There are 83 climate tech unicorns!

The biggest reason fossil fuels continue to be burned is money.

There's a lot of money in oil and gas, and even though renewable sources are cheaper to make, maintain, and put less strain on taxpayers, company profit frankly isn't as high. But what if fixing climate change did make as much–or more–money than oil and gas companies?

Well, we're not there yet, but as of the beginning of 2023 there are 83 climate tech companies worth over $1 billion. Almost all of these started within the past 10 years.

These companies are creating incredible climate solutions and earning a lot of cash as a result. Is this a sign that fixing climate change will soon become profitable enough for it to actually happen? I sure hope so.

In the meantime, here are my five favorite climate tech unicorns today:

1. Ynsect is based in France and uses fully vertical farms to grow yellow mealworms that can be used by pets, fish, plants, and humans alike. This cheap, sustainable, nutrient-dense protein may be the future of meat.
2. Rad Power Bikes make sturdy ebikes that can completely replace your car. They look sleek, go the distance, and are fun to ride too.
3. Apeel makes a plant-based protection layer that replaces the single-use plastic that produce is wrapped in at the grocery store. That plastic wrapping is incredibly wasteful and unnecessary, and products with Apeel stay fresh much longer - up to a full month for your avocado.
4. Zume is tackling the plastic packaging problem head on too. They're replacing single-use plastics that come around the products you buy with compostable, plant fiber-based products. Together with Apeel, maybe we can banish single-use plastics forever.
5. Northvolt has the highest value out of any company for their sustainable battery production that reduces carbon footprint by 80% and is on track for a monstrous battery cell output of 150 GWh by 2030.

These five, plus the 78 more, and hundreds or thousands more on the way, give me hope for a cleaner, brighter, and better future.