Australia is land Of natural wonders, from the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforests to Kakadu National Park and the Blue Mountains. But because of the country’s naturally dry and biodiverse climate, it is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change. All of these wonders have been affected in recent years by wildfires, extreme heat waves, rising temperatures and floods.
Queensland is facing the worst flooding in history in the wake of Cyclone Elsa. This is in addition to the effects of last year’s La Niña event, which brought severe flooding and record rainfall to eastern Australia. Before that, during the Black Summer of 2019 and 2020, the country experienced its most catastrophic forest fires that burned more than 30,000 square kilometers of land and killed 3 billion animals. Add to this, About 90% of the Great Barrier Reef Coral has been bleached white due to rising sea temperatures.
Australia has seen its fair share of climate disasters, which has galvanized climate tech startups into action.
The island continent is sparsely populated throughout most of its flat, dry, sunny center – indicated by the red center – and has ideal conditions for harvesting solar and wind energy. Large-scale solar and wind farms have proliferated across the country in recent years, increasing renewable energy generation from 16% in 2011 to 32% in 2022. The Australian government has set a target of increasing its grid to 82% energy renewable energy by 2030.
“There is now this perfect confluence of environmental issues, policy support and technology readiness that makes climate technology, especially coming out of Australia, well placed to reach the next level of scale over the next five years,” said Jack Curtis, Chief Commercial Officer. in near.
But a lack of capital to take startups to scale can prevent access to Australian innovation – an issue that has become well-known across the startup sector.
Neara works with utility companies around the world. It recently raised another $24 million to help its customers — like Southern California Edison — futureproof their infrastructure by creating 3D models to reflect and simulate how utility assets would behave in a real-world environment in scenarios like drought or flood.
The hype around climate technology in Australia is real, as long as it can be sustained. Local venture capital firms are the most excited about the sector this year, with climate and clean technology dominating funding and the number of deals in the third quarter of 2023. Startups in the sector raised $116 million in the third quarter, up from $60 million. Investments were made in this sector in the second quarter and 2023. $40 million in the first quarter, according to Cut through project data. [Note: Numbers are in AUD unless otherwise stated.]
It has been an upward trend over the past two years. In 2022, climate technology in Australia raised $553 million in capital, compared to $338 million in 2021, according to a report From the Climate Authority, a community of Australian climate technology stakeholders. The goal was to raise another $1.5 billion this year, but the sector fell short due to late and unsuccessful capital raisings, according to company co-founder Mick Liubinskas.
“We have a large number of companies looking to raise in the first quarter of 2024 and more capital from international investors,” he said.
Startup founders say getting big checks is their biggest hurdle, but it’s the most important if they want to scale and survive.