Climate tech is not the hot investor thesis it once was a couple of years ago. After several record breaking years, and billions of dollars being poured into climate startups, venture capital investments are way down. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi speaks with Mike Schroepfer, who runs Gigascale Capital, a venture firm focusing on climate investments, and used to be Meta’s chief technology officer. Schroepfer shares his views on the current investment climate, the danger of funding cuts to US research, and why demand for AI will prompt a new wave of energy innovation.

Explore further:
Gigascale Capital
Investors Rushed to AI as Climate Tech Funding Fell 40% in 2024 - Bloomberg
New Venture Capital Firms Are Facing a Disastrous Fundraising Climate - Bloomberg

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to: Jess Beck, Eleanor Harrison-Dengate, Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam and Siobhan Wagner. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/green.

Climate tech is not the hot investor thesis it once was a couple of years ago. After several record breaking years, and billions of dollars being poured into climate startups, venture capital investments are way down. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi speaks with Mike Schroepfer, who runs Gigascale Capital, a venture firm focusing on climate investments, and used to be Meta&rsquo;s chief technology officer. Schroepfer shares his views on the current investment climate, the danger of funding cuts to US research, and why demand for AI will prompt a new wave of energy innovation.
Explore further:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://gigascale.com/">Gigascale Capital</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-30/investors-rushed-to-ai-as-climate-tech-funding-fell-40-in-2024">Investors Rushed to AI as Climate Tech Funding Fell 40% in 2024 - Bloomberg</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-22/new-venture-capital-firms-are-facing-a-disastrous-fundraising-climate">New Venture Capital Firms Are Facing a Disastrous Fundraising Climate - Bloomberg</a></li>
</ul>
Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd. Special thanks to: Jess Beck, Eleanor Harrison-Dengate, Sommer Saadi, Mohsis Andam and Siobhan Wagner. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/green">https://www.bloomberg.com/green</a>.

Zero is about the tactics and technologies taking us to a world of zero emissions. Each week Bloomberg’s award-winning reporter Akshat Rathi talks to the people tackling climate change – a venture capitalist hunting for the best cleantech investment, scientists starting companies, politicians who have successfully created climate laws, and CEOs who have completely transformed their businesses. The road to zero emissions has many paths and everyone’s got an opinion about the best route. Listen in.

Zero: The Climate Race

Zero

What a venture capitalist does when climate tech loses its shine

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/241b3f03-c3e3-4fb2-a764-b307011bfb0d/transcript

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