Partners
Elemental seeks bold, implementation-focused partners across government, corporate, community and investor groups, all committed to driving technology deployment with deep community benefits.
Why we partner
Let’s build something together
Together we can bridge the gap between early-stage climate technologies and scaled solutions, enabling companies to deploy real-world projects that create jobs, reduce emissions, and deliver tangible local impact.
Build Better Innovation Challenge
With Microsoft, Capgemini and Bouygues
This year’s Build Better Innovation Challenge is seeking innovative material solutions to accelerate the decarbonization of the built environment. The challenge focuses on two key areas: low-carbon building material solutions and adjacent technologies for sequestering CO2 into materials, with winners having the opportunity to pitch for funded pilots, equity investment, carbon credit purchases, and collaboration opportunities to scale their solutions.
Partners at a Glance
Impact in Motion
Finance New Orleans and Elemental Partner to Drive Affordable and Climate-Resilient Housing Solutions
Finance New Orleans (FNO) is a housing and development finance agency on a mission to improve the quality of life in New Orleans. Together, we launched a housing fund and innovation challenge with the goal of using community-centered financing to deploy climate technologies in new and retrofitted single-family homes. In June 2024, four companies were selected by FNO with support from Elemental and feedback from integral community groups. These companies are deploying innovative clean energy and water efficiency technologies at thirteen sites in the Pontchartrain Park and Central City neighborhoods.
GGRF Projects
We are partnering across the ecosystem to help ensure the success of GGRF.
As a subawardee of the Coalition for Green Capital, we will deploy $100M into climate projects across energy, transportation, water, agriculture, and industry, and make equity and debt investments. Our team will continue to convene investors and play a supportive role in the deployment of GGRF across multiple awardees – as a transaction partner to Climate United and a deployment partner to Power Forward Communities.
We are excited about GGRF because the EPA’s program objectives align with our own mission – investing in community-centered climate projects in order to mobilize additional financing and private capital.
Partner with us
Activate our innovation ecosystem
Our innovation challenges help public and private partners like Amazon, Microsoft, and Finance New Orleans unlock pathways for targeted project deployments. Through Innovation Challenges we produce:
-
- A highly curated pipeline of climate technology solutions qualified to address your priorities or challenges.
- Solution providers win funded pilot project(s), investment(s), offtake agreement(s), and/or prize money.
- Convenings of stakeholders including policymakers, community organizations, etc. in the form of a roundtable to influence the challenge structure, outcomes, and benefits.
- Live, in-person or virtual, pitch event for the finalists and partners.
Accelerate project deployment
Elemental is building a broad and active network of capital providers, corporates, energy performance contractors and insurers to de-risk and fund climate projects that aren’t finding financing at the speed and scale required. Our goal is to help companies that are experiencing the Scale Gap raise non-venture capital.
We have partnered with The Rockefeller Foundation, Sightline / Climate Tech VC, Boston Consulting Group, and others to convene funders and publish insights about deploying projects with speed and scale.
Invest in startup success
After the National Science Foundation, Elemental is the most highly networked climate investor. We have collaborated with more than 530 investors and continue to support our portfolio companies’ fundraising efforts.
Source: Climate Finance Tracker
Drive local climate action
Community partnership is a critical element for scaling and deploying climate technologies. Elemental funding prioritizes technology deployment with benefits for communities historically left behind. We collaborate with community-based organizations, nonprofits, workforce development, local government, finance institutions, local small businesses, and educational institutions in two primary ways:
- Elemental portfolio companies and projects: 95% of our portfolio companies have worked with community partners. The vast majority say that community partnership has supported successful project outcomes. Read more about our Community Engagement Strategies for Climate Projects.
- Due diligence and project evaluation: We convene community-based meetings and roundtables to help inform our investment and deployment decisions.
Align innovation with policy
We have partnered with local, state, and federal policymakers; government agencies like U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Defense; and mission-aligned nonprofits like African American Mayors Association, CERES, Climate Power to advance the deployment of technologies that strengthen the resilience of our communities. Most recently, we:
- Broke ground on two Elemental projects in the City of Long Beach with Forum Mobility and Ampaire.
- Convened more than 100 policymakers, government officials, and technology companies in conversation around blending private and public capital, and growing the green workforce
- Published a Local Climate Action Toolkit to help mayors nationwide access federal climate funding for technology deployment
- Partnered with Emerson Collective and others to host a Clean Economy and Community Impact Summit in Detroit.
Support our work
As a nonprofit, the support of our donors fuels a powerful ecosystem of climate innovators, community leaders, and change-makers. Together, we deploy cutting-edge technologies and build resilient communities, tackling climate challenges at their roots. By joining Elemental on this journey, donors are not just funding projects – they are catalyzing a movement that transforms lives and safeguards our shared future.
