Breakthrough Energy just announced its most globally diverse cohort yet, selecting 22 climate tech startups from over 1,500 applicants. Half the teams are based outside the US, marking a strategic pivot as Bill Gates' organization adapts its approach amid economic uncertainty and shifting climate priorities worldwide.
Breakthrough Energy, Bill Gates' climate tech organization, is making its biggest international bet yet. The group just announced its fifth cohort of Breakthrough Energy Fellows, marking a dramatic shift toward global diversification as economic headwinds reshape the climate tech landscape.
The numbers tell the story of this pivot: 45 fellows across 22 startups, with 50% of teams based outside the United States. It's the program's most selective round to date, winnowing down roughly 1,500 applications and referrals - making it tougher to get into than Harvard or Stanford.
"It's the most global [cohort] that we've had to date," Ashley Grosh, vice president at Breakthrough Energy, told TechCrunch in an exclusive interview. The geographic spread reflects a calculated response to both opportunity and uncertainty: eleven teams in the US, six in Asia, with others scattered across Canada, Germany, the UK, and South Africa.
This international expansion isn't just about casting a wider net - it's strategic repositioning as global trade tensions mount and policy priorities shift. Breakthrough Energy has been recalibrating its approach all year, scrapping its policy team in March and discontinuing funding for climate tech media coverage. But the fellowship program represents its longest bet, and now it's doubling down on global reach.
The pivot gained momentum with a new Singapore hub launched in August 2024, partnered with Temasek, the country's sovereign wealth fund, and Enterprise Singapore, a government agency. This Asian foothold is already paying dividends, with regional startups tackling problems that resonate locally but have global implications.
"What are local needs, right? What are the local challenges?" Grosh explained, pointing to hydrogen economy startups as a prime example. In Asia, "there's a lot of interest in the hydrogen economy," she noted, while circularity - recycling materials back to their original form or better - addresses the region's role as the world's factory and the massive waste streams that creates.
The new cohort spans critical sectors: hydrogen, critical minerals, agriculture, and grid modernization. But beyond geography, the program has evolved its approach based on hard-won experience from previous cohorts.
Based on feedback and performance data, Breakthrough Energy Fellows now emphasizes techno-economic analysis from day one. Fellows work with "business fellows" - typically seasoned entrepreneurs with relevant industry experience - to stress-test their assumptions about market fit early and often.
"We were seeing a lot of companies come in thinking that they're going to do one thing, and then they pivot," Grosh admitted. "They're more venture bankable once we've helped them through that pivot and validated it."
The results speak to the program's effectiveness in a notoriously difficult sector. Nearly all teams from the previous four cohorts have successfully raised follow-on funding - a remarkable track record in climate tech, where hardware timelines and capital requirements often kill promising companies. One graduate, carbon removal startup Holocene, already exited to oil giant Occidental earlier this year.
"That's a huge measure of success for us," Grosh said, though it also highlights the complex realities of scaling climate solutions in a world where traditional energy companies often become the buyers.
The timing of this global expansion comes as climate tech faces a challenging moment. Venture funding has tightened, policy support varies wildly by region, and economic uncertainty makes long-term infrastructure bets harder to justify. By diversifying geographically, Breakthrough Energy is hedging against these risks while tapping into local expertise and market knowledge that US-based programs often miss.
This approach acknowledges a fundamental truth about climate change: it's inherently a global problem requiring solutions adapted to local conditions, regulations, and economic realities. A battery technology that works in California might need different chemistry for India's heat or different business models for Europe's regulatory environment.
The fellowship's evolution also reflects Gates' broader climate philanthropy strategy, which has always emphasized breakthrough technologies over incremental improvements. But the new focus on economics and market validation suggests lessons learned from years of promising technologies that struggled to scale commercially.
As climate tech enters a more challenging funding environment, Breakthrough Energy's global pivot represents a pragmatic evolution. By combining international diversification with sharper commercial focus, the program is positioning itself to identify breakthrough technologies wherever they emerge while ensuring they can actually reach market. For an industry that's struggled with the valley of death between lab and scale, that combination of global reach and economic realism might be exactly what's needed.
