Off the Record: Climate Edition – VC doesn't work for Climate Tech. Here's 3 new solutions

AI companies are racing to secure power for their energy hungry data centres and it turns out renewables might be their only option in the short term. Environmentalists have been terrified about what AI and its energy use could mean for the climate. But after diving into the data, we flip the script on its head and ask: is AI the unexpected catalyst we never knew we needed to drive renewables and the new clean energy revolution?We Discuss- Why neither natural gas or nuclear are the answers to powering data centers in the short to medium term.- Are moonshots like flying data centers to space or fusion power the answer?- Why renewables are the only option available when it comes to quickly building out new power generation and what this means for building out the new clean economy. Get full access to Climate Drift at climatedrift.substack.com/subscribe

Manuela Zoninsein, CEO of Kadeya, found out the hard way that Venture Capital doesn’t work when you’re building a physical Climate Tech company. After spending two painful years searching for, and eventually finding amazing financing options, she’s here to share the map she wished someone had handed her. We Discuss- Why the default VC playbook breaks for climate hardware (and why that’s not your fault)- The 3 unconventional financing tools that changed everything for Kadeya- Why understanding your capital stack actually makes VCs more interested, not lessManuela’s article: VC doesn't work for Climate Tech. Here's 3 new solutions.Where to find Jordy:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordygold/ Get full access to Climate Drift at climatedrift.substack.com/subscribe

Fabien Koutchekian (Genomines CEO) and Skander Garroum (3x Founder: Raised $25M) have gone through hell to successfully raise money for new companies and they want to help you avoid some of the pain. Genomines secured one of the largest Climate Tech funding rounds in Europe in 2025. It turns out fundraising is messy and involves way more psychology than Excel. Skander Garroum is here today to tell you everything they don’t teach you during your MBA or in the Y Combinator Playbook. We discuss- How psychology comes into play and impacts fundraising.- How to create the conditions that can lead to FOMO amongst investors.- The critical factors for raising money and those that don’t actually matter. Skander’s article: How to actually raise your roundWhere to find Jordy:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordygold/Where to find Skander:Climate Drift Substack:https://climatedrift.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skandergarroum/  Get full access to Climate Drift at climatedrift.substack.com/subscribe

Thanks to three converging ‘miracles’ the continent of Africa is one step closer to living out the Solarpunk utopian dream where people can live in harmony with nature. This episode is based on Skander Garroum’s viral article that blew up, focussing on how solar and batteries have taken hold, how African countries are using the tech to leapfrog others in the west and the amazing things they are achieving as a result.We discuss* What is Solarpunk?* When skipping building electrical grids can be a good thing* The Three Miracles of solar* Sun King’s and Sun Culture’s global success* How to boost agricultural productivity from $600 to $10,000 an acre* The current limits of the solar revolutionWhere to find Jordy:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordygold/Where to find Skander:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skandergarroum/ Get full access to Climate Drift at climatedrift.substack.com/subscribe

Incredible job seekers are struggling to break into climate while Climate Tech companies are totally overwhelmed with huge numbers of high quality, AI supported applicants. Skander Garroum’s solution: if you want to break through, give away your best ideas. Seriously! We desperately need to move as many of the best people as we can to work into climate. If you’re one of these people and you want to know how to make this happen, stick around and find out. We discuss:- Why and how the current process is failing job seekers and Climate Tech companies.- How to craft a great challenge that puts you on the radar and why it’s so effective.- The three kinds of challenges you can put together.Where to find Jordy:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordygold/Where to find Skander:Climate Drift Substack:https://climatedrift.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skandergarroum/  Get full access to Climate Drift at climatedrift.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of Off the Record, Skander Garroum reports back on what surprised him the most at The Drop - Europe's leading climate tech conference. In the lead up to the event, all anyone seemed to talk about was AI, and yet, upon arrival the discussions went in a totally different direction. The China discussion dominated the Climate Tech space with competing factions trying to figure out how best to engage. Finally, given the Climate Tech funding ice age, various VC’s are beginning to panic leading to all kinds of unexpected decisions. Jordy Gold and Skander connected on September 25, 2025 to talk about how everything went down this year at The Drop.We discuss:How to engage with China on Climate Tech - compete, collaborate or give up altogether.AI is huge, and yet, so far, it’s missing in action when it comes to Climate Tech.Limited Partners - those who provide capital for funds - are pulling back causing VC’s, venture capitalists, to panic.VC doesn’t work for Climate Tech, full stop. Are new blended financing models the way to go?Where to find Jordy:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordygold/Where to find Skander:Climate Drift Substack:https://climatedrift.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skandergarroum/  Get full access to Climate Drift at climatedrift.substack.com/subscribe

Skander Garroum knew China was leading in Climate Tech infrastructure, manufacturing and products offerings, but was totally blown away during his recent trip when he went to go and see their edge first hand. Until you’re on the ground and have access to everything the country is developing, and until you experience what regular Chinese people see and do every day, you just can’t imagine how far ahead they are. This leads us right back to the same question: What do we in the West do now? Skander thinks he has the answer. Today we cover the highlights from his trip and where the West could go next.We discuss:1. How did China become the major player in Climate Tech controlling essential resources?2. Building really big: China’s infrastructure buildout vs. the West’s approach3. No one sells ‘eco’ in China – they’ve got something better4. What the West could and should do next in Climate TechWhere to find Jordy:LinkedInWhere to find Skander:Climate Drift SubstackLinkedIn Get full access to Climate Drift at climatedrift.substack.com/subscribe

2025 was a total rollercoaster for Climate Tech and 2026 is shaping up to be no different. We never imagined that by the end of 2025 we’d be ‘winning’ on the climate front and now we have a whole new batch of surprises of what to look forward to for this new year. Skander Garroum walks us through what’s expected, big concerns, crazy predictions and finally, what he hopes to see play out. Reindustrialization is happening in the west, AI and power production continue taking centre stage, and you’re not going to want to miss what he says about the AI bubble and robotics. Big things are coming, maybe sooner than you realize.We discuss:- Where does the AI, data centres and power production story go next?- Reindustrialization gets real.- Physical AI and Robotics are coming sooner than you think.- The AI bubble is real and it will burst in exactly….- The big stories we’ll be discussing in 2026 Get full access to Climate Drift at climatedrift.substack.com/subscribe

When you look back on 2025, what stands out? Let us guess: AI. Yes, AI, power production and data centres were huge and deserve a lot of attention. But there was so much more.If you think back to January 2025 everything climate and Climate Tech looked like a car wreck playing out in slow motion, with big sweeping policy changes in the US on the horizon and global economic concerns.And yet, somehow, we finished off the year in a totally different, unexpected place. If you want to remember how things began, the major twists and turns - some for the better and some for the worse - and where things might go next in 2026, you’re going to want to check this out.We discuss:* Despite all of the turbulence, is Climate Tech actually winning?* How everything in 2025 felt like two steps forward, one step back.* You can’t discuss 2025 without looking at AI, power production and data centres.* The clean energy generation boost.* Initial 2026 predictions.Where to find Skander:Climate Drift SubstackLinkedInWhere to find Jordy:LinkedIn Get full access to Climate Drift at climatedrift.substack.com/subscribe