Mike Schroepfer, former chief technical officer at Facebook (now Meta), is launching Gigascale Capital, a climate venture capital investment company. In an interview for CNBC, he said he has a personal motivation to fight climate change.
“Three years ago or so when the Covid lockdowns happened, I had a lot of time quarantined in our house to think about my life and what we’re doing,” he told CNBC. “Loved my career in technology, but I always had a passion for the climate crisis. I have some little kids at home. I think about the future, and I said, ‘What am I doing about this problem?’”
Schroepfer began working nights and weekends to fund scientific research in the area through Additional Ventures, a purpose-driven organization that he co-founded.
With almost 10 years of experience as the CTO at Facebook, Schroepfer knew he could support climate companies in hiring, scaling, and solving technical problems.
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Schroepfer has already invested in over a dozen climate startups and the introduction of Gigascale Capital formalizes his previous work.
According to Schroepfer, humanity is currently at a “moment of confluence of consumer interest [and] government regulatory interest,” which forces the business to take climate change mitigation seriously.
Technological advances in AI, increasing computer power, and improved material and chemical science all contribute to speeding up climate innovation, he also said.
Schroepfer said he thinks capitalism is necessary to help solve climate change.
So far, the team behind Gigascale Capital has been researching buildings and industrial processes decarbonization, as well as alternative foods but would focus on any sector that can bring significant climate impact and has money-making potential, Schroepfer said.
Victoria Beasley from Prelude Ventures and Evaline Tsai from Fine Structure Ventures will join Gigascale alongside Schroepfer as investors.
