FOAK Guide

Many climate tech sectors are nearing the first-of-a-kind (FOAK) inflection point, where technologies move from pilots to their first commercial-scale projects. This guide gives founders, developers, project financiers, and strategic partners a playbook for reaching FOAK and scaling beyond it.

It draws on insights from industry experts, real-world data, and case studies in sectors such as advanced geothermal, sustainable aviation fuel, carbon capture and storage, and long-duration energy storage. The guide first ran as a series in the CTVC newsletter.

• FOAK projects need infrastructure-scale capital but carry venture-level risk, which leaves them stranded between venture capital and project finance.
• Project finance lenders target roughly 7-9% annual returns over 10 to 20 years and expect nearly every loan to repay. VCs target 20%+ and accept that most bets fail.
• The guide's FOAK checklist covers five P's: people, pilots, plan, partners, and persistence.
• Five financing paths fund FOAKs: equity super rounds, philanthropic or catalytic capital, strategics, government, and project investment. Most projects blend several.
• A DOE Loan Programs Office application can take a year or more and cost millions, so the guide advises aiming for $250m or more.
• By the Nth-of-a-kind stage, projects can be financed with about 80% debt, opening access to cheap, non-dilutive capital.