The Future Showed Up at New York City Climate Week

This past September in New York, the future wasn’t some distant vision—it was on stage. 

During Day 1 of Climate Week NYC 2025, more than 300 attendees packed into Newlab to see 19 climate tech founders show what’s possible when innovation meets urgency. Alongside keynotes from Breakthrough Energy and Thirdsphere, investors leaned in next to scientists; policymakers swapped notes with startup founders. The conversations were as electric as the technologies on display–and you could feel it: the conviction that we’re not waiting for climate solutions anymore. We’re building them.

For me, that moment had been months in the making. These 19 teams had spent five intense months in the Venture For ClimateTech (V4C) program, turning lab scale demonstrations into investable companies. They were chosen from 400+ applicants from around the world—founders who believed they could bend the emissions curve with ingenuity and grit. What the audience saw on stage was the result of hundreds of late-night tests, pivots, pushing through setbacks, and a cohort that gave each other encouragement and solutions when needed.

These 19 CEOs are collectively targeting gigatons of greenhouse-gas reduction at scale and have already raised over $6.4M in one of the toughest funding environments since the cleantech 1.0 bubble burst. From smarter batteries to 3D-printed clay, from carbon-negative cement to ultra-shallow geothermal systems, every founder on that stage is tackling challenges equal to the moment: 

• 17, Inc. – Converts excess renewable energy into green ammonia to relieve grid congestion and store power.
• Äerd Lab – Turns clay waste into 3D-printed, low-carbon building materials with high design value.
• Carbix Corporation – Transforms captured CO₂ emissions into sustainable building materials.
• Carbon Negative Solutions – Converts industrial waste into carbon-negative cement additives that double revenue and emissions reduction.
• Citrimer – Turns agricultural waste into carbon-negative, high-performance materials and chemicals.
• Earthics – Captures CO₂ emissions and converts them into critical materials for decarbonization.
• EsterCycle – Enables circular recycling of bioplastics through low-energy chemical processes.
• Fermi Energy, Inc. – Produces nickel- and cobalt-free lithium-ion battery materials for cleaner, safer energy storage.
• Ganaio, Inc. – Recovers wasted suspension energy in EVs to extend range and reduce costs.
• H2 Everywhere – Produces affordable, on-site green hydrogen using thermocatalysis—no delivery infrastructure needed.
• Helix Carbon – Eliminates iron-industry emissions by converting waste CO₂ into carbon-neutral feedstocks.
• HydroHaul – Develops next-gen hydrogen infrastructure to enable cleaner, more efficient transport.
• Innovia GEO – Electrifies heating and cooling with ultra-shallow geothermal systems for everyday buildings.
• IronGrid – Provides ML-driven, insurance-backed warranties for large-scale battery storage systems.
• Lukera Energy – Converts methane emissions into carbon-negative methanol for cleaner, low-cost shipping fuel.
• Metal Light Inc. – Delivers zero-emission, metal-air generators as clean, low-cost alternative to diesel.
• Remedium Energy – Makes carbon capture cost-effective with a novel material and Carbon Capture Heat Battery system.
• Soarce, Inc. – Converts regenerative biomass such as seaweed into lightweight, high-strength nanomaterials for composites.
• Sunspan – Redefines solar with novel photovoltaic panel architecture enabling Terawatt-scale energy generation

NYSERDA’s unwavering commitment to this program over the past five years gives founders the stability and community they need to keep moving forward. As Brandon Owens of New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) said in his remarks, “We’re not going anywhere.”

In just five cohorts, Venture For ClimateTech has graduated and supported 77 startups with 58% led by underrepresented founders, generating 132 jobs and $144 million in follow-on funding, and tangible commercialization outcomes—with one successful exit already. Venture For ClimateTech, funded by NYSERDA, is proof that inclusive innovation is also effective innovation.

For those who missed it, the room was a glimpse of where we’re headed—and an invitation to be part of it. In a year when national narratives question the durability of climate investment, New York is already building the future we promised—one pilot, one prototype, one company at a time.