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Thousands of climate projects stall each year, not because capital is unavailable, but because the right tools are missing. S.P.O.N.S.O.R. (SCOP) is working to change that.

[This article is part of a content series developed in collaboration with FEDIL, showcasing how artificial intelligence is contributing to the digital transformation of Luxembourg’s economy.]

Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. Yet the gap between ambition and action remains significant. Luxembourg-based fintech SPONSOR, established in 2025 as a cooperative company (SCOP), is working to close this gap by applying artificial intelligence to climate mitigation project finance, one of the least digitised but impactful areas of global finance.

A $3.5 trillion problem hiding in plain sight

The figures tell a sobering story. Reaching a world with warming limited to 1.5°C requires investment of US$5.5 trillion per year in renewable energy, battery storage, electric mobility, and reforestation. Today, global investment stands at around US$2 trillion annually. So it leaves a US$3.5 trillion shortfall.

“This sounds like a big number, but it’s less than US$1 out of every US$1,000 that changes hands each year. It is actually a drop in the bucket,” says Michael Grimm, CEO and Co-Founder of SPONSOR. “So why aren’t we investing it?”

For him, this gap is not primarily due to a lack of political will or capital. It reflects structural challenges in the way climate projects are financed. “Most of the projects that are needed to solve the climate crisis are financed on a project finance basis,” he explains. “That means you create a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) and banks put in 70–80% of the capital, while entities like major energy groups put in 20–30%. The projects are all bespoke and it takes 2 to 20 years to get a deal done.”

The shortage of expertise is the core of the problem. Fewer than 100,000 project finance specialists who know how to make projects bankable are believed to operate worldwide and demand already stretches their capacity. So it’s not possible to triple the workload of the same pool of experts to deliver the required increase in climate investment.

For Michael Grimm, the urgency is not only professional: it is also deeply personal. He grew up near a coal-fired power plant that data[1] says was responsible for 34 deaths per year, and was the most likely cause of his father’s death from lung cancer in 2009. “For me, it is about saving lives,” he says, “so that other mothers and fathers do not have to experience what mine did.” That experience shapes everything: behind the capital flows and deal structures, it is people’s health and lives that are ultimately at stake.

An AI-powered platform built for speed and scale

SPONSOR is the company’s response to this systemic bottleneck. The AI-powered climate mitigation project finance platform brings together developers, lenders, equity investors, legal advisers and technical experts in a single, secure and cooperative environment.

The platform addresses three major barriers: information asymmetry, inefficient processes and a fragmented marketplace. It does this through several interconnected tools.

“AI-powered matching enables users to find relevant projects and counterparts quickly,” Mr Grimm explains. Standardised, precedent-based deal contracts allow teams to replicate proven structures rather than negotiating from scratch on every transaction. “AI tools also automate time-consuming tasks, potentially reducing project timelines by weeks.” A built-in knowledge base allows newcomers learn how to structure projects without having to acquire years of experience first.

The platform supports collaboration and due diligence through secure data rooms, cross-organisational document redlining, granular folder and file-level permissions, and project-specific secure messaging. “Critically, all users undergo KYC (Know Your Customer) verification. And every member of the platform is also a co-operative owner, with a genuine stake in its success.”

Concrete results: €40 billion and counting

The impact is already tangible. Since launch, the SPONSOR platform has supported climate mitigation projects with a combined contracted value of over €40 billion. The platform now operates across 15 countries, with new projects being added at pace.

“We’ve grown from 10 projects this time last year to 28 projects supported already,” notes Mr Grimm. “We have dozens of members from dozens of organisations working with other stakeholders to drive the projects forward. We are saving weeks, if not years, of work on each project.”

The next step: the SPONSOR Exchange

SPONSOR’s ambition extends beyond accelerating project finance transactions. Its next major milestone is the launch of the SPONSOR Exchange: a trading layer that will allow the financial assets generated by climate projects (debt instruments, equity stakes, carbon credits, and renewable energy credits) to be freely traded by any verified platform member, anywhere in the world.

At present, direct investment in climate infrastructure projects remains largely inaccessible to individuals, even where projects may offer attractive risk-return profiles. The SPONSOR Exchange aims to broaden access to this market. “In the future, with SPONSOR, everyone will be able to share in the greatest economic opportunity since industrialisation: decarbonising our energy system.”

[1] https://www.gem.wiki/Cobb_Generating_Plant