Want to work on the biggest problem of all time?
You’re in the right place.
NB: we're hiring superstars to join our core team as well!
Build a climate tech company
We are launching a new programme in 2021, to co-create ambitious climate startups from scratch with people like you. Receive funding, access to top mentors, domain experts and hands-on support. All the things you need to build a successful climate company.
We’re looking for people like you
You don’t need to have a company, a team, or an idea.
We are looking for entrepreneurial scientists and engineers, domain specialists and operators with the skill and the will to make their mark on solving the climate crisis.
Why we’re doing this
We believe that there are thousands of brilliant people who have the skills and the will to work on solving climate change. But we also know it’s hard to do it on your own. We want to change that by coming on the journey with you.
We’re building a place that brings together exceptional individuals, who want to make a massive impact, with those who already have. A place where you get to co-create your climate startup and get funded to do it. A home for climate tech in Europe.
If you believe that climate is the only problem worth spending your time on, the only thing worth applying your skills to, then join us.
About Build a Climate Startup (*)
We are a climate tech venture studio and investor based in Europe, on a mission to eliminate at least one gigaton of CO2eq from annual emissions.
The climate crisis is the most pressing challenge of our times. Breakthrough technologies will be crucial to reach net zero: available solutions only get us halfway. However, we cannot put all our hopes in classic tech transfer. The urgency requires an intentional approach to engineer and deploy massively scalable solutions for hard-to-abate emissions.
We partner with scientists, engineers and operators to build deeptech climate startups in areas like energy, industry, buildings, carbon removal, and more. As Founders-in-Residence, they work with us to identify high-impact opportunities, and shape the most promising idea into a new company. We invest in the best teams at pre-seed.
We're proud to be backed by leading climate investors across Europe and the USA.
(*) We'll have a real name soon!
Who we are
We are Ben and Jonny. We have previously supported 25 startups in energy, biotech, deeptech, and software. We have also built companies ourselves.
Most importantly, we are freaked out about climate change, and we feel that supporting ambitious Founders is how we can maximise our impact.
NEWS: We are hiring superstars to join our core team as well!
FAQs
Neither. We are looking for scientists, engineers, domain specialists and operators with founder potential. You join us with the skill and will to found a climate company and leave with a startup, complete with funding, co-founders and advisors.
That being said, we are HIRING on the programme side!
No. If you have one, great. But even if you do, it’s likely that idea will change as we work together. We’ll look at many ideas and technologies together and we may work on something completely different in the end.
What we’re looking for are people who have both: deep technical skills or domain expertise that can be applied to a high impact climate problem. And, the individual traits that it takes to become a startup founder.
The programme is a venture builder, also known as a startup studio. We work side-by-side with you to create a high-impact climate company together. We will evaluate many ideas, technologies and markets and narrow down the funnel to the most promising approach.
Then we help you assemble a co-founding team, de-risk the market and technology, identify top advisors, and get you ready to launch your startup to the world!
You will join us as a Founder-in-Residence for a 9-12 months period. There will be checkpoints where we will progress only the best candidates and ideas.
At the end of this process, if successful, we will invest in the new company that we create together. You and your new co-founders will own 80% of that company.
Short answer - high-impact climate problems where deeptech offers new possibilities to reshape large B2B markets towards net zero goals.
Longer answer - we are currently especially interested in carbon dioxide removal, ocean solutions, hydrogen, the built environment, and computational tools for decarbonisation. But these are not exclusive! If your skills or ideas are outside of these areas, we still want to hear from you. There are many more sectors on our radar.
No. We are interested in first time, as well as repeat, founders.
Yes. You will receive a monthly payment during the programme. And, if you’re successful, we will also be your first investors.
We invest €250k pre-seed for 20%. This is in addition to the payments on the programme. In France, companies benefit from substantial access to non-dilutive finance and tax break, which can easily double the investment.
September 2021. We accept applications on a rolling basis and will onboard Founders in Residence throughout 2021 and 2022.
Paris, France. Being based here for the duration of the programme is necessary, at least part-time. We can assist with visas where required. And no, you don’t need to speak French! The programme will be run in English.
Yes. Please use the contact form below and we’ll get back to you.
Yes, we are actively open to hearing from people who would like to work with us on the programme side. Please use the contact form below and we’ll get back to you.
Sign up for updates
To apply to the programme, click here. If you want to stay up to date with the programme and our progress, sign up to our newsletter using the form below.
To contact us about anything else, email us.