CleanTechies

#221 Blended Finance is Going to Save ClimateTech (& Why We Need More of It) w/ Amy Duffuor (Azolla Ventures)

• Silas & Somil • Season 1 • Episode 221

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Amy Duffuor is a co-founder and General Partner at Azolla Ventures and Managing Director at Prime Impact Fund, Azolla's predecessor vehicle. She has a diverse background that spans immigration research, management consulting, impact investing, and renewables investment banking. Amy began her career studying marginalized West African migrants and later pursued an MPhil in Migration Studies at Oxford University. Transitioning into management consulting, she worked on supply chain and procurement projects in London and Southeast Asia, where she developed a passion for climate change solutions. Her experience running venture accelerator programs in Southeast Asia for impact-driven startups inspired her to focus on early-stage climate tech investing. Prior to Azolla, Amy worked at Bank of America as a renewables investment banker, contributing to projects like the IPO of Sunnova, a leading residential solar company.

Azolla Ventures is a venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage investments in climate technology startups. Their investment strategy emphasizes three key criteria: Impact, Additionality and Commercial Potential. In July 2023, Azolla Ventures announced the final close of their fund at $239 million. This fund blends catalytic, charitable capital with impact-aligned, market-rate capital to drive investment into solutions with deep potential for climate impact that are systemically overlooked by conventional financiers. Amy has even constructed a microcosm of LP signals that they use to understand where investing gaps in the ClimateTech funding ecosystem lie. 

In this episode, Amy shares insights on:

  • Using blended finance to de-risk early-stage climate tech investments
  • The unique challenges and misconceptions in hardware-focused climate startups
  • Embedding equity and justice in climate tech ventures

Enjoy!

📝 Show Notes:

Topics 

  • 05:50 The Role of Blended Finance
  • 11:51 The Unique Landscape of Hardware Companies
  • 15:04 Building Trust with Entrepreneurs
  • 17:49 The Importance of Environmental Justice
  • 21:01 The Future of Climate Tech Investing
  • 28:54 The Art of Simplifying Complex Technologies
  • 31:52 Investing Ahead of the Curve
  • 39:59 Integrating Equity and Justice
  • 44:08 Future Aspirations

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People on this episode

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Silas Mahner

Co-host
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Somil Aggarwal

Co-host