Thriving Communities: Climate Resilience Program (US)

With support from Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation (HPEF) and Salesforce, the initiative fosters place-based innovators developing solutions that support climate resilience and uplift low-income communities. At the end of the program, two startups will be eligible for investment.

Benefits

• Exposure
  • Visibility on Village Capital’s program website and other communications collateral.
• Funding
  • At least two participants will be eligible for investment to further scale their solutions.
• Interactive Workshops
  • Tailored to help startups identify early milestones and secure capital to support their business, including enhancing the alignment between their capital and growth strategies.
• Mentorship and Networking
  • Opportunities to network and receive mentorship from investors, strategic partners, founders, and industry leaders.
• Milestone Development Plans
  • Each entrepreneur will create their own milestone development plan towards investment readiness, growth, and impact utilizing Abaca, Village Capital’s online milestone tracking tool.
• Peer-to-Peer Learning and Evaluation
  • Village Capital’s signature approach to shifting power dynamics in investment decisions by placing entrepreneurs at the center of the due diligence process.
• Stipends for Travel
  • Stipends will cover travel to and from their In-person Program Summit in Chicago.
• Tailored Investment Analyst Support
  • 1:1 support by a dedicated Investment Analyst for every startup focused on building a financial model, identifying unit economics, and using financial metrics to drive their business and investor diligence.

Who should apply?

• The solutions this program aims to support should:
  • Advance the Sustainable Economy
    • Introduce new technologies or processes that reduce environmental impact, improve resource efficiency, and foster sustainability.
  • Enhance Community Climate Adaptation
    • Deploy affordable, clean energy solutions in low-income communities, strengthen grid resiliency, and reduce the energy burden for households most affected by climate change.
  • Incorporate Ethical and Sustainable AI
    • Implement AI solutions that adhere to ethical principles – ensuring systems are privacy-enabled, human-focused, inclusive, and robust while upholding transparency, accountability, and explainability.
  • Promote Smart and Sustainable Cities
    • Develop urban innovations that integrate smart infrastructure, digital data, and sustainable practices to optimize resource management and increase energy efficiency.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligibility requirements include:
  • Have legal incorporation as a for profit entity, including B-Corp certified companies.
  • Be headquartered or with operations in the United States.
  • Have a market-based solution that directly tackles one or more of the challenges below.
  • Have a minimum viable product (MVP) and raised less than USD 1.5M in equity.
  • Have at least one full-time founder based in the US.
  • Have meaningful customer or business validation (not limited to revenue, it can also be successful pilot studies, number of users, and/or strategic partnerships).

For more information, visit Village Capital.