Boulder, CO — May 20, 2026 — Third Derivative, RMI’s global climate tech accelerator, today unveiled a new cohort of 26 startups focused on scaling hard-tech climate solutions. Spanning 13 countries, the cohort is primarily composed of companies building hardware, materials, and infrastructure designed to accelerate deployment in sectors such as heavy industry, energy systems, and the built environment where emissions are hardest to abate and progress has lagged.
Selected from a competitive global pool, the cohort reflects a larger amount of deployment-ready climate technologies. These companies are targeting acute challenges including grid capacity, industrial emissions, cooling demand, carbon management, and critical materials.
The cohort includes startups headquartered across North America, Europe, and Asia, with strong representation from emerging markets. India accounts for six companies, while Southeast Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom also feature prominently. The group includes Third Derivative’s first startups from Costa Rica, Belgium, and Argentina.
Approximately 90% of the cohort is developing hardware, infrastructure, or materials-based solutions. The remaining companies focus on software solutions focused on project optimization, monitoring and verification (MRV), carbon markets, and industrial supply chain intelligence. The average technology readiness level (TRL) across the cohort is approximately 6.3, with 13 companies at TRL 7 or above and seven at TRL 8–9, indicating a concentration of companies approaching or already at early commercial scale.
“If we’re serious about decarbonization timelines, we can’t wait for perfect industry conditions, policy environments, or entirely new systems. This new batch of incoming portfolio companies can succeed despite today’s constraints — and that’s what makes both resilient and scalable,” said Rushad Nanavatty, Managing Director of Third Derivative.
Heavy industry is the largest sector represented in this cohort, accounting for approximately 40% of companies. Startups are addressing emissions across cement, steel, chemicals, and industrial fuels.
Within the cohort, 16 startups are supported by the Future Industries Partnership, a three-year philanthropic initiative supported by HSBC and delivered by Third Derivative and Founders Factory. The program focuses on accelerating technologies for heavy industry across Asia and the Middle East. Heavy industry accounts for roughly 30% of global climate pollution, and demand for industrial production is increasing rapidly in these regions. Technologies in this group include low-carbon cement binders, lower carbon steel production pathways, hydrogen production systems, and industrial carbon management solutions.
“The constraint in heavy industry isn’t awareness or even ambition. It’s deployment under real-world conditions. These sectors are capital-intensive, infrastructure-dependent, and exposed to supply uncertainty and cost volatility, raising the bar that new clean solutions need to meet in order to gain traction,” said Chetan Krishna, Head of Research & Diligence at Third Derivative. “What we’re seeing in this cohort are solutions designed for rapid deployment.”
Beyond heavy industry, the cohort reflects several recurring themes aligned with current system constraints.
In electricity, startups are targeting grid capacity constraints, slow and deployment timelines, and challenges with renewables integration. These include technologies to increase transmission capacity, optimize project design, improve solar energy density, and strengthen domestic battery supply chains.
In buildings, companies are addressing one of the fastest-growing sources of energy demand — cooling. The cohort includes startups developing high-efficiency heat pumps, cooling systems, advanced glazing technologies, and low-carbon construction materials. It also marks Third Derivative’s first building-sector startups from Southeast Asia, including companies based in Indonesia and Singapore.
Carbon and methane (and other super pollutants) management is another key focus, spanning direct air capture, refrigerant destruction, agricultural methane reduction, nature-based carbon removal, and industrial emissions intelligence. The cohort includes landmark industry firsts, with companies issuing the first Tier-3 rice methane credits under Gold Standard and the first Asia-based enhanced rock weathering credits verified by Puro.earth.
Across sectors, the cohort reflects an even greater emphasis on near commercial-ready solutions designed to integrate into existing systems and deliver near-term impact. Several companies are already demonstrating measurable performance improvements, including higher-efficiency cooling systems, lower-emissions industrial processes, and technologies that increase grid capacity without requiring new infrastructure buildout.
Third Derivative’s 18-month accelerator provides tailored support to help companies move from pilot to scale, including access to RMI’s network of more than 600 experts, along with corporate partners, investors, and policymakers. The program will run over the coming months, culminating in opportunities for startups to secure partnerships, advance deployment, and access financing.
Find the full list of the incoming startups below and view our portfolio page here.
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 http://www.third-derivative.org.
About RMI
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) is an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit founded in 1982 that transforms global energy systems through market-driven solutions to secure a prosperous, resilient, clean energy future for all. In collaboration with businesses, policymakers, funders, communities, and other partners, RMI drives investment to scale clean energy solutions, reduce energy waste, and boost access to affordable clean energy in ways that enhance security, strengthen the economy, and improve people’s livelihoods. RMI is active in over 50 countries.
Airform (Future Industries Partnership)
AssetCool
BANIQL (Future Industries Partnership)
Bhumi (Future Industries Partnership)
beyond captur (Future Industries Partnership)
CarbonStrong (Future Industries Partnership)
Climitra Carbon
Conry Tech (Future Industries Partnership)
CURA (Future Industries Partnership)
Electrogenos (Future Industries Partnership)
Fermi Energy
Giraffe Bio
GREE Energy (Future Industries Partnership)
Gridbrid
Hymonic
Janta Power
Mitti Labs (Future Industries Partnership)
Nanoweave (Future Industries Partnership)
Neutreeno (Future Industries Partnership)
Ossus Biorenewables (Future Industries Partnership)
PRISTINZ (Future Industries Partnership)
Solidec
Unbound Potential
Uravu Labs
Varaha (Future Industries Partnership)
Widuz (Future Industries Partnership)