Climate Pledge Fund
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Venture Capital |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Founder | Amazon |
| Headquarters | Seattle, WA |
| Products | Corporate venture capital |
| Total assets | $2 billion |
Number of employees | 10+ |
The Climate Pledge Fund is a division of Amazon, set up to develop and manage investments in the climate technology space, as part of its Climate Pledge initiative. It is a corporate venture capital fund.
History[]
The Climate Pledge Fund makes investments into early-stage companies focused on decarbonizing or sustainable technologies and services. The fund is part of Amazon's Climate Pledge initiative with climate advocacy group Global Optimism. It was funded with an initial $2 billion in June 2020.
The fund is not related to the $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund or the $100 million Right Now Climate Fund, both Amazon climate-related projects.[1]
People[]
As of December 2021, Matt Peterson, Director, Corporate New Initiatives, and Kara Hurst, Vice President and Head of Sustainability, lead the fund.[2]
Notable Investments[]
2020 investments[]
- Redwood Materials - process & technologies for recycling lithium-ion batteries and producing battery materials from recovered elements[3]
- Rivian - electric vehicle automaker[3]
- Turntide Technologies - optimal efficiency motor technologies for building controls (e.g. ventilation, lighting)[3]
- CarbonCure Technologies - Lower carbon concrete manufacturer[3]
- Pachama - carbon offset verification technology[3]
- ZeroAvia - share-haul hydrogen-electric aircraft[4]
2021 investments[]
- BETA Technologies - Electric vertical aircraft manufacturer[5]
- - smart battery management platform for automotive[6]
- - design and manufacture of custom-sized boxes[7]
- - electric vehicle recharging infrastructure[7]
- Infinium - Ultra low carbon fuels for global transport[7]
- - controlled environment agriculture[8]
- Amogy - zero-emissions ammonia-based fuel for heavy-duty transportation, starting with marine shipping[8]
Other climate tech investors[]
- Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund[9]
- Breakthrough Energy Ventures
- Elemental Excelerator's Earthshot Ventures Fund[10]
- VertueLab's Climate Impact Fund[11]
- Decarbon8-US[12]
External links[]
- Amazon's Sustainability Website
- The Climate Pledge's Website
- SOSV Climate Tech Summit interview with Matt Peterson & Jason Thompson, CFO, Redwood Materials (video)
References[]
- ^ "Here are the latest recipients of Amazon's $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
- ^ "Update: Amazon announces $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
- ^ a b c d e "Amazon Announces First Recipients of Investments from $2 Billion Climate Pledge Fund". www.businesswire.com. 2020-09-17. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
- ^ Osborne, Charlie. "Amazon invests in zero carbon footprint aviation startup ZeroAvia". ZDNet. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
- ^ Black, Thomas. "Fidelity, Amazon Back E-Plane Startup in $368 Million Funding". BloombergQuint. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
- ^ "ION Energy Raises $3.6 Million with the Participation of Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund". www.businesswire.com. 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
- ^ a b c "Amazon taps $2B climate fund to invest in three more startups". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
- ^ a b "Amazon funds two climate tech firms as a third gains ground". Axios. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
- ^ "Climate Innovation Fund | Microsoft CSR". www.microsoft.com.
- ^ "We spun out a $60M fund. 5 things you didn't read in the press". Elemental Excelerator. September 8, 2021.
- ^ "About". VertueLab.
- ^ "DECARBON8 - US". E8 Cleantech Angels.
- Amazon (company)