A decade after the bubble burst, 5 climate tech investors explain why they're all in Twenty years ago, there were high hopes for companies aiming to mitigate environmental impacts, but an extended recession, China’s dominance over solar power manufacturing and low natural gas prices weren’t the only factors hobbling the industry. A 2016 MIT Energy Initiative working paper found that VC is “the wrong model for clean energy innovation.” It takes years to create economies of scale, and not every investor is willing to foot the bill for a decade of R&D. “If a new and more diverse set of actors avoids the mistakes of the cleantech VC boom and bust, then they may be able to support a new generation of cleantech companies,” the paper concluded. That hypothetical cohort is now a reality: a McKinsey report found that climate tech “could attract $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion of annual capital investment” by 2025. Senior climate writer Tim De Chant spoke to five investors to get their take on the state of the industry in Q3 2022. Their answers shed light on how VCs are reacting to the downturn, which tech may have the greatest potential for impact and what they’re looking for at the moment: Pae Wu, general partner, SOSV; CTO, IndieBio Christian Garcia, partner, Breakthrough Energy Ventures Rajesh Swaminathan, venture partner, Khosla Ventures Andrew Beebe, managing director, Obvious Ventures Amy Burr, president, JetBlue Technology Ventures (TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.) | 
