Good Morning!
Synthetic coffee, Republican environmentalism and pinnipeds-on-tour-galore in this week’s post. Read on...
What We’re Listening to This Week
Podcast: How to Save a Planet’s Making Republicans Environmentalists Again
This episode reviews the history of environmentalism in the Republican party (which was very surprising to me, a 90s kid), and also surveys the future of conservative environmentalism, interviewing a really inspiring young activist. Great podcast all-around - been bingeing it since I discovered it last weekend.
Top Deals of the Week
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F67a639a5-e2a7-4c2e-ba7e-1eaf44c55f6e_754x521.png)
Compound Foods raises $4.5M in seed funding (TC)
The story: Synthetic coffee?! Indeed. This 1.5-year-old, SF-based, women-founded startup hopes to reduce the environmental costs associated with coffee consumption by making a great-tasting synthetic alternative.
Why we’re excited about it: 85% of Americans consume caffeine every day. Most common vessel for caffeine? Surprise: it’s coffee, which, depending on how it’s produced, can generate emissions at half the amt/oz as red meat. Here at the Green Bite we like coffee a lot, but we’re excited to try this alternative when it launches for consumers.
Urbint raises a $60M Series C (PRN)
The story: Urbint is a New York, NY-based startup using AI to protect energy and telecom infrastructure and workers. With Congress poised to spend a lot ($1T) on infrastructure this year, American infrastructure is at a turning point, and Urbint wants to help.
Why we’re excited about it: In conversations about clean energy in cities, PG&E is the elephant in the room. What’s the point of electrifying your life if the grid you’re plugging into is dirty? (Note - the US grid is getting cleaner) Infrastructure is infamously slow-moving, so any startup that has the potential to grease the wheels is very exciting. Urbint claims to have saved the equivalent of 60K tons of CO2 last year, with more to come moving forward.
Malta, Inc. raises $60M series B led by Proman
The story: Malta, Inc. is building electro-thermal storage which uses heat pumps to convert excess electricity into thermal energy. The thermal energy is held in molten salt, while liquid tanks are cooled. The energy can be converted back into electricity and released on demand.
Why we’re excited about it: Alternative storage solutions will help recoup wasted capacity from intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. By employing molten salt that can be re-use endlessly, this storage system could prove better for the environment in the long run. Also, they report a straightforward implementation process, that could lead to rapid deployment once they are ready for the global market.
Other Deals This Week
![VanMoof tailor's own production to reduce e-bike sales price - Bike Europe VanMoof tailor's own production to reduce e-bike sales price - Bike Europe](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F42ef6747-d07f-427b-956b-0e2691130fd2_3000x2000.jpeg)
Firemaps, a marketplace for home hardening against wildfires, raised a $5.5M seed round led by a16z (TC)
Biome Makers, a 6-year-old, Silicon Valley-based soil biology analysis startup that promotes sustainable farming practices, raised a $15 million Series B led by Prosus Ventures. (CR)
Kevala, a seven-year-old, San Francisco-based company that sells its energy grid infrastructure data analytics, has raised $21 million in Series A funding co-led by C5 Capital and Thin Line Capital. (TC)
Plantible Foods, a five-year-old, San Diego-based startup that's making plant-based egg whites through aquaculture by cultivating lemna, also known as duckweed, has raised $21.5 million in Series A funding. Astanor Ventures led the round. (TC)
Fieldin, an eight-year-old, Fresno, Ca.- and Yokne'am, Israel-based agtech startup whose platform monitors agricultural activity in real-time and identifies anomalies that may impair crops and operational efficiency, has raised $30 million in Series B funding. Fortissimo Capital led the round. (PRN)
VanMoof, a 13-year-old, Amsterdam-based company that designs and sells electric bikes, has raised $128 million in Series C funding led by Hillhouse Investment. (TC)
Lotus Cars, a 73-year-old, Norwich, England-based sports and racing carmaker, has raised funding at a 15 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) valuation. It says that the round partly includes an investment pact with electric-vehicle upstart Nio aimed at transforming Lotus it into an all-electric brand. (BBG)
One Actionable Item
Check out a new “order day-old food from restaurants” app
I’m talking about Too Good to Go. It connects you with restaurants and grocery stores that have extra food and sells it to you at a discount.
The FDA estimates that 30-40% of the food supply in the US goes to waste. Project Drawdown ranks reducing food waste as their #3 out of 100 most impactful climate solutions.
TGTG just started a partnership with our local grocer in SF, Luke’s Local. They’re all over the world at this point and growing fast. Check out if they have restaurants in your neighborhood.
Green Theory
Outcomes of Income
On our path to zero emissions, global cooperation will be key. As developing countries industrialize, many fear the increase in emissions associated. Rather than worry about imposing restrictive policies on former colonies of wealthy empires, the wealthiest nations ought to look inward at their own consumption today.
Globally, the 10% highest earning population (those making over $35,000 annually) contribute 50% of emissions. The bottom half of the income distribution, on the other hand, only contributes 10% of global emissions. That means, on average, the high earners produce 25x the emissions of an individual in the 3+ billion poorest.
To land in the top 1% of global earners, you need only make $50,000 annually. That’s lower than the average salary of new college graduates in the US. With the top 1% producing over 20% of global emissions, that puts you at at least 100x the emissions of the poorest 50%.
Looking at aggregate data around the world, the average increase in carbon emissions is 0.96% for every additional 1% in income. This metric is key for reminding the wealthiest among us not to suggest suppressing income growth in developing countries.
So what causes the ballooning of emissions for the world’s wealthiest? Air travel increases are highly correlated with GDP growth, with those who fly the most making the most outsized impact. Annual holiday travel is dwarfed by the impact of frequent flyers, taking an average 14 flights per year. A meager 12% of the US population is responsible for 2 out of 3 flights taking off here.
As your income, hopefully, increases over time, think about how you can allocate your additional income to low-emission spending, rather than taking an extra long-haul flight, for instance. While your individual choices may make a negligible impact on their own, yours are a node in a web of decisions made by others. Planning a local getaway for your family, or bringing your destination wedding closer to home, creates a larger ripple effect--one that may cascade to others’ choices, too.
The Closer
Have you heard about the Arctic walrus - Wally - who’s been trolling around Ireland and Wales for almost 6 months now? Pretty great story. Photo posted by Seal Rescue Ireland.
Can’t believe this alt-cheese investment was missed: https://medium.com/norrsken-vc/the-new-generation-of-cheese-why-we-invested-in-stockeld-dreamery-c555335ba9c5
20m for fake feta! Can’t wait to try/review this on the Greenbite’s Green Bite section.