ImpactAlpha Open | July 23, 2024

ImpactAlpha Open: The case for techno-pragmatism + shoring up the US green bank

Dennis Price

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ImpactAlpha Editor

Dennis Price

Greetings, Agents of Impact! Welcome to the latest ImpactAlpha Open, our free weekly newsletter keeping you ahead of the curve in impact investing and sustainable finance. 

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In this week’s Open:

  • Seeding techno-pragmatism in Silicon Valley
  • New tools for refugee-lens investing
  • Climate tech entrepreneurship in India
  • Capitol Gains podcast with former US Rep. Ben McAdams

Ok, let’s get to it. – Dennis Price


Must-reads on ImpactAlpha

  • A pragmatic approach to tech. “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail,” goes the saying. Silicon Valley’s knee-jerk turn to tech solutions hasn’t always worked out well for everyone. In a guest post on ImpactAlphaKaty Knight of the Siegel Family Endowment argues for techno-pragmatism instead: “Progress will come from engaging with people to unpack their problems and constraints, and making space for shared imagination to design solutions, both technical and nontechnical, that actually improve people’s lives.” Hear her out.
  • Race is on to shore up the US green bank. The Environmental Protection Agency and dozens of key allies are scrambling to stand up a $27 billion plan to create a major new market for green financing – on deadline, report ImpactAlpha’sAmy Cortese and David Bank. The complex agreements for distributing the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund must be signed by September 30, a statutory deadline for the program as well as a potential safeguard against potential clawbacks from a future US Congress or administration. Clock is ticking.
    • In a guest post, Joanna Smith-Ramani and Greg Gershuny detail how the novel “direct pay” provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act can create wealth and resilience in underserved communities. See how.
  • Innovations in refugee-lens investing. The International Rescue Committee’s Ellen Brooks shares with ImpactAlpha’s Jessica Pothering how humanitarian organizations are deploying tools of innovative finance for refugees and displaced communities. “We’re trying to get people to cross over sectors and share complementary skills and capacities so that the outcome of an investment is greater than the sum of its parts.” See how.
  • Seizing India’s climate tech moment. From China, to the US, and across Europe governments and investors are cashing in on the clean energy and climate tech moment. The market to watch in the green transition: India. “An entire ecosystem around climate change is getting funded,” Divya Pinge of the Impact Investors Council in Delhi tells ImpactAlpha contributor Shefali Anand. See the latest deals and trends.
    • Pop culture climate. A handful of India’s climate tech entrepreneurs pitched TV venture capitalists on the country’s hugely popular version of “Shark Tank” this spring, reports ImpactAlpha contributor Ryan Jones from Delhi. The show “glamorized” climate tech startups, Sayesha Dogra, a KPMG consultant turned climate industry connector, told Jones over a chorus of rickshaw honks outside of Delhi earlier this spring. Read Ryan Jones on India’s climate tech future through a pop culture lens.
  • Impact fail – or fraud? Co-founders of Bitwise Industries Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin Jr. plead guilty this week to federal charges of wire fraud and conspiracy, reports ImpactAlpha’s Roodgally Senatus. “We lied to lenders and investors in egregious ways,” Soberal and Olguin wrote in an emotional public apology. Read more.

Agents of Impact

🏃 On the move

  • Michael Rea will replace Chris Stark as Carbon Trust’s CEO next month.
  • Jessica Buendia, formerly of Dream.Org, is named chief impact officer at the Coalition for Green Capital.
  • Donna Nuccio returns to Reinvestment Fund as a senior director, following a stint at Broadstreet Impact Services.

The Week’s Podcast

🎧 This Week in Impact

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with Jessica PotheringUp this week: the strategies being used by the International Rescue Committee to bring private capital into refugee communities and by community lenders to ensure Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds are flowing well in advance of the November election.

Also on the ImpactAlpha Podcast Network:

  • Introducing: Capitol Gains. Former US Congressman and Salt Lake County mayor Ben McAdams of Utah joined the first episode of Capitol Gains. On the the newest addition to the ImpactAlpha Podcast Network hosts Matt Posner and James McIntyre will aim to untangle the threads of policy, politics and money in pursuit of a more engaged citizenry. “Right now, the focus needs to be on enabling the states and the local governments, the metros, to be our solution,” McAdams told them, “and hope that trickles up.” Read the recap.

Short Signals: What We’re Reading

🌍 Climate adaptation. Digital technologies such as weather forecasting, resource monitoring and climate data insights can build climate resilience in the Asia-Pacific region. A report by AVPN and Dalberg identifies ways to improve forecasting models with local data and argues for engagement with women and smallholder farmers. (AVPN)

🇬🇧 Clean energy powerhouse. Britain’s new Labour government is planning to create Great Britain Energy, an £8.3 billion ($10.7 billion) state-owned energy company headquartered in Scotland that will “own, manage and operate clean power projects” in partnership with the private sector. (BBC)

🔍 Emissions disclosures. Three-quarters of executives surveyed by Deloitte are reporting direct emissions, as mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s climate disclosure rules that kick in next year. Just 15% are disclosing their indirect, or “Scope 3” emissions, which are not required. Their top challenges: lack of confidence in third-party data and inconsistent industry methodologies. (Deloitte)

♀️ Funding female founders. Through economic highs and lows, global venture funding for women-led startups has been stuck at about 2% for 15 years. The latest data out of Europe, however, shows funding for mixed-gender founding teams has been on a steady upward climb to 16.3% so far this year, up from 7.5% in 2009. (Pitchbook)

⚡ FOAK familiarity. As much as 40% of carbon emission reductions rely on technologies that are not yet commercially available. Family office syndicate CREO is out with a framework to help investors get comfortable with “first of a kind,” or FOAK, climate tech deployments. Helpful hint: “First” can refer to a new project’s location, not just its technology. (CREO)

🤔 The climate 75%. Three in four Americans believe in global warming, about the same as 15 years ago (and slightly down since 2020). What’s changed is the strength of their convictions: “Americans who believe global warming exists are more confident than four years ago, while people who are skeptical are less confident,” finds a new study. (Resources for the Future and Stanford)


Get in the Game

💼 Step up

  • Climate United Fund seeks an investment officer to launch and manage portfolios in the areas of distributed generation, building decarbonization, and electric transportation. The role is lcoated in Bethesda, MD.
  • Autodesk Foundation is hiring an impact measurement and management associate in the San Francisco Bay Area. 
  • Inclusive Prosperity Capital is looking for a program director for its Solar For All initiative. This is a remote role.

Visit ImpactAlpha’s Career Hub for more hundreds of more impact investing jobs.

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