How to use this checklist
This checklist suits climate businesses using AI for energy, emissions, resources, buildings or supply chains, including those with physical deployments.
Work through each list before you contact investors. Anything you cannot tick is either a task to finish or a risk to explain openly in your pitch.
1. Company and legal basics
These apply to every company raising money, but gaps here slow rounds more than almost anything else.
- Up-to-date cap table showing every shareholder, option and convertible.
- Signed IP assignments from all founders, staff and contractors.
- Articles of association and any shareholder agreement to hand.
- SEIS or EIS advance assurance applied for, if you are raising from UK angels.
- Company filings at Companies House up to date.
2. Climate tech proof points
The evidence investors in this sector look for first.
- A documented baseline and impact measurement method.
- Pilot results verified by the customer or a third party.
- A buyer who pays for savings, compliance or risk reduction.
- Pilots with agreed success criteria and a paid next step.
3. Numbers and financial model
Your model should show how the money you raise gets you to the next milestone.
- Costs separated between company building and deployments.
- Savings or revenue per deployment.
- Grant income, timing and match-funding requirements.
- Sensitivity to changes in subsidies or regulation.
4. Data room documents
Have these organised in one shared folder before the first meeting.
- Grant agreements and their reporting obligations.
- Pilot agreements and results.
- Impact methodology and any verification.
- Equipment warranties and supplier contracts.
5. Pitch and investor readiness
Readiness is also about how you run the process.
- A short deck that states the problem, customer, traction and ask in the first few slides.
- A clear amount to raise and a list of what it pays for.
- A target list of investors who back your sector and stage.
- A one-paragraph answer to 'why now?'.
Red flags to fix before you pitch
Investors often stop at these issues:
- Impact claims you cannot evidence.
- Long pilots with no commercial next step.
- Equity used to fund hardware that could be financed.
- A model that depends on a single subsidy.
Climate tech readiness: ready versus common gap
| Area | Ready when | Common gap |
|---|---|---|
| Impact | Baseline and method defined | Headline claims only |
| Customers | Paid contracts or agreed conversion | Unpaid pilots |
| Funding mix | Equity, grants and debt matched to uses | One equity ask for everything |
| Policy risk | Plan if incentives change | Assumed permanent |
Questions to prepare before you pitch
- Would a customer's auditor accept our impact figures?
- Which grant obligations survive a sale or new investment?
- How will later deployments be financed?
- What if a key incentive is withdrawn?
How KJ Enterprises evaluates climate tech businesses
KJ Enterprises looks for climate businesses with evidenced impact, a buyer with a financial motive and a funding plan that matches each cost to the right capital.
If that describes your company, you can apply for investment. Related reading: the complete funding guide and the step-by-step how-to and costs and terms and the robotics checklist.