Forge

Unlocking Climate Grants ?? if you missed the panel I have you covered. Here's what you need to know: 1?? Ryan Alcorn from GrantExec "There has never been a better time to pursue non-dilutive funding" with over $1 Billion and 78 open opportunities - see them on GrantExec here: https://www.grantexec.com 2?? Why does it seem like some companies bat 1,000 and always get grants, while others get rejected multiple times? ? A) ?? Government relationships:?Meet with program officers to vet your idea before the application opens up. Find out their goals and objectives as a funder. ? B) ?? Partnerships. DO NOT just get letters of support. Write a serious Community Benefits Plan and be serious about how you'll elevate the communities impacted by your project. ? C) ?? Be a subcontractor first. Work with a Prime that's already won lots of grants and be their partner. 3?? NEVER underestimate the burden of post-award management which means accounting, reporting, and compliance. That's what I deal with at Forge. DM me if you want to know what I mean by that. 4?? Timing. Think about the long haul. ? A) ?? Does this funding actually contribute to your business plan and help your future customers? Don't try to fit a square peg into a round hole just to get "free money" (it's not really free, there's overhead and opportunity cost) ? B) ?? How will your non-dilutive funded projects fit into the trajectory of your capital stack? For example, at some point years from now you'll need to stand in front of a growth equity investor and convince them this is a bankable project, capable of taking on millions in debt ? C) ??? The timing of your capital expenditures and how you cover them is a cautionary tale. 5?? Legal ?A) You need a strategy to protect your IP when it comes to government dollars ?B) Be careful if you think you want to purchase equipment with federal dollars. They get a property interest and it could bite you when you try to get a loan and are limited in how you can include that equipment in your collateral package. ?? ? C) Jaron Goddard is the expert ?? 6?? Election risk ?A) If Congress is split, it will be difficult to fully repeal the IRA ? B) Trump says a lot of things that he can't actually do, and has a record of not being able to follow through ?C) More IRA money has gone to Red states than Blue, so they get a huge benefit ?D) Energy independence and competing with China are bi-partisan goals that dovetail with clean energy Is that helpful folks? Panel credit: ?? Dimitar Simeonov - CEO, Pioneer ?? Samm Gillard - Vice President, SMI ?? Ryan Alcorn - CEO, GrantExec ?? Jaron Goddard - Associate, Energy and Climate Solutions, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati ?? Chris Dowd (Moderator) - Collaborative Fund

This is what #climateweek should be about. Spontaneous organic connections. Here I am pitching Forge on a public bench in Central Park with Matt Candler & Lydia Y. Nichols from Batteries Included Fund. Definitely my highlight of the week so far. #ParkBenchPitch #CWNY #ClimateWeekNYC

Commerce today announced a $37 million investment in 46 clean energy projects across Washington. The grants are funded by the Climate Commitment Act with additional state funding to boost clean tech innovation and support planning, design, and construction projects. “The wide range of projects funded reflect the state’s overarching climate goals to create economic opportunities and jobs, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, increase power supply reliability and resilience, reduce emissions, and strengthen the clean technology supply chain,” said Commerce Director Mike Fong. ?? WATCH: Jennifer Grove, managing director of the Energy Programs in Communities unit, discusses the clean energy grants and additional announcements coming soon. Read the full news release: https://lnkd.in/gjtcAvt8

In case you missed the Climate Tech Investor Panel for #SeattleTechWeek ?? ?? The State of Climate Tech 2024 - Report by Silicon Valley Bank 1) ?? Climate tech money is still flowing - $11B in the last 4 quarters, a historical high 2) ? Climate Tech is more resilient! - although deal activity fell a whopping 27% across the entire market since 2021; climate tech outperformed this drop with just a 14% decline 3) ? Investors care way more about climate - roughly 85% of LPs surveyed have interest in climate tech with only 15% saying no interest. Compare that to the 37% who expressed no interest in 2019 4) ?? BUT...runway is a challenge. 60% of climate tech startups have less than 12 months of cash to burn Full report here: https://lnkd.in/gER-sJyc === FROM THE PANEL === 1) ?? No impact numbers = no cash. Clean Energy Ventures requires startups to prove a path toward reducing 2.5 gigatons by 2050 2) ? Watch the "green premium". You don't get a free pass from Eric Berman unless your price is competitive with what's already out there. 3) ?? AI is a massive energy hog...but on the flip side, it's available RIGHT NOW to improve grid flexibility. LineVision is an example investment from Taylor Brugh and Yi Jean Chow. 4) ?? Shout outs ? H2 Green Steel has "so much customer demand they can't keep up." ? Twelve is constructing a sustainable aviation fuel plant in Moses Lake, WA in partnership with Alaska Airlines. ? Travertine just got funding to turn chemical waste into fertilizer. ? Eavor Technologies Inc. is revolutionizing geothermal by eliminating water use, fracking, aquifer contamination, and earthquake risk. Thank you Jon Prentice for hosting, Kiran M. for presenting, and the rest of the organizing team! Jenni Sandsmark, Natalie Steck, Karin Kidder et al.

Was invigorating to attend an alternative finance and business model session and a rooftop investor happy hour yesterday as part of PNW Climate Week. So fabulous to see old faces and the so many new faces in the Seattle climate community! #pnwclimateweek #investing #climatetech

?? Ready for an interesting fact about the 5 Seattle founders who presented at Founders Live for #PNWClimateWeek? ? 1) ?? Ryan Metzger, CEO and Co-Founder of Ridwell, got a huge early start?thanks to a viral Nextdoor post by Ty Wolfe-Jones. Back then they would send a crew to your house via NextDoor and recycle things for you! 2) ??? Tom Gurski of Blue Dot Motorworks is racing to turn your gas car into a plugin hybrid. Even if we shut down the production of new gas cars, we would still be 400% off our Paris Agreement target. 3) ?? Daphne de Jong of Ven is taking on the absurdity of paying up to 80% more for insurance if you drive an electric vehicle. 4) ?? Kim Martini is crowdsourcing critical ocean data through smart watches to replace multi-million dollar equipment that ocean scientists are using. 5) ?? Xenia Dolovova of Furniture Repair Bank will repair your furniture and give it to resettled refugees and people who recently experienced homelessness. We already have 92 million TONS of discarded furniture in our landfills ?? So much passion and creativity in #Seattle to solve massive problems. Props to: Georgetown Steam Plant CDA, Sarah O'Sell, Ty Wolfe-Jones, Amelia Marckworth, Kelly Lawton-Abbott, JD/MBA, Louis Newkirk, Luis Antezana, Gary Malcolm, Raxit J., Nick Hughes, Melissa Reaves, Story Fruition, LLC, Bill Sablan, Nick Ellingson, Koki Sato, WTIA, NOW CFO, Countsy

?? Join me next Tues as your moderator for 'Alternative Funding for Climate & Impact Startups' ?? One week left to secure your spot at this panel for PNW Climate Week! ?? July 9th, 4:00-5:30 PM ?? Labour Temple - Seattle, Belltown, Seattle We've added more panelists: - Fred Medlicott, from Northwest Cooperative Development Center - Casey Dilloway, from New Summit Investments They join: - Melissa Widner, from Lighter Capital - Angelo Liao, CEO, Forge - David Kenney, Consultant Interim ED We'll learn, strategize, and do some myth-busting. Are you interested in more options for funding your climate tech, deep tech, or impact startup? You won't want to miss this. Limited seats remain. RSVP link in comments. #PNWClimateWeek #ClimateTech #ImpactInvesting #SustainableStartups #AltFunding #AltBizModels #Cooperative

Climate Lightning Talks are back for PNW Climate Week and we need your voice! This year is ONE MINUTE and ONE SLIDE ?? Please submit your "Minute Motif" and repost so another amazing person in your network can try it. Here is the sign up form: https://lnkd.in/ggNwC59k It's a new experiment to elevate as many perspectives and connections as possible. ?? Event Page https://lnkd.in/gVAdPgYr ?? Signup Form: https://lnkd.in/ggNwC59k

Seattle's getting a 9Zero Climate Innovation Hub! interested? ???? https://9zero.com/seattle ???? know someone who might be keen? mention them in a comment ?? on a personal note, i'm so fkin excited for this next step in climate community building! I got to meet my new colleagues Laura Kirkland Will Hespe Duncan Logan Matthew Joehnk last week in SF, and am so excited to stand-up a sibling space in Seattle ^.^ big thanks to the homies who've helped prototype climate coworking in Seattle these past few months Jakub Kubicka Rachel Partridge David Alspaugh, and a real special shout-out to Jonathan Azoff for connecting me with Duncan and the brainstorming sessions with Nivi Achanta Bart Treece Vin Valentino