Readout of The White House Convening on Expanding Access to Climate Capital

Yesterday, Small Business Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, White House National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard, and White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi hosted a Climate Capital Convening at the White House with investors, climate technology start-up companies, small business owners, and entrepreneurs.

Participants discussed how President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda is catalyzing unprecedented levels of investment in America’s clean energy economy, as well as opportunities to build on this momentum and expand capital access for climate-focused start-ups and small businesses across America. Participants noted that smaller businesses may lack the resources needed to navigate the full ecosystem of federal funding opportunities. Additionally, industry identified opportunities to accelerate construction and deployment, as well as to leverage the Administration’s convening power and procurement authorities to drive demand certainty for emerging clean technologies.

To address some of the challenges raised by industry, yesterday, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new actions to expand access to capital for small- and medium-sized climate enterprises and start-ups. First, the White House released a Climate Capital Guidebook, a one-stop-shop for information on federal funding programs – such as grants, loans, tax credits, and equity investments – available to climate-related start-ups, small- and medium-sized businesses, and their investors. Second, the Small Business Administration announced that it is expanding access to its flagship 504 Loan Program – which provides long-term, fixed rate loans to support capital expenditures – by lifting the cap on the number of loans that small businesses can take out for qualifying energy projects, such as solar installations.

Administration officials reiterated the President’s commitment to not only spurring new investment in climate and clean energy solutions, but also to ensuring that small- and medium-sized businesses in communities across the country, particularly places that have been left behind for too long, share in the benefits of the economic transformation underway.

Participants in the convening included:
Biden-Harris Administration:

• Isabel Casillas Guzman, Administrator, Small Business Administration
• Lael Brainard, National Economic Advisor, The White House
• Ali Zaidi, National Climate Advisor, The White House
• Alex Jacquez, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Development & Industrial Strategy, National Economic Council, The White House
• Josh Zoffer, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, National Economic Council, The White House
• Nana Menya Ayensu, Special Assistant to the President for Climate Policy, Finance & Innovation, Climate Policy Office, The White House
• Katie Frost, Associate Administrator, Office of Capital Access, Small Business Administration
• David Brown, Director of Policy & Planning, Small Business Administration

Industry:

• Activate
• AtmosZero
• BRITE Energy Innovators
• ChargerHelp!
• Crux Climate
• Elemental Excelerator
• Fervo Energy
• Generate Capital
• Greentown Labs
• Lithos Carbon
• Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator
• Lowercarbon Capital
• Partanna
• Prelude Ventures
• S2G Ventures
• Safire Technology Group
• Sesame Solar
• Trellis Climate

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