Breakthrough Energy

Funds breakthrough climate technologies and clean-energy initiatives through mission-driven programs run by a global philanthropy and its affiliates.

Breakthrough Energy is a US clean-energy philanthropy and investment platform founded in 2015 by Bill Gates and headquartered in Kirkland, Washington. Its grant-bearing side sits in Breakthrough Energy Foundation, while the wider platform also includes Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst.

The Discovery platform backs early climate technologies through Fellows, Workshops, and Ecosystem support. Fellows provides R&D funding, mentorship, curriculum, and network access; Explorer grants are typically $50,000 to $250,000; the Innovator Fellowship can reach $500,000 in SAFE-based support; and Catalyst funds first-of-a-kind commercial projects with grants, equity, and concessional debt.

Its focus spans clean energy, materials, transport, agriculture, electricity, and fusion, with a stated threshold for technologies that can reduce or capture greenhouse gases at very large scale. The public route is global and English-language, the Southeast Asia hub is co-delivered with Enterprise Singapore and Temasek, and Fellows moves through a multi-step selection process while Explorers are considered on a rolling basis.