The climate transition will require trillions of dollars of investment, but many of the biggest opportunities still face structural financing barriers because our financial system was not designed for a challenge of this scale and complexity. As investors, entrepreneurs, and institutions work to accelerate the transition, there is a growing need for new financial models that can bridge those gaps and unlock capital more effectively.
Today, we’re joined by Bob Zulkoski of Conduit Capital, a firm taking a very different approach to climate finance. Rather than building one big fund, Conduit is creating platforms designed to unlock private capital at scale — from financing energy-efficiency upgrades in commercial real estate, to launching climate-transition SPACs, to developing a new blended-finance vehicle aimed at helping impact investment managers bridge what Bob calls the “Pioneer Gap.” Bob calls the model radical collaboration, and the goal is not just to invest well, but to prove new models that others can replicate.
On today’s episode, we cover:
1:19 – Framing the Climate Finance Challenge and Introducing Bob Zulkoski
2:34 – What Is Conduit Capital? Vision and Radical Collaboration
3:48 – Replication as Theory of Change: Paving the Way for Competition
5:23 – Business Model: Non‑Concessionary, Patient, Impact at Scale
6:41 – Introducing Sustainable Credit Partners (SCP) and Mid‑Market CRE
8:09 – The Retrofit Problem: Aging Buildings, Spiking Energy Costs, Brown Discount
10:04 – SCP’s Lending Model: Easier, Cheaper, Faster for Borrowers
11:34 – Underwriting + GreenGen Partnership and Education Role
13:55 – SCP Traction: Origination Targets, Pipeline, Institutional Capital
16:02 – Loan Sizes, Typical Collateral, and Brown Discount Mitigation
16:48 – Three “Superpowers”: Market Familiarity, GreenGen + Climate First Bank, Moody’s
19:53 – Who Else Should Do This? Scaling via Competition and Green CLOs
22:48 – Introducing Climate Transition SPACs and Market Backdrop
23:01 – Rethinking SPACs: Tool for Climate Transition and Valuation Gaps
27:37 – First SPAC: Energy Transition Special Opportunities and Target Sectors
29:48 – Why Regenerative Agriculture Belongs in Climate SPACs
32:19 – Defining the Pioneer Gap vs. Missing Middle/Valley of Death
35:30 – The Pioneer Gap Impact Platform Fund and Alliance Structure
37:50 – Blended Finance Stack: Catalytic, Mezzanine, and Market Capital
39:08 – Why This Is the “Best of Times” for Climate Investing
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