Crowdfunding climate action: Homegrown Climatize matches money with missions

While attending the 2019 Fridays for Future climate protests in Barcelona, Will Wiseman and Alba Forns were struck by a desire to do something more, something beyond demonstrations and signs. 

“There were a hundred thousand people protesting in the streets, and I was blown away by this incredible turnout of hope and motivation, and people of all backgrounds,” said Wiseman, a Santa Cruz High School graduate. “And yet, I have this vivid memory of standing on a bench and looking out over this sea of people and being struck by the sad realization that we were all going to go home and the next day, nothing was going to be different.”

Forns and Wiseman thought about how they could create something that would build off this momentum and provide a concrete way for individuals like themselves to make a real effort to reduce climate change. That sparked the idea that would ultimately become Climatize, and the pair launched their platform in May 2023.

“As we began to think about how we could really engage the everyday person in being a stakeholder in the energy transition, one of the interesting models that came to the forefront was crowdfunding for renewable energy projects,” said Wiseman, who developed an interest in solar projects thanks to a summer job installing rooftop solar panels with Day One Solar.

The premise for Climatize: provide a way to support renewable energy projects through what are essentially microloans, small amounts starting as low as $5 that, when added up, can provide significant capital for a project. Climatize also works with project owners to evaluate projects for feasibility and viability; then, through the company’s app, people can invest directly in the solar project of their choice. While currently available for only iPhones, Climatize plans to launch an Android version of the app this month.

The company works with trusted organizations like the U.S. Department of Energy and the New York State Research & Development Authority. Solar project developers can also submit an online application. It’s essentially taking the concept of crowdfunding and applying it to renewable energy projects, but the funds are investments rather than just donations.

So far, Climatize has helped secure $2.25 million for such projects, five of which have been funded and two others that are still raising capital through the platform. One of those projects is a secondhand car dealership in Georgia looking to go solar; the other is a farm in South Carolina.

While Climatize’s seven-member team is globally distributed, but the company is headquartered in Santa Cruz, where Wiseman lives. Forns currently divides her time between here and Spain, but hopes to relocate here on a more permanent basis.                            

Wiseman and Forns have quickly ramped up interest in the company, and the pair were named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list last year. They’ve also been selected to participate in multiple accelerator programs, raised $100,000 in grants and garnered around $1 million in venture capital investment. 

That investment comes at a time when venture capital funding overall has fluctuated, although climate tech remains one of the biggest growing market segments even as other sectors have cooled down. According to PwC’s 2023 State of Climate Tech report, 2023 saw a “steady influx of first-time climate tech investors” despite the market’s challenges, and the industry remains attractive.

Among Climatize’s investors are locally based Central Coast Angels and the co-founder of GoFundMe, Andrew Ballester. Ballester’s support seemed particularly apropos; Wiseman experimented with the crowdfunding platform before starting Climatize to see if he could raise $2,500 for a small solar water desalination setup in Kenya for his 25th birthday.

Wiseman also credits Santa Cruz Works’ Doug Erickson for helping connect him to other entrepreneurs locally. Climatize is part of a burgeoning community of climate tech and greener tech companies in the region, including Ambient Photonics, SupplyShift, Joby Aviation and Cruz Foam, to name a few.

“I think it’s underappreciated how central Santa Cruz can be to climate tech innovation … we are very uniquely situated with access to all of the talent and capital of Silicon Valley,” said Wiseman. “We have all of the educational institutes we need nearby for research and supply of talent. We have a unique kind of confluence of natural resources, tech resources and agriculture in our backyard.”

It’s that confluence that really helped inspire Wiseman to base his company where he grew up with a deep interest in the environment, in part due to his father, a marine biologist.

“I grew up around oceans, and I really saw this very rapid collapse of many of these pristine ecosystems,” said Wiseman. “It struck me at a very early age. I want to be able to share those same experiences with my future child and that future is increasingly at risk.”

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FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this story misstated how much funding Climatize has secured for renewable energy projects. That figure is $2.25 million.

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