As more than $1 trillion flows into climate tech, incentive tracking apps gain a foothold

Websites, apps and startups are racing to track government incentives for climate tech

take some time Reach out to people in the climate tech community, and you’ll quickly find that many of them have something in common: They’re not used to having a lot of money.

That’s because for many years, climate has been a cost, not an opportunity, for many businesses. Fortunately, that has begun to change recently as investors flock to the space, looking for opportunities in a “double-digit trillion dollar market” that is “largely decoupled from general tech investing,” Congruent Managing Partners Joshua Posamentier told TechCrunch+.

Investment in climate technology has been picking up pace over the past five years or so. While the industry isn’t entirely immune to the economic slowdown experienced by other startups over the past few years, we did see signs of a rebound in the third quarter.

Part of this continued growth is driven by commitments to climate-forward industrial policies in the United States and Europe. Between the U.S.’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the EU’s Green Deal, nearly $1 trillion in tax credits, grants and other incentives are available for projects related to climate and Energy related investments and purchases.

But that trillion-dollar forecast may actually be conservative. Since many tax credits are not capped, the IRA earnings alone could exceed this figure. Goldman Sachs estimates that the law’s climate provisions could generate $1.2 trillion in incentives and spur about $3 trillion in private investment.

That’s not enough to bring the U.S. or EU economies to net-zero carbon emissions (or make up for historical emissions), but the down payments are so large that it’s hard to keep track of them all.

In fact, climate tech today finds itself in an unusual position, so flush with cash (relatively speaking) that many websites, apps, and startups are scrambling to track it all and help companies and customers make the most of it. Take advantage of these incentives.

understand it all

“Unfortunately, there isn’t a comprehensive database that captures all of these rebates and incentives,” said Thomas Stephens, co-founder of Upfront, a startup that provides an incentive catalog for merchants.

Tom Carden, director of engineering at Rewiring America, a nonprofit that advocates for electrifying the economy, said it’s a cost of doing business for companies to collect, understand and integrate those incentives into sales proposals.