Energy & Materials

Catalyzing innovations that avoid, reduce, and remove greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the transition to a decarbonized economy


Image courtesy of Heirloom

Click to enlarge

The opportunity for decarbonization

Exponential growth has driven atmospheric carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions to their highest levels in millennia. Our Energy & Materials portfolio of startups and funds is at the forefront of decarbonizing Autodesk industries with breakthrough technology and business model innovation. Our Theory of Change illustrates how our investments are decoupling economic growth from emissions across construction and manufacturing industries to avoid, reduce, and remove global GHG emissions to maintain warming below 1.5°C.

Investment focus sectors

We invest across five sectors essential to decarbonizing our customer value chains, prioritizing solutions where Autodesk's design and make expertise can accelerate adoption and growth.

Energy

Achieve abundant, reliable, low-cost, low-carbon energy.

Buildings

Reduce embodied and operational carbon needed to meet our basic human need for shelter.

Industry

Tackle the biggest emitters: steel, cement, chemicals, and aluminum.

 

Mobility

Transform heavy-duty transportation and shipping.

 

Carbon removal

Build a carbon management industry and remove gigatons of CO2 in the coming decades.

 

Person wearing mask kneels in a manufacturing shop with green light beam and steam

Our low-carbon portfolio

Our portfolio of startups and impact funds is primarily focused on the United States, which is one of the largest emissions contributors. We have a presence in Asia and Europe through funds and portfolio operations. In addition to capital, our portfolio has access to Autodesk resources through in-kind support including technology, training, pro bono consulting, storytelling, and networks.

Portfolio impact

We target early-stage (seed to Series A), technology-driven ventures for whom our investments can de-risk their technology and business models. We prioritize sectors where our design and make expertise is particularly beneficial, namely next-generation energy production, electrification of heavy transportation, low-carbon materials innovation, building and industrial efficiency, and CO2 removal.

 

In 2023, the Energy & Materials portfolio achieved the following:

255,000 metric tons CO2e

realized GHG emissions reduced


20 metric gigatons CO2e

potential GHG emissions reduced by 2050 (cumulative)*



*View data source
*Hide data source

Cumulative potential GHG emissions reduction through 2050 from organizations that were a part of the Autodesk Foundation portfolio during the year noted. These data were calculated by third-party expert Rho Impact in collaboration with portfolio organizations and the Autodesk Foundation.

 

Read the FY24 Autodesk Foundation Impact Report for more details.

Impact in action

Explore the ways our Energy & Materials portfolio is helping accelerate the transition to a decarbonized economy.

Two women Heirloom employees wearing light blue hard hats, facing the camera with Heirloom's Direct Air Capture technology (a large slatted pillar) in the background. The woman on the right is holding a black laptop with her left hand; both women are looking at the computer screen. Sunny, overcast day.

Heirloom

Restoring balance

Heirloom’s low-cost, scalable Direct Air Capture solution is on track to remove one billion tons of CO2 by 2035.

 

Image courtesy of Heirloom

Side view of Nth Cycle "OYSTER" electro-extraction machine. The machine is highlighter orange with a prominent "Nth Cycle" logo, located in a large warehouse space.

Nth Cycle

Recycling precious metals

Nth Cycle is eliminating waste from EV batteries and other industries with its electro-extraction recycling technology.

 

Image courtesy of Nth Cycle

Side view of M2X Energy's modular waste gas-to-liquid conversion machine, in an open field during twilight. The machine is on the bed of a tractor-trailer, painted black with a prominent "M2X" logo emblem.

M2X Energy

Reducing GHG emissions

By capturing flared methane emissions from the energy sector, M2X Energy is producing value from an environmental waste.

 

Image courtesy of M2X Energy

The change we’re accelerating

Learn more about our Theory of Change and how our investments accelerate the transition to a low-carbon future.


Image courtesy of Prime Coalition

Connect with us

Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.