Courtesy of ClimateHaven

Close to half a year since its opening, startup incubator ClimateHaven hopes to continue bringing economically sustainable climate technology ventures into New Haven.

As part of a growing effort to support academic research in the Connecticut area, the locally-based climate start-up incubator helps its members connect to sources of venture capital, network with other companies, navigate regulations and find manufacturing suppliers. Its 22 start-ups take on challenges that range from electric battery recycling to bio-concrete and bio-synthesized industrial materials. Seeking to bring the city to the forefront of sustainability, the incubator has also benefited from a close relationship with the University. 

“Yale was our first university partner,” Kiko Wong ’22, ClimateHaven startup portfolio manager, said. “We’re hoping to build this pipeline of technologies and build this path with a number of other universities in the region as well.”

According to Josh Geballe ’97 MBA ’02, senior associate provost for entrepreneurship and innovation at Yale, the incubator was founded to address the growth of university lab research and fill some of the region’s gaps in climate start-up support.

Initial discussions for ClimateHaven started back in May 2022, along with visits to Massachusetts-based incubator Greentown Labs and local market demand assessments.

“We were seeing a significantly increasing number of climate tech startups coming out of Yale research and a significantly expanding number of students who are going into climate solutions, and decided that we wanted to create something similar in New Haven,” Geballe said.

While ClimateHaven is independent from the University, the two have worked in tandem since the organization’s inception

Geballe, who directs Yale Ventures, is also a member of the incubator’s board. Other Yale-affiliated board members include Yale Center for Business and the Environment director Stuart DeCew as well as Claudia Reuter, Yale Venture’s Robert Innovation Fund director. The incubator also received seed funding from the University in addition to other donors. 

In guiding start-ups to market, the incubator has direct interest in supporting spinouts from nearby research institutions such as the University, Wong explained.

According to a report by the National Academy of Inventors, the University ranked 53rd globally for patents granted last year, with 57 awarded.

“We want to be a part of that runway off of the University as researchers are ready to take the next step to really become a startup,” Wong said.

Geballe added that membership with ClimateHaven offers access to prototyping space, a mentorship program with guidance from experienced investors, connections to sources of equity investment and a sense of community.

“[ClimateHaven] provide[s] great support and great visibility,” Lonnie Garris, CEO of member start-up Cool Amps, said. “You’re getting more than just physical space — it’s networking opportunities with other companies, other organizations that they bring in to help founders.”

Inspired during his time at the School of Management’s Global Executive Leadership Program, Garris co-founded Cool Amps to specialize in smaller-scale battery recycling from end-of-life appliances and devices. According to Garris, the company’s patented electrochemical process resulted in metal extraction that was nearly 50 percent more energy-efficient than existing methods of hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy.

Though climate technology ventures raised $51 billion in venture capital last year, inflation has slightly hamstrung start-up efforts. 2023 saw an estimated 15- to 27-percent decrease in climate venture deal count and a 12-percent drop in total funding from the prior year.

However, the U.S. remains one of climate technology’s funding leaders — the Biden administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act allocated $14.6 billion to climate startups, more than any other country. The U.S. also earned more than 40 percent of all global climate tech funding last year.

Wong and Geballe expressed hopes to continue expanding ClimateHaven in the months ahead. The incubator has been looking to provide more office and prototyping space for its members. Geballe explained that the incubator is undergoing an expansion of its existing 17,000-square-foot space on 770 Chapel St. while discussing other potential sites with the city.

“I think new innovations and new technologies is really one of the most important keys to addressing the climate crisis,” Geballe said. “We’re really excited that more of the startups that we’re spinning out will be able to stay here in New Haven.”

In its updated 2023 report, the International Energy Agency suggests that reaching net zero by 2050 will require technologies not yet available on the market to account for 35 percent of emissions reductions.