Good Morning
Happy 156th weekly edition of the Green Bite! Whether this is the first edition you’ve read or you’ve been devouring avidly for three years—thank you, thank you, thank you x 3! We’ve learned so much this past year with you and we’re excited for many more.
What we’re reading this week:
It’s Crunch Time for a New Generation of Climate Tech Startups (WSJ)
Hometown Donkey in the heart of Silicon Valley rises to national stardom (WP)
Breaking ground on America’s first next-gen nuclear facility (GN)
The Greendicator
Top Deals of the Week
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FLO, a 15-year-old Quebec company that develops and operates EV charging stations, raised a $136 million Series E round led by Export Development Canada. BetaKit has more here.
Battery Smart, a five-year-old Indian startup that operates a battery-swapping network for electric vehicles, focusing on two-wheelers and three-wheelers, raised a $65 million Series B round. LeapFrog Investments was the deal lead. The Economic Times has more here.
Swift Solar, a seven-year-old startup based in San Carlos, CA, that develops solar panels that feature perovskite solar cells, raised a $27 million Series A round co-led by Eni Next and Fontinalis Partners. More here.
Niobium-based battery tech startup Echion Technologies raised a $37M Series B led by Volta (EU)
Gorilla, a six-year-old Antwerp startup that helps energy companies with pricing, forecasting, and portfolio analysis, raised a $24.9 million Series B round led by Headline. TechCrunch has more here.
Parity, an eight-year-old Toronto startup that provides remote optimization and control of HVAC systems for multifamily residential buildings and hotels, raised a $19 million Series B round, led by Idealist Capital. More here.
ElectronX, a derivatives exchange for the energy transition, raised a $15M seed round led by Innovation Endeavors (PRN)
Unigrid Battery, a startup developing advanced sodium-ion batteries, raised a $12M Series A led by Transition VC and Ritz Venture Capital (FN)
Fuuse, an EV charge point management platform, raised an $11.1M Series A led by YFM Equity Partners (FN)
Aepnus Technology, an electrochemical platform decarbonizing battery production, raised an $8M seed round led by Clean Energy Ventures (FN)
Kelvin, a one-year-old Paris startup that uses AI to provide energy efficiency recommendations for home renovations, raised a $5.1 million round led by Racine². TechCrunch has more here.
Cardino, a used EV sales platform, raised a $4.4M seed round led by Point Nine (BW)
Green Theory
Greenth Yearly #3
Entering the 4th year of the Green Bite, here’s another annual look back at our last 51 topics for Green Theory. Below, you’ll find each piece sorted into topic areas, so you can jump to your favorite edition or theme with ease. Look for the ⭐️ for reader favorites from the past year.
Technology & Society
In an election year where talk of climate change may take a backseat, the real work of electrification remains critical and job-creating. Whether at the personal, collective, or systemic level, we have tremendous power to influence the speed and shape of a just transition to clean energy. Finally, though most of the essential climate solutions have already been engineered, in the wild world of technology, inspiration from the most unexpected places may bring giant leaps forward.
⭐️ Green jobs and green votes (Part II)
Food
It wouldn’t be the Green Bite without a deep look into our food systems, which drive about a third of all human emissions, and the slaughter of billions of animals every week. With dimensional analysis and visualizations, we hope we helped shed new light on our mealtime decisions and forces of nature.
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Electrification
The energy transition requires we move past burning things en masse. Since most combusting appliances now conceal their flames or hide in marginal spaces, you might be surprised how much of the solution rests in or near the walls of your home.
Solar
In a bumpy year for US residential solar, and with reversals in decades-long supply chain trends, solar still represents the greatest share of new energy capacity. Between debunking TIME magazine hit pieces and exploring solar energy gluts, there’s no end to the twists and turns of the solarcoaster.
Moving Around: Transportation, Freight, Recycling
From passenger vehicles to airplanes, from moving new goods to used ones, schlepping people and things burns up about 15% of all of our emissions. See who’s driving emissions up, and what we can do about it.
Air traffic uncontrolled (Part I)
Air traffic uncontrolled (Part II)
Finance and Carbonomics
Measuring risk, carbon, and solution profitability, financial minds are pouring into the climate tech space. Commodifying and capitalizing new markets, are their methods sound, and what will they do next?
⭐️ The capitalization of carbon
Selling away emissions (Part I)
Carbon Captors (Part II)
Undue credit (Part III)
The Web of Life
Alexander von Humboldt’s writings and illustrations helped the Western social order see the web of life, and the organic unity of our shared home on earth. Just as his multi-disciplinary curiosities unlocked breakthroughs, attending to the theory of evolution and the tree of life can help us understand business competition, design, and wilderness more fully.
‘How glorious these sunbeams are! They seem to call Earth to the Heavens!’
—Alexander von Humboldt, reproduced from The Invention of Nature (2015)
Environmental Justice
The benefits of the industrial revolution and colonization went to some, while grave costs were shouldered by indigenous peoples, subjugated classes, marginalized races, and ecological systems. Today, the impacts of climate change hit the most disadvantaged communities first and worst, and the damage is only deepening. By better understanding history and current affairs, we can work to build a more just future, with more resilient communities and a healthier home planet.
Another year of learning together! Whether you found inspiration or information, thank you for reading, and sharing your perspectives and ideas with us. Building out the next year of climate tech journalism, we’re lucky to have you with us.
Bonus: Review last year’s annual roundup or first year’s annual roundup
The Closer
Large walrus groups like this one travel long distances in search of clam beds, which provide their primary food source in the quantities required to sustain them… Paul Nicklen
congratulations to the two of you! I love learning from you!