South Pole helps you to deploy climate impact funding by identifying and evaluating projects, startups and SMEs that accelerate the transition towards net zero and climate resilient economies.
Innovation and entrepreneurship has the power to scale these new tools to tackle climate change and meet the Sustainable Development Goals. However, the number of promising startups and their know-how is limited, and most funders do not know how to find and evaluate them. This is where South Pole comes in. We actively identify groundbreaking projects and startups and connect them with our clients.
South Pole can help you identify, evaluate and support innovative climate projects and startups, with access to both capital and technical know-how.
We help you to source and evaluate innovative projects and small companies that are tailored to your climate and impact goals. After you have decided to provide funding for specific projects and startups, our teams will monitor, report and verify the impact of the funding delivered.
Existing impact funding vehicles may not meet your specific needs in terms of geography, sector, investment type, and impact delivery schedule. We can tailor a new vehicle to your needs, and also offer specific communication and branding opportunities.
Once we have developed the impact funding vehicles, South Pole offers the following services as an advisor:
South Pole works with clients across the private, public and non-profit sectors to develop and implement impact funding for energy transition, land use and carbon removals, including specific vehicles for cities. Among others, operational impact funding vehicles include:
Advisory services to a Swiss government initiative that provides loan guarantees to climate-friendly SMEs/startups.
Administrative services and grant deployment for a single donor non-profit foundation that provides grants and soft loans to projects and local SMEs that improve the climate change resilience of smallholder farmers and other vulnerable communities in the land-use sector.
Providing services to simplify the value chain for biogenic CO₂ emitters and build regional hubs for a cohesive ecosystem for Biogenic Carbon Removal and Storage projects in Europe. It offers access to future carbon removals for long-term clients and promotes regulatory framework conditions for private and public investments.
Helping provide government-financed grants for innovative Swiss projects that support renewable energy, energy efficiency and resource efficiency projects in developing countries.
Be at the forefront of climate action by supporting innovative, early-stage climate solutions, such as new clean technologies or climate-smart agricultural practices
Create impact at scale by building and scaling impactful ventures (projects, startups)
Achieve more impact through revolving vehicles, as potential revenue and repayments are used for new projects and startups
Mobilise additional private investments with tailored financial and technical support
Martin Stadelmann, Executive Director, Climate Investments at South Pole, is a climate finance expert with more than 15 years of experience in developing, implementing and evaluating climate action projects, programmes and funds in developing countries, with a focus on clean energy and adaptation to climate change.
His experience spans contributions to innovative mechanisms under the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, the Global Landscape of Climate Finance reports and the finance chapters of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report and the UNEP Adaptation Gap report 2014. Until 2009, he managed climate action projects in developing countries at myclimate. From 2009 to 2018, he advised governments, development banks and climate funds on international climate finance and represented the Swiss government in international climate negotiations, in addition to advising other governments on the same matter. Martin initiated several innovative climate action funds and platforms, including the Landscape Resilience Fund and the City Finance Lab. He holds a PhD in political science, and a MSc in geography.
David Grosspietsch leads the Impact Funding practice at South Pole with a focus on clean technology and land-use investments. Together with his team, he has supported the set-up and implementation of various impact funding vehicles, from regional and national climate tech funds (e.g. Swiss Technology Fund) to supranational instruments (e.g. EU Innovation Fund), both for public and private investors.
David is an industrial engineer by training and holds a PhD from ETH Zurich in the domain of sustainable technologies (decentralized energy systems) and innovation management.
