Climate Tech Investment Trends: H1 2026

Climate tech venture investment in H1 2026 held at the level of H2 2025's rebound, making it the strongest first half since 2022. Low-carbon data centers drove much of it, taking 34% of the half's total, concentrated in large rounds for DayOne and Nscale.

Core climate companies had a strong half too. Fervo and X-energy set records for clean firm power IPOs, adaptation startups drew record investment, and investors backed companies that hold real-world data for physical AI.

• H1 2026 VC investment ran 55% above H1 2025 and nearly matched H2 2025.
• Low-carbon data centers made up 34% of the half's investment.
• Fervo raised $1.9bn at a $7.7bn valuation and X-energy raised $1bn at a $9bn valuation in record IPOs.
• Earth observation funding tripled as physical AI drives demand for real-world data.
• European funds raised $7.1bn across 30 funds, about 70% of the total, but closed at a 52% rate.