The rise of the PhD founder in ClimateTech

For decades, we've idolized the college dropout founder. The genius who leaves a top university, armed only with vision and a laptop, to disrupt an industry and become a billionaire. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg—these are names that have shaped the modern definition of disruptive innovation. But in ClimateTech, where the problems are physical and the solutions to reversing climate change demand serious scientific rigor, a new kind of founder is emerging: the PhD founder.

The harsh reality of academia

Once upon a time, a PhD was the gateway to a prestigious career in academia. Today, that path is increasingly a dead end. The number of doctorate holders has exploded with over 200,000 PhD graduates in the United States in 2022, while the number of tenured positions has remained stagnant. Many PhDs abandon years of specialized research to pivot into industry or policy. Increasingly, a brave few take a risk and build something new from the ground up.

Software won’t stop wildfires. An app can’t pull carbon from the air. To decarbonize steel, reinvent cement, or scale direct air capture, we need real-world hardware solutions. That’s why so many climatetech startups are being founded by scientists and engineers—because the solutions require fundamental breakthroughs in physics, chemistry, and engineering. And the urgency of the climate crisis has turned the lab into the new startup launchpad.

Fortunately, an ecosystem is emerging to support these founders with programs designed to pull PhDs from the lab bench into commercialization. A few notable programs include:

• Activate Fellowship provides early-stage science entrepreneurs with a two-year runway, offering $100,000 a year in salary, plus research funding and access to world-class national labs. Since 2015, Activate has supported nearly 200 companies that have collectively secured over $3.5 billion in follow-on funding.

• Breakthrough Energy Fellows Program, backed by Bill Gates, helps researchers move from theory to prototype in critical areas like green hydrogen, energy storage, and carbon capture. It provides hands-on business support and funding to turn scientific ideas into scalable companies.

• Deep Science Ventures’ Venture Science Doctorate program flips the traditional PhD model on its head. Instead of writing dissertations, students develop their research into startup ventures from day one, with the explicit goal of launching a company rather than publishing academic papers.

Scientists-turned-entrepreneurs are raising serious capital, and ClimateTech is attracting investors who understand the stakes and opportunity. Here are a few standouts that have raised money in recent years.

• Twelve: Co-founded by Dr. Etosha Cave, Twelve has developed a technology that transforms CO₂ into valuable products like fuels and chemicals. In September of last year the company raised $645 million in funding to build an e-fuels plant.

• Heirloom: Co-founded by Dr. Noah McQueen, Heirloom focuses on direct air capture of CO₂ using naturally occurring minerals. In December the startup secured $150 million in a Series B funding round to advance its technology.

• Form Energy: Co-founded by Dr. Yet-Ming Chiang, Form Energy is developing innovative energy storage solutions to enable a fully renewable electric grid. The company has raised over $1.2 billion to date, including a $405 million Series F round in October.

• Sublime Systems: Co-founded by Dr. Leah Ellis, Sublime Systems is pioneering the production of low-carbon cement. The startup recently secured a $75 million investment to scale its manufacturing.

The problem with ClimateTech: Time and money

There’s a reason many investors love software: it scales fast and cheap. ClimateTech, on the other hand, takes years—sometimes decades—to develop. It’s capital-intensive. The regulatory barriers are high. The market risks are enormous. Investors in this space need a different mindset. They have to be patient, willing to take big swings, and comfortable with the reality that real-world solutions don’t move at the speed of software.

This article is also published on Forbes. illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability & Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.