Intern Spotlight: David Kilroy ’25, ClimateHaven

Practice: ClimateHaven, New Haven, Conn
Home town: Cleveland, Ohio
Pronouns: he/his/its
SOM class you use at work: Innovator, Green Technology Financing
Lunch for work: Wow Tikka — and for an afternoon espresso from G Café!
After-work routine: Going for a run, playing spikeball, meeting classmates for dinner, wandering around East Rock.
Favorite thing about New Haven: I can bike to work, walk and explore New Haven, go hiking, or take the train to New York or Boston every weekend I want!

This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to join ClimateHaven, a dynamic climate tech incubator based in New Haven, as the inaugural Bekenstein Climate Leader. In just a few months, I immersed myself in a cutting-edge community of climate tech innovators, leveraged my unique experience in startup incubators, and expanded my professional network across the Northeast.

ClimateHaven is dedicated to supporting innovative solutions to combat climate change. The incubator supports startups working on a wide range of solutions, providing them with the resources and mentoring they need to scale their impact. The goal is to build a full arsenal of tools needed for a sustainable green economy.

During my internship, I worked closely with amazing startups and founders, contributing to projects spanning multiple climate technology domains. My role focused on connecting incubator participants with mentors, directly assisting startup projects, and recruiting new candidates to support ClimateHaven across the Northeast.

This internship allowed me to build on my extracurricular experiences at SOM and develop new skills. I had worked with startups and incubators before coming to SOM, and in my first year I participated in intensive innovation programs offered by Tsai CITY. However, I had relatively little experience with deep-tech startups, which typically emerge from university research labs and face a different set of challenges. The opportunity to deepen this knowledge was extremely valuable and gave me a comprehensive understanding of entrepreneurial ecosystems.

During my internship, I had the opportunity to guide startups through multiple growth phases. For example, I accompanied VIRV from the company’s first contact with ClimateHaven to the decision to join the incubator and provided support to Impact3D throughout the development process of new hardware technology. I am excited to continue following these startups as I return to school.

Another highlight of the internship was the mentoring offered by ClimateHaven. Guidance from Casey Pickett ’10, the company’s interim co-CEO, played a key role in shaping my post-college career vision. I also had the pleasure of meeting 24 other Yale graduate students through the Bekenstein Climate Leader Fellowship, a program that both made the internship financially possible and gave me a broad understanding of the types of work available in the climate impact field.

My summer at ClimateHaven was transformative, aligning with my professional interests and my favorite SOM extracurriculars. In the coming year, I plan to build on my internship experience by co-leading the Climate Deals Team for the Meng Impact Investment Fund and organizing the Yale Economic Development Symposium. I highly recommend that any students interested in climate technology seek out experiences that provide a holistic understanding of innovation ecosystems—especially organizations like ClimateHaven that are making a difference!