Bill Gates to lead new cleantech $1bn fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures

Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Vinod Khosla, Jack Ma, Hasso Plattner, John Doerr and 14 other high-profile investors have formed a new venture fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, where they plan on investing over a billion dollars “to provide everyone in the world with access to reliable, affordable power, food, goods, transportation, and services without contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.”

“I am honored to work along with these investors to build on the powerful foundation of public investment in basic research, said BEV chairman Bill Gates. “Our goal is to build companies that will help deliver the next generation of reliable, affordable, and emissions-free energy to the world,” he added.

BEV will invest in tech ventures at any stage, from seed through commercialization. The deals will focus on electricity, manufacturing, agriculture, buildings and transportation.

With Climate Change and ever increasing population, the demand for technology that can help people produce more of what they need with fewer resources is at an all-time high.

BEV is the formal, venture investing initiative of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, a group announced at the Paris Climate Change Conference last year. This coalition saw a group of wealthy individuals come together and pledge to invest a chunk of their fortunes for the development of clean and sustainable technologies.

“Our leadership will be made up of entrepreneurial investors and scientists, and our investments will be guided by solid research as well as by market priorities. Our board and management team will explore the Breakthrough Landscape of Innovation and decide where to invest based on four criteria – climate impact, other investments, scientific possibility, and filling the gaps, says the official website.

Besides an investment criterion, BEV has also published a framework called the “Landscape of Innovation,” which it intends to be “a guide to other public and private investors committed to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.”