Enduring Planet is looking to raise up to $40 million to meet the immediate liquidity needs of climate ventures and small and mid-sized businesses that are awaiting government grants or payments, which can drag out for months.
With its new climate fund, the Portland-based investor will provide non-dilutive and non-collateral working capital to climate founders, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds and marginalized communities. That includes the likes of Black-led Dollaride, which won a $10 million grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to electrify ‘dollar vans’ in New York’s transit deserts.
Enduring Planet’s loans range between $100,000 and $500,000.
“With this fund, we’re expanding to lending against any government procurement in climate,” Enduring Planet’s Dimitry Gershenson told ImpactAlpha. “So if the government is buying your climate-related product or service, we want to provide you with working capital for that work.”
Climate funding gaps
Investors in the Enduring Planet fund’s initial close include Green Spark Ventures, several ImpactAssets-managed DAFs, members of Toniic and clients of Figure 8 Investment Strategies.
The working capital needs of climate founders, who often must hit milestones before receiving government grants or wait months to be paid for contract work or expenses, “is massive [and] we can’t even imagine filling that need with just this fund,” said Gershenson. “But we hope that this fund serves as a proof point, enabling us to scale to the needs of the market.”
Seed funding
Gershenson says Enduring Planet has also made progress on its own seed investment round, which has garnered commitments from Cerulean Ventures, Avesta Fund, Dangerous Ventures and other backers. Enduring Planet provides financial advisory services to climate founders, including tailored bookkeeping and accounting, as well as capital raising support.
