Former Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer launches Gigascale Capital, a VC firm that invests in climate-focused startups

Climate change is one of the most significant challenges of our time. From drought and extreme weather events to rising sea levels that heighten the possibility of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and cannot to ignore.

Solving these climate challenges is what motivated former Facebook chief technical officer Mike Schroepfer to launch a climate-focused venture capital investment firm called Gigascale Capital, along with climate investors Victoria Beasley and Evaline Tsai. Their goal is to address these climate challenges and make a positive impact on the world.

Today, Schroepfer announced the official launch of Gigascale Capital. In an interview with CNBC, Schroepfer said he is “personally motivated to fight climate change and believes this is an inflection point in the industry.”

“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,” Schroepfer said in a video interview Wednesday. “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?’”

“My primary question was: ‘Is there something I can do?’”

To fight climate change, Gigascale is investing in early-stage tech startup companies solving the climate crisis by making products that are cheaper, better, and more desirable than their high-carbon incumbents, the firm said on its website. Gigascale also “works with passionate entrepreneurs across industries to operationalize and scale their businesses by investing from Pre-Seed through Series A.”

“In order to solve this problem, we need business. We need people making a lot of money, helping to decarbonize things. And so this is our whole approach to Gigascale,” Schroepfer added.

Gigascale Capital is one of the many climate-focused venture firms using technologies to decarbonize the planet. Microsoft, Amazon, and a few other companies have venture funds to help address the climate crisis.

Prior to the launch of Gigascale Capital, Schroepfer was previously the CTO of Facebook for almost 10 years and has also been involved in philanthropic climate efforts. As an angel investor, he had invested in over a dozen climate startups. The new venture is aimed at consolidating and formalizing his investment work in the climate sector.