Charted: Climate software's inflection point

Climate software startups have raked in roughly $1.3 billion in total private funding to date, but are only just getting started.

Why it matters: Funding for climate technology startups still remains relatively low and accounts for less than a quarter of all venture capital dollars deployed in the last year.

By the numbers: Crunchbase looked at 27 climate technology startups that raised private funding over the last year. A Crunchbase representative tells Axios that it has tracked climate-tech company data as long as any other industry, but has started breaking out focused reports in the past year.

• The industry was dominated by just four companies that have raised more than $100 million each to date. Those four companies — GridPoint, Xpansiv, Arcadia and Persefoni — accounted for roughly $818 million of the total $1.3 billion raised.
• More than half of total funding to date — $640 million — was secured in the last year.
• Roughly half of that figure was raised in 2022, Crunchbase reports.
• Eight of the top 10 funded climate startups were based in the U.S.

Between the lines: Large rounds indicate that more capital is chasing just a handful of target companies.

• Carbon accounting has been a particularly appealing area for investors. Watershed, a three-year-old carbon accounting startup, was valued at $1 billion in its most recent round in February, a $70 million Series B.

What they're saying: "Climate-focused software startups were a hot area for early-stage investment last year," wrote Crunchbase News' Joanna Glasner. "Now it appears companies are graduating rather quickly to larger rounds and much higher valuations."