It’s not often that the world’s richest people get together, agree on a goal that’s for the public good, and then set about finding ways to achieve it. But that’s what Bill Gates has achieved with Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), which aims to invest $1 billion into radical energy startups capable of drastically cutting global emissions. The fund draws on the resources of billionaires like India’s Mukesh Ambani, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Virgin’s Richard Branson, Alibaba’s Jack Ma, and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son.
In June, Quartz broke the story of BEV’s first two investments: Form Energy, which is developing two new types of battery chemistries capable of storing weeks and months worth of energy, respectively, and Quidnet Energy, which is developing a technology to replicate the benefits of hydropower by pumping water into subsurface shale formations.
It’s not often that the world’s richest people get together, agree on a goal that’s for the public good, and then set about finding ways to achieve it. But that’s what Bill Gates has achieved with Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), which aims to invest $1 billion into radical energy startups capable of drastically cutting global emissions. The fund draws on the resources of billionaires like India’s Mukesh Ambani, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Virgin’s Richard Branson, Alibaba’s Jack Ma, and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son.
In June, Quartz broke the story of BEV’s first two investments: Form Energy, which is developing two new types of battery chemistries capable of storing weeks and months worth of energy, respectively, and Quidnet Energy, which is developing a technology to replicate the benefits of hydropower by pumping water into subsurface shale formations.
“We are a unique fund with investors who are patient and flexible,” says Rodi Guidero, executive director of BEV. “Our goal is to find the companies that will have the greatest impact on accelerating the energy transition and help them in whatever way we can.”
To help him find those companies, Guidero draws on an in-house group of scientists, technologists, and entrepreneurs, along with a network of 140 academic institutions and large corporations. They provide expertise on the vast range of technologies that BEV is interested in.
To be eligible for BEV’s money, a startup needs to showcase a scientifically sound technology that has the potential to reduce annual global greenhouse-gas emissions by at least 500 million metric tons. Global emissions currently measure about 40 billion metric tons a year.
Portfolio thinking
BEV says the companies went through rigorous rounds of checks before receiving funding ranging from $200,000 to $20 million, depending on their stage of development and needs. The initial list has companies that are both young (Form Energy was formed last year) and fairly mature (CarbonCure has been around for 10 years).
BEV won’t share the individual sum each company received, but the total investment thus far comes to $100 million. It has acknowledged that $1 billion is not that much to invest in the energy space. Consider, for example, the fact that the latest nuclear-fusion reactor being built has a price tag of $22 billion. But BEV hopes to leverage its partners and media attention to help fill funding and other gaps.
To some extent, that’s already starting to happen. Breakthrough Energy Coalition, a sister non-profit to BEV, convinced 15 countries, including the US, France, and India, to double government spending on energy technologies. And a few weeks ago, Form Energy and Quidnet Energy both received $4 million and $3.3 million in grants, respectively, from the US Department of Energy’s advanced research projects division. Quidnet acknowledged that the media attention the company received as a result of BEV’s investment also made it easier to recruit good talent.
BEV’s focus is on funding projects that will reduce emissions from five sectors: electricity, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, and buildings. Each of the companies on the initial list fits into one or more of those buckets.
Though the portfolio may cover a large range of technologies, it is limited in other respects. The startups announced by BEV so far are all North American, and most of their leadership is also largely white and male.