Neil here. The global climate crisis has come to a head.

Last year, we saw 4.8 million acres of open land burn in wildfires, 76.4 million people suffer from extreme droughts, and a record-breaking hurricane season – just in the United States.

Amid the chaos, it’s become clear that there’s a twofold problem here:

  1. Climate disasters are increasing in severity and frequency, and
  2. Existing response methods and technology are not efficient or effective enough to prevent widespread damage.

The federal government spends $30 billion per year on “weather disaster assistance,” on average, yet disaster preparedness is gravely low. Emergency responders worldwide are attempting to keep disasters at bay with the same old response tactics and technology that can’t get the job done fast enough.

Fortunately, entrepreneurs refuse to leave all the work to the federal government – and their tech is solving a global crisis and creating a lucrative opportunity for investors at the same time.

Let’s dig into a few examples.

San Francisco-based Firemaps, for example, is one of the companies targeting wildfire crises with its high-resolution, 3D modeling technology.

The 3D home models make it easy to identify home hardening options that will increase buildings’ resistance to heat and flames. In April, the VC fund a16z led Firemaps into a $5.5 million seed round, in which execs from Uber and Addition also participated.

Another company called BreezoMeter, which is responsible for tracking air quality conditions in Apple’s Weather app, raised a $30 million Series C to expand its product to include real-time wildfire tracking.

There’s even one company producing a new type of infrared optical technology that can be used in everything from cameras to car sensors. Firefighters use infrared cameras to locate hidden fires and people in dense smoke – meaning this new class of infrared tech could be instrumental in wildfire fighting.

It’s the next evolution of sensor technology, and we believe the company is set to explode in value. Stocks of similar companies in the space have shot up over 1,900% over the last decade.

Better yet, it’s available right now for less than $3 per share (learn more here).

It’s clear that adding a company in this sector to your portfolio is a no-brainer.

In the startup world, there are 26 climate tech unicorns in the world today, and VCs have already poured $14.2 billion into the space this year – roughly $50 billion over the past three years.

This is what I love most about angel investing.

When a problem arises, entrepreneurs and innovators come out of the woodwork to literally save the world with new ideas. As angel investors, you get to be a part of that radical change (with the chance to absolutely line my pockets in the process).

And as always, the best time to play it is right now – when the buy-in is low… and the upside potential is high.

That’s all for today. Have a great weekend.

Until next time,


Neil Patel