AI power binge delivers best half since 2022 for climate tech venture funding
AI AND ML
Low-carbon projects reap accidental windfall as billions chase compute infrastructure
Climate tech venture capital had its strongest first half since 2022 as investors poured billions into low-carbon datacenters and projects needed to feed AI's seemingly endless appetite for compute.
According to investment tracker Currence, climate tech startups pulled in $26.1 billion in venture funding during the first six months of 2026, up 55 percent year-over-year.
However, that headline growth came with a catch: investors weren't backing the climate sector broadly so much as pouring money into the infrastructure underpinning the AI boom. Low-carbon datacenter developers alone accounted for 34 percent of all climate venture funding, up from just 3 percent a year earlier, with DayOne's $4.5 billion and Nscale's $2 billion Series C rounds making up roughly a quarter of all investment between them.
As a result, the "built environment" category grew by more than eight times,...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to theregister.com. To see the full text click HERE
