S2G Ventures is graduating today, so to speak.
The climate technology investment firm lives under Builders Vision, an umbrella organization for Walmart heir Lucas Walton’s philanthropic and investment activities for the past three years. Walton was S2G’s sole limited partner. Now the organization is bringing others on board.
Walton started S2G in 2014 to invest in start-ups focused on energy, agriculture and oceans, with the aim of creating a new crop of companies that will benefit the climate and the environment.
Walton will continue to invest in and support S2G, according to sources close to the company, so while he’s giving the company a little more room to operate, he’s not leaving entirely.
S2G has more than 100 portfolio companies and, according to PitchBook data, has $2 billion in assets under management. S2G has also made more than 180 investments over the past decade. The company’s strategy spans from early-stage to growth and infrastructure investment, making it one of the few that not only invests in early-stage companies, but guides them through the “valley of death” that has made scaling so difficult for climate technology start-ups.
Although Walton himself is worth a large amount – $28.3 billion according to Bloomberg — the amount of investment needed to get the world to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 makes his fortune seem paltry. For the next 25 years, $9.2 trillion must be spent on physical assets each year, about $3.5 trillion more than the world spends today. according at McKinsey.
By detaching S2G from Builders Vision, Walton is following a well-worn path used by many philanthropists, who often provide initial and some ongoing funding to get an effort off the ground. But once the project gets its feet under there, philanthropists tend to let others step in to promote continued expansion so they can tackle other problems.
