How Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund Backs Cleantech Startups

Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund has been busy since 2020! The $2 billion fund now backs 31 companies working on solutions to help Amazon and others meet The Climate Pledge. What we're seeing is corporate sustainability investment taking on a whole new scale — and it's changing how businesses think about climate action.

The fund keeps expanding with companies tackling some pretty critical stuff: e-waste, carbon storage, and low-carbon construction. Take Molg, which uses robotic microfactories to tackle our growing e-waste problem, or Paebbl, which actually turns CO2 into building materials that store carbon. Then there's 14Trees, using 3D printing to speed up low-carbon building construction. These aren't just investments — they're strategic bets on cleantech startups that can actually move the needle on decarbonization.

Here's what makes this particularly interesting: the scale and real-world potential. From over 550 applications, Amazon recently picked 11 new startups for its Sustainability Accelerator program, putting €750,000 into ongoing pilots from last year's cohort. The fund also continues backing major expansions — like Twelve's additional $83M in Series C funding to scale their CO2 technologies. The question is: can these investments actually deliver the climate solutions we need at the speed we need them?

Photo by Marques Thomas on Unsplash

Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund: Purpose and Scope

The Climate Pledge Fund represents Amazon's biggest bet on climate innovation. Established with a $2 billion commitment, this corporate venture capital initiative targets companies developing products, services, and technologies to decarbonize the economy and protect the planet.

Why Amazon launched the fund

Back in 2019, Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge with Global Optimism, committing to net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 — a full decade ahead of the Paris Agreement timeline. But here's the thing: Amazon quickly realized that meeting this target required more than just internal changes. They needed to spark innovation across sectors where decarbonization technologies were either barely emerging or way too expensive.

The fund became Amazon's answer to this innovation gap. Instead of waiting for market forces to develop solutions, Amazon positioned itself as both customer and investor for promising cleantech startups. This dual role creates something pretty powerful — a mechanism for accelerating technologies that can help Amazon and other companies cut their carbon footprints faster.

How it fits into Amazon's net-zero by 2040 goal

Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund works as the accelerator for their sustainability roadmap. By investing across transportation, energy generation, battery storage, manufacturing, and materials science, Amazon is essentially building its own supply chain of decarbonization solutions.

The smart part? It's all about practical application. When Amazon invests in a startup like CMC Machinery for sustainable packaging or Glacier for AI-powered recycling, they're not just funding tech development — they're creating direct pathways to integrate these innovations into their massive operations. This strategy turns theoretical carbon reductions into actual, measurable progress toward that 2040 goal.

The role of corporate venture capital in sustainability

Corporate venture capital brings advantages to climate tech that traditional VCs often can't match. Beyond financial support, Amazon offers portfolio companies some pretty valuable access:

📌 Real-world testing environments across global operations

📌 Technical expertise and mentorship from Amazon's engineers

📌 Potential customer relationships at massive scale

📌 Validation that helps startups attract additional funding

Corporate investors like Amazon also maintain longer investment horizons than traditional VCs, which aligns much better with the extended development timelines that breakthrough climate technologies typically require.

Cleantech Startups Backed by the Fund

Amazon's investment choices tell us a lot about where climate tech is heading. These five startups from the Climate Pledge Fund portfolio show how companies are tackling environmental challenges with technologies that have real impact potential.

Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash

Molg: Tackling e-waste with robotic microfactories

Global e-waste is projected to reach 75 million tons by 2030, and Molg's timing couldn't be better. Their robotic microfactories autonomously disassemble complex devices like laptops and servers, recovering valuable components instead of sending them to landfills. What makes this different? Unlike traditional destructive recycling, Molg maximizes reuse potential — addressing the USD 62 billion in critical minerals and precious metals currently stranded in discarded electronics. They're also working with manufacturers like HP and Dell to redesign products for circularity from the start.

Paebbl: Turning CO2 into building materials

📌 Paebbl transforms captured CO2 into permanent carbon-storing construction materials through accelerated mineralization. Their technology mimics nature's carbon-to-stone conversion but speeds it up 10 million times. The resulting material permanently locks carbon into buildings — significant when you consider concrete production accounts for up to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The company scaled from grams to tons of daily carbon-storing material in just 36 months.

14Trees: 3D printing low-carbon buildings

Here's a surprising stat: 14Trees has completed 10% of all 3D-printed buildings worldwide. Their IROKO technology makes construction 3D printing more affordable and mobile while cutting building carbon footprints by up to 70%. The approach dramatically reduces construction time and costs while enabling architectural designs impossible with conventional methods.

Twelve: Converting CO2 into fuels and chemicals

Berkeley-based Twelve calls their process "industrial photosynthesis" — CEO Nicholas Flanders' term for how their PEM-based Opus System electrolyzes CO2, water, and renewable electricity into building blocks for materials and fuels. They recently secured USD 645 million in funding, including a USD 400 million project equity commitment led by TPG Rise Climate.

Infinium: Low-carbon fuels for freight and aviation

Infinium operates the first commercial eFuels production plant in North America, converting renewable power, water, and CO2 into ultra-low carbon transportation fuels. Their eSAF, eDiesel, and eNaphtha can reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 90% compared to conventional fuels. These are "drop-in" replacements — no engine modifications needed, making them immediately deployable across aviation, shipping, and trucking.

How Amazon Integrates Cleantech into Its Operations

Amazon doesn't just write checks to cleantech startups — we're seeing them actually put these technologies to work across their massive operations. This integration approach turns promising innovations into real-world sustainability solutions.

Electric vehicle infrastructure with Forum Mobility

Amazon deployed its first electric heavy-duty trucks at the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex, extending electrification efforts from ocean ports to customer doorsteps. Forum Mobility provides the charging infrastructure for these Volvo VNR Electric trucks. The company is building a network of charging depots around California ports and common trucking routes, serving both small operators and large fleets.

📌 Forum recently broke ground on "FM Harbor," a charging complex at the Port of Long Beach with 44 dispensers and 9 megawatts of power.

AI-powered recycling with Glacier

Co-founded by Rebecca Hu and Areeb Malik, Glacier uses AI-powered robots to automate recyclable sorting and collect real-time data on recycling streams. Their AI model identifies more than 30 categories of recyclables in real time. Amazon is testing ways to separate biomaterials from fossil-based plastics, working toward reduced plastic use and biodegradable materials.

📌 One Glacier robot prevents over 10 million items annually from ending up in landfills.

Sustainable packaging with CMC Machinery

Amazon's investment in CMC Machinery brought custom-sized box technology into fulfillment centers. The technology designs packages tailored to order dimensions, eliminating single-use plastic padding. Amazon projected this innovation would reduce cubic volume for each box by 24% on average and eliminate approximately 1 billion plastic air pillows by the end of 2022.

Francesco Ponti, CEO of CMC Machinery, noted their technology has become "a true activator of The Climate Pledge".

Thermal energy and smart buildings from Cartesian

Amazon selected Norwegian company Cartesian for its Sustainability Accelerator program in 2023. Cartesian developed a thermal battery that stores heat or cold in phase-changing materials. The system captures energy when it's cheap and abundant, then releases it during peak demand hours, reducing power grid pressure.

"Being chosen is a powerful validation of our solution and that our mission matters," said Alexis Sevault, Cartesian's CTO.

The Broader Impact on the Cleantech Ecosystem

"Amazon is recognized as an innovator that drives real change. A commitment of this size is an exciting opportunity, with the potential to drive transformational change." — Sally Jewell, Interim CEO of The Nature Conservancy

Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund isn't just writing checks — it's actually reshaping how the entire cleantech ecosystem works. The $2 billion commitment creates ripple effects that go way beyond their direct investments, influencing everything from venture capital decisions to startup validation.

Photo by Vlad Hilitanu on Unsplash

How Amazon's investments influence other VCs

Here's the thing about that $2 billion commitment: it signals serious market confidence and helps traditional VCs get over their cleantech hesitation. This matters a lot, especially considering the "Cleantech 1.0" boom from 2006-2011 where investors put $25 billion into climate startups but lost about half of it.

📌 Amazon's approach shows that corporate venture capital can provide the patient funding that breakthrough climate technologies actually need — something traditional VCs often struggle with due to longer development timelines.

The ripple effect on startup innovation

Amazon's backing does something powerful: it validates emerging technologies in a way that attracts more investment. Portfolio companies don't just get funding — they get credibility that opens doors. Many startups have raised more than £15 million ($19.10 million) in additional capital after getting Amazon's backing. Even more interesting? Participating businesses saw their total sales increase by 700% on average after joining Amazon's programs.

Accelerator programs and pilot opportunities

Amazon runs multiple accelerator programs that amplify their impact:

📌 Clean Energy Accelerator: Non-equity program connecting climate tech innovators with energy corporations 

📌  Devices Climate Tech Accelerator: 16-week equity-free program helping 14 companies integrate innovations into millions of Amazon devices

📌  Sustainability Accelerator: Supporting over 70 international startups since 2022

These programs offer pilot opportunities ranging from £50,000 to £2 million ($67,762 to $2.71 million) depending on scope.

Challenges in scaling climate tech

Climate tech faces some unique scaling hurdles that software startups never deal with. Most climate solutions need substantial capital — early-stage VC ticket sizes are five to six times higher than fintech or quantum computing. These technologies also need about seven years to achieve scale, compared to three years for digital marketplaces.

The "valley of death" between pilot projects and commercial scale remains the biggest barrier many startups can't cross. Will corporate venture funds like Amazon's become the bridge that finally solves this problem?

Conclusion

Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund shows what happens when corporate resources meet climate innovation — and the results speak for themselves! The $2 billion commitment positions Amazon as both investor and customer for breakthrough technologies, creating a powerful cycle that turns promising ideas into real-world solutions.

📌 The strategic approach has already delivered: companies like Molg tackling e-waste, Paebbl storing carbon in building materials, and 14Trees 3D-printing low-carbon buildings.

📌 The practical integration matters most — Amazon actually uses these innovations across its operations, from Forum Mobility's charging infrastructure to Glacier's AI-powered recycling systems.

📌 The ripple effects extend beyond Amazon: previously hesitant VCs now see validated pathways for climate tech, helping startups cross that infamous "valley of death" between pilot and commercial scale.

But let's be honest about the challenges. Climate tech startups need five to six times more capital than software companies and about seven years to achieve scale. That's where Amazon's patient capital approach becomes essential—these technologies need time to mature.

What we're seeing is a blueprint for how corporate-startup partnerships can drive meaningful progress toward decarbonization goals. The continued success will depend on Amazon's ability to scale these technologies fast enough to meet that ambitious 2040 net-zero target while inspiring similar commitments across the corporate landscape.

Here's to climate innovation that actually works in the real world! Whether you’re scaling a climate tech startup or building your CVC strategy — connect with Elpis Labs to explore how we can partner.

FAQs

Q1. What is the purpose of Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund? 

The Climate Pledge Fund is a $2 billion initiative by Amazon to invest in visionary companies developing products, services, and technologies to decarbonize the economy and protect the planet. It aims to accelerate innovation and help Amazon and other companies meet their net-zero carbon emissions goals.

Q2. How does Amazon integrate cleantech innovations into its operations? 

Amazon actively implements technologies from its portfolio companies across its operations. This includes deploying electric heavy-duty trucks with charging infrastructure from Forum Mobility, using AI-powered recycling systems from Glacier, and transforming packaging with CMC Machinery's custom-sized box technology.

Q3. What types of cleantech startups does the Climate Pledge Fund support? 

The fund backs a diverse range of startups tackling critical environmental issues. Examples include Molg (e-waste recycling), Paebbl (CO2 conversion into building materials), 14Trees (3D-printed low-carbon buildings), Twelve (CO2 conversion into fuels and chemicals), and Infinium (low-carbon fuels for transportation).

Q4. How does Amazon's investment impact the broader cleantech ecosystem? 

Amazon's investments have a ripple effect on the cleantech ecosystem. They provide market validation for emerging technologies, helping startups attract additional funding. The fund's approach also influences other venture capitalists to invest in cleantech, overcoming previous hesitations in the sector.

Q5. What challenges do cleantech startups face in scaling their technologies? 

Cleantech startups typically require significantly more capital than software startups and need longer development timelines to achieve scale. They often face a "valley of death" between pilot projects and commercial scale, which can be a critical barrier. Amazon's patient capital approach helps address these challenges by providing both funding and real-world implementation opportunities.