Breakthrough Energy

{{Short description|Group of organizations that invest in sustainable energy startups}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Breakthrough Energy

| logo = 200px

| type = Private

| industry = Energy

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| founded = {{start date and age|2015}}

| founder = Bill Gates

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| hq_location_city = Kirkland, Washington

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| website = [https://www.breakthroughenergy.org/ breakthroughenergy.org]

}}

Breakthrough Energy is the umbrella name of several organizations, founded by Bill Gates in 2015, that aim to accelerate innovation in sustainable energy and in other technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It has been investing in a variety of startup companies which were attempting to commercialize new concepts such as nuclear fusion, large-capacity batteries to store renewable energy, and microbe-generated biofuels.{{Cite web|title=Billionaire-Backed Breakthrough Energy Ventures Makes 7 More Investments|url=https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/billionaire-backed-breakthrough-energy-ventures-makes-7-more-investments |access-date=2020-11-23|website=www.greentechmedia.com}}

In 2025, strategy shifted away from public policy towards supporting clean energy technology alone, as the Second Trump administration has been promoting fossil fuels and dissolved programs addressing climate change.

History

At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in November 2015, Gates announced that a coalition of 28 high net-worth investors from ten countries had committed to the Breakthrough Energy initiative. A complementary initiative of Gates, Mission Innovation, was announced at the same time.{{cite web|title=Announcing: "Mission Innovation"|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/11/29/announcing-mission-innovation |via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|date=29 November 2015 |access-date=30 November 2015}}

In December 2016, a group of investors collectively worth {{USD|170 billion}} announced more personal commitment to funding the efforts of a {{USD|1 billion}} fund "focused on fighting climate change by investing in clean energy innovation." The fund is named Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund.Delaney, Kevin (12 December 2016) [https://qz.com/859860/bill-gates-is-leading-a-new-1-billion-fund-focused-on-combatting-climate-change-through-innovation/ Bill Gates and investors worth $170 billion are launching a fund to fight climate change through energy innovation] Quartz, Quartz Media, Inc. Retrieved 1 January 2019

In March 2025, Bill Gates dissolved the unit working in Europe and the United States unit working on public policy, because "it was not likely to have a significant effect in Washington", as the Second Trump administration has been promoting fossil fuels and dissolved programs addressing climate change.{{Cite news |last=Gelles |first=David |last2=Schleifer |first2=Theodore |date=2025-03-12 |title=Climate Group Funded by Bill Gates Slashes Staff in Major Retreat |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/climate/bill-gates-breakthrough-energy-cuts.html |access-date=2025-03-17 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Strategy

At its inception in 2015, Gates explained, "The renewable technologies we have today, like wind and solar, have made a lot of progress and could be one path to a zero-carbon energy future... But given the scale of the challenge, we need to be exploring many different paths."{{cite news|last1=Milman|first1=Oliver |date=30 November 2015|title=Zuckerberg, Gates and other tech titans form clean energy investment coalition|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/30/bill-gates-breakthrough-energy-coalition-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-microsoft-amazon |access-date=1 December 2015}} Breakthrough Energy invests primarily in businesses where the risk of failure is high and the timeframe for return on investment is 20 years. Traditional venture capitalists look for a return on investment in five years, which may not be enough for the special challenges of the energy sector.

In 2025, strategy shifted away from public policy towards supporting clean energy companies through the Breakthrough Energy Catalyst program, Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

Members

The group is spearheaded by Bill Gates, who previously announced a personal $2 billion investment,{{cite web|last1=Chhabra|first1=Esha |title=Bill Gates Rallies With Tech Leaders To Launch A Multi-Billion Dollar Energy Fund|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/eshachhabra/2015/11/30/bill-gates-rallies-with-tech-leaders-to-launch-a-multi-billion-dollar-energy-fund/ |website=Forbes|access-date=30 November 2015}} and includes:{{cite journal|last1=Lapowsky|first1=Issie |title=Tech Billionaires Team Up to Take On Climate Change|url=https://www.wired.com/2015/11/zuckerberg-gates-climate-change-breakthrough-energy-coalition/ |journal=Wired |publisher=Condé Nast Publications|access-date=30 November 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Bellware|first1=Kim |title=World's Tech Giants Team Up For Mega Investment In Clean Energy|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/breakthrough-energy-coalition_565b91a2e4b072e9d1c2397e |website=The Huffington Post|date=30 November 2015 |publisher=The Huffington Post Media Group|access-date=30 November 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Cooper|first1=Anderson |title=Bill Gates: How the World Can Avoid a Climate Disaster|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-gates-climate-change-disaster-60-minutes-2021-02-14/ |website=60 Minutes|date=15 February 2021 |publisher=CBS News|access-date=17 February 2021}}

Jeff Bezos
Marc Benioff
Michael Bloomberg
Richard Branson
Ray Dalio{{Cite web |title=BEV Board and Investors {{!}} Breakthrough Energy |url=https://breakthroughenergy.org/our-work/breakthrough-energy-ventures/bev-board-and-investors/ |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=breakthroughenergy.org |language=en-US}}
Reid Hoffman
Jack Ma
George Soros
Tom Steyer
Meg Whitman
Dani El Zain
Mark Zuckerberg
University of California, the sole institutional investor at launch{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=Emily |title=UC joins Bill Gates' clean-energy investment initiative|url=http://www.sfchronicle.com/green/article/UC-joins-Bill-Gates-clean-energy-investment-6663896.php |access-date=30 November 2015|work=San Francisco Chronicle|publisher=Hearst Corporation|date=29 November 2015}}
Nat Simons
Mukesh Ambani{{Cite web|date=2020-11-13|title=Mukesh Ambani's RIL to invest $50 mn in Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures|url=https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/mukesh-ambanis-ril-to-invest-50-mn-in-bill-gates-breakthrough-energy-ventures/2128069/ |access-date=2020-11-23|website=The Financial Express|language=en-US}}

Criticism

There has been criticism that the coalition was announced too early, before crucial details had been confirmed. At launch, a Gates Foundation spokesman confirmed that investment professionals had yet to be appointed, named investors—other than Gates—had not publicly stated their level of investment and a financial structure had not been confirmed.{{cite web|last1=Primack|first1=Dan|title=Bill Gates' Clean Energy Plan Isn't Ready for Primetime|url=http://fortune.com/2015/12/01/bill-gates-clean-energy-plan-isnt-ready-for-primetime/ |website=Fortune|publisher=Time, Inc.|access-date=2 December 2015}}

Notable projects

Blue Frontier - a startup developing new air-conditioning technologies as of 2022{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/28/bill-gates-breakthrough-energy-ventures-backs-air-conditioning-startup.html |title=Air conditioning is a climate disaster and Bill Gates is investing in this startup to fix it |date=2022-07-28|last= Clifford|first=Catherine |publisher=CNBC }}

Verdox — carbon capture. In February 2022, Breakthrough Energy agreed to join an investors syndicate providing $80 million in capital to Verdox, Inc., a startup company attempting to scale a new carbon capture and removal platform developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—one of five carbon capture technology investments the organization{{which|date=March 2025}} would make by the beginning of the following May.{{cite news|title=Verdox Captures $80M to Develop Novel Electric Carbon Removal Technology|date=February 2, 2022|website=Business Wire|publisher=Berkshire Hathaway|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220201006125/en/Verdox-Captures-80M-to-Develop-Novel-Electric-Carbon-Removal-Technology|access-date=July 7, 2022}}{{cite news|last=Rathi|first=Akshat|date=February 2, 2022|title=Bill Gates Invests in Carbon Capture Startup After Tech Breakthrough|publisher=Bloomberg News|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-02/new-tech-could-cut-carbon-capture-energy-use-by-70|access-date=July 7, 2022}}{{cite news|last=Clifford|first=Catherine|date=May 7, 2022|title=Carbon capture challenges are not deterring investor at Bill Gates' firm|publisher=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/07/what-is-carbon-capture-eric-toone-investor-at-gates-firm-explains.html|access-date=July 7, 2022}} The Verdox, Inc. carbon capture design, created by chemical engineers T. Alan Hatton and Sahag Voskian,{{cite news|last=Chandler|first=David|date=October 24, 2019|title=MIT engineers develop a new way to remove carbon dioxide from air|work=MIT News|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|url=https://news.mit.edu/2019/mit-engineers-develop-new-way-remove-carbon-dioxide-air-1025|access-date=July 18, 2022}}{{cite news|last=Stauffer|first=Nancy W.|date=July 9, 2020|title=A new approach to carbon capture|work=MIT News|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|url=https://news.mit.edu/2020/new-approach-to-carbon-capture-0709|access-date=July 18, 2022}}{{cite journal|last1=Voskian|first1=Sahag|last2=Hatton|first2=T. Alan|year=2019|title=Faradaic electro-swing reactive adsorption for CO₂ capture|journal=Energy & Environmental Science|publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry|volume=2019|issue=12|pages=3530–3547|doi=10.1039/C9EE02412C|s2cid=208719788 |doi-access=free|hdl=1721.1/123890|hdl-access=free}} co-won a $1 million preliminary prize along with Carbfix (co-founded by geochemist Wallace S. Broecker) from an X Prize Foundation contest funded by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.{{refn|group=list|name=XPrizeFoundationContest|{{cite news|last=Brabant|first=Malcolm|title=To combat climate change, these scientists are turning CO2 into rock|date=August 23, 2016|work=PBS NewsHour|publisher=WETA-TV|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/combat-climate-change-scientists-turning-co2-rock|access-date=July 18, 2022}}{{cite news|title=Verdox Wins $1M XPRIZE Carbon Removal Award Together with Partner Carbfix|date=April 22, 2022|website=Business Wire|publisher=Berkshire Hathaway|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220422005027/en/Verdox-Wins-1M-XPRIZE-Carbon-Removal-Award-Together-with-Partner-Carbfix|access-date=July 18, 2022}}{{cite web|title=XPRIZE and the Musk Foundation Award $15M to Prize Milestone Winners in $100M Carbon Removal Competition|date=April 22, 2022|publisher=X Prize Foundation|url=https://www.xprize.org/prizes/elonmusk/articles/xprize-and-the-musk-foundation-award-15m-to-prize-milestone-winners-in-100m-carbon-removal-competition|access-date=July 18, 2022}}{{cite news|last=Clifford|first=Catherine|date=February 8, 2021|title=The who, what and where of Elon Musk's $100 million prize money for carbon capture innovation|publisher=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/08/who-what-where-of-elon-musks-100-million-prize-for-carbon-capture.html|access-date=July 7, 2022}}{{cite news|last=Chappell|first=Bill|date=February 8, 2021|title=Elon Musk Funds $100 Million XPrize For Pursuit Of New Carbon Removal Ideas|publisher=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/02/08/965372754/elon-musk-funds-100-million-xprize-for-pursuit-of-new-carbon-removal-ideas|access-date=July 7, 2022}}}}

Methanol fuel cells (August 2022), conversion of methanol to electricity{{cite web |title=Breakthrough Energy Ventures backs methanol fuel cell company Blue World Technologies |url=https://www.greencarcongress.com/2022/08/20220831-blueworld.html |website=Green Car Congress}}
Data Blanket - a wildfire drone technology start-up
Dioxycle, a startup developing sustainable ethylene from recycled carbon emissions.{{Cite news |last=Jessop |first=Simon |date=July 25, 2023 |title=Dioxycle raises $17 million to help develop green ethylene |url=https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/dioxycle-raises-17-mln-help-develop-green-ethylene-2023-07-25/ |access-date=July 15, 2024 |work=Reuters}}

efforts to connect producers and consumers of green hydrogen.{{cite web |last1=Collins |first1=Leigh |title=How to make expensive green hydrogen commercially viable today — without subsidies {{!}} Recharge |url=https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-transition/how-to-make-expensive-green-hydrogen-commercially-viable-today-without-subsidies/2-1-1142848 |website=Recharge {{!}} Latest renewable energy news |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220111194937/https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-transition/how-to-make-expensive-green-hydrogen-commercially-viable-today-without-subsidies/2-1-1142848 |archive-date=11 January 2022 |language=en |date=11 January 2022 |url-status=live}}