PRIME Coalition Announces New Energy Investments, Further Proves New Model for Philanthropic Investment

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - July 19, 2016) - PRIME Coalition, a nonprofit organization bringing philanthropic capital to energy innovation in order to vastly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, has facilitated its second new investment into RedWave Energy, a pioneering start-up that generates electricity directly from heat and reduces the emissions associated with using fossil fuels to produce power. The Blue Haven Initiative, Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation, JUST Water, Ellis Family Fund at The Boston Foundation, Energy Foundry, Enertech Holding Company, and Northwater Intellectual Property Fund participated in Redwave's Series B financing. Separately, PRIME closed additional funding into grid-scale energy storage innovator Quidnet Energy, the first company backed by PRIME. Quidnet's Seed II round was funded by Clean Energy Venture Group.

"We founded PRIME in 2014 to unlock the floodgates of philanthropic capital for early-stage climate innovation, helping philanthropists use grants, program-related investments, as well as traditional equity or debt to fill an acute gap in early-stage climate finance," said Sarah Kearney, Executive Director of PRIME Coalition. "Our goal is for the philanthropic investment structures we use to support game-changing companies like Quidnet and RedWave to serve as best-in-class case studies for the philanthropy community to replicate many times over in the years to come in order to achieve our global climate change agenda."

Both RedWave Energy and Quidnet Energy promise breakthrough energy solutions that can outcompete the current state of the art on a subsidy-free basis, and vastly reduce greenhouse gas emissions at commercial scale.

"Today, nearly half of the energy used to generate power in traditional power plants is lost as low-temperature waste heat. RedWave is developing a technology that can capture that heat and convert it directly to electricity at very low cost -- representing a major scientific and commercial breakthrough," said Jason Blumberg, Managing Director of the Energy Foundry, PRIME's co-investor in RedWave. "PRIME has created an incredible network of visionary impact investors who see the value of funding high-risk, high-reward energy ventures than might actually move the needle on climate change."

"PRIME's model is to inject philanthropic capital early to de-risk a new technology venture, and then draw in traditional investors as milestones are achieved. That model is working for Quidnet," added Dan Goldman, Partner at Clean Energy Venture Group. "We are thrilled to invest in Quidnet based on the impressive progress its team has shown during a year of rigorous field tests."

Many philanthropic foundations and families want to put capital to work for energy innovation, but struggle with high transaction costs and the organizational support required to make complex investments. PRIME Coalition lowers these barriers by curating a shortlist of promising new ventures, and enlisting legal and financial support that make charitable funding easier to execute.

"Breakthrough energy ventures that have the potential to accomplish our climate goals need financial fuel to achieve escape velocity, and conventional venture capital isn't well-suited to the task," said Matthew Nordan, Chairman of the Investment Committee at PRIME Coalition. "PRIME's model is purpose-built to solve this problem, and we're pleased to see it proving out."

About PRIME Coalition:
PRIME Coalition is a 501(c)(3) public charity whose mission is to empower philanthropic foundations and families with the critical tools they need to support new ventures that promise vast reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions. PRIME enables its philanthropic partners to fill the innovation and commercialization "valleys of death" that exist in today's climate-relevant technology development and deployment pipeline. Learn more at primecoalition.org.