Fundraising lessons and investor insights for carbon removal startups

As carbon dioxide removal (CDR) startups strive to scale up to commercialization, they often encounter a critical funding gap: few have secured project financing, and stable revenue is hard to come by. This is where venture capital – financing provided by firms or funds to startups in exchange for equity – steps in to play a crucial role.

The team at the CDR startup accelerator remove has observed this funding gap over more than five years of engagement with over 150 CDR startups. They have encountered a diverse yet fragmented CDR investor community with varying investor preferences, risk appetites, and strategic priorities, creating both opportunities and obstacles for startups seeking funding.

To better understand these dynamics and provide actionable lessons and insights for CDR startups remove initiated a project with our team at the Sustainability in Business Lab (sus.lab) at ETH Zurich. To this end, we conducted exploratory interviews with 15 investors already engaged in CDR and 5 startups that have successfully secured funding. From these interviews, we draw eight key takeaways for CDR startups navigating venture capital funding.

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