Insights
Fundraising Insights for Early-Stage Climate Tech Founders
Feb 20
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Everyone knows raising capital means presenting a bold vision, and there’s a lot of advice out there on how to craft the perfect pitch deck. While your pitch is important, fundraising is about much more than what you put in your slides.
What’s often overlooked is that fundraising is an opportunity to gather insights to build a better business. As Mike Schroepfer, Founder of Gigascale Capital and former CTO of Meta, puts it, “Investor meetings are a treasure trove of information. The questions investors ask reflect where they see opportunities in your market and potential pitfalls in your plans. Use that feedback to refine your pitch and sharpen your strategy.”
This guide draws from the experiences of Gigascale Capital portfolio company founders and investors to share insights that will help you approach your fundraise with a learning mindset:
- Phil Krinner (Arch): Talks about making your value proposition clear
- Matt Zehnder (Pasture Biosciences): Shares how he found a champion
- Mike Schroepfer (Gigascale Capital): Gives insights on finding investors
- Victoria Beasley (Gigascale Capital): Demystifies what it means to tell a good story
Find Thought Partners
The right investors accelerate your growth, bring deep expertise, and have strong networks. Rather than chasing the biggest or most well-known funds, find individuals who best fit your stage, sector, and company needs.
For pre-seed to seed founders, this means seeking out people who specialize in supporting early-stage companies. Angel investors are valuable for building momentum because they decide quickly, make introductions, and help refine your pitch. Many bring subject matter expertise, act as references with institutional investors, and can even connect you with potential customers in your sector.
Mike’s advice: research thoroughly. “You need to understand what each fund offers and decide if that’s what you need. Some have a Rolodex of industrial customers. Others deeply understand consumer hardware and get what you mean by an NPS of 72. Write down what your company needs most and map that to see who checks the most boxes.”
For Matt Zehnder, CEO of Pasture Biosciences, focusing on early-stage funds led him to Evaline Tsai, Principal at Gigascale Capital. Evaline’s biotech background and founder experience made her a valuable thought partner and early champion for the company. “Our story became her story, and she went on to make a bunch of calls on our behalf,” Matt recalls.
Founders should also carefully evaluate not just the fund, but the partner they’ll work with. Mike points out, “At Gigascale, we’re team-oriented, so founders can tap into everyone’s expertise. Most funds don’t work that way. The partner you work with will be your main interface, so make sure they get you.”
Shape Your Story
“Tell a great story” is common advice. But what does it mean in practice?
A compelling story helps investors see why your solution is the best answer to a pressing market need and why your team is uniquely the one to scale it.
Victoria Beasley, Partner at Gigascale Capital, offers this advice: “Investors look for good storytellers because they can sell their technology. Since we’re focused only on climate solutions, we tell founders to skip the first 10 slides explaining the urgency of the crisis. Instead, pitch us on how your company will use market forces to scale fast and reach gigaton or gigawatt impact.”
Mike adds, “Start your pitch with the value proposition. Why is your product cheaper, better, or faster than what’s out there today? Investors need to see how you’ll win commercially before they can appreciate the climate impact.”
Phil Krinner’s approach with Arch highlights this well. While heat pump hardware gets a lot of attention, he identified a gap in contractor tools and processes that slowed down adoption. “The market didn’t need a better device. Installers needed software to help sell and install efficiently,” he says.
For Matt at Pasture Biosciences, this meant showing why other approaches wouldn’t scale. “We saw enthusiasm for methane reduction from cows, but anything that changed how the animals graze and feed wouldn’t be adopted,” Matt explains. Instead, he pitched a vaccine that could fit into routine animal care, a commercially viable path to scale that resonated with investors.
Your team is also a critical part of the story. Investors want to see sector insights, startup experience, and a plan for filling gaps with key hires and advisors. Framing your team’s expertise effectively helps make the case that you are the only ones who can build and scale the business.
Show Your Thinking
Investors want to see a clear path to competitive economics. They’re also potential collaborators who can help you improve your plan if you show them the logic behind it.
“If you tell me your system is $100/kWh and will drop to $10/kWh, I need to understand what drives that cost down,” Mike explains. “Is it material costs, design improvements, or something entirely new? Show me the math so we can discuss your assumptions and I can share my insights with you.”
The right investors will engage with you and push your thinking. Phil emphasizes this, “I love working with investors who don’t wait for the founder to bring to them all the information. Our first investors were really prepared. They knew the market and challenged me on not just level one and two but also level three.”
Mapping milestones is also a pragmatic way to bring investors along and gather their feedback. “Asking for a huge check and making investors wait years for results doesn’t work,” says Mike. “Investors want to see steady progress and a clear progression of technical achievements. If you’re showing me clear milestones, I can point out where you could shorten a testing cycle, retire risk faster, and speed up your learning curve.”
Now, Build Your Pitch Deck
With all those insights in mind, it’s now time to start building a fundraising deck that outlines the vision, strategy, and path to scale.
Here are examples to help you get started:
Visit the Gigascale blog for more insights on building and scaling startups.
