Shockwave supports projects, initiatives and organizations that help create a future where people and ecosystems are resilient in the face of climate crisis. Through a mixture of strategic impact investments and grants, we support activities that focus on climate adaptation and resiliency infrastructure. We provide seed funding at an early, pivotal stage and prioritize projects that create economic uplift in developing countries.
We utilize an integrated capital model–both program related investments and philanthropic grants that range from $25,000 to $1,000,000 USD to organizations that have a scalable solution and a demonstrable ability to deliver.
In order to maximize our impact, we have a limited lifetime of 20 years during which we intend to seed an initial round of approximately $50m USD across investments and grants, with with additional investments based upon the returns from the first round.
While we support scaling organizations, our portfolio is largely focused on start-ups. We believe that optimism and creativity are fundamental to this work.
We’re agnostic as to whether those organizations are for- or non- profit. We want a structure that offers the best route to impact at scale. We continue to fund organizations as long as they show real progress.
Our work is built on the belief that global climate resilience should start with communities most impacted by the climate crisis and that it’s imperative to help communities reduce risks, manage shocks, and chart a path to sustainable development.
Our StrategyOUR PROCESS
We are actively engaged in spreading good ideas and building connections among those pursuing practical solutions in our areas of focus.
Wherever possible, we use a transparent model for our funding operations. This helps others leverage our due-diligence and also serves to keep us accountable to our partners and the community. We encourage partners and co-funders to do the same.
We tap a deep network to find the organizations that are a good fit. We have a big mandate and a small staff, so we do not accept unsolicited proposals. Given our very specific funding criteria, that has proven the most efficient process for all concerned.
OUR BACKSTORY
Shockwave became its own entity in 2020, and is based off of earlier funding efforts by Paul Traina, who sought to advance solutions to some of our most intractable global challenges.
The name Shockwave derives from the book Future Shock, the work of futurist Alvin Toffler who imagined a world where change happens so quickly we cannot absorb it. Shockwave, in its most humble efforts, aims to address and buffer the massive changes we are seeing as a result of the climate crisis.