Evergreen Climate Innovations
Evergreen Climate Innovations is a Chicago nonprofit venture fund (formerly Clean Energy Trust) backing early-stage Midwest climate-tech startups. Evergreen uses its own 501vc model, blending philanthropic and corporate dollars with venture-style cheques. Its water bets are Kadeya and Varuna, two of a portfolio the fund reports at 49 companies as of 2026.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Evergreen Climate Innovations runs on a structure most venture funds don't have: it is a nonprofit. The Chicago outfit, which started life in 2010 as Clean Energy Trust, raises philanthropic and corporate money, invests it like a VC into early-stage climate startups, and recycles whatever comes back into the next cohort, a model it trademarked as the 501vc fund.
Evergreen is a climate-tech generalist across the Greater Midwest, not a water specialist, which is exactly why water professionals should know where it does touch water. Two of its roughly 49 portfolio companies sit squarely in my Leviathan database: Kadeya, which builds closed-loop, automated kiosks that wash and refill reusable bottles on site, and Varuna, which wires in-pipe sensors to a cloud dashboard so utilities can catch leaks and water-quality problems before their customers do.
Evergreen's investing is run by Paul Seidler, a managing director who has been writing its cheques since 2014 and has sat on the boards of close to twenty portfolio companies, alongside Ian Adams, who came out of the Obama-era Department of Energy to run the platform side. Evergreen leans on impact math the way an impact fund should: by its own count it has backed 49 companies, helped catalyse 561 million dollars of follow-on funding, and says every dollar it puts in has pulled in 54 more.
Evergreen is worth a water investor's bookmark less for any single deal and more for the funnel: a nonprofit that has spent fifteen years building Midwest climate-startup dealflow, with water surfacing whenever a founder takes on bottling, reuse, or the leaky pipes under American cities. Worth watching which way that funnel tilts next.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Evergreen Climate Innovations invest in?
- Evergreen Climate Innovations backs early-stage climate-tech startups across the U.S. Midwest, spanning clean energy, transportation, materials, and water. Its water-related companies include Kadeya, in reusable-bottle refill systems, and Varuna, in utility leak detection. The fund invests mainly at the pre-seed and seed stage.
- How does Evergreen Climate Innovations fund startups?
- Evergreen Climate Innovations is a nonprofit, not a traditional venture firm. It raises philanthropic and corporate contributions and deploys them through its trademarked 501vc fund, investing like a VC and recycling returns into new startups rather than paying them out to private limited partners.
- Who runs Evergreen Climate Innovations?
- Evergreen Climate Innovations is led by managing directors Paul Seidler, who heads its investing and portfolio work, and Ian Adams, who runs its platform and impact programs. Marc Altman leads strategy and growth. The Chicago nonprofit was founded in 2010 as Clean Energy Trust.
- Where is Evergreen Climate Innovations based?
- Evergreen Climate Innovations is based in Chicago, Illinois, and invests across the Greater Midwest of the United States. Founded in 2010 as Clean Energy Trust, it focuses on regional climate-tech founders rather than the coastal venture hubs where most U.S. climate capital concentrates.
- Is Evergreen Climate Innovations the same as Clean Energy Trust?
- Yes. Evergreen Climate Innovations is the current name of the Chicago nonprofit founded in 2010 as Clean Energy Trust, which later rebranded as Evergreen. It is unrelated to similarly named investment firms such as Evergreen Coast Capital. Its 501vc model and Midwest climate focus carried over.