Virta Ventures’ NYCW Recap

The Virta team survived the chaos that is Climate Week NYC, and even thrived for much of it! 

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We presented at Coolwater Capital’s Demo Day, hosted a GP/LP Panel, met 1-1 with a number of great founders and co-investors, and attended a few of the countless events of the week.

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After a few days of rest, we came away from CWNYC energized by the current state of climate tech. Here are the highlights and takeaways… 

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Virta Ventures Panel

Virta’s Climate Week event was an intimate panel discussion featuring Russell, Sophie Purdom from Planeteer, and Kunal Doshi from Accelerate Investment Group, with Amani Ahmed from Illumen Capital moderating. We gathered at an incredible space in the SoHo WeWork (huge thanks to our friends at Rho for hosting) and dove into some big topics: allocating capital, raising funds, and investing in climate startups in today’s market. 

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Here are a few takeaways from our discussion:

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Software AND hardware, not software vs. hardware

Russell and Sophie pointed out that the “software vs. hardware” debate in climate tech feels outdated — it doesn’t properly capture the total scope of innovation we need to fix our climate. Russell kicked off by emphasizing that we need all kinds of innovation — software, hardware, and everything in between — to tackle the climate crisis. He noted that, while deeptech hardware innovation is essential in some areas, in others the focus should be on scaling adoption where hardware is already mature. Software, he shared, plays a big role in helping hardware scale.

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Sophie added that we should be thinking about filtering climate innovations by sector and industry instead of sticking to the software vs. hardware divide. Planeteer, Sophie shared, is focused on the "messy middle"—startups that blend both hardware and software to drive their business models forward.

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Capital is tight, but there’s still hope

Our panelists agreed that, while it’s great that some investors see climate as a long-term trend, many investors are still cautious about returns due to the tough venture environment. Kunal mentioned that this has led to more interest in climate software investments since those often have shorter timelines to exit. Sophie highlighted how we’re seeing some of the so-called climate “tourists” (those who dabble in the space) pull back, while specialists are becoming more discerning about where to deploy capital.

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Given these challenges, our speakers stressed that collaboration among climate funds is more important than ever. Sharing and syndicating deals can help navigate startups through this tough funding environment.

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AI: A double-edged sword in climate

There was much buzz about AI’s potential to transform climate tech. Russell shared a bit of Virta’s AI thesis and Virta’s POV that every company should be integrating AI into their workflows to boost efficiency.

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Sophie raised a key concern on AI deployment — AI’s need for “clean electrons.” Russell pointed out that AI investments from tech giants like Google and Microsoft are ramping up, but they’re heavily dependent on non-renewable energy sources right now. Innovations that can reduce data center energy consumption and boost clean energy generation are key here. At Virta, we’ve been exploring the whole data center value chain for opportunities to make a real difference (here’s our writing on the space – Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 coming soon). 

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Virta at Coolwater

At a special Climate Week edition of Coolwater Demo Day, Russell shared why today’s climate tech ecosystem is completely different from the cleantech ecosystem of the Cleantech 1.0 bust. Back in 2017, when John Doerr said going green would be bigger than the internet, Russell explained, the timing just wasn’t right. Markets were small, hardware was expensive, and adoption was low – a recipe for failure.

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Today, it’s a whole new ballgame: hardware costs have dropped dramatically, and as a result, we’re seeing massive growth. Investment is projected to reach hundreds of trillions of dollars, and industries are expected to grow 5X–20X without the heavy reliance on government subsidies that Cleantech 1.0 had. With the rise of climate-focused funds and non-dilutive funding, now is a great time to be investing in climate tech.

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Insights from Friends of Virta Ventures

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We also had the chance to attend some incredible events during Climate Week. At Impact Capital Managers’ event, we were inspired by Third Sphere’s Stonly Blue, who emphasized how operator-VCs have a unique “superpower” in supporting founders — they can truly empathize with founders taking on the entrepreneurial journey. As a fund grounded in operational expertise, this really resonated with us.

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At Climactic’s AI: The Unconference, we heard from Raj Kapoor about AI’s potential to solve complex optimization problems in climate. For example, Raj noted that AI can help fill in sparse datasets, unlocking better data analytics in key markets — something our portfolio company Sluicebox excels at within the electronics space.

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We also got to see the unveiling of Climactic’s AI x Climate market map, an exciting development in tracking the hundreds of startups operating at this intersection. As investors deploying capital into startups within this space such as Tyba, Treehouse, Sluicebox, and more, we’re looking forward to seeing this database of startups fill up with incredible startups motivating a green future with AI technology. 

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For those we saw in New York, it was great to catch up. But, as always, you can connect with us here. 

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