VC Investing Over 13 Years: EIF’s Devin Whatley & Geoffrey Eisenberg on Scaling Climate Startups

Discover how EIF invests $3–10M in post-revenue climate and sustainability companies, building trust with CEOs over years and backing market-ready startups like EV Connect and ZepSolar.⭐ My guests today are Devin Whatley, Managing Partner, and cofounder, and Geoffrey Eisenberg, Partner, at Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF).EIF is a long-time VC investor in renewable energy, distributed energy, smart transportation, and sustainable agriculture.On their fifth fund, they invest in companies in seed, Series A, and Series B, with a focus on post-revenue companies with no tech risk that are looking to scale. They like to be the lead investor and write checks between $3M and $10M.---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about: What has helped them raise capital over 13 years across so many cycles in the sustainability, cleantech, and climate tech worlds Why they sometimes take 2-3 years getting to know a CEO before deciding to invest How they think about the total addressable market today vs. the distant future The benefits of disclosing the “skeletons in the close” of the company early…because they’ll definitely be discovered by the investor at some point Their focus on CEOs who are obsessed but not flashy (i.e., show, don’t tell) Some success stories in their portfolio, such as EV Connect and ZepSolar Book recommendations to help them maintain humility and perspective on how history shapes the present day And lots more---👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏---🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠