Re(Introducing) the Cisco Foundation Regenerative Future Fund: Redefining Impact in Climate Investing

In 2021, the Cisco Foundation made a bold commitment to address the climate crisis, pledging $100 million over 10 years to fund innovative climate solutions. This commitment is strategically divided: $50 million supports nonprofit grants that empower organizations driving climate and social impact, while the other $50 million is dedicated to equity and debt investments in early-stage climate startups (Seed to Series A) and venture funds.

As climate challenges accelerate and natural disasters intensify, the $50m climate investments program has refined its approach to impact investing by focusing on transformative, venture-backed technologies and solutions. Today, we’re proud to announce the evolution and rebranding of our climate investments program as the Regenerative Future Fund.

This new name reflects our deep commitment to leveraging the Foundation’s endowment to drive scalable, high-impact solutions. By investing in startups and venture funds that deliver measurable, transformative results, the Regenerative Future Fund focuses on regenerating ecosystems, strengthening community resilience, and advancing sustainable economies.

Beyond providing capital, the Fund embodies the Cisco Foundation’s holistic approach: catalyzing market-driven, regenerative solutions that actively protect and renew our planet. With portfolio development support and a vision to accelerate the next wave of climate innovation, the Regenerative Future Fund is dedicated to creating a more sustainable, thriving future through its portfolio of solutions.

Why the Regenerative Future Fund?

The Regenerative Future Fund is part of our Cisco Foundation $100M Climate Impact and Regeneration commitment. It represents our belief in the power of climate impact investing to drive tangible, meaningful action. Through the Fund we will continue to invest in climate tech companies at the seed and series A stages, while also serving as a limited partner with early-stage venture funds advancing climate solutions. This dual approach enables us to support high-potential startups directly, de-risk key early-stage markets, and foster ecosystems of innovation through venture fund partnerships.

Our vision is to help build systems where humanity and nature thrive together. This rebranding signals a sharpened focus on technologies and solutions that regenerate rather than deplete and that strengthen resilience, particularly for communities most impacted by climate change. Our priorities include:

• Restoring and regenerating: Supporting innovations that replenish biodiversity, restore and build resilient ecosystems, and advance circular, regenerative economies.
• Prioritizing co-benefits, climate equity and inclusion: Championing solutions that promote resilience and equity in communities facing climate risks.
• Catalyzing lasting change: Investing in breakthrough ideas that reshape industries towards sustainability, such as regenerative agriculture and the built environment.

Why Now?

The climate tech investment landscape has experienced significant fluctuations over the past few years. After peaking in 2021 with a record $48 billion in global venture and growth equity investment, the sector saw a third successive year of decline in 2024, dropping to $30 billion—a 14% decrease from 2023 and a 37% drop from its 2021 peak (Sightline Climate). However, the climate tech sector has demonstrated resilience compared to the venture capital market, where investment volumes have plummeted by 52% since 2021, largely due to rising interest rates (KPMG). Carbon technology investing has bucked the overall trend, experiencing a 24% increase in venture capital investments in 2023, totaling $17.7 billion (Pitchbook). This surge has been driven by regulatory demand and corporate decarbonization goals, highlighting the growing importance of scalable carbon solutions.

Why Catalytic Impact Capital Is Still Needed: Catalytic capital like Cisco Foundation’s Regenerative Future Fund is needed now more than ever to provide the funding required for first-of-a-kind and scaling innovations essential to meeting global climate goals (Foley Hoag). With their resources, networks, and influence, corporate foundations like Cisco Foundation can help elevate pioneering technologies and position them to be adopted and scaled by larger players in the tech ecosystems. By stepping in where the market falls short, catalytic funding can ensure that transformative solutions are scaled to deliver meaningful climate impact.

Early-Stage Climate Investments Hold Strong: Within the climate tech space, early-stage investments have shown remarkable durability. In 2023, 69% of climate tech deals were directed toward early-stage companies—an increase of 14 percentage points from the prior year (CB Insights). In addition, the overall financing picture for climate tech start-ups is evolving. While equity investments have declined, new forms of non-dilutive capital are stepping in. Debt financing for climate tech soared from $13.9 billion in 2021 to $45.6 billion in 2024, as companies transition from venture capital to bank loans and other funding sources (Net Zero Insights).

Gaps in Funding for Adaptation, Biodiversity, Decarbonization, and Nature: Despite these advances, critical funding gaps remain. Adaptation finance represents just 10% of global climate finance (UNEP), while investments in nature-based solutions and biodiversity remain underfunded despite their crucial role in combating climate change. Additionally, climate mitigation and decarbonization technologies still struggle to attract the necessary capital to scale solutions.

For all these reasons, by refocusing as the Regenerative Future Fund, we reaffirm our dedication to solutions that regenerate ecosystems and drive resilient, sustainable growth. Through catalytic venture capital, we aim to address the critical funding gaps in adaptation, mitigation, and nature-based solutions, supporting innovations that harmonize with natural systems. Together, we’re working to create a future where businesses, ecosystems, and communities can thrive hand in hand.

Celebrating Our Portfolio’s Progress

Since 2021, the Regenerative Future Fund has been a catalyst for transformative change, weaving a tapestry of innovation in more than 25 companies and funds. As we cross the halfway mark in deploying our committed capital, the stories of our portfolio light the path to a more sustainable and equitable future, including:

• Building Resilient Ecosystems. At the heart of disaster preparedness lies the ability to anticipate and adapt. Our portfolio company Hohonu is leading the charge in protecting communities from the rising threats of flooding and sea-level rise. With its groundbreaking real-time water monitoring technology, Hohonu equips municipalities, insurance, researchers, and underserved communities with the tools to stay ahead of climate-driven disasters. By collecting over 2 million hours of precise data, Hohonu has laid a critical foundation for safeguarding livelihoods and resilient ecosystems. The fund also aims to bolster solutions in regenerative agriculture to enforce the climate resilience of our soil, farmlands, and farmer systems to extreme weather events through investments like in Trailhead Capital.

• Leading Decarbonization Across Land, Sea, and Cities. The Cisco Foundation is advancing transformative decarbonization with investments across ecosystems. In the ocean and coastal sector, Ebb Carbon is pioneering Electrochemical Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement to remove up to 350,000 tons of CO₂ over the next decade in partnership with Microsoft. This builds on our initial commitment to marine and coastal technologies, starting in 2022 with our investment in Vesta. On land, Terradot is scaling Enhanced Rock Weathering in tropical climates, supported by $58.2 million in new funding and partnerships with Google, Frontier, and Microsoft. In industry, CarbonBuilt is transforming the cement sector with its breakthrough low-carbon concrete technology, recently securing a major deployment agreement with Meta. A few months ago, we also backed Carbon Reform’s innovative solution for the built environment.

• Reimagining Carbon Markets for a Transparent Future. We also support platforms and solutions that will make decarbonization technologies a success. The frontier of Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) is being reshaped by portfolio visionaries like Chloris Geospatial and Miraterra. Chloris’s partnership with Trove Research is bringing clarity to over 550 forest carbon projects, illuminating pathways to accountability. Meanwhile, Miraterra is revolutionizing soil carbon monitoring. By combining AI and sensor technology, Miraterra empowers landowners to accurately measure, track, and increase soil carbon stocks, bridging the gap between more sustainable agriculture and robust carbon markets.
• Expanding Access with Inclusive Clean Energy. From African villages to bustling urban centers, our dynamic clean energy portfolio is powering communities with hope and resilience. Jaza Energy, through its acquisition, has not just marked a successful exit but amplified its mission of solar-powered empowerment. And the merger of SteamaCo and Shyft Power Solutions is rewriting the playbook for decentralized renewable energy for Africa and South Asia. In the spring of 2024, our investment in Aikido Technologies has propelled advancements in floating offshore wind solutions. Their Aikido One platform achieved a groundbreaking milestone with its final structural assembly completed in under 40 working hours—a tenfold increase in speed compared to traditional methods—setting a new standard in the industrialization of floating platforms.

• De-Risking Early-Stage Climate Capital. Our climate venture funds are at the forefront of driving systemic change. The Southeast Asia Clean Energy Facility (SEACEF) has established the first blended finance fund for the energy transition in Southeast Asia. The fund is electrifying Southeast Asia’s energy landscape by supporting transformative early-stage projects aimed at accelerating the region’s transition to renewable energy. Third Sphere is empowering startups to push the boundaries of venture investing in climate with groundbreaking hardware solutions. By building the world’s leading venture fund for biodiversity, Superorganism is setting a new community for nature technologies globally. Enduring Planet is redefining climate financing by providing rapid and flexible capital to founders, while, Catalyst Fund and Katapult deliver tailored, quality venture support to ventures across Africa and Europe, respectively, to drive impact and address key needs beyond capital drive impact and address key needs beyond capital.

The Regenerative Future Fund is more than an impact investment initiative—it’s a community of visionary founders, co-investors, and partners working together to build bridges to a regenerative, resilient future.

Just as Cisco connects the world through transformative technology, we’re connecting businesses, ecosystems, and communities to create a regenerative world where innovation and resilience thrive hand in hand.

With every venture investment and partner fund, we’re weaving a web of opportunity and impact, ensuring a future where people and planet are more resilient together.

To connect with us, learn more, or share a pitch deck, and please follow our online form or reach out on LinkedIn.

About Cisco Foundation

Cisco Foundation envisions a world of equitable, resilient and empowered communities where everyone can reach their full potential and thrive. Its mission is to partner with organizations to create and scale innovative digital solutions that promote a healthy planet and advance the wellbeing and self-reliance of underserved communities globally. Since 1997, it has harnessed the breadth of offerings from Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide technology leader helping revolutionize the way organizations connect and protect in the AI era, for strategic guidance, catalytic funding, technology donations and support.

Discover more about Cisco Foundation on its website and follow us on X at @Cisco.

Cisco, Cisco Foundation and their logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco’s trademarks can be found at http://www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word ‘partner’ does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

Note: Featured image at top, photo credit: Terradot

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