1. Explain what Enduring Planet does and how it supports solutions for the climate crisis.

At Enduring Planet, our mission is to ensure that every climate entrepreneur has the money they need to be successful. Our platform provides founder-friendly working capital and financial advisory services to climate startups and small/medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across the US. Our primary offerings today are our Grant Advance, which addresses the working capital needs of government-sponsored startups, and our new Fractional CFO service. With CFO, we’re putting world-class financial planning, analysis, and strategy in the hands of every climate entrepreneur.

2. Since CFO is a new offering for Enduring Planet, why is now the right time to launch these additional services for climate startups?

We've been doing our work at Enduring Planet for two and a half years, and we've invested nearly $11 million across 39 transactions with 31 partners. We've also helped countless others raise other forms of financing, whether it's venture, project finance, grants, or other non-dilutive capital. Between the co-founders of EP, we’ve raised hundreds of millions of dollars in equity, debt, and catalytic capital.

So, suffice to say, we’ve seen and learned a lot. Many of the climate startups and SMBs we meet have a hard time finding good “finance” help and end up with messy books, whacky models, and fundraising strategies that don’t align with their model, stage, structure, etc.

The planet is burning, and we can’t afford to have these amazing businesses lose momentum due to financial disarray. CFO builds on our team’s deep financial expertise, proprietary accounting and prediction platform, monster co-investor network, and brand as a trusted financial partner to inject needed capital and high-quality finance support into the climate ecosystem.

3. How did Enduring Planet get its start?

Erin and I have been working at the intersection of climate and finance for over a decade. I came to the space from the angle of catalytic capital, providing financial intermediaries like Sunfunder, Lendable, and ResponsAbility the most risk-tolerant financing in the market. At the same time, Erin was building SIMA, an impact fund manager that provided a variety of credit products to clean energy companies in emerging markets. They raised nearly $200M by the time she left to start EP with me.

Both of us saw three fundamental gaps in the climate finance ecosystem. First, there was nowhere near enough non-dilutive capital flowing into climate, which is a key piece of a healthy financial ecosystem. Second, the capital that was flowing was largely inaccessible to the majority of entrepreneurs – and even when accessible, it was slow and very conservative. Given all of the advances in financial technology in the past 2 decades, this felt wrong. Moreover, there was a ton of money sitting on the sidelines, ready to deploy, but lacking the right structure and model through which to participate. You put these three things together, and a platform like Enduring Planet becomes obvious.

4. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from starting Enduring Planet?

Perseverance wins. You don’t win because of the quality of your initial idea, the investors that you raise money from, or the market response to your MVP. Business conditions change fast, and things can go wrong. The path to success is paved with tenacity.

Climate entrepreneurs have to have a vision, and then they have to go through wall after wall to get anywhere, not even be successful, but just get anywhere. It doesn't stop. That’s why 95% of companies fail. It's because people eventually just give up because it's really hard. In climate, we can't have that.

The frustrating conventional wisdom is that climate entrepreneurs should have a similar experience to all other entrepreneurs. They have to fight just as hard to get funding, sell just as tirelessly to get customers, stay up as many nights getting technology to work. Their experience should mirror others’ experiences because that's how startups are, right? Except when a random SaaS business fails, it doesn't fucking matter. But if the next frontier energy company fails, and maybe that technology would have been the difference between one and a half degrees and two degrees Celsius, that's humanity’s shot at surviving on this planet.

So on the one hand, the advice for founders is that this is going to be hard, so be prepared to persevere. And the advice to everybody else is, if you are looking to support this sector, you’ve got to remember what's at stake.

5. What advice do you have for those who want to take an active role in climate startups or those looking for jobs in the climate space?

Every job could be a climate job.

I think that often people think about working in climate as “you have to be an engineer”, “you have to be a research scientist”, or something like that. Take Climatebase and Climate People for example, two of Enduring Planet’s portfolio companies, who are driving workforce impact in climate. There are countless ecosystem players like these who are critical to make the climate transition happen, but are not building a new piece of frontier technology.

I think that it's less about what job you do and more about where you do it. If you want to work on communications, great! There's a huge need for exceptional PR and marketing in climate. You want to work on frontier cellular biology but only know sales? Sweet! They need help landing customers and building partnerships.

It's all about the application of your craft. Now to be clear, not everybody has the privilege to work where they want on what they want. But if you do have that privilege, there's nothing else you should be doing with your time.

The world is on fire, and it's only going to get more on fire, and if you plan to live in it, you should probably be trying to save it. Every job can be a climate job.

6. What’s one thing that you wish people understood about working in climate?

I think that people assume that working in climate (and this applies to really all impact spaces), is that it requires some sacrifice of financial well-being – that if you want to work on impact, you have got to make less money. I don't think that's true anymore.

Now that every job can be a climate job, (for example, you can go work at Goldman Sachs and work in climate), there's just so much more opportunity. So it's not like “I have to go work at a nonprofit and make a tenth of the salary that my peers make if I want to do good”. That's just not the case.

I think as the financial ecosystem starts to get more and more developed, and capital flows into climate solutions at a greater and greater pace, there will be more and more financial opportunities in this space.

Arguably, the risks of not working in climate will get bigger, which is something that I don't think a lot of people talk about. This can be your career, it can be incredibly lucrative if that's what you care about, and you can have a material impact on the world, and that's pretty special.

🌎 New Climate Jobs

Check out some of the latest featured jobs below. If you don't see anything that speaks to you, you can always go to Climatebase to explore thousands of other opportunities.

Bank.Green

“Our mission is to harness the power of technology and collective action to decarbonize the banking sector. We empower bank customers with the tools and insights they need to influence their banks towards sustainable lending, advocating for a greener future. Through transparency, engagement, and innovation, we aim to redefine the role of banks in the fight against climate change. As a ...”

• Fundraising Specialist for Climate Finance NGO (Remote (undefined))
• Growth Marketing Manager (Remote (undefined))
• UK-Based Social Media Manager (Remote (undefined))

PVComplete

“PVComplete is a solar software company with offices in the US and Portugal. We make solar design software to accelerate the change to a renewable energy economy. At PVComplete, we are passionate about solar energy and seek team members who share our goal to change how the world’s energy is produced through innovative software solutions Our design and engineering platform is ...”

• Full Stack Engineer (Remote (undefined))
• Product Manager (Remote (undefined))

Carbon Atlantis

“Carbon Atlantis pulls carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere using a novel electrochemical pH-swing process. The system uses a basic, liquid solvent to capture CO2 and an acid to release it. Developing the technology in Munich, Germany, we have partnered with mineralization experts at Paebbl to deliver our first carbon credits to Frontier Climate's Stripe and Shopify, who have collectively ...”

• Technical Founder’s Associate (f/m/d)
• Pilot Plant Engineer (f/m/d)
• Electrochemical Test Engineer (f/m/d)
• Data Engineer (f/m/d)
• Absorption Engineer (f/m/d)
• Electrician / Elektriker:in (f/m/d) (Remote (undefined))

BlueUrbn

“We’re an early-stage startup out of Stanford with a deep passion for climate and energy. Two of us came together as part of a class taught by Dave Danielson, Breakthrough Energy’s Managing Director, and we haven’t looked back since. For the coming year, we’re super committed to hyper-scaling our mission and building the world’s largest platform for energy efficiency and ...”

• Founding CTO
• Head Building Scientist
• Computer Vision / ML Research Engineer
• Founding Full-Stack Engineer
• Head of Partnerships and Business Development
• Product Design Lead

People over Plastic

“People over Plastic’s mission is to start inclusive and solutions-oriented dialogues that center environmental justice and power an anti-racist future. People over Plastic seeks to create a cultural and media hub centered on environmental justice, bringing together leaders, activists, journalists, artists, and community members for thought-provoking and accessible dialogues. ...”

• Social Media & Community Manager (Remote (undefined))

CNaught

“CNaught is solving a critical problem: get more people to put more money into reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by purchasing voluntary carbon credits. With CNaught, companies can purchase effective carbon credits using portfolio strategies that were previously only available to the most sophisticated buyers. Our solution is built from the ground up to maximize impact and mitigate ...”

• Head of Climate Science

Planet Cents, Inc.

“Planet Cents, Inc., (a DE PBC,) (a seed-stage startup,) will be the world's largest sustainable products and services marketplace. (www.PlanetCents.us) Our sellers will include sustainable product and service providers, including existing sustainable marketplaces. Organizational clients use the offerings in our marketplace as benefits, gifts, incentives, recognition, and rewards, as well as engagement, team building, and training tools. They may offer ...”

• CEO - Climate E-Commerce Startup (Remote (undefined))

Dakota Resource Council

“DRC’s mission is to promote sustainable use of North Dakota’s natural resources and family-owned and operated agriculture by building member-led local groups that empower people to influence the decision-making processes that affect their lives and communities. ...”

• Fort Berthold Field Organizer (Remote (undefined))

InPlanet

“We are an impact-driven, remote-first, AgTech startup headquartered in Germany and Brazil with the goal to reverse climate change and make tropical agriculture more regenerative, low-carbon and sustainable. We are working with Enhanced Rock Weathering in tropical agriculture, currently with focus on Brazil. We do that to create a liveable planet for future generations and, in specific, to regenerate soils ...”

• Business Development Trainee/Intern (Remote (undefined))
• Junior Laboratory Technician | Técnico de Laboratório Júnior (Remote (undefined))
• Information Technology Business Analyst | IT & Business Analyst (Remote (undefined))

Voltus

“Voltus is a fully remote clean energy technology platform. Our mission is to be the Distributed Energy Platform that fulfills the promise of the energy transition. The Voltus Platform connects any distributed energy resource to any energy market across the US and Canada, providing flexibility, reliability, and resilience to the grid. Want to be part of a team that is laser ...”

• Engineering Manager - Applications (Remote (undefined))
• Dispatch Operations Associate (remote, Japan, full-time) (Remote (undefined))
• Customer Success Associate (Remote (undefined))
• Dispatch Operations Associate (remote, Australia, full-time) (Remote (undefined))
• Senior Frontend Engineer - Application (Remote (undefined))
• Backend Software Engineer - Applications (Remote (undefined))
• Solutions/Product Marketing Manager (Remote (undefined))
• Sales Associate (Remote) (Remote (undefined))
• Contracts Specialist (Remote (undefined))
• Production Associate (Remote (undefined))
• Sr. Manager, Partnership Business Development (Remote (undefined))
• Senior Software Engineer - Integrations (Remote (undefined))
• Field Engineering Manager (Remote (undefined))
• Sales Productivity Intern (Remote (undefined))
• Production Technician (Remote (undefined))
• Sales Director (Remote, US) (Remote (undefined))
• Lead Generation Intern (Remote (undefined))

Rewiring America

“Rewiring America is a growing nonprofit, working to launch a movement that electrifies everything, starting with our 121 million households. Through accurate, accessible, and actionable data and storytelling tools that power smart, inclusive advocacy and market-transforming partnerships, Rewiring America aims to achieve national emissions goals, improve our health, lower monthly bills, and create millions of clean energy jobs. ...”

• Engineering Manager, Capital (Remote (undefined))
• Product Manager, Data Products (Remote (undefined))
• Senior Manager, State & Local Policy (Midwest Region) (Remote (undefined))
• Senior Product & Experience Designer (Remote (undefined))
• Data Science Manager (Remote (undefined))
• Data Engineer (Remote (undefined))
• Retention Marketing Manager (Remote (undefined))
• Senior Director of Investment (Remote (undefined))
• Head of Community Implementation (Remote (undefined))

Gridware

“Gridware’s mission is to create a future where suburban wildfires are a thing of the past. We provide a truly full-stack (hardware + firmware + software) solution for real-time monitoring of America's power distribution grid. The system centers around low-cost hardware platforms that are easily and permanently deployed to power poles. The platform detects and predicts faults that ignite wildfires, ...”

• Full-time Junior Data Analyst (REMOTE) (Remote (undefined))
• Full-time Junior Data Analyst (REMOTE) (Remote (undefined))
• Full-time Junior Data Analyst (REMOTE) (Remote (undefined))
• Full-time Junior Data Analyst (REMOTE) (Remote (undefined))
• Full-time Junior Data Analyst (REMOTE) (Remote (undefined))
• Full-time Junior Data Analyst (REMOTE) (Remote (undefined))

BeZero Carbon

“BeZero Carbon is a global ratings agency for the Voluntary Carbon Market. Our carbon credit ratings allow all market participants to price and manage risk. BeZero’s carbon ratings and research tools support buyers, intermediaries, investors, and carbon project developers. Founded in April 2020, our 100-strong team combines climatic and earth sciences, sell-side financial research, earth observation, machine learning, data and technology, ...”

• Communications Manager (Remote (undefined))
• People & Operations Associate (Remote (undefined))
• Customer Success Manager (Remote (undefined))
• Account Executive, Americas (Remote (undefined))
• Senior Account Executive (Remote (undefined))

Jobs to Move America

“Jobs to Move America is a strategic policy center that works to transform public spending and corporate behavior using a comprehensive approach that is rooted in racial and economic justice and community organizing. We seek to advance a fair and prosperous economy with good jobs and healthier communities for all. ...”

• Senior Research Fellow, CBARC (Remote (undefined))
• Lincoln Organizer (Remote (undefined))
• Researcher (Remote (undefined))
• Senior Strategic Researcher (Remote (undefined))
• California Organizer

Scale Microgrid Solutions

“Scale Microgrid Solutions (“Scale”) is a fully integrated distributed energy platform focused on designing, implementing and financing innovative distributed clean energy solutions. Through its leading technical expertise and access to scale capital, Scale helps its customers transition to a decentralized energy future by providing and financing sustainable, cost-effective, and resilient power solutions. Scale has its own proprietary microgrid solution which ...”

• Community Solar Development Specialist (Remote (undefined))
• Can't find what you're looking for? (Remote (undefined))
• Controls Engineer (Remote (undefined))
• Applications Engineer (Remote (undefined))
• Business Development Manager (Remote (undefined))

Gradient

“Gradient’s mission is to cool the world by transforming every home to be more comfortable and healthy for the people who inhabit it — without compromising the environment. Today, heating and cooling equipment emit more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transportation sector, and expansion in the use of cooling is projected to double these emissions in the next 30 ...”

• Senior Accountant
• Thermal Engineer
• Staff Firmware Engineer
• Senior Motor Control Firmware Engineer
• Senior Firmware Engineer

That's it for this week! Remember, you can always view thousands of more jobs on Climatebase.org.

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