The clean-tech investment firm founded by Bill Gates, Breakthrough Energy, needs to fund more companies in the developing world, Executive Director Rodi Guidero said Wednesday on Bloomberg TV.
Breakthrough manages $4.5 billion it devotes to technology companies trying to cut greenhouse gases, wrote Bloomberg.
Out of the firm’s 165 portfolio companies, only a handful are based outside North America and Europe, Guidero said.
“We need to expand that,” Guidero said. “Innovation has to happen everywhere.”
The firm has introduced a version of its fellows program in Singapore, which Guidero described as “a case study” for future initiatives in other regions. This program provides innovators with funding and mentorship to develop their technologies. The Singapore expansion marks the first regional hub outside the US.
Guidero added that Breakthrough is dedicated to assisting its companies in transitioning from pilot projects to pioneering commercial plants that can reduce costs and operate at scale.
“That’s the next stage,” he said.
