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Tough venture markets have forced climate founders and their funders to set more realistic outlooks for their startups, Victoria Beasley tells Axios. 

Why it matters: Beasley is a sector veteran, serving as partner at Gigascale Capital and, previously, general partner at Prelude Ventures.

What's been the big news in climate-tech investment this month? 

"Companies have committed nearly $500 trillion to build new factories. We haven't grasped the implications: 

It's not just manufacturing capacity, it's data-center growth. We're adding this in an already grid-constrained environment. 

It's going to take a long time for some of these to get turned on. Folks are going to be running off generators for a while."

"It's not just big companies. Startups are building over 100 domestic manufacturing facilities — they need financing, and they need financing ahead of meaningful revenue.

If you can't connect to the grid and you can't start manufacturing, that can be a bottleneck. But the thing we're paying attention is how you're going to pay the bills.

We're tracking the role of non-dilutive capital: not just government incentives, but mechanisms like forward-pay contracts from customers, banks willing to pull-forward IRA and other incentive dollars and lend against them."

"There is lots of capital on the sidelines waiting for investable opportunities. 

What we're seeing is a flight to quality: Companies that are doing well are not having trouble fundraising, and they're raising at great valuations.

Startups are getting better at setting reasonable milestones. A couple years ago, a lot wasn't grounded in reality. The last year or so has been coming back to healthy expectations."

💼 First job: "The first thing I got paid for was mowing the grass. My first job, in college, was front-desk admin in my first dorm."

👑 Proudest investment: "Mill, the food waste recovery company. At first glance, you're like, 'Seriously, an in-home composter?' When you do the math, it has the opportunity to have massive near-term climate impact."

🤦 Facepalm investment: "There have been visible failures in sectors that have required meaningful subsidies. Any fuel or power source that requires a long-term subsidy, I'm skeptical."

💡 One tip for climate founders or funders: "Focus on the green discount."

A climate reset, this time with 'healthy expectations'

Victoria Beasley of Gigascale Capital talks with Axios Pro

Photo illustration of Victoria Beasley with a pattern of Gigascale Capital logos.

Victoria Beasley. illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Courtesy of Gigascale Capital

Climate change

Tough venture markets have forced climate founders and their funders to set more realistic outlooks for their startups, Victoria Beasley tells Axios. Why it matters: Beasley is a sector veteran, serving as partner at <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Gigascale" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2023/05/02/meta-cto-mike-schroepfer-gigascale-capital-climate-vc-firm" data-vars-content-id="d1b9304e-a1a1-4dc1-8355-7b8181771676" data-vars-headline="A climate reset, this time with &#x27;healthy expectations&#x27;" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2023/05/02/meta-cto-mike-schroepfer-gigascale-capital-climate-vc-firm" target="_self">Gigascale</a> <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Capital" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2023/11/13/mike-schroepfer-climate-tech" data-vars-content-id="d1b9304e-a1a1-4dc1-8355-7b8181771676" data-vars-headline="A climate reset, this time with &#x27;healthy expectations&#x27;" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2023/11/13/mike-schroepfer-climate-tech" target="_self">Capital</a> and, previously, general partner at Prelude Ventures.

A climate reset, this time with 'healthy expectations'

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