Breaking Barriers: What We’ve Learned About Climate Founder Challenges

What We Did and Why

Climate entrepreneurship presents unique challenges for underrepresented founders. To better understand these barriers and design more effective support, we conducted a two-phase qualitative research project focused on climate founders.

Our goal was simple: hear directly from the ecosystem—what’s working, what isn’t, and what’s missing. These insights are informing our Founders Program. We conducted 10 in-depth interviews (5 per phase) with diverse perspectives across the climate entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Methodology: Understanding the Ecosystem

We structured our research in two phases.

Phase 1: Interviews with venture capital (VC) firms and ecosystem players to understand the broader landscape and specific challenges for underrepresented founders.

Phase 2: In-depth conversations with first-time climate founders from underrepresented backgrounds to hear their stories firsthand.

Issue Themes: What We Found

Our research revealed several key challenge areas affecting underrepresented climate founders.

Network

Underrepresented founders often lack the pre-existing connections that their peers take for granted. One founder described networking events as resembling an exclusive “club” where established relationships dictated opportunities.

Physical and geographic barriers further limit participation—one founder in a wheelchair couldn’t participate in networking conversations at events designed around standing cocktail tables. Geographic isolation further limits in-person networking opportunities for founders outside major tech hubs.

There’s a need for intentionally inclusive, accessible networking formats that facilitate meaningful connections regardless of physical ability or zip code.

Bias

Underrepresented founders face bias that impacts their ability to secure resources and recognition. They reported having to repeatedly prove their expertise in ways that other founders don’t.

“I didn’t sell myself enough,” shared one experienced founder, highlighting how socialized behaviors and cultural backgrounds can impact self-advocacy in competitive spaces.

“I need to do more to prove that I belong in this space… because of perceptions that other people have.” — Founder

This bias extends to funding. Founders noted that support for diverse entrepreneurs can be trend-driven and short-lived. “Pervasive societal inequity in the United States is strikingly evident in the start-up world. In 2022, Black and Latino founders received only 1 percent and 1.5 percent respectively of total US venture capital (VC) funding. Women-founded teams received 1.9 percent of VC funds, and only 0.1 percent of VC funds went to Black and Latino women founders. It’s a gap that persists through each stage of growth.” Check out more of this research here.

Founder Resilience

The pressure to succeed is magnified for underrepresented founders who often feel they’re representing their entire community. This creates additional stress that impacts mental health and decision-making.

“Even with funding secured, I couldn’t access it because of my visa. It was a brutal reminder of how policy can shut down potential.” — Founder

Founders described working in “overdrive” to combat imposter syndrome, leading to burnout. “More than 80 percent of entrepreneurs report struggling with impostor syndrome (Harvard Business Review, 2023), significantly higher than the general population where 70 percent experience it at some point in their careers (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011).”

Without adequate support systems, many founders struggle to sustain both their ventures and their own well-being. 

Background-specific Issues

Founders’ lived experiences shaped distinct, often overlooked challenges:

• For international founders, visa restrictions can force promising ventures to relocate or shut down entirely. One founder had to leave her university after launching her climate project due to immigration barriers.
• Parenting founders described how fluctuating childcare and school schedules made traditional accelerator programs inaccessible, with one noting that her volunteer base was constantly changing “dictated by parental schedules.”
• Founders with disabilities reported that accessibility considerations were often treated as optional rather than fundamental to program design.

Learnings: Building a Better Founders Program

Based on these insights, we’re designing our Founders Program to address these challenges head-on!

1. Peer-Learning Groups: Our Founder Circles program is launching to meet founders’ need for close peer groups to help each other overcome imposter syndrome, solve shared (often identity-based) challenges, and build resilience in the process.
2. Relationship-oriented Events: We design events both virtually and in person to help founders build authentic connections. Want to find thought partners, co-founders, or kindred spirits? Join our next Happy Hour to learn more!
3. Targeted Mentorship: Our bench of subject matter experts hold regular office hours to help founders with commercialization challenges. We’ll be building this out into a larger directory initiative to help founders find community members who can help them address specific challenges.
4. Confidence-Building Resources: We’ve curated guides on essential startup topics and organize identity-minded speaker events to motivate and support founders battling imposter syndrome and dismantle isolation.
   

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The Impact Research Team:

Mallika Malleswaran
Sameer Suresh
Laura Gonzalez Mantecon
Stephen Klimko
Kim Dryden