Leap Forward
Leap Forward is David Rusenko’s climate-focused fund in David Rusenko on Weebly, Capital Efficiency, and Climate Tech. By the episode’s June 2024 date, Rusenko says he had started the fund the previous year after several years of climate-related nonprofit, political, and policy work.
The fund’s thesis is Economic Climate Tech Adoption: climate technologies such as solar, batteries, EVs, and heat pumps can now win because they are becoming economically attractive, not only because customers care about emissions. Rusenko says his founder experience helps climate entrepreneurs with product, engineering, capital sequencing, and the zero-to-scale company-building work that can sit between technology proof and a durable business.
The episode names Jessica Alter as Rusenko’s main partner at the fund and gives Blue Dot and Electric Air as portfolio examples. It also highlights the Climate Startup Commercialization Gap, especially for science-heavy companies that must move from bench scale or prototype into first commercial scale before more capital becomes available.
Connections
- David Rusenko and Jessica Alter - fund leadership and operating experience.
- Blue Dot and Electric Air - portfolio examples named in the source.
- Economic Climate Tech Adoption, Climate Startup Commercialization Gap, Climate Adaptation, and Founder Friendly Investor Support - concepts attached to the fund.