December 1st saw Third Derivative (D3) reveal Mission Zero among its inaugural cohort of 46 climate innovation startups, selected from more than 600 applicants across 60+ countries and spanning sectors including electricity, transportation, buildings, industry, energy access, food and agriculture, and financial and business model innovation. They are known as “Cohort 417″—named for this year’s peak atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration of 417.1 ppm recorded in May.
D3 is a joint venture between the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and New Energy Nexus (NEN) that draws together venture capital, corporate players, and unrivalled policy, market, and regulatory insights. D3’s partner investor funds have $2 billion of assets in management, and its corporate partners have a combined market capitalization exceeding $3 trillion. D3 is a global, vertically integrated ecosystem united behind a singular purpose: to find, fund, hone, and scale the most-promising technologies to achieve larger, faster reductions in global carbon emissions.
The inaugural cohort draws in early-stage and pre-commercial startups across the electricity, industry, transportation, agriculture & land use, building heat, fugitive emissions, and waste sectors, with Mission Zero featuring within the CCUS arm of the industry-focused cohort members. The 18-month programme will foster relationships between the startups, corporates, policy experts, and investors all with the aim of accelerating their route to commercialization in a holistic manner.
Committed venture capital for D3 to date spans four continents, coming from funds including Chrysalix Ventures, CRCM Ventures, Emerald Technology Ventures, Factor[e] Ventures, Imperative Ventures, Social Alpha, Skyview Ventures, Tsing Capital, and Volo Earth Ventures. Confirmed corporate partners include AT&T, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, bp ventures, Engie, Envision Group, FedEx, Microsoft, Shell, and Wells Fargo.
