Climatetech Then and Now: 2020 v 2026 – Part One

Carbon13 just hit a mega milestone in our journey: we’ve made our 100th investment in a high-potential climatetech startup.

That’s 100 funded ventures through our Venture Builder and Accelerator programmes since we launched in 2020.

So as we hurtle into 2026, we’re looking back to 2020 and comparing then to now. We want to know what’s changed, what’s constant, and what’s next.

We already recorded a new podcast ep on the milestone with Nicky Dee and Michael Langguth (which you can watch here) but for a deeper dive into Climate Then and Now, we’ve gathered a lot of the OGs of the Carbon13 team to plumb the oceanic depths of our sector.

We’ve got Stephanie Alys, Director of Entrepreneurship and an Entrepreneur in Residence since the start, Min Dhillon, Investment Principal whose work with investors has fuelled our startups, Sara Jones, first employee at Carbon13 who launched the founder pipeline and brand, and Sarah Dees, Entrepreneur in Residence who’s mentored over 40 of our startups – plus of course Carbon13 cofounders Nicky and Michael.

They’ll share what’s changed, including:

• The money
• The ventures
• The investability
• The people
• The climate

And what does it all mean for climate founders in 2026?

It paints a clear picture of a bubble. Next, let’s zoom out from Europe to the world and draw from Sightline Climate’s End of Year Report.

They’re reporting hot off the press that climatetech venture and growth investment reached $40.5bn in 2025, which was an increase of 8%

But the bad news is most of the growth was driven by the US, the picture remains greyer for European venture (with some complexities, see report for full brief).

This means that we go into 2026 with funding levels down on 2023, but the good news is that they’re still much bigger than 2016, and holding fairly steady.

And the really good news of course? World beating companies often get launched in a downturn, just like half the Fortune 500.

What does it mean for 2026?

There’s some green shoots for climate investment especially in specific sectors such as energy and resilience, but the investment landscape means it’s more important than ever to get the starting DNA of the company right.

That’s understanding your market, your region, having the right funding strategy, getting the best team together with the right governance, understanding your IP strategy, demonstrating real traction and product milestones to investors, customers and stakeholders.

(Exactly what the Carbon13 programmes are designed to do)

Investability

“In 2020, climatetech felt like a niche. Now it spans everything from deeptech materials to industrial decarbonisation. What’s amazing is that despite a tougher fundraising environment, climatetech hasn’t slowed, it’s matured. Investors are more selective, but the technologies are stronger, and the market pull for real solutions is still very much clear.” – Min Dhillon

The bar for investment even at pre-seed has risen. The competitive VC landscape and AI mean ventures often have to go further before they can raise money – especially if they’re first time founders.

Three years ago a first-time team could raise pre-seed for software with a decent pitch and an MVP. Pre-seed used to be intended to fund testing the idea, with Seed to build the prototype/product and validate the market somewhat, and Series A to turn on the taps for growth.

Now for software, pre-seed can sometimes cover all of those bases. Teams are bringing AI-built products and a pipeline of pilot projects and traction slides with a level of detail not often seen at Seed let alone Pre-seed.

So for founders exploring the Carbon13 Venture Builder in 2026 (applications open on 12 January!!!), heed this advice from our CEO, Nicky Dee:

“The climatetech space has become more sophisticated. We’ve got a better understanding of not just the tech, but where the commercial opportunities are. And increasingly, we do expect founders to enter with some sort of an idea, either a commercial frustration or a technical trajectory that they’ve been pursuing for the last few years. We love that because most of our teams typically do hit the ground running.”

And for deeptech startups in 2026, investors ears are pricking up when they see a team with complementary skills, (and either direct experience or deep understanding of the target industry), a well done techno-economic analysis, and evidence the team can progress through the TRL levels.

So the bar’s raised for founders. They’re the beating heart of Carbon13 and the focus of our mission.

So, how have THEY changed since 2020?

Hit the button for Climate Then and Now – Part Two