Energy startups have overtaken the makers of electric cars and batteries as the top global climate tech investment for the first time since 2020. They’ve done so as the growing demand for artificial intelligence has driven interest in technologies that can power data centers with less emissions.
Venture funding for global energy startups totaled $9.4 billion last year, representing an increase of 12% from 2023 levels, according to a report published Tuesday by Sightline Climate, a market intelligence platform. Among them, funding for geothermal startups nearly tripled to $558 million, while nuclear investment almost doubled to $1.9 billion.