Good Morning
Happy one hunny week!
We are so lucky to have you here with us - many of you from the very beginning, and many more who have engaged more recently. It’s been a wonderful journey full of experimentation and learning, and we’ve enjoyed writing every edition. Now and always: thank you for reading!
What we’re reading this week:
Facing brutal climate math, US bets billions on direct air capture (R)
Ford cuts prices of Mustang Mach-E after Tesla moves (RT)
The Greendicator
Top Deals of the Week
![Joby Aviation evtol aircraft in the blue sky Joby Aviation evtol aircraft in the blue sky](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%2F8d717aaf-ad9f-49c7-bd53-aea1c9157af4_730x486.jpeg)
Avaada Group, an Indian renewable energy, energy storage, and solar PV manufacturing firm, raised $1.07B in funding from Brookfield Renewable, Global Power Synergy, and more (PRN)
Joby Aviation, a 14-year-old, Santa Cruz, Ca.-based company that's developing all-electric aircraft, has sold 44 million newly issued shares -- worth $180 million -- to earlier backer Baillie Gifford to further fund its work (TC)
Redaptive, a provider of energy-as-a-service solutions, added a $50M investment from Linse Capital to their Series E Round (TC)
Energy Dome, a CO2 battery startup, raised a $44M Series B led by Eni Next and Neva SGR (TC)
Impact Nano, a chemical manufacturing company focused on sustainable computing materials, raised $32M in total funding from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Intel Capital, and others (FN)
MayMaan Research, a clean energy technology company, raised a $30M Series A from Wave Equity Partners (FN)
Polymateria, a seven-year-old London startup that has developed a "self-destructing plastic" that breaks down in one year without any microplastic or toxic residue, raised a $25.1 million Series B round co-led by ABC Impact and Indorama Ventures (SR)
Origin by Ocean, a four-year-old startup based in Espoo, Finland, that aims to develop algae-based products for cosmetics, detergents, food, and textiles, thereby reducing the need for harmful chemicals and materials, raised an $8.25 million seed round. Investors included Voima Ventures (AS)
Reverion, a biogas power plant startup, raised a $9.4M seed round led by UVC Partners, Green Generation Fund, Extantia Capital, and others (FN)
VFC, a three-year-old UK startup that produces vegan chicken tenders, raised a $7.4 million from Veg Capital. Vegconomist has more here.
Frontline Wildfire Defense, a wildfire defense company for homes and commercial structures, raised a $6.4M seed round led by Echelon (FN)
Elmo, a short-term rental platform for electric/hybrid cars, raised $2.9M in funding from Highgoal Capital Management, FlyCap, Barolo Invest, and SAGGIS (FN)
Green Theory
Why read a climate tech newsletter, anyway?
GB 48, 100th GB Edition Refresh
With limited time, and seemingly endless content and information, why sit down to read a climate tech newsletter? To start, the climate crisis doesn’t profit from our attention—it thrives on our looking the other way.
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Climate technology offers solutions to our big problems. With inflows of money, however, and an aura of preventing disaster, some companies cover up extractive and socially misaligned business practices by leveraging empty virtue signaling and a trendy website. Uncovering the complex tensions in the industry, and the soaring successes, too: a more holistic lens on climate tech prevents losing sight of what matters.
Whether as a starting point for other journeys, or as a slow Friday scroll—your first GB with us, or hundredth—thank you for helping open conversations about this ostensibly pro-social sector, in the age of rising climate awareness, climate catastrophes, and climate businesses.
Keeping ‘Em Honest in a Critical Field
Given the gloom of global forecasts, some groups focus only on uplifting stories of innovators who claim to tackle climate change. To be sure, no clean, green transition will be possible without sustaining joy and a vision of hope for the future. And yet, because of the mistakes and deceptions that even our most capable businesspeople, technologists, and scientists may make, it’s essential to shine a light on every angle of climate tech, as long as you’re not trusting the Chevron Times.
Between the decades-long fossil fuel coverups and disinformation campaigns, and tech’s tendency to distort reality, climate tech faces a unique combination of informational threats. Less obvious than outright climate denialism, greenwashing represents a pattern of companies or other organizations lying about their own sustainability.
Saving ourselves from intensified natural disasters and extinction events demands the attention of leaders from communities to companies. Unfortunately, disasters not only bring out the best in people, but also attract charlatans and opportunistic profiteers—the race to profitably help solve climate change is no different.
Seeds of Joy, Hope, and Action
From companies such as EnergySage making solar less expensive for families, to Afresh preventing food and financial waste, some tech companies deliver on prosocial missions, not just profits. Finding solutions such as these could inspire someone to change careers, or start a venture of their own. At the same time, if we only celebrate wins, our sense of the industry, and a solution’s capacity for impact, will stay shallow. Looking to natural systems, human behaviors, and other features of our shared planet, we can see problems, and the path to solve them, in new lights.
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The climate crisis unfolds before us, along with the opportunity to do something during this critical time. Without exploring the powerful role that we can play as individuals in small, everyday choices, we miss out on a massive pathway for change. Further, levers for change outside of private ventures in climate tech range from policy to direct action, and none of these forces works in a vacuum. Still, to protect and heal the biosphere in time, technology’s allure of speed and scale make it a necessity. Exploring the brightest and dimmest corners of climate tech each week, we hope we can imagine and build a cleaner, greener future, together. Thank you for joining us, dear reader.
The Closer
“DROUGHT (Before/After): in 2021, Lake Oroville was nearly empty. Now it's so full, water is being released to make room for an expected deluge of snowmelt.”
Unparalleled content. Can't wait for #1000.