Cleantech Venture Capital in a Pandemic

The world looked bleak for startups in the spring.

According to figures from Crunchbase, venture capital deals were down 44 percent from March to June compared with last year. Seed-stage deals took the biggest hit, down nearly 60 percent. But series B deals also took a hit. It was difficult at any stage of funding.

Deals are finally coming back. Obviously, travel startups won’t be a hot category for a long time. But what about climate and cleantech? Are they insulated? And what does the reorientation tell us about who’s still all-in on the category?

We’re joined by Abe Yokell, managing partner and co-founder of Congruent Ventures. He and Shayle dig into a wide range of venture capital trends:

• COVID impacts on the “climate tech” venture revolution. We’ll check back in on what we talked about last time, given the new state of the world.
• The rise of the tech company mega-climate-fund
• Public market madness. What, if anything, does this say about exit prospects for climate tech startups?
• Hot sectors: where is the smart tech talent going?

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