You could say that S2G Ventures is graduating today.
The climate technology investment firm has been operating for the past three years under the name Builders Vision, an umbrella organization for the philanthropic and investment activities of Walmart heir Lukas Walton. Walton was the sole limited partner of S2G. Now the organization invites others to cooperate.
Walton began S2G in 2014, invest in start-ups focused on energy, agriculture and oceans to create a recent group of firms that might profit the climate and the environment.
According to sources close to the company, Walton will proceed to invest in and support S2G, so while it gives the company a little more room to operate, it does not intend to quit on it completely.
S2G has greater than 100 portfolio firms and has $2 billion in assets under management, according to PitchBook. S2G has also remodeled 180 investments over the last decade. The company’s strategy includes seed, growth and infrastructure investments, making it one of the few that not only invests in early-stage firms but also guides them through the “valley of death” that makes scaling so difficult for start-ups dealing with climate technologies.
Although Walton himself is value a huge sum… $28.3 billion according to Bloomberg – the amount of investment required for the world to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 makes his fortune seem paltry. Over the next 25 years, $9.2 trillion will need to be spent on physical assets every yr, which is about $3.5 trillion greater than the world currently spends. According to to McKinsey.
In liberating S2G from Builders Vision, Walton is following a well-trodden path used by many philanthropists, who often provide initial and ongoing funding to start a enterprise. But once a project gets underway, philanthropists tend to let others step in to support further development so they will address other issues.