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Stanford Climate Ventures course is an effort of the Precourt Institute for Energy.

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Energy 203

Stanford Climate Ventures

Welcome to the Stanford Climate Ventures course website.

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About the Course

Solving the global climate challenge will require the creation and successful scale-up of hundreds of new ventures. Stanford Climate Ventures is a three-quarter project-based course sequence that practices the creation of transformational climate ventures and innovation models. 

Since autumn 2016, the course has been the launchpad for 79 distinct projects, resulting in 38 new companies. These companies have raised over $470 million to pursue further development, and SCV companies currently employ more than 450 people in 13 different countries on 5 different continents.

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Fall Quarter Weekly Seminar

Energy 203a: Big Ideas and Opportunities in Climate-Tech Entrepreneurship

ENERGY 203A: "Big Ideas and Open Opportunities in Climate-Tech Entrepreneurship" is a 1-unit seminar which introduces ten key sectors of the economy that contribute significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions. Each week's speaker will cover promising solutions and persistent challenges to decarbonizing each sector. Students interested in joining or leading an ENERGY 203 team in winter or spring quarter are especially encouraged to enroll in this fall speaker series to find inspiration for project topics and meet like-minded students from all 7 schools across campus (GSB, SoE, SLS, etc.) who may become future project teammates.

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Winter and Spring Quarter: Stanford Climate Ventures

Energy 203: Stanford Climate Ventures

Winter and spring quarters are focused on supporting and stimulating interdisciplinary teams that research, analyze, and develop detailed launch plans for high-impact opportunities using the new climate venture development framework offered in this course (ENERGY 203: Stanford Climate Ventures). Throughout the 10-week quarter, teams will complete 70+ interviews with customers, sector experts, and other partners in the emerging "climatetech" ecosystem, with introductions facilitated by the teaching team's unique networks in this emerging space. Teams typically enroll for just 1 quarter, although winter quarter teams interested in returning for spring quarter are welcome to express their interest in this option to the teaching team by week 8 of the quarter.

Students are not required to enroll in ENERGY 203(A) all 3 quarters. Enrollment in only the fall quarter speaker series, or only winter/only spring is welcome.