RMI, Deep Science Ventures, and Third Derivative Team Up to Launch Mark1, Developing First of a Kind Climate Tech Projects
Mark1 will revolutionize project development for critical, capital-intensive climate tech startups
Nonprofit RMI, its climate tech accelerator Third Derivative, and deep tech venture creator Deep Science Ventures, alongside founding partner Builders Vision, created Mark1 to bridge the gap to commercialization for critical emerging climate tech.
Teams developing novel climate tech are rarely equipped with the experience or skills for commercial-scale project development. At the same time, capital providers lack either the ability or the willingness to provide financing for these first-of-a-kind projects.
Mark1 will address these challenges head-on, providing startups with support across all aspects of large-scale project development; technical (engineering design, techno-economic analysis, costing, scheduling), commercial (offtake agreements, contracting, supply chain), financial (capital strategy, government incentives), and regulatory (siting and permitting).
This support will help climate tech innovators develop a faster and less expensive path to bankability, getting their projects to the “pre-FEED” (front-end engineering and design) stage of project development, entailing detailed project definition, process design, feasibility studies, cost estimates, and project scheduling.
Mark1 and its creators are well-placed to do this, bringing extensive experience in business development, project development, and project management, in addition to a deep knowledge of climate tech and the startups that will benefit from the service. Beyond the core Mark1 team, startups will also have access to relevant RMI, Third Derivative, and Deep Science Ventures personnel as well as a select group of engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) companies, other professional services firms, off-takers, and project financiers.
“RMI, Third Derivative, and Deep Science Ventures have a proven track record of understanding how to move the energy transition forward. I'm incredibly excited to be taking the helm at Mark1 and joining this ambitious effort to build the ecosystem around these brave companies working daily to bring the next generation of industrial technologies to market,” said Julian Ryba-White, CEO of Mark1.
“RMI and Third Derivative are thrilled to see the launch of Mark1,” said Rushad Nanavatty, Managing Director of Third Derivative. “The gap between demonstration and commercialization is the deepest, widest “valley-of-death” faced by our founders – and a critical bottleneck to the energy transition. Our back-of-the-envelope math tells us that we’re only seeing 1-17% of the funding the world needs for first-of-a-kind commercial climate tech projects. It’s a systemic challenge. Isolated success stories are not going to cut it, and neither is simply throwing money at the problem. We need a systemic solution – one that can methodically de-risk and attract market-rate capital to these projects – lots of them. We believe that Mark1 can be that solution, or at least an important part of it.”
“The successful transition to net-zero is contingent on the rapid scale-up and deployment of novel climate-related infrastructure. Deep Science Ventures is committed to creating the pathway to scale, from creating ventures to deploying and managing emerging infrastructure assets. Mark1 is a key component in this value chain, with the mission to become the ‘go to’ project development accelerator - ‘the Y-Combinator of project development for climate tech’. We couldn’t be more excited in announcing its launch alongside our visionary funders, who are helping to catalyze this space,” said Ahmad Butt, Executive Chairman of Deep Science Ventures.
Committed to fostering innovation and accelerating the deployment of groundbreaking technologies, Mark1 will bridge the scale gap to commercialization to unlock the next phase of development, so that the novel climate technologies of today become actualized projects, delivering gigatons of carbon abatement, tomorrow.
For more information on Mark1, please visit www.mark1.build. Mark1 plans to begin accepting applications for its first cohort in Q4 of this year.
About Mark1
Mark1 is a developer-as-a-service for first of a kind industrial climate technologies. Mark1 works with the most impactful technology companies and, through a structured approach, leverages its expertise and extensive network to plan and co-develop their first commercial-scale projects. By aligning incentives with project milestones, Mark1 creates the right structure to bridge the financing gap and accelerate the energy transition. Learn more at www.mark1.build.
About RMI
RMI is an independent nonprofit, founded in 1982 as Rocky Mountain Institute, that transforms global energy systems through market-driven solutions to align with a 1.5°C future and secure a clean, prosperous, zero-carbon future for all. We work in the world’s most critical geographies and engage businesses, policymakers, communities, and NGOs to identify and scale energy system interventions that will cut greenhouse gas emissions at least 50 percent by 2030. RMI has offices in Basalt and Boulder, Colorado; New York City; Oakland, California; Washington, D.C.; Abuja, Nigeria; and Beijing. Learn more at www.rmi.org.
About Third Derivative
Third Derivative, RMI’s global climate tech accelerator, is accelerating the rate of climate innovation. Third Derivative’s inclusive ecosystem rapidly finds, funds, and scales climate tech globally. By uniting and aligning investors, corporations, and experts with the world’s most promising climate tech startups, Third Derivative bridges finance and resource gaps to increase the speed to market. The flexible and highly curated remote accelerator program enables startups to focus on their unique needs and opportunities. Together, we are moving markets to achieve an equitable climate future. Learn more at www.third-derivative.org.
About Deep Science Ventures
Deep Science Ventures is creating a future where humanity and the planet thrive, combining available scientific knowledge and founder-type scientists into high-impact ventures. Deep Science Ventures operates in 4 sectors: Agriculture, Climate, Computation and Pharmaceuticals, tackling the challenges defining those areas by taking a first- principles approach and partnering with leading institutions. Learn more at www.deepscienceventures.com.
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