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BFD Expert Voices - Climate Deals

BFD Expert Voices

Rick Zullo managed to emerge from the Cleantech 1.0 bust relatively unscathed. He was an investor at the time, and watched the industry "implode" seemingly overnight.

"I had to reinvent myself," he tells Axios.

Why he matters: He set his sights on emerging markets, and eventually went on to start Equal Ventures in 2019, a highly focused venture firm that, Zullo believes, can use its investors' expertise to avoid the pitfalls of Cleantech 1.o.

The below has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What, in your view, has been the big story in clean energy/climate tech this week?

Lawrence Livermore National Lab announced the first nuclear fusion reaction in a laboratory setting that produced more energy than it took to generate.

This is perhaps the single most impactful scientific pursuit of our generation and a highly encouraging sign. While this is a significant breakthrough, we must recognize that commercialization and deployment of a technology like this might take decades. With that, we can’t look at this as a reason to let up, but rather a reason to press forward. 

By contrast, what is not receiving the attention you feel it deserves?

The potential for blackouts throughout Europe as temperatures cool shows us how fragile global energy markets really are. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to take its toll, and even countries like France — which has a significant nuclear base — are at risk. 

In three-ish words, what change would you make to clean energy/climate-tech investing?

Play YOUR game. During the first cleantech wave a decade ago, venture investors lost more than $10 billion investing in frontier technologies. In large part, these were investments primarily made by folks who had traditionally only invested in software. These investors actually made money on software investments in cleantech, but that was overshadowed by the losses generated on the frontier investments. That deterred investment into the sector for years. 

Digitization of the energy sector represents a tremendous opportunity to have an impact and generate returns, but we’re seeing traditional software investors fall into the same habits. Ultimately, we see frontier and digital investing as two very different games. Our belief is that investors should "play the game" they are best positioned to evaluate and add value. If you are investing in frontier assets, make sure you have the technical expertise, know-how and fund structure for those companies. 

Expert voices: Equal Ventures' Rick Zullo

He thinks investors should treat software investing differently than frontier technology.

Photo illustration of Rick Zullo with the Equal Ventures logo repeated. 

Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photo and logo: Courtesy of Equal Ventures

Expert voices

<p>Rick Zullo managed to emerge from the Cleantech 1.0 bust relatively unscathed. He was an investor at the time, and watched the industry &quot;implode&quot; seemingly overnight.</p><p>&quot;I had to reinvent myself,&quot; he tells Axios.</p>

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Expert voices: Equal Ventures' Rick Zullo

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