Grantham Foundation

What Grantham Foundation does

The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment is a 501(c)(3) private foundation established in 1997 by Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The foundation pursues environmental protection and climate change mitigation through two principal vehicles: philanthropic grantmaking focused on climate research, science communication, and advocacy, and impact investing executed principally through its affiliated venture vehicle Neglected Climate Opportunities LLC. It does not sell products or services and does not develop proprietary technology; proposals are reviewed by invitation only.

Grantmaking supports a portfolio of academic institutes — the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London (2007), the Grantham Research Institute at LSE (2008), the Divecha Centre for Climate Change at the Indian Institute of Science, and the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures at the University of Sheffield — alongside long-standing NGO relationships with Rare, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund US, Rocky Mountain Institute, and Environmental Defense Fund. Communications and advocacy grants have been directed to organizations such as 350.org, Carbon Brief, Carbon Tracker, ClientEarth, Global Witness, and InsideClimate News.

The investment arm, Neglected Climate Opportunities LLC, deploys early-stage capital into climate technology ventures with high climate potential but limited conventional venture appetite due to risk and externalized benefits. The disclosed portfolio spans direct air capture (Heirloom Carbon, Avnos, Sustaera, Ucaneo, Banyu Carbon), fusion and advanced nuclear (Type One Energy, Zap Energy, Avalanche Energy, NT-Tao), geothermal (Fervo Energy, Quidnet Energy), carbon capture and storage (Carbon America, CarbonBuilt, Carboniferous, Travertine, Ebb Carbon), electrified industrial processes (Electrified Thermal, Verdox, Novalith, Solidia Technologies), energy storage (Form Energy–adjacent bets such as Polyjoule, sHYp), agriculture and soil health (Regrow, KulaBio, Propagate Ventures, Mori, TerViva, Indigo–adjacent bets such as Pluton Biosciences, Trace Genomics), built-environment decarbonization (V-Glass, Zanskar), and adjacent platform plays (Context Labs, Third Derivative, Climate Robotics, Brilliant Planet, Running Tide). Foundation leadership comprises co-founders Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham, President and CIO Ramsay Ravenel, and Managing Director Kevin Tidwell, with a five-member Grantham-family board and a parallel Grantham Environmental Trust whose independent trustees include the CEOs of four major environmental NGOs.

Name

Grantham Foundation

Legal name

Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment

Website

https://granthamfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Grantham Foundation is a Boston-based 501(c)(3) private foundation, founded in 1997 by Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham, that funds climate research, advocacy, and impact investing through Neglected Climate Opportunities LLC across a portfolio of 60+ climate technology ventures.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Philanthropy

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI), Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA), International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

Keywords

• Environmental philanthropy
• Climate grantmaking
• Impact investing
• Climate research funding
• Environmental advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Personnel, Operations

Core offering

The Grantham Foundation is a private foundation that provides grantmaking to support environmental research and advocacy, and conducts impact investing in early-stage climate technology companies. It operates alongside the Grantham Environmental Trust, a related 509(a)(3) supporting public charity, and reviews proposals by invitation only.

Product overview

The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment is a 501(c)(3) private foundation established in 1997 by Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham. The organization does not offer traditional software products or services. Its activities include environmental philanthropy (grantmaking focused on research and advocacy for climate change and environmental protection), impact investing through Neglected Climate Opportunities LLC (a venture capital vehicle making early-stage investments in climate technology), and communication/advocacy efforts to drive structural changes needed for environmental solutions. Partner organizations include the Grantham Environmental Trust (a 509(a)(3) supporting organization) and long-standing relationships with environmental NGOs such as Rare, The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Rocky Mountain Institute, and Environmental Defense Fund.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Environmental Grantmaking Program
• Neglected Climate Opportunities Impact Investing
• Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment (Imperial College London)
• Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (LSE)
• Grantham Foundation Detox Awards

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• RarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing relationship with Rare to advance novel environmental and climate solutions. Rare's CEO serves as one of the independent trustees of the Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust.
• The Nature ConservancycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing relationship with The Nature Conservancy to advance novel environmental and climate solutions. The Nature Conservancy's CEO serves as one of the independent trustees of the Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust.
• World Wildlife Fund UScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing relationship with World Wildlife Fund to advance novel environmental and climate solutions. WWF US's CEO serves as one of the independent trustees of the Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust.
• Rocky Mountain InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing relationship with Rocky Mountain Institute to advance novel environmental and climate solutions. RMI's CEO serves as one of the independent trustees of the Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust.
• Environmental Defense FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing relationship with Environmental Defense Fund to advance novel environmental and climate solutions.
• Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEstablished in 2007 with support from the Grantham Foundation to focus on climate change research and solutions.
• Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaunched in 2008 with support from the Grantham Foundation to conduct research on climate change and the environment.
• Divecha Centre for Climate Change at Indian Institute of SciencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitiated with support from the Grantham Foundation along with Arjun Divecha, a partner at GMO.
• Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures at University of SheffieldcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaunched with support from the Grantham Foundation to advance research on sustainable futures.
• Neglected Climate Opportunities LLCcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Grantham Trust's environmental venture capital vehicle through which many impact investments are made, in partnership with allied philanthropies. The Grantham Foundation leads investments through this vehicle.
• Grantham Environmental TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA related public charity and 509(a)(3) supporting organization that works alongside the Grantham Foundation for environmental protection.
• Future Fit Asia (formerly Future Food Asia)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Grantham Foundation provides the Grantham Foundation Detox Awards with US$90,000 in non-dilutive funding for solutions addressing chemical toxicity in human and natural systems as part of the Future Fit Asia conference.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Bloomberg Philanthropies: Large-scale philanthropic vehicle of Michael Bloomberg that has committed hundreds of millions to climate and clean energy initiatives including the Beyond Carbon campaign, making it a directly comparable private foundation with a climate mandate and major policy advocacy focus.
• Hewlett Foundation: Major private foundation with a long-standing Environment Program that funds climate mitigation, clean energy, and conservation efforts, comparable to Grantham in its dual grant-and-investment approach and U.S. foundation structure.
• Packard Foundation: Large private foundation with a substantial Climate and Land program funding clean energy, land conservation, and climate policy — a peer foundation combining grantmaking with mission-aligned investments in climate solutions.

Direct peers

• Bezos Earth Fund: A $10B climate-focused philanthropy established by Jeff Bezos in 2020, deploying grants and investments across climate mitigation, nature conservation, and climate-tech — the closest analog in scale and climate-specific mandate to the Grantham Foundation.
• Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Bill Gates-backed climate-tech venture fund that invests early-stage capital in companies working on breakthrough energy, transportation, and industrial decarbonization technologies, directly comparable to the Grantham Foundation's Neglected Climate Opportunities strategy.
• ClimateWorks Foundation: A grantmaking foundation focused on climate change mitigation that funds research, advocacy, and deployment of climate solutions globally — closely comparable in mission and grantee portfolio to the Grantham Foundation's philanthropy program.
• Sequoia Climate Fund: Philanthropic climate fund backed by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, making grants and impact investments to scale climate solutions — directly comparable to the Grantham Foundation's blended philanthropy and impact-investing model.
• Emerson Collective: Laurene Powell Jobs's impact organization that combines philanthropy, impact investing, and policy advocacy on issues including climate and conservation, structurally similar to the Grantham Foundation's dual grantmaking + impact investing approach.

Emerging players

• Khosla Ventures: Venture capital firm with a major climate-tech investment practice, funding early-stage companies in clean energy, sustainable materials, and food/agtech — comparable to Grantham's NCO vehicle in deal-stage and sector focus.
• Lowercarbon Capital: Climate-focused venture fund that invests early-stage capital across carbon removal, clean energy, and decarbonization technologies — overlapping with the Grantham Foundation's NCO portfolio in deal-stage, sector mix, and contrarian thesis.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments87 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grantham Foundation