The climate start-up world is never easy. But the last year has made it harder.

Amidst the turmoil of President Trump's second coming, grants for small businesses and promising climate technologies all but evaporated. Indeed, the very word "climate" became politically radioactive in Washington.

Founders who'd spent years building companies around federal funding suddenly found themselves scrambling for cash, and pushing against unprecedented policy headwinds.

So where does that leave climate start-ups in 2026?

Stacy Swann has seen climate finance from just about every angle. She's spearheaded blended finance efforts at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), founded and sold her own climate advisory firm, and is now helping channel early-stage capital into the next generation of resilience companies as co-founder of Resilient Earth Capital — a community of angel investors doing, as she puts it, 'Shark Tank' with would-be climate entrepreneurs.

In this episode, Stacy takes us inside the pitch process, explaining what gets angels excited, what makes them nervous, and the mistakes founders make again and again. She also shares her thoughts on the shift in the start-up landscape in the two and a half years since REC launched — from an initial rush of energy transition companies to a growing army of startups in agriculture, water, extreme heat, and wildfire.

She also has a clear-eyed take on what 2026 holds — and why, whatever the political climate, the physical climate is still going to drive investment.

For founders looking for capital, investors trying to make sense of this market, or anyone curious about where early-stage climate money is actually flowing right now, this episode is for you.

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Questions? Comments? Email Louie at louie@climateproof.news