Live from New York Climate Week with CTVC

21 snips

Sep 25, 2023

Kim Zou and Sophie Purdom, co-founders of CTVC, discuss their journey in climate tech, the origins of CTVC, and the evolution of their market intelligence company. They delve into the current state of funding in climate tech, the role of project finance and infrastructure financing, and the challenges faced by climate tech companies in securing growth funding. They also highlight the importance of data-driven insights and the involvement of major banks in financing climate projects.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Starting a ClimateTech Newsletter

01:43 • 18min

Grit, Hustle, and Happy Accidents: Building a Market Intelligence Company

19:23 • 4min

The Business Model of a Climate Transition Subscription Product

23:36 • 5min

Current State of Funding in Climate Tech

28:30 • 3min

Project Finance and Infrastructure Financing in Climate Tech

31:15 • 14min

Analyzing capital stack challenges and the role of banks in financing climate projects

45:20 • 3min

Financing in the Climate Tech Industry

47:57 • 5min

Challenges and Opportunities in Climate Tech Funding

52:36 • 4min

We kicked off New York Climate Week with a live podcast recording with Kim Zou and Sophie Purdom, co-founders of CTVC. CTVC’s data-driven insights have been featured in channels including NYTimes, Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times, and TechCrunch.

Kim serves as the CEO of CTVC. She was previously a climate tech investor at Energy Impact Partners. Prior to joining EIP, Kim was part of JPMorgan's Tech M&A investment banking team and graduated from Johns Hopkins University.

In addition to her work with CTVC, Sophie Purdom invests in and supports early-stage climate tech founders and their companies via her venture capital fund Planeteer Capital. Prior, Sophie launched an ESG fund at a major endowment, learned to make pretty slides at Bain & Co., published a book on sustainable investing, and helped found an agricultural technology company that makes carbon-negative ammonia fertilizer.

Special shout-out to everyone who came out to the live recording, and to our hosts at P&T Knitwear for lending their beautiful space in the Lower East Side. Enjoy the show!

In this episode, we cover:

[2:33] How Kim and Sophie met and the early days of CTVC
[6:37] Kim's background
[10:14] The pair's early venture experience
[13:22] Sophie's background
[17:05] The origins of Planeteer Capital
[20:18] CTVC's evolution into a market intelligence company
[25:42] CTVC's Climate Tech Capital Stack: https://www.ctvc.co/the-sophisticating-climate-capital-stack/
[28:51] Early stage dry powder
[31:36] Project finance and infrastructure financing
[36:56] Public funding and philanthropy
[40:06] Trends in philanthropic catalytic capital
[43:45] Corporate strategics
[46:34] The role of banks
[50:08] Insurance
[51:18] Sophie and Kim's predictions for the market in the near term

Get connected:

Kim Zou X / LinkedIn
Sophie Purdom X / LinkedIn
Cody Simms X / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective / Instagram

*You can also reach us via email at info@mcjcollective.com, where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on September 18, 2023 (Published on September 25, 2023)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant