Salesforce Ventures at Climate Week NYC: Top Takeaways
Key insights from the Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund team.
Climate Week NYC brings together world leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives from around the world to accelerate climate progress and explore new opportunities for a more sustainable future. The Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund team attended over 50 events at this year’s Climate Week on the state of climate tech, challenges facing startups, and new investment opportunities.
Here are four major takeaways from an insightful week.
AI Takes Center Stage
Artificial intelligence is transforming the climate tech landscape by enabling solutions that will tackle climate change at a faster pace than legacy solutions ever could. At the same time, data center energy consumption remains a key focus point for sustainability teams. Given that the energy needs for AI are significant, it’s clear that alternative sources of energy consumption or more energy-efficient infrastructure will be needed to enable the growth of AI technologies. However, optimism remains that the scale of innovation in climate tech enabled by AI will also help mitigate the emissions it releases.
It was great to see multiple Salesforce Ventures portfolio companies building at the intersection of climate and AI take center stage during Climate Week. Altana, which uses AI to build dynamic, intelligent, and universal maps of the global supply chain, participated in a panel on the Main Stage at the Nest Climate Campus. Pano, a leading provider of AI-powered wildfire detection software, spoke at the Climate and AI Summit at the Salesforce Tower.
Evolving Fundraising Environment
There’s been a notable shift in the climate tech fundraising environment relative to prior years. In particular, more venture funds are interested in investing in hardware and deeptech offerings versus software only. More funds are also looking to deploy project financing and other forms of non-dilutive capital. This mix of capital is a welcome development and unlocks more avenues for climate businesses to scale.
There was also an added emphasis on government’s role in encouraging companies to use sustainable products instead of cheaper alternatives. Advocates for cleaner technologies that need time to get to economies of scale can benefit from increased taxation on more carbon-intensive products.
Women Leading the Way
The Female Founders and Funders event Salesforce Ventures sponsored was a significant milestone, gathering over 500 women in the climate sector, with an additional 1,000 on the waitlist. This growth reflects the increasing role of women in climate technology and investment. It was incredible to have a full house of women building and investing in leading technologies. The female VCs in the room collectively closed over 1,000 deals in 2024 alone, with an AUM exceeding $10B.
Opportunities for Climate Acceleration
During Climate Week, many conversations highlighted the challenges that companies face. One recurring obstacle is the urgent need to reform permitting processes to empower emerging climate innovations and businesses. The average timeline for a project to obtain the necessary environmental reviews is currently 4.5 years. Addressing these long timelines is essential for accelerating the transition to clean energy.
Moreover, many climate companies are stuck in a cycle of stakeholder education, given that they need approval from regulators and procurement teams to advance their projects. Increased education and more streamlined procurement processes would quickly pull forward climate solutions.
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Being surrounded by folks working at the bleeding edge of climate innovation was invigorating. We left the week with optimism for the future and a better understanding of the obstacles in the way of growth — and how to tackle them. We look forward to returning to Climate Week NYC next year.
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