Climate Tech Guide for Designers

Designing a Sustainable Future

At Designer Fund, we are increasingly investing at the intersection of technology, design, and sustainability. Our portfolio companies like Stripe are leading carbon removal initiatives, Ambrook is funding more sustainable agriculture, and Remix is helping cities plan their mobility future. We have seen designers not only make new, sustainable innovations possible, but also make them engaging and more adoptable. Whether you’re a product designer, brand designer or UX writer, there’s a place for you in climate tech. But, how can you find the right opportunity?

We put together this guide to help designers build a career in climate tech and discover companies that are paving the future of sustainability.

Skip ahead to our list of climate tech companies

Find the Right Job in Climate Tech

1. Passion

Getting into climate tech may feel overwhelming because there are lots of companies tackling fascinating problems. If you’re feeling bewildered, take a step back and think about where your passion for sustainability stems from. Was there a particular moment when climate action clicked for you? Maybe you’re an urbanite who wants to create green cities. Or, maybe you’re an avid skier who’s concerned about warmer winters. Or, perhaps you know someone with a health affliction caused by pollution. Reconnect with why climate action matters to you and use your passion as a compass throughout your job search.

Design has helped us to set a vision of how we will achieve our mission. It’s also helped us create and execute on how we can use tech to make fashion better for everyone involved. Beth Esponnette, Co-Founder of unspun

2. Design Maturity

For some people, it’s important to work at a design-centric company that has design teams and principles in place. At these types of companies, you will likely work alongside other designers who you can learn with. Chances are, you'll also have thorough guidelines to work off of and strong design leaders who influence business decisions.

For others, the challenge of being a “team of one” is exciting. Working at a company that doesn’t have a design practice can give you the chance to build a system from scratch, work across different departments, and educate teammates.

For a field that is so technical and seemingly inaccessible, design lends a voice of reliable support to assist our customers. To remove obstacles instead of finding workarounds. To respond to what the industry needs today and define what it needs to move forward. Annu Yadav, Head of Design at Aurora Solar

3. Tech Maturity

When it comes to climate tech, some companies are in the early stages of developing breakthrough innovations while other companies are focused on proven solutions. So, do you want to be at the frontier of an emerging technology? Or, are you more comfortable with something tried and true? Keep in mind, the level of tech maturity can affect the pace and intensity of your work. It may even affect your job security. Consider your tolerance for risk and ambiguity as you embark on your job search.

Find the sweet spot where the technology works and now it's more of an awareness and adoption problem. Enrique Allen, Co-Founder and General Partner of Designer Fund

4. Market Maturity

In addition to tech and design maturity, you’ll also want to think about market maturity. There are climate tech companies that replace existing systems or products (gasoline-powered cars) with something more sustainable (electric cars). There are also companies defining entirely new categories. Reflect on how approachable the technology is and whether the user base has crossed the chasm from early adopters to early majority. Consider which level of market maturity aligns with your passion and appetite for risk.

Look for markets that have tailwinds from customer demand and support from government policies. Ben Blumenrose, Co-Founder and General Partner of Designer Fund

Positioning Yourself for a Role in Climate Tech

After deciding what types of climate tech companies and roles you want to pursue, the next step is to strengthen your unique qualifications for those opportunities. If you’ve worked with a sustainability initiative, that will serve you well in your job search. If not, don’t fret! There are ways to build relevant experience for the job you want. For example, you can attend events to deepen your knowledge and connect with individuals in the field. You might also consider starting a self-initiated side project centered around an environmental cause that aligns with your passion. Or, you can volunteer your talents with a local non-profit. Also consider joining climate tech communities like Climate Designers and My Climate Journey to immerse yourself in the space. Being able to speak intelligently about sustainability and (ideally!) show relevant design work will help potential employers gauge the value you bring to their company.

While networking with other designers can be immensely supportive, don't forget to connect with the kinds of people who hire designers. Seek out events geared towards founders and managers of climate tech organizations. Being one of the only designers in the room is a great way to get the attention of anyone looking to hire a designer! Sarah Harrison, Co-Founder of The Determined and Climate Designers

Further Reading

We want to acknowledge that climate change is complex and intersectional. Many problems need to be addressed — from food supply to clean air. And, these problems intersect with other issues, like racial justice and inclusive economics. If you’re interested in climate action but haven’t explored its nuances, check out the Climate Justice 101 Guide and read about ways designers can fight climate change. We also recommend learning about life-centered design. Now, some of you may be familiar with human-centered design, which uses empathy for human needs to build new products and services. Life-centered design broadens the scope of that empathy beyond just human needs and asks us to consider the environmental and social impact of the work we do. As you start to explore opportunities in climate tech, take some time to learn about the nuances of sustainable design – it will help you find the right job with the right company.

Get in Touch

If you’d like some support in your job search, we’re here for you. Just fill out this short questionnaire and we’ll reach out if we find a match with one of the companies in our network.

We’d also love to hear from founders of climate tech companies. If that’s you, get in touch here.

Credits

Special thanks to Jenna Carando for research, Lauren Michael for producing, Elisabeth Hass for editing and Mike Kruzeniski for contributing to this guide. Illustration by Samia Ahmed.


Climate Tech Companies by Category

For our list of climate tech companies, we focused on two types of places: Those where design is currently central to the business and those where design has a strong potential for impact.

Agriculture

Indigo Agriculture

Indigo uses natural microbiology and digital technologies to improve grower profitability, sustainability, and consumer health, harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet.

  • Founded in 2014
  • Boston, MA

Adaviv

AdaViv is a hardware-enabled, predictive agriculture company.

  • Founded in 2018
  • Boston, MA

Cloud Agronomics

Cloud Agronomics applies remote sensing to power the next wave of actionable, real-time farm management insights.

  • Founded in 2018
  • Boulder, CO

Xpert Sea

XpertSea is a technology company that's transforming how the global aquaculture industry farms seafood to help feed the world.

  • Quebec, Canada
  • Founded 2011

Biopharma, Biotech, and Chemical

Ginkgo Bioworks

Ginkgo Bioworks designs custom microbes for customers across multiple markets, developing new organisms that replace technology with biology.

  • Founded in 2008
  • Boston, MA

Building & Cities

Plant Prefab

Plant Prefab manufactures custom single and multi-family homes using off-site production, non-toxic and sustainable building materials, and a patented building system

  • Founded 2015
  • Los Angeles, CA

Katerra

Katerra is a developer of a construction technology platform to optimize aspects of building development, design, and construction, pursuing solutions that increase environmental efficiencies, reduce building costs, and can be deployed at scale.

  • Founded in 2015
  • Menlo Park, CA

Sidewalk Labs

Sidewalk Labs is reimagining cities to improve quality of life, tackling the challenges of urban growth.

  • Founded in 2014 (Sub-org of Alphabet)
  • New York, NY

Carbon Capture & Storage and Offsets

Climeworks

Climeworks uses direct air capture to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

  • Founded in 2009
  • Zurich, Switzerland

Pachama

Pachama provides forest carbon offsets and uses machine learning and satellite imagery to measure and verify CO2 removal.

  • Founded in 2018
  • San Francisco, CA

Aerial

Aerial is the easiest and most accurate way to automatically track and offset your carbon footprint.

  • Founded in 2020
  • San Francisco, CA

Joro

Joro empowers people to take climate action that matters through an intuitive app that allows you to manage your carbon footprint, develop a climate action practice, and build community to tackle the biggest crisis of our generation.

  • Founded in 2018
  • Oakland, CA

SINAI

SINAI develops enterprise software for automating the regulatory burden of managing carbon taxes and climate risk.

  • Founded in 2017
  • San Francisco, CA

Watershed

Watershed helps companies get to net zero carbon by analyzing a company’s full carbon footprint, mapping out a plan to get to net zero, fund carbon removal, and report progress to stakeholders.

  • Founded 2019
  • San Francisco, CA

Climate Risk Management & Intelligence

Kettle Insurance

Kettle develops a machine-learning powered reinsurer balancing risk in a changing climate.

  • Founded in 2016
  • London

Cervest

Cervest is an AI powered climate intelligence platform to quantify asset-level risk globally.

  • Founded in 2019
  • Berkeley, CA

Data & Insights

Aclima

Aclima is a company that provides a hardware and software technology platform that measures and analyzes air pollution and greenhouse gases, delivering hyperlocal air quality data and insights to reduce emissions and protect public health, at both the local and global level.

  • Founded in 2007
  • San Francisco, CA

Food & Food Waste

Impossible Foods

Impossible Burger is made from simple, plant-based ingredients for the health of people and the planet.

  • Founded in 2011
  • San Francisco, CA

Misfits Market

Misfits Market is a subscription box of sometimes funny-looking, always delicious produce, designed to break the cycle of food waste.

  • Founded in 2018
  • Pennsauken, NJ

Imperfect Foods

Imperfect Foods delivers groceries with a mission to eliminate food waste and build a better food system for everyone.

  • Founded in 2015
  • San Francisco, CA

Eat JUST Inc.

Eat JUST Inc. is on a mission to build a food system where everyone eats well by creating delicious, accessible, healthier and more sustainable products.

  • Founded in 2011
  • San Francisco, CA

Afresh

Afresh is reinventing the fresh food supply chain with human-centered AI by building technology to eliminate food waste and make fresher, healthier food accessible to all.

  • Founded in 2017
  • San Francisco, CA

Apeel

Apeel Sciences develops plant-derived shelf life extension technology for fresh produce that improves quality and reduces food waste.

  • Founded in 2012
  • Goleta, CA

Fashion & Reselling

unspun

unspun is a robotics and digital apparel company building custom-fit jeans through automated, localized, and intentional manufacturing.

  • Founded in 2015
  • San Francisco, CA

Rothy’s

Rothy’s is a vegan brand that crafts effortless and sustainable shoe styles.

  • Founded in 2012
  • San Francisco, CA

Allbirds

Allbirds is an apparel and fashion company that specializes in manufacturing eco-friendly wool shoes.

  • Founded in 2014
  • San Francisco, CA

Bolt Threads

Bolt is a materials company that invents and scales materials that put the planet on a path towards a better future.

  • Founded in 2009
  • Emeryville, CA

ThredUp

ThredUp resells brand-name clothing in an easy to use platform, and allows you to trade in your clothes for credit or cash.

  • Founded in 2009
  • Oakland, CA

Forestry

SilviaTerra

SilviaTerra is empowering every landowner and every acre to be part of the climate solution, connecting sustainability teams to forest carbon credits with unprecedented transparency, scale, and impact.

  • Founded in 2010
  • San Francisco, CA

TreeSwift

Treeswift is building the next generation of forest monitoring systems, providing forest stakeholders with precision data and analyses that are easily accessible and flexible. Their services are used in carbon capture estimation, timber value estimation, deforestation monitoring, advanced growth forecasting, and forest management.

  • Founded in 2011
  • Philadelphia, PA

Renewable Energy & Energy Management

Aurora Solar

Aurora Solar is a SaaS company that develops tools to help solar professionals design and sell solar remotely.

  • Founded in 2013
  • San Francisco, CA

SunRun

Sunrun is a pioneer in residential solar, serving more than 550,000 customers across 22 states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico.

  • Founded in 2007
  • San Francisco

Mosaic

Mosaic empowers solar and home improvement professionals to deliver financing through a simple point-of-sale app creating a hassle-free and positive experience for both the contractor and homeowner.

  • Founded in 2012
  • Oakland, CA

Uplight Energy

Uplight provides end-to-end customer-centric technology solutions.

  • Founded in 2019
  • Boulder, CO

Arcadia Power

Arcadia Power is a renewable energy startup whose technology provides easy access to clean energy and gives individuals greater control over what energy they support, how much it costs, and how they pay.

  • Founded in 2013
  • Washington D.C.

Inspire

Inspire is a clean energy technology company on a mission to transform the way people access clean energy and accelerate the world toward a net-zero carbon future.

  • Founded in 2014
  • Santa Monica, CA

Span

Span.io develops products to enable rapid adoption of renewable energy and deliver an intuitive interface for the home.

  • Founded in 2018
  • Santa Monica, CA

David Energy

David Energy is a new kind of electricity provider, delivering the best possible energy system for customers.

  • Founded in 2017
  • Brooklyn, NY

Leap

Leap allows every connected device to help balance the grid and get paid for it, aiming to play a major role in decarbonizing the electricity mix and transition the current grid to be cleaner, more affordable and resilient with sustainable access to energy for all.

  • Founded in 2017
  • San Francisco, CA

Sustainability Resources

Nature Hub

NatureHub is a platform to help people discover good, green, and socially responsible businesses around them. We are a community of healthy lifestyle enthusiasts and environmentally sustainable individuals who aim to create a paradigm shift in the way people think about their lives.

  • Founded in 2018
  • Raleigh, NC

Transportation

Rivian

Rivian is an electric vehicle manufacturer that develops products and services to advance the shift to sustainable mobility.

  • Founded in 2009
  • Irvine, CA

Lucid

Lucid Motors is a Silicon Valley company that designs, develops, and builds electric vehicles.

  • Founded in 2007
  • Newark, CA

ProTerra

Proterra develops battery-electric buses that help eliminate fossil fuel dependency and reduce costs.

  • Founded 2004
  • San Francisco, CA

Lilium

Lilium is developing a revolutionary on-demand air taxi service that is powered by the all-electric, vertical take-off and landing Lilium Jet.

  • Founded in 2015
  • Wessling, Bavaria

Ampaire

Ampaire is making flying accessible to more people by building electric aircraft that are greener, quieter, and less costly to operate.

  • Founded in 2016
  • Hawthorne, CA

Nuro

Nuro develops and operates a fleet of electric self-driving vehicles that are built to deliver assorted local goods. At Nuro, our mission is to accelerate the benefits of robotics for everyday life. Our first step is a self-driving vehicle designed for local goods transportation. Delivering the future of local commerce, autonomously.

  • Founded in 2016
  • Mountain View, CA

Starship

Starship believes theirr robots will revolutionise food and package deliveries, offering people convenient new services that improve everyday life.

  • Founded in 2014
  • San Francisco, CA

Convoy

Convoy is the nation's most efficient digital freight network, moving millions of truckloads and designing innovative solutions that address supply chain inefficiencies, eliminating carbon waste for our planet.

  • Founded in 2015
  • Seattle, WA

Hyperloop One

Hyperloop One is reinventing transportation to eliminate barriers of time and distance by using hyperloop transport to move cargo and passengers immediately, safely, efficiently, and sustainably.

  • Founded in 2014
  • Los Angeles, CA

AMPLY Power

AMPLY Power provides commercial fleet operations a charging-as-a-service approach to help fleets transition to electric vehicles.

  • Founded 2018
  • San Francisco, CA

Weather Intelligence

Atmo

Atmo builds AI for weather, and offers advanced weather solutions for eight sectors.

  • Founded in 2020
  • Berkeley, CA