CLIMFIN aims at assessing whether and how disintermediated finance represents an effective financing mean for startups committed to climate change mitigation (i.e., climate startups).

More in detail, CLIMFIN long-term strategic objective is, by responding to the EU Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca MUR - BANDO 2022 PNRR call on climate change mitigation and green transition (e.g., European Green Deal), to evaluate the impact of crowdfunding (CF) on climate startups’ performance and their access to different financial equity channels.

CLIMFIN also aims at assessing climate startups’ birth rates and impact on the economy at the local, regional and national level, and, therefore, evaluating the role of financial disintermediation on a country’s capacity to favour an effective climate change mitigation strategy.

The project focuses on the Italian financial ecosystem and sets the goal to design, develop and maintain a shared and accessible data infrastructure on climate startups financed through CF and private equity (e.g., BAs, VCs), tracking their complete financial history, survival, financial and success performances.

Using state-of-the-art econometric, machine learning and spatial analysis methodologies, the data infrastructure will allow researchers to answer to the following research questions:

1. Does CF favor the financial performance and growth of climate startups?
2. How does the receipt of financing through CF favor the subsequent attraction of professional equity funding, e.g., VCs, BAs? Does the disintermediation of finance favor the attraction of private investments at local, regional and national level?
3. How does the flow of funds towards climate startups through CF favor the birth of new climate startups at the local, regional and national level?
4. How are climate change effects at the local and regional level related to disintermediated finance of climate startups? Does climate CF increase in areas most affected by climate change and/or extreme weather events?
5. What is the effect of public policies directed to climate startups (e.g., governmental VC, public grants) on CF and private equity funding of the green sector? Have the public been able to stimulate private investments towards climate startups?