Opinion
When climate changes, Israeli entrepreneurship must change too
Building a startup is a grueling journey. If you choose to embark on it, pick a big problem worth solving: clean energy, mitigating climate change impact, and more. Impact and business success are not mutually exclusive, they reinforce each other.
It’s hot. Unusually hot!
There is a saying well-known among experts who deal with the climate crisis: “This summer is also turning out to be the hottest on record.”
The heat we feel is not just temporary discomfort. Massive wildfires rage across Europe, infrastructure is damaged, and entire regions confront extreme weather. As of July 22, 2026, approximately 3,000 square kilometers have burned in the European Union since the beginning of the year, double the multi-year average, emitting nearly 10 million tons of carbon dioxide (Copernicus JRC).
The fires also bring severe collateral damage: air pollution, threats to public health, agricultural destruction, and water scarcity.
The climate crisis is not a future threat. It is here, in war and in peace, during elections and on everyday workdays. Precisely for this reason, the climate crisis is not only humanity’s greatest problem, but also the most defining entrepreneurial opportunity of our generation.
According to the State of ClimateTech in Israel (2024–2025) report by the Israel Innovation Authority and PLANETech, 946 climate companies operated in Israel in 2024, 49 of which were founded in mid-2023.amidst war and uncertainty.
However, investments in the sector dropped from $1 billion in 2023 to approximately $613 million in 2024 (a 39% decline). ClimateTech’s share of total Israeli tech investments plummeted from 14.5% to 6.4%.
The data demonstrates incredible entrepreneurial resilience, but also a terrible gap between the scale of the challenge and the capital directed toward it. Israeli expertise in water, energy, agriculture, and AI can position us at the global forefront, but for that to happen, we need more entrepreneurs choosing this domain, and more investors looking beyond passing trends.
One of the questions entrepreneurs and investors are asking themselves right now in the age of AI is: When any founder can launch an initial product in a matter of days, what is the real competitive advantage or what is our Moat?
The answer is especially prominent in ClimateTech.
Climate technologies operate in the physical world: in energy, buildings, agriculture, water, and mobility. In these fields, good code is not enough, and there is often a need to create a physical product—this growing domain is called DeepTech.
Even when the product is primarily software, it requires a deep understanding of the problem in the physical world, professional experience, real-world familiarity, and genuine commitment. Code can be generated at unprecedented speed; but years of experience, deep understanding, and founder passion cannot be generated with the right prompt.
The BreezoMeter Lesson
After BreezoMeter was acquired by Google, Avi Eyal, Co-Founder of Entrée Capital and our Chairman, wrote that the primary key to our success was the founders' deep connection to the mission: we studied environmental engineering at the Technion, worked in the field, and lived the problem. The true alignment between founders and their market made all the difference.
We didn't start with technology, we started with a real problem. That principle is even truer today: when development is fast and cheap, the advantage shifts to those who understand the problem and know the customer.
AI is a massive force multiplier for climate founders. Processes that once required huge teams and millions of dollars are now carried out leanly and efficiently. Domain-expert entrepreneurs can build an MVP, validate demand with customers, and generate revenue even before raising venture capital. Here is a couple of examples:
- Organuz (led by Eliyahu Drori): Combines over 18 years of experience in the energy market with AI to manage and optimize renewable energy systems.
- Mettis (led by Yanin Kliro and Michal Grinvald): Combines Yanin's architectural and environmental experience with Michal's decades of GIS expertise into an AI platform that translates climate risks into engineering decisions for buildings and cities.
Many venture capital funds still evaluate climate companies using the same metrics they use for software and cyber companies (growth rate, complex code, 8200 alumni). But in ClimateTech, the competitive advantage lies in access to proprietary data, regulatory understanding, and real-world trust built in the field.
Building a startup is a grueling journey. If you choose to embark on it, pick a big problem worth solving: clean energy, mitigating climate change impact, and more. Impact and business success are not mutually exclusive, they reinforce each other.
The climate crisis is already here, and it will remain after the war and after the next elections. The question is not just what technology we can build next with AI, but what real-world problem we choose to solve with it.
The author is an Environmental Engineer (Technion graduate), Co-founder and former CEO of BreezoMeter, now part of Google. He currently lectures on entrepreneurship at the Technion, an angel investor, and is the author of "Grasping at Air.
