The climate transition requires not just allocating trillions of dollars to scale new technologies, build new infrastructure, and transform incumbent industries – it requires getting the right mix of capital to develop, grow, and eventually scale innovations.

In the world of climate, promising technologies too often don’t find the growth-stage capital that’s needed before large institutional investors can finance reaching scale. Addressing this missing middle is a structural challenge that requires more attention, and today’s episode is the first in a series of discussions on the missing middle in climate, developed in partnership with Spring Lane Capital.

In this conversation, I’m joined by Jason Scott, a long-time climate investor who is Partner in Residence at Spring Lane Capital and also Board Chair of CREO Syndicate, and Régine Clément, CEO at CREO Syndicate. Spring Lane has been investing for years in the missing middle and has unique expertise in the challenges and opportunities it holds. If you haven’t heard of CREO, this is a group you should know. CREO works to help family offices invest more in climate. Families hold over $10 trillion in assets and can bring versatility and resilience that can help improve climate finance. CREO is working to mobilize $1 trillion for climate in the coming years. We talk about insights from their recent report on the missing middle, how climate investing has evolved in recent years, the role of catalytic capital, whether investors are backing away from climate amidst changing policy and macro-factors, and much more.

This was a great kick-off for our Deep Dive: Missing Middle in Climate Tech series, and I hope it piques your interest in the other episodes as well. And, if it piques your interest about partnering on a topical series of your own, don’t hesitate to reach out.

What You'll Learn

What the "missing middle" is and why it's crucial for climate progress
How climate financing has evolved over the past decade and what gaps remain
The unique role family offices play in addressing climate investment gaps
Why growth-stage capital is especially scarce despite strong returns in climate investing
How policy uncertainty and structural market issues impact climate finance
Strategic approaches to mobilize trillions for climate solutions by 2030

In today’s episode, we cover:

03:12 - Régine’s background and CREO Syndicate's work
06:08 - Jason’s background and Spring Lane Capital’s work
08:22 - Defining the "missing middle" in climate finance
13:19 - Analysis of climate investment trends and current market dynamics
17:43 - The 6x financing gap needed to reach climate goals by 2030
19:57 - Why the missing middle in climate is more complex than in other sectors
24:49 - Structural challenges with fund sizes and misaligned investor incentives
30:33 - The surprising finding that only 18% of self-proclaimed climate funds invest >50% in climate
34:05 - Perspective on progress despite policy uncertainty and market fluctuations
37:47 - The economic case for climate investing beyond environmental benefits
41:27 - The unique role of family offices in catalyzing climate capital

Resources Mentioned

Connect with Us

Spring Lane Capital

Website: https://springlanecapital.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/springlanecapital/

CREO Syndicate

Website: https://www.creosyndicate.org/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/meet-creo/

Invested in Climate

Have feedback or ideas for future episodes, events, or partnerships? Get in touch!

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