Breakthrough Energy
/OVERVIEW: Breakthrough Energy is a funding and investment platform created by Bill Gates to promote clean energy and help the world reach net-zero emissions. Its grantmaking is conducted through three affiliated organizations: Breakthrough Energy Action, Breakthrough Energy Foundation, and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst Foundation.
IP TAKE: Part philanthropy outfit, part policy advocate, and part venture capital fund for developing clean energy tech, Breakthrough Energy takes a multi-pronged approach to accelerating “unprecedented technological transformations in almost every sector of modern life.” Breakthrough’s extensive website outlines its investment and programmatic strategies, and provides basic information about how to apply for funding as a “Catalyst” or a “Fellow.” Breakthrough is a major ally of climate change organizations, particularly for researchers, companies, and institutions working on cutting-edge, tech-centered climate solutions. As a newer and extremely well-funded outfit, its giving is adaptive and evolving in real time.
Breakthrough has not been particularly transparent about its financials in terms of who funds its efforts, how much is received from which donors, and how priorities are determined. Yet its open inquiry form makes Breakthrough somewhat accessible for researchers, product developers, companies and nonprofits working on clean tech and energy solutions. That said, Breakthrough typically selects grantees through its own internal research and partnerships. Grant seekers may find it difficult to engage extensively with this funder unless their work can attract attention through networking.
PROFILE: Established in 2015, Breakthrough Energy is the investment and advocacy platform created by Bill Gates to support “innovation to address the worst effects of climate change by transforming virtually every activity in modern life and every sector of the economy and creating a world in which everyone everywhere has access to reliable, affordable and clean energy.” Its ultimate goal is to help the world “get to net-zero emissions” by 2050.
Breakthrough invests in a variety of startup companies and organizations that work on a range of concepts, from nuclear fusion to solar panels to carbon capture. Its venture capital investments and portfolios are separate from its grantmaking efforts, which so far have flowed through three nonprofits — Breakthrough Energy Foundation, a 501(c)(3), Breakthrough Energy Action, a 501(c)(4) organization, and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst Foundation. It has given grants and fellowships to think tanks, associations and collaboratives, public-private partnerships, policy organizations, research institutions and nonprofits, particularly Washington, D.C., New York, and California.
Grants for Science Research, Climate Change and Clean Energy
The Breakthrough Energy umbrella houses a network of Gates’ climate and clean energy organizations focused on investment and climate policy advocacy.
Breakthrough Energy Ventures is “a set of investment funds to support companies whose technologies can significantly reduce emissions from agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing and transportation.”
The Policy & Advocacy portfolio supports “analysts, experts and advocates working to advance smart public policy that encourages innovation and tackles decarbonization head on.”
The Breakthrough Energy Catalyst program is “a novel platform that funds and invests in project companies utilizing emerging climate technologies that reduce emissions to accelerate their adoption worldwide.”
Breakthrough Energy Europe is comprised of “a seasoned team of experts working with partners across the European continent to support research into clean technologies, amplify the voices of clean entrepreneurs, and grow markets for clean solutions.” This is labeled in Breakthrough’s 990s as grantmaking programs and appear set up to make grants; however, the types of groups or projects, if any, that have received support is unknown at the time of this writing.
Breakthrough also has a fellowship program, Breakthrough Energy Fellows, that supports “promising inventors and researchers working on new technologies that could significantly reduce carbon emissions.”
Breakthrough also conducts funding for research projects through the Breakthrough Energy Explorer grants program — which cultivates “the early-stage pipeline for innovative climate technologies [and] support research projects that are generally being conducted by a university lab or research entity but require further technical exploration before they would be ready to join the full-time fellowship.”
The grants are one-time, 12-month awards; however, recipients may be eligible for a full-time fellowship depending on the type of progress made during the grant period.
Those interested in the Breakthrough Energy Explorer Grants or in becoming a Breakthrough Energy Fellow can apply via an online portal.
Breakthrough Energy conducts the bulk of its grantmaking through three organizations: Breakthrough Energy Foundation, a 501(c)(3), Breakthrough Energy Catalyst Foundation, also a 501(c)(3), and Breakthrough Energy Action, a 501(c)(4). None of these are featured on the website, and information about grantmaking programs or priorities is difficult to discern beyond what can be gleaned from tax records. Giving activities are evolving rapidly, so check the Breakthrough site often for updates.
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst Foundation gave $50 million in 2023 to LanzaJet, a sustainable fuels technology company, and in 2022, $20 million to Xcel Energy, a public utilities company located in Minneapolis. Additionally, Breakthrough Energy Foundation has supported the Windward Fund, which pursues “bold solutions to environmental challenges from a range of angles,” with $15 million; and San Francisco’s Climate Imperative Foundation, with $10 million. Other grants have gone through one or another of the foundations to Great Plains Institute for Sustainable Development, Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, Consumer Reports, Federation of American Scientists, Bipartisan Policy Center, and Union of Concerned Scientists, all of which received over $1 million in 2021 alone.
Finally, along with the William and Flora Hewlett, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur, David and Lucile Packard, and Rockefeller foundations, Breakthrough heads a fund called Invest in Our Future that works to ensure that local groups and organizations benefit from the opportunities created by three recent federal bills: the Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act.
Important Grant Details:
Grants through the foundations range from $10,000 up into the tens of millions. The most common amount is over $1.5 million.
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst Foundation, currently the largest of the nonprofit funding vehicles, had $450 million in net assets at the end of 2022.
The Breakthrough Energy Foundation and Breakthrough Energy Action do not appear to directly accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding, but new grant seekers can apply for Catalyst funding through Breakthrough’s application portal.
Those interested in the Breakthrough Energy Explorer Grants or in becoming a Breakthrough Energy Fellow can apply here.
Breakthrough Energy does not provide a clear means of contact; however, it invites interested parties to subscribe to its newsletter for updates.
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