Climate entrepreneurs are being quite clear about what they need, and are not getting: They need help putting more projects and equipment into the field. After all, that’s the only way they can grow. But venture capital can’t fund that on its own.

A new founder survey out today from CTVC and Elemental Impact makes the point crystal clear. Among 121 climate-tech founders, 70% said equity would most accelerate growth. Yet 73% identified capital structure as a top financing challenge. Sure, twenty-seven percent want catalytic financing for first-of-a-kind projects, while another 17% want pre-construction development capital. Half of the respondents are already using smaller deployments as a bridge to scale. READ MORE