S2E03: Atoms over bits: Investing in hardware and innovative founders to solve climate challenges - Sundeep Ahuja, Climate Capital

First Funders

We’ve welcomed investors with unique backgrounds to First Funders before, but Sundeep Ahuja is our first operator-turned-actor-turned-investor.

Sundeep is all in on all things climate tech. He’s backing founders leading the way in cleaning up our water, purifying our air, and keeping our planet the way it should be: livable. Today, his micro fund and syndicate platform Climate Capital, has over 400 climate-focused companies in its portfolio.

Sundeep shares why he thinks real-world, physical tech has the edge over software, how the words we use matter when it comes to addressing climate challenges, and why he’s still optimistic about the future despite current social and political challenges to climate initiatives.

He writes ~$150k checks out of Climate Capital into pre-seed and seed-stage startups addressing emission reductions and climate adaptation.

Highlights:

• Sundeep had a winding path to investing, but his passion for the climate has always been there. He talks about how his time at Kiva shaped and expanded his worldview.
• We’re heard a lot about software, but Sundeep is firmly in the hardware camp. He’s seeing startups like Copper and Avalo make incredible strides working with physical products – or focusing on atoms over bits, as he says.
• The way we talk about issues matters, and Sundeep is seeing the impact of language play out in the climate space. His solution is simple: No vague, moralizing language. Just plainly state what you’re doing to help the environment.
• Sundeep has a careful eye on what’s going on regarding the climate and the current administration, but he’s not feeling deterred. He believes there’s still plenty of capital – and plenty of people who believe in the mission – to sustain the headwinds.
• Like a true investor, Sundeep has a story about his worst investment and what he learned from it. Mainly, that the importance of due diligence can’t be overstated.

• (00:00) - Atoms over bits: Investing in hardware and innovative founders to solve climate challenges - Sundeep Ahuja, Climate Capital
• (01:39) - Sundeep’s journey from eBay to Acting to Impact
• (02:44) - Finding his purpose at Kiva and focusing on climate
• (03:52) - Establishing Silicon Climate and writing his first book
• (09:17) - Sundeep’s work founding and scaling up Climate Capital to an 400-company portfolio
• (13:45) - Why technical founders and defensible IP are now at the heart of their seed investments.
• (30:34) - Rethinking the language we use to talk about the climate
• (34:58) - Lessons from the worst investment Sundeep has made
• (37:34) - Reasons why Sundeep is hopeful for the future of climate tech