After a turbulent second quarter, many general VC firms pulled out of climate tech funding deals in favor of specialist climate firms.
Why it matters: The latest funding flurry has been a case of generalists versus specialists, with many clean energy and climate tech veterans quick to blame the generalists for driving up the deal’s costs.
By the numbers: The top 10 most active investors in the space year to date were almost all specialty firms, according to PitchBook.
Plot: Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings was the only major generalist to crack the top ten.
- In a recent conversation with Axios, Dr. Eric Toone of Breakthrough Energy Ventures noted that large generalist firms like Temasek play an important role.
- “These are the firms that have the real muscle, the real horsepower to put these technologies to scale, and it’s not going to happen, you know, without that group of people involved in that,” Toone said, referring to the investment activity. .
