Funding climate deep tech startups & scale-ups
Ready to scale up your clean energy or recycling solution?
The Early-Stage Seed Fund is funding TRaCE-partnered startups and scale-ups.
The “Valley of Death” is a critical stage for climate deep tech startups, where high development costs and the need for significant capital meet the challenge of proving market traction. Many startups struggle to secure funding during this phase because they haven’t yet demonstrated that their technology is commercially viable, leaving them stuck between research and scaling. TRaCE is addressing this gap by offering targeted financial support through the Early-Stage Seed Fund.
By funding key milestones, from prototype development to early-market testing, TRaCE provides the necessary capital and resources to help startups attract future investment and works to encourage venture capitalists (VCs) to invest in these startups at this earlier crucial stage, helping them scale and reach market readiness.
The “Valley of Death” is a critical stage for climate deep tech startups, where high development costs and the need for significant capital meet the challenge of proving market traction. Many startups struggle to secure funding during this phase because they haven’t yet demonstrated that their technology is commercially viable, leaving them stuck between research and scaling. TRaCE is addressing this gap by offering targeted financial support through the Early-Stage Seed Fund.
By funding key milestones, from prototype development to early-market testing, TRaCE provides the necessary capital and resources to help startups attract future investment and works to encourage venture capitalists (VCs) to invest in these startups at this earlier crucial stage, helping them scale and reach market readiness.
The TRaCE Early-Stage Seed Fund represents a groundbreaking collaboration between UNSW and VC partners, Investible and Hampton Capital, blending the research and development capabilities of Australia’s leading university with the expertise of global venture capital firms. These unique partnerships create an ecosystem that supports climate deep tech startups from the very beginning, combining cutting-edge research, industry connections, and strategic guidance. By joining forces, TRaCE, Investible and Hampton Capital empower startups to move beyond research and development and toward scalable, market-ready solutions.
Our venture capital partners
The TRaCE Early-Stage Seed Fund is an Australian university’s first fund to incorporate a reinvestment model, ensuring that initial investments are not just a one-off but can be reinvested into future startups, creating a sustainable cycle of funding.
VC partners and TRaCE will co–invest in high–potential startups and scale–ups through a buy-back mechanism for VC partners, enabling initial investment to be reinvested by TRaCE into new companies creating a continuous cycle of funding, support and innovation, and setting a new standard for partnership between capital partners and universities
The TRaCE Early-Stage Seed Fund is an Australian university’s first fund to incorporate a reinvestment model, ensuring that initial investments are not just a one-off but can be reinvested into future startups, creating a sustainable cycle of funding.
VC partners and TRaCE will co–invest in high–potential startups and scale–ups through a buy-back mechanism for VC partners, enabling initial investment to be reinvested by TRaCE into new companies creating a continuous cycle of funding, support and innovation, and setting a new standard for partnership between capital partners and universities.
If you’re involved in one of TRaCE’s programs at UNSW or the University of Newcastle, and looking to secure funding to take your clean energy or recycling solution to the next level, the TRaCE Early-stage seed fund could be your next step.
