Climate tech venture capital funding rose 55% to $26.1 billion in H1 2026
Currence’s H1 2026 report found climate tech venture capital funding rose 55% to $26.1 billion, led by low-carbon data center deals DayOne and Nscale.
Photo by Kristina Kutleša on Pexels
Venture capital investment in climate technology reached $26.1 billion in the first half of 2026, up 55% from the same period in 2025 and the strongest first half for the sector since 2022, according to the H1 2026 Climate Tech Investment & Innovation Report published July 13, 2026, by market intelligence firm Currence (publisher of the CTVC newsletter, formerly Sightline Climate). The report, also covered by ESG Today on July 16, 2026, found that climate tech venture capital funding grew even as the number of deals fell, with money concentrating in a smaller set of large transactions tied to data center power demand.
Data centers drove the climate tech venture capital funding increase
Currence found that low-carbon data center technologies made up 34% of all climate tech funding in H1 2026, compared with just 3% a year earlier. Built Environment, the category that includes data center infrastructure, grew by more than 800% and overtook Energy as the largest funding vertical. Much of that growth came from two Series C rounds: data center developer DayOne raised $4.5 billion, and data center operator Nscale raised $2 billion, together accounting for nearly two-thirds of all Series C funding in the half. Series C funding overall reached $10.5 billion, up nearly fourfold from H1 2025, with its share of total funding rising to 40% from 16% a year earlier.
Currence linked the pattern to what it called the “speed-to-power race,” as gas turbine wait times stretch and companies look to low-carbon power sources that can be brought online faster. In the report, Currence stated: “The AI compute race is driving a VC boom even larger than the heady days of 2021-2022. Startups are competing against incumbents with a faster route to power.”
| H1 2026 climate tech metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total VC funding | $26.1 billion (+55% year-on-year) |
| Deal count | Down 25% year-on-year, a five-year low |
| Largest 10 deals’ share of funding | 42% |
| Series C funding | $10.5 billion (up from about $2.7 billion in H1 2025) |
| Data center share of total climate funding | 34% (vs. 3% in H1 2025) |
| Built Environment vertical growth | Up more than 800%, overtaking Energy as largest vertical |
Source: Currence, “H1 2026 Climate Tech Investment & Innovation Report,” published via CTVC, July 13, 2026.
Clean firm power IPOs and other notable deals
The report also recorded a strong half for public listings of “clean firm power” companies. Geothermal developer Fervo Energy’s IPO raised $1.9 billion and its shares rose 35% on debut, while advanced nuclear developer X-Energy’s IPO raised $1 billion, with shares up 27% on debut, according to Currence. Bloomberg separately reported that Fervo’s IPO priced at $1.89 billion on May 12, 2026, consistent with the report’s figure. Fusion energy developer General Fusion completed a SPAC merger with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III at an implied valuation of $1 billion, one of several exits Currence counted toward a half-year total of 152 climate tech exits, up 68% from H1 2025.
Outside the top data center deals, Currence highlighted a rise in climate risk and adaptation funding, led by satellite radar company ICEYE’s $521 million round, which it called the largest deal outside energy and transport. The report noted that “as physical climate risk turns from forecast to lived reality, the tools to see and respond to it are drawing growth-stage money once reserved for mitigation.” By contrast, carbon-focused startups had their weakest half since 2020, with funding down 61%, and low-carbon fuels funding fell 56% as US subsidies wind down.
Related coverage on winssolutions.org
The report’s exits list includes General Fusion becoming the first public fusion energy firm via its SPAC merger, a deal Winss Solutions covered separately. Its fundraising totals also follow a pattern documented in earlier Winss Solutions coverage of climate tech funds swelling amid a broader investment slowdown and of specific vehicles such as Climentum’s climate tech fund reaching a first close, which Currence’s underlying deals data also recorded closing $68 million for its Fund II in the same period.
About Currence
Currence, publisher of the CTVC newsletter, is a market intelligence firm focused on climate technology investment, formerly operating as Sightline Climate. It tracks venture capital, project finance, and exit activity across climate tech sectors including energy, transportation, the built environment, industrial technology, food and land use, and carbon and climate risk management, publishing a weekly newsletter alongside half-year investment trend reports. The H1 2026 Climate Tech Investment & Innovation Report, released July 13, 2026 and separately reported by Bloomberg and ESG Today, is the latest in a series of half-year reports the firm has published tracking the sector since the early 2020s, a period that included the sector’s previous funding peak in 2022 that the H1 2026 total has now approached.
Sources: CTVC by Currence; ESG Today; Bloomberg
Featured image: photo by Kristina Kutleša on Pexels (free Pexels license).
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I specialize in sustainability education, curriculum co-creation, and early-stage project strategy. At WINSS, I craft articles on sustainability, transformative AI, and related topics. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me chasing the perfect sushi roll, exploring cities around the globe, or unwinding with my dog Puffy — the world’s most loyal sidekick.
