HSBC to finance climate tech startups with $1bln

HSBC bank today declared that it will offer $1 billion fund to early-stage climate tech companies around the world, according to Reuters.

The funding is expected to support startups to create a range of new solutions, including EV charging, battery storage, sustainable food and agriculture, and carbon removal technologies.

This announcement also follows the launch of HSBC Innovation Banking and of HSBC Asset Management’s Climate Tech Venture Capital strategy.

“Access to finance is critical for early-stage climate tech companies to create and scale real-world solutions,” CEO of Global Commercial Banking at HSBC, Barry O’Byrne said.

HSBC aims at enhancing its support for the ecosystem of climate tech innovation. This comes as recent data shows that after fast  year-on-year growth, venture capital funding for climate start-ups dropped by 40 percent in the first half of 2023,due to market conditions. HSBC’s climate tech proposition aims to enable these critical technologies to reach the market more quickly.