Climate VC Diversity
At Climate VC, we believe that it is important to have diverse representation in the teams in which we invest (our portfolio companies) as well as the individuals making the investment decisions (us). This is not simply an empty statement. Below are the current stats on the diversity metrics for our fund.
Portfolio companies
At least one Female Founder: 38%
At least one under-represented founder: 50%
At least an ethnically diverse founder: 25%
Climate VC Team
% of Female employees: 50%
% of Diverse employees: 75%
% of ethnically diverse employees: 50%
We are firm believers that diverse teams make better companies for the following reasons:
Greater innovation - Companies with diverse management teams have been shown to introduce greater product innovation and migrant status is positively linked to entrepreneurship. Additionally, diversity is critical to reaching wider markets.
Stronger performance - Companies in the top quartile for ethnic diversity or gender are more likely to have above-average financial returns.
Reducing fundraising biases - The demographics of founders who have received investment capital mimic those of the investors who have backed them. Said differently, investors back companies that are run by people who look like them. Having diverse investment teams will lead to investment in diverse founding teams.
Diverse teams are smarter - We know that the conferences and events we attend can often be echo chambers that perpetuate groupthink. Having diverse teams reduces groupthink, allowing them to challenge facts, and maintain greater objectivity.
This is not an exhaustive list. Our personal experience of working on diverse teams and backing diverse founders has proved, time and time again, that fostering diversity makes good business sense.
Our Commitment
In GreenTech, the female founders have been closing the equity gap. A third (34%) of all businesses in the sector are female-founded, accounting for 42% of all venture capital funding in GreenTech. At Climate VC, our goal is to exceed the industry metric as one of our benchmarks. 38% of our current portfolio has at least one female co-founder and we strive to improve those metrics.
Our internship programme supports underrepresented students and graduates by giving them exposure to the investment process and training future venture capitalists in climate tech and beyond.
Finally, if you are an organisation that supports diversity in climate tech, please contact us and let us know how we can help through sponsorships and event participation (as a speaker or attendee).