Justin Heath, Head of Corporate Affairs, Resonates
Green investment is moving fast, and the rules of engagement have changed. If you’re looking for investment then your commercial and technical stories remain key, but your communications strategy is now just as important – investors are scrutinising narrative with the same rigour they apply to financials.
I’ve seen a lot over my 30 years’ working in the green tech sector, long before it was even called green tech! From a wind farm launch in 1995, to a biogas project in 1997, or riding various hydrogen firsts through the noughties: a ferry in 2006, a bike in 2008, and a car in 2010. With that experience in mind, I’ve pulled together the answers to key questions for business or technology owners should be asking when they look for investment.
Before seriously engaging with a start-up, investors want to see clarity, credibility and commercial logic. They want to understand the problem you’re solving, the scale of the opportunity and the realistic path to delivery. This includes:
Strong corporate affairs matters here. If you can demonstrate government relationships, industry alignment and genuine regulatory literacy, investors see fewer surprises ahead. It signals that your business is not just technologically viable – it’s politically and socially investable.
For complex technologies, for example hydrogen, industrial decarbonisation, carbon capture, the instinct is often to lead with the engineering. Resist it. Your gateway audience is typically a finance professional, not a technical specialist. Lead with market impact, social relevance and regulatory alignment. Anchor with technical proof points. Once they’re engaged, they’ll pass the proposition to someone who speaks the technical language – from electrolysers to feedstock – for due diligence.
Good storytelling translates complexity into investable logic. It connects macro trends to your roadmap and defines a clear commercial journey.
Overusing jargon, overstating impact without third-party validation and claiming ‘firsts’ that don’t hold up to scrutiny. I’ve sat through enough credentials decks to have developed a personal game of ‘world-first bingo’ and experienced investors are equally quick to spot narrative inflation.
Equally damaging is inconsistency. If different members of your senior team give different answers to the same questions, investors notice. A coherent, well-rehearsed narrative is a proxy for organisational strength.
Reputation is cumulative. Waiting until you announce a funding round to build visibility is too late: it feels reactive and leaves you scrambling. Strategic communications should run in parallel with business development, so that momentum exists before you start looking for capital.
Investment committees read your trade press. They are reassured by consistent, substantive coverage, and particularly editorial backed by respected third parties. Build that presence early, and your investor conversations will be better focused and more productive when it matters most.
Understanding what investors need is one thing. Knowing how to build and deliver a narrative that genuinely meets those needs, in a sector as complex and fast-moving as green tech, is another.
At Resonates, we work at that intersection. Our team brings together senior communications professionals and policy specialists with deep, hands-on experience in green investment, clean energy and the regulatory environments that shape both. We’ve supported businesses at every stage – from pre-seed positioning through to institutional raises and beyond – helping them build the kind of credibility and visibility that makes investor conversations more productive from the first meeting.
We understand the pressures you’re under, the questions investors will ask and the pitfalls that could undermine an otherwise strong proposition. We help you think more clearly about what you’re communicating, and how to show it matters to the people you’re trying to reach.
