Elemental Announces $100M in Upcoming Funding

Leading nonprofit climate investor opens one of the first opportunities to access funding from the U.S. EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

New name – Elemental Impact – marks 15 year anniversary and expansion to broader platform

SAN FRANCISCO and NEW YORK | September 18, 2024 ― Elemental Impact, a leading nonprofit climate technology investor formerly known as Elemental Excelerator, today announced that it is opening applications for projects to receive investments via a $100M funding program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) historic and market-driven Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). This new funding, made possible through a subaward from the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC), will support entrepreneurs and climate technologies that are ready for scale and poised to deliver greenhouse gas emissions reductions and local community benefits. Companies can submit proposals at elementalimpact.com.

With its extensive, nationwide portfolio of projects, Elemental will draw on its history of direct investing into venture-backed climate companies and place-based deployments across energy, transportation, water, agriculture, and industry, and make equity and debt investments to scale climate solutions and deliver local community impact.

Now in its 15th year, the organization also announced today a rename to Elemental Impact, a name that reflects its expansion to an investing platform with a family of funds working in concert to mobilize capital from philanthropy, government, and private investors. The Elemental Impact platform is anchored by a non-profit supported by $210M in philanthropy and public funding to date and will expand its non-profit investing and tailored community engagement support with this initial $100M in GGRF funding. The platform also includes the $94M venture fund Earthshot Ventures, which was launched from the Elemental nonprofit in 2021. Elemental Impact will continue to expand to meet the evolving needs of climate entrepreneurs with additional fund strategies and vehicles in the future.

“We have invested in more than 150 companies working to scale important innovations, and the challenge is clear. The sector needs not only innovation in technology, but also in finance, community partnership, and project implementation. Today, we are expanding our platform to meet this need – because where we invest our time and our capital over the next five years will impact the next hundred,” said Dawn Lippert, founder and CEO of Elemental Impact.

“Through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund we will make historic investments in the fight against climate change and give leaders like Elemental the resources needed to bring clean energy investments to all communities, including those historically underserved by finance. By building scalable, inclusive projects, Elemental is doing the critical work to build green infrastructure with a community-focused approach,” said Eli Hopson, Chief Administrative Officer of CGC.

Elemental will also continue to play a supportive role in the deployment of GGRF across multiple participants by building a national pipeline of projects. In addition to being a subawardee to CGC, Elemental is collaborating as a transaction partner to Climate United and a deployment partner to Power Forward Communities, and will remain a convener of and collaborator with investors from across the climate ecosystem. Elemental Impact plans to leverage its extensive network of co-investors, which already number more than 1,000 firms, to amplify the $100M in line with U.S. EPA’s goal for GGRF to mobilize financing and private capital to stimulate additional deployment of GHG- and air pollution-reducing projects.

“Philanthropy is at its best when we’re helping our partners overcome obstacles and address systemic gaps,” said Maria Kozloski, Senior Vice President of Innovative Finance at The Rockefeller Foundation. “We’re proud that our support of Elemental helped make critical projects happen in frontline communities and look forward to the additional impact they will make with this new investment.”

“This is exactly what entrepreneurs and the climate innovation field needs – investment dollars and expert support to mobilize private capital and enable scale. And this is exactly what Elemental has been consistently delivering since its founding,” said Naveen Sikka, board member of Elemental and CEO of Terviva, one of Elemental’s earliest investments. “In this next chapter, Elemental is poised to make an even greater impact for communities.”

About The Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation that enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We make big bets to promote the well-being of humanity. Today, we are focused on advancing human opportunity and reversing the climate crisis by transforming systems in food, health, energy, and finance. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at www.rockefellerfoundation.org/subscribe  and follow us on X @RockefellerFdn and LI @the-rockefeller-foundation.

This press release first appeared in prnewswire.com on September 18th, 2024, and is reposted with permission.