Introducing VSC Climb

Today, we’re announcing the formation of Climb — a communications practice devoted exclusively to climate tech startups.

Why now?

Aside from the obvious (i.e. the existential threat facing our planet), a massive number of startups are entering the climate tech race. Major VC’s are following suit too.

And yet —

Startups need powerful storytelling to convince billions of people worldwide to embrace new technologies and ways of life. Fast.

Awareness > Mindset Change > Consensus > Action

Consumers, customers, regulators, employees, VC’s — we all follow a certain process before embracing change.

Climate tech is tricky because many of the solutions are highly technical, while the scale of the problem is vast.

To accelerate the adoption of breakthrough innovations, founders need to simplify and amplify their message until it’s clear enough for everyone to understand.

That’s where we come in.

Climb is built on two decades of startup storytelling experience. We’re leveraging our expertise to address the unique needs of climate tech startups, including launching and scaling innovations in energy, transportation, manufacturing/materials, food/farming, carbon removal, wildfire prevention, water access, and air quality.

Beyond traditional PR, Climb also provides a suite of growth content services and investment capital for select Seed and Series A startups, via VSC Ventures.

As part of this new climate initiative, Jay Kapoor has joined us to help build and launch VSC Ventures as a General Partner, building on a 6-year investing career where he sourced, invested in, and supported over 100 seed & early-stage startups. Jay’s track record in sustainable technology includes Revel (electrifying urban transportation), Modumate (energy-efficient architectural design) and rOcean (filtered carbonated water appliance), which was acquired by Pentair earlier this year.

As a firm, we’ve enabled several startups in the space to tell their stories,  including Ample (EV Battery Charging), Zume (sustainable packaging), and Bedrock (ocean mapping for wind energy).

"Sustainability is a global problem that affects us all. We’ve all been responsible for creating it and we all have a role to play in making it better. VSC Climb will play an essential role at a time when startups need to communicate clearly and with a sense of urgency,” explained Alex Garden, Chairman, and CEO of Zume.

“With VSC, it’s not just the contacts — it’s thoughtful strategy and execution that helps further specific business goals,” said Khaled Hassounah, founder and CEO of Ample. “We need investors and consumers alike to understand Ample, why it’s unique, and why it matters.”

As a testament to our storytelling work in the space, we’ve played a role in building the brands of two sustainability-centric technology exits this year: circular economy fashion marketplace Poshmark IPO’d in January 2021 and OpenInvest was acquired by JPMorgan in June 2021.

To learn more about Climb, visit vsc.co/climb.

We’re looking forward to working together to support the startups that make our planet a safer and more habitable place.