? And how do we ensure new financing models expand access to capital rather than reproduce the patterns of the existing system?
By bringing philanthropy and investment perspectives into the same conversation, the session will examine where catalytic capital is already working, where gaps remain, and what it would take to move resources toward a broader range of climate solutions and leaders.
What to expect
An open-circle conversation designed to surface practical experience rather than present a single model. Participants from across the capital spectrum will share examples, lessons, and challenges from deploying philanthropic and investment capital for climate impact.
Expect a participatory discussion focused on learning from what is already being tried, identifying persistent gaps, and finding opportunities for funders and investors to collaborate differently.
Who this is for
This session is for philanthropic funders, impact investors, asset owners, climate investors, venture funders, and others interested in how catalytic and flexible capital can support early-stage climate solutions, particularly those that struggle to access traditional sources of finance.
What you will get out of it
Practical examples of how catalytic philanthropic capital can support early-stage climate ventures
A clearer understanding of where recoverable grants and other flexible instruments can fit within the capital spectrum
Perspectives on how financing structures can influence which founders and solutions receive funding
Insights into how philanthropy and investment capital can work together to address early-stage risk
Connections with other capital allocators exploring new approaches to financing climate impact
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