> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://fomo.observer/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Planetary limits hit climate tech funding gap from Nordics to Asia - URL: https://fomo.observer/planetary-limits-hit-climate-tech-funding-gap-from-nordics-to-asia/ - Published: 2026-11-03T08:46:53.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-10T12:47:51.000Z - Author: Tarmo Virki - Tags: Investors, greentech, SWITCH **SINGAPORE** — Venture capital investors across Asia and Nordics are demanding strict commercial viability from climate technology startups, pushing back against the narrative that environmental impact justifies premium valuations or guaranteed funding. The shift in investor sentiment, discussed across multiple stages in Singapore during last week's SWITCH conference, contrasts sharply with the escalating physical reality of the climate crisis. "For 30 years I've been a climate scientist, and for 16 years I've been the father of a diabetic child," [Professor Benjamin Horton](https://www.linkedin.com/in/prof-benjamin-horton/?ref=fomo.observer) noted during a fireside chat, having shown that the impact of the climate crisis on supply chains and the economy can have an effect on insulin availability. He compared the rigorous daily monitoring of insulin to the urgent need for tracking planetary boundaries. The consequences of failing to regulate these global metrics are severe; exceeding the 1.5-degree Celsius warming threshold could reduce Earth's carrying capacity to between three and five billion people. Despite these existential stakes, the capital required to scale decarbonisation technologies remains constrained by traditional market forces. Impact investing, a term once sufficient to attract early-stage capital, is facing increased scrutiny from limited partners and venture capitalists who demand resilient business models. [Ragne Maasel](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ragne-maasel-5240aa28/?ref=fomo.observer), founder and partner at Noble North, said that startups often misinterpret this demand. "The main thing that companies get wrong, is they think that sustainability and impact is a layer of complexity, but it's actually a layer of efficiency," she said. [Nastaran Baleng-Soultani](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nastaran-baleng-soultani/?ref=fomo.observer), CEO of [BlueRedGold](https://blueredgold.com/?ref=fomo.observer) backed this theory up by saying, "If you do it right, and you have the talent within your company to understand it and actually fundraise through that lens, it should be making you more efficient and more sustainable as a business, not only for the impact." She warned founders against relying on an expected impact premium, noting that customers will ultimately choose a cheaper alternative if a startup fails to compete on price. ### What's happened to ESG targets? This commercial pragmatism is reshaping how early-stage capital is deployed globally. The corporate focus on ESG initiatives has dropped significantly, with corporations actively downsizing their sustainability departments. Furthermore, structural inequalities persist in early-stage funding distribution; all-male founding teams continue to receive at least 83% of Nordic venture capital, leaving female founders disproportionately underfunded. And Nordics are among the world leaders when it comes to equality. In Asia, the fundamental challenge shifts from seed funding to commercial deployment and market access. Investors stress that scaling deep tech requires moving past theoretical models to solve immediate market needs. Guillem Segarra, a partner at the venture builder [100x100](https://www.100x100.com/?ref=fomo.observer), explained that his firm evaluates potential investments by expecting them to abate 100 megatons of carbon. "We don't even think about the technology," Segarra noted. "We start by understanding what real-world problem do we really want to solve". ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/2026/10/IMG_5153.jpg) Bridging the gap between academic discovery and commercial viability remains a structural hurdle for the industry. Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a $4 billion capital firm, focuses heavily on this transition by bringing innovations from universities and national laboratories into the market. Dr Benjamin Gaddy, Head of Discovery at Breakthrough Energy, emphasised that this early-stage intervention is critical for transforming raw research into viable companies led by capable chief executives. As global startup ecosystems from Estonia to Singapore attempt to solve these borderless challenges, the consensus among capital allocators is clear: environmental impact is a baseline requirement, but true scale requires uncompromising unit economics. Latitude59 CEO [Liisi Org](https://www.linkedin.com/in/liisiorg/?ref=fomo.observer) told the audience that small ecosystems must aggressively connect founders, capital, and markets internationally to survive. For climate tech to reach the critical deployment phase, founders must abandon the expectation of impact subsidies and build resilient, cost-competitive businesses. *Powered by Startup Estonia. Funded by the European Union.* [Investors tell founders: Capital is abundant, winning ideas are notInvestors pushed back against the widespread narrative that the startup ecosystem is suffering from a lack of funding, telling founders at the Latitude59 conference in Singapore that the real scarcity is a lack of fundable concepts. On a panel exploring cross-border investments between Nordic countries and Asia, investors![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/icon/Untitled--800-x-800-px-Video---1--8bf1dbef-8c96-4db4-a7df-25d6f8482af1.gif)Fomo.ObserverTarmo Virki![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/08/7f/087f88ab-cb17-44cc-928d-9cfca14a3fb9/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_5101-f715f553-d4ae-42ce-aa34-6ef94b42352f.jpg)](https://fomo.observer/investors-tell-founders-capital-is-abundant-winning-ideas-are-not/) ## Sign up for Fomo.Observer Startup stories from Estonia. Free weekly newsletter. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.