Reimagining Impact in Climate Tech: Inside AENU’s BCorp certified Systemic Impact Framework
How do you know if a climate solution will truly change the world?
At AENU, this isn’t a rhetorical question. It’s the heart of every investment decision we make.
In a sector where impact is often oversimplified — reduced to tons of CO₂ or megawatts installed — we built a framework that looks deeper: into systems, behaviors, and market-level transformation. This is the Systemic Impact Framework (SIF) — AENU’s proprietary, science-based methodology that underpins every deal we do.
And now, it has been externally audited and validated as part of our B Corp™ Certification — one of the very few VC frameworks to receive this level of scrutiny.
But this isn’t a story about a successful audit. It’s a story about building a new standard for what impact means in venture capital.
What Makes Our Framework Different?
The Systemic Impact Framework is built on six clear, rigorous criteria — each designed to assess whether a startup is positioned to drive lasting, scalable, real-world change:
1. Founder Intentionality
We back teams who are not just climate-adjacent, but climate-first. The mission isn’t a slide — it’s the business.
🔹 Example: Greenlyte’s founder Florian was determined to fight climate change, so he reached out to over 100 researchers—what he found was the perfect co-founder with whom he built a FOAK low-energy DAC technology that captures CO₂ while producing hydrogen as a bonus.
2. Impact Scale
We measure how big the impact could become across Potential, Planned, and Realized Impact — not just one-off metrics. That means we estimate future impact at the technology and company level using dynamic industry baselines, – rather than static metrics like LCAs.
🔹 HOMETREE’s potential: 16.7 megatons CO₂e avoided by 2032 — calculated using national housing data and projected energy mix
3. Theory of Change
Is there credible research linking the solution to the problem it claims to solve? We use third-party studies, lifecycle data, and field evidence.
4. Additionality
Is this the best available solution, compared to the status quo and alternatives? If not, it’s not a fit.
🔹 Example: trawa offers AI-optimized renewable energy procurement for SMEs — a segment underserved by large utilities. For many clients, it’s the first realistic alternative to fossil-powered contracts.
5. Interlock
We only back companies where business success and impact are inseparable. If impact doesn’t scale with revenue, we don’t invest.
🔹 Example: Embers electrical intercity bus service charged with renewable energy can not become successful without creating impact through avoided emissions.
6. Impact Measurement
For every company we conduct a science-based Impact Modelling resulting in tailored KPIs, tracked over time — from CO₂e per unit to hectares restored, GWh of renewable energy provided or number of heat pumps installed.
🔹 Example: For Monta we track number of installed EV charge points and kWh charged which result in CO2e reductions enabled.
The Power of Market-Level Impact
Traditional impact assessments focus on product-level outcomes. We go further — analyzing how a solution changes the broader system.
Take HOMETREE again. It’s not just that each heat pump saves CO₂ — it’s that HOMETREE’s platform tackles the systemic barriers to adoption: financing, installation speed, consumer behavior. That’s what drives long-term transformation — and it’s what our framework quantifies .
Impact-as-a-Service: Turning Framework Into Action
We know founders need support to live up to this bar. That’s why we built Impact-as-a-Service (IaaS) — a hands-on support model that helps our startups embed impact deeply and credibly.
What we offer:
- Impact modeling (including LCA & emissions analysis)
- Custom KPI development
- Workshops on ESG, team culture, governance, and Paris alignment
- Templates, tools, and sparring on everything from Net Zero Playbook to grant applications.
- A peer group for Sustainability Leads across our portfolio
📊 By the numbers:
- 68% of portfolio companies are active in our peer community
- 50% have received tailored impact workshops
- 100% track measurable climate impact using our framework
And Yes — It Was Audited
As part of our B Corp certification, our Systemic Impact Framework underwent third-party audit and validation. Auditors evaluated how it is used in decision-making, how metrics are tracked over time, and how AENU supports founders in implementation.
🟢 Score: 127.5
🟢 Result: One of the only VCs with an audited impact approach
But we didn’t build SIF to pass an audit. We built it to do better deals — and to build a better VC model.
Why It Matters
Climate tech investing is evolving fast. But with growth comes responsibility.
LPs, founders, policymakers, and customers are all asking: How do you prove your impact?
Our answer is the Systemic Impact Framework — designed for depth, built for scale, and tested in the real world.
🌍 For founders, it’s a roadmap.
📊 For investors, it’s proof.
📈 For us, it’s how we turn capital into systemic change.
