Climate tech investment is budding again. Global venture and growth investment climbed 8 percent to $40.5 billion in 2025, after two consecutive years of decline, according to Sightline Climate. It was also a record year for climate fund closes, with 179 funds raising $92 billion in new capital. The wait-and-see capital dam breached after the U.S. federal government enacted the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and made clear which policies it embraced.
Themes we’re seeing: AI drove the shift. Nearly 28 cents of every climate equity dollar went to AI-enabled solutions, with data centers pulling in nearly $2 billion on their own. There’s a race to secure domestic materials and critical minerals — where copper and lithium face projected deficits of 30–40 percent by 2035 — as it has become a national security issue as much as a climate one. Meanwhile, adaptation crossed into asset-class territory, with funding up 64 percent, as investors and buyers realize that a hotter planet presents significant operational risk.
Where climate tech is focused this year
We selected 15 early-stage startups across those three key climate tech categories: data centers, material innovation and climate adaptation to feature in Trellis’s list of climate tech startups to watch this year. A team of Trellis analysts reviewed 105 applicants on four criteria — innovativeness of solution, commercial traction, potential impact, and team strength — to identify the five finalists per category.
The 15 startups include WAVR Technologies, which generates water from the atmosphere using waste heat from AI data centers; Aepnus Technology, a method to convert industrial waste into useful chemicals; and Beehive, an AI platform that helps companies prepare for and respond to natural disasters. Scroll down to watch 15 founder pitches and vote on your favorite (no more than one vote per day).
Or join us to meet the five finalists in each of the three categories when they pitch their startups, and field questions from investors, in separate virtual pitch competitions taking place at noon ET on consecutive Wednesdays coming up: data centers on May 20; materials on May 27; June 3 climate adaptation on June 3.
Audience members will vote then to choose one winning founder from each category who will get to pitch in person at Startup Day at Trellis Impact 26, our sustainability innovation event June 23-25, in San Francisco. There, the audience will name the 2026 Trellis Climate Tech Startup of the Year, which will get profiled in an article on Trellis.net.
