If urgency were the driving motivation of venture funding, you’d expect cleantech would be cleaning up.

However, that’s not happening. In the wake of a record year for global surface temperatures that brought epic destruction from wildfires, floods and storms, sustainability-related investment is off to a sluggish start in 2025.

So far this year, only around $2.3 billion globally has gone to seed through growth-stage investments in sustainability-related categories 1, per Crunchbase data. That’s down more than two-thirds from the same period last year, which was already a weak period for investment.

Deals that did get done

Still, it’s probably wise to take more time before declaring a 2025 cleantech contraction.

Currently, we’re only seven weeks into the year, and much could change. A few enormous rounds in areas like fusion or carbon capture could boost totals substantially. 

So far this year, we’ve also already seen a few big rounds. Those that raised $100 million or more include:

• Helion Energy, a fusion startup, locked up a $425 million January Series F, valuing the company at $5.4 billion. Investors in the round included Lightspeed Venture Partners, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Sam Altman. 
• Chestnut Carbon, a New York-based startup that develops new forests on marginal crop and pasture lands, secured $160 million this week in a Series B with backing from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Cloverlay and DBL Partners.
• Inari, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup that designs more sustainable seeds for agriculture, landed a $144 million January fundraise. The company is focused on creating new seeds for large-acre crops with its first wave of products, which includes soybeans, corn and wheat.
• Aegis Energy, based in the U.K., raised $125 million in financing from Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners to build a network of clean, multienergy recharging and refueling facilities for commercial vehicles. Fuel types will include electric, HVO, hydrogen and bio-CNG.

Picking up the pace

Hopefully, as coming quarters unfold we’ll see a pickup in rounds big and small for promising startups developing tools and technologies offering more sustainable alternatives to the current carbon-spewing status quo.

It’s possible some are taking a break to digest how impending regulatory changes will impact the space. In the U.S. in particular, the switch from the climate-conscious Biden administration to the “drill baby drill” Trump administration ethos will impact regulations, subsidies and grant funding. 

Planetary temperatures, however, won’t be changing their upward trajectory based on who’s in office. So eventually cleantech funding ought to follow suit.

Related Crunchbase Pro list:

• Cleantech, EV & Sustainability-Related Funding, 2025 YTD

Related reading:

• Cleantech Funding Weakened In 2024

Illustration: Dom Guzman