Donald Kendall from New Climate Ventures

Donald Kendall from New Climate Ventures

Author: collide. March 31, 2026 Duration: 54:56

Venture capital in the energy transition is getting more complicated, but Donald R. Kendall Jr., General Partner at New Climate Ventures, says the multi-trillion dollar opportunity isn't going anywhere. We get into how they find picks and shovels plays in crowded markets, what $100 oil means for climate startups, why management teams matter more than technology, and what it actually takes to get a first-of-a-kind project financed.

Click here to watch a video of this episode.

Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.
Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.
Apply today at collide.io


Click here to view the episode transcript.

0:00 New Climate Ventures and Investment Thesis
8:00 Data Centers, Cooling, and Energy Independence
10:00 $100 Oil and What It Means for the Energy Transition
14:00 SAF, Carbon Alternatives, and Portfolio Companies
21:00 Don's Background in Project Finance and Early Renewables
26:00 SolarCity, Financial Engineering, and Residential Solar
32:00 What Makes a Fundable Team
38:00 The State of Venture Capital for Climate
42:00 Why Invest in Climate Over AI
43:00 Houston's Role in the Energy Transition
49:00 Most Exciting Technologies Right Now
51:00 Wildlife Conservation and Closing

https://twitter.com/collide_ai

https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io

https://www.facebook.com/collide.io

https://www.instagram.com/collide.io

https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io

https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social

https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai


They say everything's bigger in Texas, including the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change. That's precisely why Houston has become a surprising epicenter for the global energy transition. In H-Town, the fourth largest city in the United States, a new wave of entrepreneurs is converging, partnering with established industry titans to forge the technologies that will slash emissions and power a low-carbon future. This is the landscape explored in Energytech Startups, a podcast from collide. that goes straight to the source. Hosts Nada Ahmed and Jason Ethier sit down with the very people driving this change-the founders, investors, and innovators who are building companies at the intersection of energy and technology. Each conversation digs into the real work: the engineering breakthroughs, the complex business models, and the hard-won lessons from the front lines of a sector undergoing massive transformation. It’s a direct line to the strategies and stories shaping the future of energy, making this podcast an essential listen for anyone curious about the business and investment dynamics behind building a sustainable world. You’ll hear frank discussions about funding, scaling, and the practical realities of bringing a transformative idea to market, all set against the backdrop of a city historically known for oil and gas now betting big on its own reinvention.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 87

Energytech Startups
Podcast Episodes
Transform Waste to Energy with Renu Energy Services [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:49
Chris Westmoreland and Jason Wozniak explain how Renu Energy Services is transforming oil and gas operations by converting waste into usable energy, cutting emissions, and creating new value from previously discarded res…
Harnessing Houston's Energy Transition with Molecule Software [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:31
In this episode, we explore how Houston is emerging as a central hub for the energy transition, where entrepreneurs and industry leaders are collaborating to scale technologies that reduce emissions and reshape global en…
Activate.org in Houston: Activating a new generation of Houstonians! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:49
In this episode of the Energy Tech Startups Podcast, we sit down with Jeremy Pitts to explore the launch of Activate Houston, a nonprofit dedicated to turning breakthrough scientific research into real-world companies. A…
2023 Houston Climatetech Ecosystem Report 2023 Explained [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:57
In this episode, we share the origin story of the Texas Climate Tech Collective, co-founded by Deanna Zhang, Taylor Chapman, and Gabe Malick after a chance meeting in a Brooklyn bar sparked a shared mission to turn Houst…