According to Sean OSullivan, SOSV managing general partner and Carmichael Roberts from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the decarbonization of our planet will be the next major disruption in the 21st Century.
An industry-wide disruption of this magnitude will cause significant changes in every sector and area of our daily lives. This will create a complex web that presents challenges and opportunities for resistance. Entrepreneurs and investors backing them will have unprecedented opportunities to turn their climate tech ideas into products and services.
The hard part is that we must change everything. OSullivan stated this while speaking on the TechCrunch Dirupt 2021 virtual stage. Climate tech is more than one thing that must be changed. There are 100 different areas and 1,000 different industries that require innovation.
Climate tech has become one of the most attractive sectors to invest in. However, success is not guaranteed. Climate tech is not like other industries. It crosses into almost every industry including transport, energy, agriculture and consumer goods.
Investors face the first challenge of evaluating the startups and their business plans to see if they are truly climate tech.
Robert pointed out that it is a broad and wide-ranging category that covers everything and everyone that can lower carbon overall.
Are climate tech-ready people?
Even after climate tech startups have successfully raised capital and scaled up, it is possible for entrenched industry forces to hinder progress. People are naturally resistant to change, as OSullivan pointed out.
Both investors however have been more open to the idea.
People today are trying to figure how to blend, transition, and add. There are many questions that I hear: How can we embrace the transition? How can we not fear it?
