Gigascale Capital

Mike Schroepfer will be speaking at the SOSV Climate Tech Summit this October along with other leading investors. This is always a must-attend climate event, and it’s virtual and free, so you can join from anywhere! See you there? 

At Gigascale, we’re passionate about enabling talented people to move into climate tech. We’ve all made the transition, and by sharing our stories, we hope to offer valuable perspectives and advice to help you on your journey. First up, meet Victoria Beasley, a partner at Gigascale. Over the past 15 years, she has been actively working to combine her background in investing and finance with her love for the environment. 🌲 Background: Victoria grew up with a deep connection to nature, thanks to her family's farming roots and her childhood adventures in the woods. A numbers whiz, she went into investment banking but always looked for ways to blend finance with environmental impact. Fun fact: Her passion for the environment led her to spend vacations at sustainability conferences, where she was inspired by entrepreneurs building significant businesses while addressing environmental concerns. ☀️ First Job in Climate Tech: Victoria joined an early-stage solar startup, learning how to merge business and science for impactful climate solutions. As head of finance, she saw firsthand how integrating science, engineering, sales, and business could work together to scale a company. From there, she continued her journey by founding an ag-tech company, applying her expertise to continue driving positive impact through innovative and effective business solutions. 🚀 What Excites Her: Victoria is excited by the influx of talent and technical founders in climate tech. She emphasizes the need for investors with real-world hard tech commercialization experience to guide these brilliant minds. From running an all-hands to setting up a 401(k), Victoria supports founders through the messy experience of entrepreneurship. 🔑 Advice: "Know you can have an impact through your job. Climate tech needs a variety of skills, not just scientists. Our work today lays the foundation for future solutions, one step at a time." 📚 Go-To Resources: “I tend to spend a lot of time digging into research. Otherwise, podcasts are a great way to get exposure to a lot of ideas in climate tech. I usually direct people to Watt It Takes with Emily Kirsch or Catalyst with Shayle Kann.” Let us know if you like this series and stay tuned for more stories from the Gigascale team! #climatetech #venturecapital #climatetechcareers #climatecareers #climatechange #podcasts

"'I don’t know' won’t cut it when your kids ask, 'What did you do during the climate crisis?'" Mike Schroepfer spent 15 years at Meta, building teams, data centers, and hardware. But, like many of us, COVID gave him a chance to rethink his path. Imagining future conversations with his kids about his efforts to help the planet, he decided to use his skills to tackle the climate crisis head-on. Mike recently shared his story on the "Danny in the Valley" podcast with Danny Fortson, discussing his shift from tech to climate solutions and the lessons he learned along the way. His journey towards climate solutions didn't just start with his recent work in philanthropy. It began much earlier, with experiences like running IT at his parents' radio station, building hardware at Motorola Solutions, creating software graphics for the film industry, and holding roles at Apple. These steps fueled his passion for operations and tech, ultimately leading to the founding of Gigascale Capital. Also in this episode: → The hard truths about building hardware fast and the myths that need busting →The exciting future for career switchers in climate tech and why it's the next big thing → The potential of new energy solutions and the essential role of adaptive strategies in tech and climate sectors Full episode linked in the comments. #ClimateTech #VentureCapital #Leadership #PodcastRecommendation #TechForGood

Mike Schroepfer sat down with James Temple to share his investing philosophy, the science and tech he’s betting on to solve some of the world’s biggest climate problems, and how he’s thinking about AI energy consumption. Three key takeaways: 1️⃣ Taking bold risks. Mike shares why he believes in taking significant risks, even if they seem controversial or unproven, and how this mindset led him to founding the Carbon to Sea Initiative and Gigascale Capital. 2️⃣ Enabling innovation. Mike's strategy is clear - gather a dedicated team with a singular focus and leverage technology to remove constraints. This approach has been effective in both his career at Meta and his more recent climate efforts. 3️⃣ AI and Clean Energy. Mike discusses the balance between AI energy consumption and clean energy goals, emphasizing the need to develop AI efficiently while rapidly expanding clean energy infrastructure to support technological advancements. For more insights, read the full interview in the MIT Technology Review. #climatetech #sciencenews #vc #ainews #technology

”One of the folks here developed the Raptor rocket engine at SpaceX, and now we’re taking that same tech and building a vegetarian rocket engine to save the planet.” 🌎 This is the story of Arbor and how they’re combating climate change on a planetary scale. Arbor's journey started with a crucial question: How can we pull down billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere every year to address some of the worst effects of climate change? Using rocket engine technology, the Arbor team has developed a groundbreaking solution for converting waste biomass into carbon-negative power. In other words, they're turbocharging Earth’s natural process of photosynthesis to draw down large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere while producing clean energy. Hear the fascinating story told to Jason Carman about how Arbor's CEO and Co-Founder Brad Hartwig, CTO Andres Garcia-Clark, and Chief Engineer Zeke Smith are tackling this problem head-on and leading the way to a more sustainable future. #climatetech #greentech #sustainability #climatechange

What does it take to prove an idea works and how do you smartly navigate funding it? Let's dive in. 🤓 Turns out climate tech is different than investing in B2B software. Solutions often require infrastructure and hardware, which makes efficient use of capital and time to revenue even more important. Entrepreneurs need to prove a concept works on a small scale before asking for big investments—the quicker and cheaper they can do this, the better. Mike Schroepfer's philosophy: focus the pitch on cost and performance. Offering a solution that is cheaper or better is fundamental to getting a product adopted in the real world. Climate benefits are the added bonus. Take Tesla, for example. They didn't start by building massive factories or touting only environmental benefits that cost more. Tesla first created a high-performance electric sports car that people wanted to drive because it was cool. They proved the tech, built the infrastructure, and developed more affordable models. Balancing the challenge of creating a better product and delivering climate impact isn’t simple, but it is possible especially as more enabling technologies become cheaper and cheaper. Curious to learn more about the efficient use of capital and the best strategies for pitching climate tech? Check out Mike's full conversation on the 20VC podcast with Harry Stebbings! #venturecapital #climatetech #20VC #hardtech #startups

You don’t need a PhD in rocket science to work in climate tech. We promise. 😉 Interested in climate tech but not sure if your skills fit? Don’t worry, you're not alone! The good news is there are plenty of opportunities for all kinds of skill sets. Your unique perspective will bring huge value to climate companies. During SF Climate Week, we hosted a panel on "Forging Your Path in Climate Tech" with industry experts who have all made the switch. Here are their top takeaways: 1️⃣ Identify Your Strongest Skill Sets Reflect on the skills you’ve developed and how they support the job you want next. Then dive into companies and roles that align with you (not the other way around). Sites like Climatebase are incredibly useful for this. 2️⃣ Network Your Way In Climate tech companies are seeking curious minds. Don’t hesitate to reach out to companies even if they don't have open roles. Also, comb through your LinkedIn contacts—you might be surprised to see who has transitioned to climate tech since you last worked with them. 3️⃣ Bring Curiosity to Interviews and Conversations Show your enthusiasm for the space by engaging, asking questions, and getting their take on things. Don’t be shy—get curious about their space! Sparking these big conversations is a great way to prove your passion. Working in climate tech is incredibly inspiring and a great way to combat “climate anxiety.” The innovation and growth opportunities are endless, and nothing feels better than contributing to meaningful change. Thanks to Natalie K. (Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, CO280), Alicia Harmon O’Meara (COO, Arbor), Selina Tobaccowala (CEO and Co-Founder, HomeBoost, and Jill Macri (Founding Partner, Growth by Design Talent) for their insights. If you’re already working in climate tech or are further along in your career switch, what useful resources, communities, or people have helped you find your way? Share your insights in the comments! #climatetech #careergrowth #climateaction #GigascaleCapital #careeradvice #jobsearch #hiring

Congratulations to Dioxycle for being named one of the World Economic Forum's 100 Technology Pioneers, a select group of hyper-growth start-ups making breakthroughs in clean energy, healthcare, biotech, space, and neurotechnology. 🌟 Led by Co-Founders Sarah Lamaison, PhD and David Wakerley, PhD, Dioxycle recently achieved a significant breakthrough with their electrolyzer technology, which converts carbon emissions into sustainable fuels and chemicals without adding more CO₂ to the atmosphere. This breakthrough innovation has the potential to reduce emissions by up to 800 million tons annually (about 2% of the global total). Congrats to the Dioxycle team and the other incredible pioneers on this year's list, pushing the boundaries of what's possible through technology!  #techpioneers #WEF #innovation #climatetech #techpioneers24

📚 What’s on Gigascale’s Bookshelf? 📚 We asked Gigascale Partners Mike Schroepfer, Victoria Beasley, and Evaline Tsai, PhD, what books inspired them along their learning journey. From tech revolutions to groundbreaking innovations to climate resilience, you'll want to add these to your reading list. What’s on your summer reading list? Drop your recs below! ⬇️ For Tech Lovers: 🚀 "The Industrial Revolution in World History" by Peter Stearns – How steam engines changed the game. 🌍 "How the World Really Works" by Vaclav Smil – The science behind our everyday lives. For the Builders: ✈️ "How Innovation Works" by Matt Ridley – The secret sauce of freedom in sparking creativity. 🏗️ "How Big Things Get Done" by Prof. Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner – Making the impossible, possible. For the Brave: 🔥 "Inviting Disaster" by Jim Chiles – Lessons from tech gone wrong. 🌡️ "The Uninhabitable Earth" by David Wallace-Wells – A wake-up call for our planet. #innovation #leadershipinsights #climatetech #readinglist #bookrecommendations #currentlyreading

👋 Say hello to Tom Walkinshaw, one of Gigascale Capital's Summer Venture Fellows! This summer, Tom is diving into grid congestion, early-stage deal sourcing, diligence, and portfolio support with our investment team. He brings a wealth of experience from the clean energy and climate tech space, having worked in solar, energy storage, hydrogen, electric vehicles, wind, nuclear, and manufacturing. Currently pursuing his MBA at Harvard Business School, Tom has taken on leadership roles in the Energy & Environment Club and the Outdoors Club. His passion for the environment and adventure recently took him on a memorable trip to West Africa. Outside of work, Tom is an avid outdoorsman and loves hiking, running, swimming, biking, and skiing. We're thrilled to have Tom on board this summer. Welcome to the team! 🌱 #climatetech #cleanenergy #greentech #impactinvesting #harvardmba