🌎 Signaling more climate peril #120

Happy Monday!

As Florida recovers from Hurricane Ian, the destruction and damage begins the cycle of questioning of what more could we have known, and what more we could have done? We dive into the spread of climate technologies aiming to help with both questions, with the uncomfortable reality that the answers may not come soon enough.

In fundings this week, $400m for carbon capture and sequestration, $107m for electric motorcycles, and $100m for mobile energy storage. Additionally, prior CTVC features SINAI Technologies raised $22m for carbon measurement and management and Woltair raised $16m to digitize buildings’ clean heating and energy solutions.

In the news, Nord Stream pipelines continue to leak methane, NY follows suit behind California requiring new vehicle purchases to be EV by 2035, and the US EPA launches its environmental justice grants to focus on minority communities overburdened by environmental pollution.

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Ian sends a strong signal

Hurricane Ian pummeled communities in the Caribbean, Florida, and Carolinas from Tuesday through Friday. Estimates indicate – while still tabulating the full damage – that Ian has resulted in $63B of insured loss, almost 90 deaths, some 2.6 million homes and businesses losing power, and two bridges collapsing. According to hurricane records dating back to 1851, Ian is the 37th major hurricane (a designation for storms >Category 3 intensity) to have ever struck the state of Florida and the 15th to be rated a Category 4 or higher.

The hurricane – which will not be the last or the worst – serves as a reminder that in order to address climate change today we must act holistically, beyond just emissions reduction and removal. Climate action demands understanding, mitigating, and adapting. For climate risk in particular where perils loom independent of our present mitigation activity, understanding and adapting set a guiding framework.

“Many of the storms of the past five years – Harvey, Maria, Florence, Michael, Ida and Ian - aren’t natural disasters so much as human-made disasters, whose amplified ferocity is fueled by the continued burning of fossil fuels and the increase in heat-trapping carbon pollution, a planet-warming ‘greenhouse gas.’” – The Guardian

Understanding. Ian was hard to predict and communicate. We need science-based solutions that help us grasp the perils – from wildfires to floods to hurricanes – we face. For the most part, these are climate intelligence companies:

🔥 Wildfire: Kettle, Gridware, Overstory, Firemaps, Cornea

🌊 Flooding: Cloud to Street, Climate X, StormSensor, FloodMapp, 7Analytics, Stormsensor

⛈️ Weather (storm/ drought): Jupiter, Salient Predictions, Climavision, Everstream Analytics

💨 Air quality: Breezometer, Aclima, Airly

Adapting. Ian is one of the most expensive hurricanes in US history. With the frequency and severity of storms likely to increase, society will need to become resilient to new weather and climate conditions. The EPA notes that, without adaptation, unmitigated climate change is projected to result in $5 trillion in damages for coastal property in the contiguous US through 2100.

🚨 Emergency response: Florian, RapidSOS

🚰 Water conservation/ creation: Netafim, Elemental Water Makers

🏗️ Infrastructure: burying power lines, distributed energy resources/ microgrids, urban planning for flooding, climate-resilient building codes

Have suggestions for other adaptation categories or innovators? Share them with us!

Deals of the Week (9/26-10/2)

💨 Trace Midstream, a Houston, TX-based company developing carbon capture and sequestration assets, raised $400m from Quantum Energy Partners.

🏍️ Zero Motorcycles, a Scotts Valley, CA-based electric motorcycle company, raised $107m in funding from Polaris, Exor, Hero MotoCorp, Invus, and other investors.

⚡ Moxion Power, a Richmond, CA-based developer of mobile energy storage technology, raised $100m in Series B funding from Tamarack Global, Sunbelt Rentals, Suffolk Technologies, Rocketship.vc, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Marubeni, Enterprise Holding Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, and Amazon Climate Pledge Fund.

⚡ Sitetracker, a Montclair, NJ-based operations management platform for infrastructure such as solar, raised $66m (equity) and $30m (debt) in Series D funding from Energize Ventures, Bridgebank, H.I.G. Growth, National Grid Partners, Clearvision Ventures, NTT Docomo Ventures, Kingfisher Investment Advisors, and Raine Next-GEn Communications.

💧 Magna Imperio Systems, a Houston, TX-based water treatment company raised $45m.

☀️ Solfácil, a Brazil-based solar solutions provider, raised $30m in Series C funding from Fifth Wall Climate.

🔋 OneD Battery Sciences, a Palo Alto, CA-based company enhancing the life of EV batteries, raised $25m in Series C funding from Volta Energy Technologies and General Motors.

💨 SINAI Technologies, a San Francisco, CA-based carbon accounting and mitigation platform, raised $22m in Series A funding from Energize Ventures, Valo Ventures, Stardust Equity, Singtel Innov8, Presidio Ventures, Obvious Ventures, and others.

🏔️ EverestLabs, a Fremont, CA-based company utilizing AI to facilitate recycling, raised $16.1m in Series A funding from Translink Capital, NEC Orchestrating Future Fund, Benhamou Global Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Morado Ventures, and Xplorer Capital.

⚡ Woltair, a Czech Republic-based company digitizing clean building heating and energy solutions, raised $16m in Series A funding from ArcTern Ventures, Westly Group, Aternus, Kaya VC, Inven Capital and Movens Capital (pump up with our interview here).

☀️ Caelux Corporation, a Pasadena, CA-based developer of perovskite-based solar technology, raised $12m from Reliance New Energy Limited.

🌾 PlanetWatchers, an England-based crop monitoring startup, raised $11m in Series A funding from Seraphim Investment Trust, Creative Ventures, Trendlines Agrifood Fund, BIG Capital and Ridgeline Partners.

💨 Flora, a San Francisco, CA-based sustainable brand marketplace, raised $9m from Lux Capital, Paragon Ventures, Esas Ventures, D4 Ventures, Correlation Ventures, Climate Capital, and 23 Fund.

⛏️ Aspen Creek Digital, a El Segundo, CA-based renewable Bitcoin mining operator, raised $8m in Series A funding from Polychain, Galaxy Digital, Mana Ventures, Luxor Technologies, Gaingels, Copper River Energy Partners, and CMT Digital Ventures.

💨 Climate Club, a New York, NY-based carbon reduction platform, raised $6.5m in Seed funding from XYZ Venture Capital, Vestigo Ventures, Red Sea Ventures, and My Climate Journey Collective.

🚢 Carbon Ridge, a Los Angeles, CA-based develop of modular CCS solutions for the maritime industry, raised $6m in Seed funding from Grantham Foundation, Crowley, Berge BUlk, Rusheen Capital Management, and Plug and Play Ventures.

🚗 FlexCharging, a Bellevue, WA-based EV charging company, raised $5.9m in Seed funding from Accurant International.

🐛 LIVIN Farms, a Austria-based alternative protein company utilizing insect larvae, raised $5.8m in Series A funding from angel investor Peter Luerssen.

🚗 Kopperfield, a Seattle, WA-based EV charger installation company, raised $5m in Seed funding from General Catalyst, Lachy Groom, Giant Ventures, MCJ Collective, Tobi Lutke, Kiran Bhatraju, and other angels.

🐝 Dalan Animal Health, an Athens, GA-based developer of oral vaccines for honeybees, raised $3.6m in Seed funding from At One Ventures and Veterinary Angel Network.

🚗 Papaya, a England-based software platform helping electric fleets, raised $3.5m in Seed funding from Giant Ventures, Seedcamp, 20VC, FJ Labs, Flexport, and Cocoa.

🥛 Blue Farm, a Germany-based plant-based producer of powdered oat milk, raised $2.94m in funding from Zintinus Capital and Übermorgen Ventures.

🌊 7Analytics, a Norway-based startup providing flood behavior predictions, raised $2.5m in Seed funding from Momentum Partners, Construct Venture, Link Capital, and Obos VC.

👖 Gently, a San Francisco, CA-based second-hand clothing platform raised $2m in Pre-seed funding from Pareto Holdings, Launch, Dorm Room Fund, Centre Street Partners, and V1.VC.

💧 Kumulus Water, a France-based company developing technology that generates water from the air, raised $1m in Pre-seed funding from Wilco, Techstars Paris, Flat6Labs, and Bpifrance.

⚡ Enmacc, a Germany-based energy trading platform, raised Series B funding from Alantra’s Energy Transition Fund, Piton Capital, Illuminate Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, Cherry Ventures, and 10x Group.

⚡ Hypermotive, a UK-based EV and fuel cell integrator, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from AP Ventures.

⚡ Rondo Energy, an Alameda, CA-based provider of an industrial heat battery technology, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Siam Cement Group.

Share new fundings with us

Exits & New Funds:

Hammerhead Resources, a Canada-based oil and gas producer aiming toward net-zero emissions by 2030 by advancing its CCS program, is going public at a $1b valuation via a merger with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp. IV.

Indiev, a Vernon, CA-based electric vehicle startup, is going public at a $600m valuation via SPAC company Malacca Straits Acquisition Co.

Tri Global Energy, a Dallas, TX-based renewable energy developer, was acquired for $270m by Enbridge, a Canada-based energy distribution company.

In the News

Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream pipelines are leaking methane in the Baltic Sea in what is likely the biggest single emissions event ever detected. EU and US officials are calling it Russian sabotage. Denmark’s Energy Agency said the leaks correspond to about one-third of the country’s annual GHG emissions.

Sen. Joe Manchin pulled his energy permitting reforms from a government spending bill, a major blow to permitting long-range transmission lines. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer says he’ll work with Manchin to pass “responsible permitting reform” by the end of 2022.

New York will require all new vehicles sold to be electric or plug-in electric hybrids by 2035, a policy California approved in August.

The wheels on the bus go electric! The EPA is doubling electric school bus funding to $1B after receiving almost 2,000 applications amounting to ~$4B in funding.

The US EPA officially launched their Environmental Justice Office to oversee delivery of $3 billion in EJ grants, focused on minority communities overburdened by pollution and extreme weather events.

Six US banks (BoA, Citi, GS, JPM, MS, WF) will participate in a Federal Reserve-led climate scenario analysis to provide insight on climate risk management, similar to the Fed’s stress tests on impact strategy.

McDonald’s struck a 15-year virtual power purchase deal with EDF Renewables North America. The project will meet electricity consumption of 1,200+ McDonald’s, the equivalent of avoiding 439,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually.

Princeton University will dissociate from 90 fossil fuel companies - including ExxonMobil and NRG - canceling research partnerships and direct investment. To compensate for lost research funding, Princeton will “establish a new fund to support energy research.” Meanwhile, UK universities are banning fossil fuel recruiters from university career fairs.

The IMF will lend almost $300m to hurricane-hit Barbados under their new Sustainability Resilience Trust, setting a precedent of funding climate adaptation.

Pop-up

We’re stoked that TIME named BlocPower’s Donnel Baird and academic (and climate Twitter Queen) Leah Stokes as 2022 100 Innovators.

A new resource database for climate tech in the Heartland from our friends at Evergreen Climate Innovations.

NEPA or NOPE? Some environmentalists want to abolish the National Environmental Protection Act, saying it slows down clean energy projects. Others, just want to change it.

Tune in to this “Zero” podcast with Prelude’s Gabriel Kra on why climate needs VC.

In another “Zero” delight, Bill Gates debunks de-growth. He says, you can’t solve climate change by asking people to consume less.

Ezra Klein and Jesse Jenkins spend 103 minutes talking about deep decarbonization. It might just be the best 103 minutes of the week.

The case for a FOAK (first of its kind) fund for hardtech climate VCs.

A long line to Egypt. Loss and damages are expected to be front and center at COP27. This interactive timeline shows the movement to get SIDS front and center.

Silver bullet beavers. Check out this article and stop motion video to learn how beavers can help restore habitats.

In another case of negative positive feedback loops, scientists predict there will be less wind globally.

Protect Our Winters is like the NRA, but for outdoorsy voters. The group of skiers and climbers reminded Manchin that outdoor sports are West Virginia’s second largest industry, and their enthusiasts are a voting block.

“How About Them Apples”, the NYT reports on an apple orchard that grows over a thousand climate resilient varietals.

Has plant-based meat been beat? Sales in the plant-based meat category are declining in the US, even as brands continue to hit the shelves.

How Kenya became the world’s geothermal powerhouse (dive into geothermal here).

Tesla owners can now use a $250 dongle CCS adapter to charge up anywhere.

Opportunities & Events:

🗓️ A Conversation Series on Climate Tech and Government: Register for this virtual event on Oct 4 hosted by Overture Insights featuring GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan and Senior Advisor on Climate, Jetta Wong for a conversation on the US Government and climate.

💡 MRS iMatSci Innovation Showcase: Calling all pre-Revenue and Seed stage materials innovators! Apply by Oct 15 to the iMatSci Innovation Showcase, where you can meet investors and win prizes and investments.

💡 Joules Accelerator: Apply by Oct 16 for the 11th Cohort of Joules Accelerator, which supports climate and energy solution startups through a 90 day program.

💡 Scale For ClimateTech’s Manufacturing Bootcamp: Apply by Oct 21 for Scale For ClimateTech’s free four-day bootcamp (taking place Nov 7-10) which allows companies to engage with vetted manufacturers, supply chain experts, and technical advisors.

🗓️ VERGE 22: Register to join this three day conference (Oct 25-27) taking place in San Jose, CA focused on addressing climate crisis across six strategic areas. Startups can apply this 40% discount code at registration: V22STARTUP1

🗓️ Climate Venture Building Conference: Register for this day long conference taking place in Nairobi on Oct 26.