Good Morning
What we’re reading this week:
Major VCs create climate tech alliance backed by the UN (TC)
Meet the climate hackers of Malawi (NYT)
East African drought was caused by climate change (WP)
The Greendicator
Top Deals of the Week
![2024 VinFast VF7: What We Know So Far 2024 VinFast VF7: What We Know So Far](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9db3cd1-5658-4798-8093-3e1e390cc7ce_3780x2126.jpeg)
Vietnamese EV maker VinFast received new funding pledges worth $2.5B for its future development while remaining committed to a US IPO (RT)
Green hydrogen company Ohmium raised a $250M Series C led by TPG Rise Climate (BW)
Virta, an EV charging platform, raised $93M in funding led by Jolt Capital (FN)
Avalanche Energy, a fusion energy startup, raised a $40M Series A led by Lowercarbon Capital (PRN)
Radiant Industries, a four-year-old, Los Angeles-based startup that says its megawatt nuclear power generators are cleaner and safer compared to the diesel alternatives that dominate the market for remote and backup power generation, has raised $40 million in Series B funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round (F)
Whisper Aero, a quiet electric ducted fan drone startup, raised a $32M Series A led by Menlo Ventures, EVE Atlas, Capricorn Investment Group, and Connor Capital (FN)
Woodoo, a startup developing augmented wood and decarbonized materials, raised $31M in funding led by Lowercarbon Capital (FN)
Japanese shared micromobility startup Luup raised a $30M Series D led by Spiral Capital at a $100M+ valuation (TC)
CropX Technologies, an eight-year-old Israeli startup that helps farms manage irrigation, energy, and fertilizer use, raised a $30 million Series C round led by Aliaxis (F)
Cyclic Materials, a metals recycling company focused on producing critical materials, raised a $27M Series A led by Energy Impact Partners and BMW i Ventures (BW)
Climate-monitoring satellite startup Hydrosat raised a $20M Series A led by Statkraft Ventures (TC)
Ebb Carbon, an ocean-based carbon dioxide removal company, raised a $20M Series A led by Prelude Ventures and Evok Innovation (FN)
Home energy assessment startup Enter raised a $21.5M Series A led by Target Global (TC)
VoltServer, a provider of a new distribution format for electricity, raised a $17.5M Series B led by Marker Hill Capital and Constellation Technology Ventures (FN)
Novalith Technologies, a three-year-old Sydney startup that uses carbon dioxide to simplify the production of lithium chemicals, thereby reducing production costs and creating a smaller emissions footprint than existing processes, raised a $15.5 million Series A round led by Lowercarbon Capital (N)
Abatable, a two-year-old, London-based carbon abatement startup, has raised $13.5 million from Azora Capital. More here.
Carbon accounting platform CarbonChain raised a $10M Series A led by Union Square Ventures and Voyager Ventures (PRN)
Cleantech startup UniSieve raised a $5.5M seed round from backers including Amadeus APEX Technology Fund (FN)
CurbWaste, a startup providing an operating system for the waste management industry, raised a $4M seed+ round led by TTV Capital (FN)
Nosh, a three-year-old Berlin startup that aims to create fake meat out of mushroom mycelium, raised a $3.5 million round led by Earlybird Venture Capital (TEU)
HydRegen, a startup enabling sustainable chemical manufacturing, raised a $3.2M Series A led by Clean Growth Fund (FN)
Green Theory
Every Day Is Earth Day
Every day we wake up, odds are we’re on planet earth. Though the built environment of dense cities, or even four walls of a cabin, may obscure our constant connection to the earth, we remain dependent on natural systems. How can we build an appreciation for our non-human neighbors, and shared planetary home, in everyday life? How, then, do we work to harmonize life on earth?
To answer these lofty questions, in the mostly unceded Ohlone land of the Bay Area, in California, tech companies suggest scalable solutions that span the globe, or new hardware tools that require brand new manufacturing facilities.
Though we’ll need imaginative innovations in many areas to solve the climate crisis, we must always center the longest-tenured communities, and not overlook (or outlaw) protective practices that have helped keep the ecology of the planet from complete collapse, in the face of colonization and genocide on industrial scales for hundreds of years.
One Ohlone organization, The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, is rebuilding healthy land and community space, building past not only colonization and genocide, but the patriarchy, too. The Trust has some handy advice for anyone looking to lend their service.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_5760,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F054176c9-e45c-402d-9f64-5c36462f9bd2_1478x662.png)
Every year we get hundreds of requests from people who want to visit “the land” and help out. While we can't host everyone at our rematriated sites, we are actually all on Indigenous land and it needs your care! —Ya Nuunukne 2023
The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust’s Spring Newsletter, Ya Nuunukne, celebrates ecological work, land returns, community gatherings, youth classes, and historical reflections. It contains concrete evidence of a rematriated future that’s more and more present, with more healing, and more respect for Indigenous peoples. Further, one may find inspiration for how to create more harmonious relationships in any community, or any land.
The space for healing is vast. Humanity has altered the ecology of over 97% of the planet, while relatively few Indigenous protectors pay immeasurable costs to keep biodiversity from the brink. As Joseph Lee at Grist reports:
despite clear evidence that Indigenous peoples must play a central role in [maintaining forest ecosystem health], they are often left out of conservation plans that restrict access to lands, allow extractive industry to move in, or face eviction or violence from state or eco-security guards to create wildlife reserves —Joseph Lee, Grist
Returning land to native peoples—those most equipped to restore it—opens up paths to regeneration unimaginable under the extractive systems of domination that both steal ancestral homes and supercharge the climate crisis.
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Even if you can’t cede land, you can try to at least remember that today, and every day, it’s still earth day.
The Closer
A Crimson Sunbird female refreshing herself with the water which is stored in the petal of an ornamental banana flower.