On October 9th, Dynamo and BloombergNEF co-hosted Climate Tech & Tonic: London to celebrate the launch of our newest hub and the opening of the BNEF Summit London. It was a night of inspiring conversations, valuable connections, and a shared dedication to advancing sustainability solutions for our world.

The night kicked off with Meade Harris, Co-Founder & CEO at Dynamo Energy Hub introducing Benjamin Kafri, Global Head of Innovation, Client Relations and Partnership at BloombergNEF who celebrated BloombergNEF’s successful partnership with Dynamo. In the aftermath of COVID, Benji realized that people wanted a way to meet face to face more than ever.

“Why not join forces with a group like Dynamo? Host these events, combine our networks, and bring everyone together?”

We couldn’t agree more!

Our London community was riveted to hear from Stephan Feilhauer, Managing Director at S2G Ventures, during his fireside chat with Claire Curry, Head of Technology, Industry & Innovation at BloombergNEF. Their discussion focused on S2G Ventures’ recent report, The Missing Middle: Capital Imbalances in the Energy Transition, and the two shed light on the fundamental changes required to bridge the capital gap, support companies in their growth venture stage, and drive the clean energy transition forward.

In the past 5 years, Claire noted, private capital has raised about $270 billion across US and Europe for early-stage ventures, and $140 billion is still unspent. According to Stephan, there is “a mismatch of supply and demand.” The report found that there was more supply of early-stage capital than there was immediate demand on the early-stage venture side, which is why there is capital that’s left unspent.

When answering an audience question regarding funding SAS technologies for immediate gains as compared to longer term investment cycle for hard asset technologies, Stephan made note of the inherent challenges for hard asset investment, but commented on its necessity. He also commented on the need for investors to meet the ‘missing middle’ funding gap with collaboration.

“And that’s why you need to come to organizations like BNEF and Dynamo where you can meet like minded people and see what else is possible.”

The event concluded with a cocktail reception and an evening of networking with the Dynamo community. Stay tuned for more exciting events and initiatives from Dynamo and BloombergNEF as we work together to shape the future of clean energy.