Evergreen Climate Innovations
Model & Strategy
Evergreen Climate Innovations (formerly Clean Energy Trust) provides catalytic capital and support to early-stage startups in the Mid-Continent region of the United States working on solutions for clean energy, decarbonization, and environmental sustainability. Evergreen Climate Innovations believes in the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to conserve natural resources, protect the environment, and combat climate change. Moreover, entrepreneurship and innovation create jobs and stimulate economic development in underserved regions of the Mid-Continent region. To date, Evergreen Climate Innovations has invested in 31 portfolio companies.
Erik Birkerts has over 25 years of operational and general management experience, including project financing and strategy development for energy efficiency and clean technology companies. Erik currently serves on the board of Milbank Manufacturing, acts as a senior advisor to Metrus Energy, and serves as a board observer for multiple Evergreen Climate Innovations portfolio companies. He also serves as a Mentor for the Obama Foundation Scholars program and as an Executive Mentor for the Baumhart Scholars MBA program at Chicago’s Loyola University. He earned an MBA at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and a BA with honors in Economics and International Relations from Tufts University.
IMPACT
Evergreen Climate Innovations has invested $5.3 million in 31 companies from the Midwest and has helped to create over 550 jobs since its inception in 2010.
Evergreen Climate Innovations provides catalytic capital to address Midwest capital scarcity and support to early-stage startups working on solutions for clean energy, decarbonization, and environmental sustainability. Evergreen Climate Innovations’ portfolio companies have raised $26 of additional investment for every $1 of Evergreen Climate Innovations investment.
More than half (55%) of Evergreen Climate Innovations’ portfolio companies have female or minority founders. The vast majority (68%) of Evergreen Climate Innovations’ portfolio companies are generating revenues, with 29% recognizing greater than $1 million in annual sales; Evergreen Climate Innovations has profitably exited four investments and reinvests the proceeds into new startups.
Evergreen Climate Innovations News
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DRK Foundation Advocating for Latino CommunityIn honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, DRK Managing Director Michelle De La Isla was recently featured on NBC and Telemundo to share how our portfolio…Sep 2022 -
Clean Energy Trust Elects GE and ARPA-E Alumnae to Board of DirectorsClean Energy Trust provides catalytic capital and support to early-stage startups in the Mid-Continent region of the United States working on solutions for clean energy,…Feb 2020 -
Clean Energy Trust Welcomes 4 New Portfolio Companies at 2019 Co_Invest CleantechClick here to read the full article.May 2019 -
Q&A: Clean Energy Trust’s New Leader ‘Extremely Optimistic’ About Midwest EnergyRecently, Clean Energy Trust announced that executive vice president Erik Birkerts would take over as CEO, picking up the reins from founding CEO Amy Francetic.…Dec 2015 -
Clean Energy Trust Awarded 8 Start Ups $1 Million in the Clean Energy ChallengePut on by Chicago’s Clean Energy Trust, the Clean Energy Challenge aims to seed clean energy startups and has been a launching pad for more than 60…Apr 2015
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RT @IAdams1: Lots of useful resources here, from events to a detailed database of accelerators and fellowship programs for climate tech inc…
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RT @InnovCrossroads: APPLICATION OPENS OCT. 15: Are you an entrepreneur? Apply for a fellowship @ORNL to develop your #cleanenergy innovati…
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Join us on Thursday, October 6th at 1 PM CT for the Water Innovation Showcase! You'll discover five water technol… https://t.co/CpKsimKcCv
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Learn about our latest investment Cache Energy and their ultra-long duration, future fuel in today's… https://t.co/okbX0TuZ40
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RT @CRIstartup: Check out these opportunities for climatech and clean energy businesses through the Heartland Climate Tech Partnership!
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As a founder of the Heartland Climate Tech Partnership, we are proud to officially launch a resource database for i… https://t.co/jgDBx1c6xV
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Work at the most impactful climate tech startups founded in the Greater Midwest region of the United States. Disco… https://t.co/MwABWzjqKJ
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RT @InnovCrossroads: ⚠️ COHORT 7 APPLICATION ALERT ⚠️ Do you have a #cleanenergy #startup? Innovation Crossroads is recruiting for Cohort 7…
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We're hiring - join the Evergreen team as our Philanthropic Partnerships Manager! This role will support, expand,… https://t.co/5GiPCHGgez
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Join the FAST Center at Illinois for their September SBIR/STTR 101 on Tuesday, September 27 from 2-3PM CT! This on… https://t.co/W98UfLUnQK
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As part of #ChiWaterWeek 2022, we're hosting a Water Innovation Showcase on Thursday, October 6th at 1 PM CT! 💧💧💧💧💧… https://t.co/O3CPv1jm53