Green Bite 6.11.21
7-11 announces plans to become an EV charging hub, fake chicken nuggets get a quarter of the way to unicorn status, and more this week.
One Big Thing to Chew On
This week, Fiat became the next major car manufacturer that announced its fleet will be all-electric within the next decade. Jaguar plans to sell an all-electric fleet by 2025, Volkswagen by 2026, Volvo and Bentley by 2030, and others later. Full list here. Thinking about making a blog post keeping track of these plans in an easier-to-read chart--let me know what you think.
#ThrowbackFriday to when Elon Musk said his measure of if Tesla is successful will not be if he survives as a car company, but if he convinces all the other car companies to go electric. Whether that was sales fluff or not, looks like the vision of a more transportation-sustainable world is coming true. :’) There’s plenty to criticize here, be it re. Musk, electric cars’ carbon footprints, and the speed at which big auto manufacturers’ EVs are coming, of course. But also it’s nice to finally feel more on the right track.
Greentech Updates by Category
Transportation
Toyota AI Ventures, Toyota’s standalone venture capital fund, has dropped the “AI” in favor of Toyota Ventures. The fund is commemorating its new identity by investing an additional $300 million in emerging technologies and carbon neutrality via two early-stage funds: the Toyota Ventures Frontier Fund and the Toyota Ventures Climate Fund. TechCrunch has more here.
Berlin-based Tier Mobility, which recently won a London permit, has raised $60 million so it can expand its fleet of vehicles and battery charging networks. Technically, it’s a loan. The asset-backed financing comes from Goldman Sachs. More here.
Lyft has got a new e-bike piloting this month, starting in San Francisco, then Chicago and New York. It’ll be dropping the sleek, white bikes with soft purple LEDs at random around the city for people to test out. TechCrunch’s Brian Heater gave it a spin, and his general consensus was, Yeah, it’s a good bike. Can’t complain.
7-Eleven said it plans to install 500 direct-current fast charging ports at 250 locations across North America by the end of 2022. These charging ports will be owned and operated by 7-Eleven, as opposed to fuel at its filling stations, which must be purchased from suppliers. More here.
GM autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise secured a California permit allowing it to shuttle passengers in test vehicles with no operator behind the wheel (TC)
Trucks VC, a six-year-old, San Francisco-based transportation-focused venture firm, has closed its second fund with $52 million in capital commitments and raised and an undisclosed amount for its first growth fund. More here.
Following the EF150 last week, Ford unveiled a hybrid mini pickup truck. It’s pretty cute: TC
Consumer Goods
The Nuggs nugget.
Simulate, a three-year-old New York-based nutrition tech startup whose first product, Nuggs, resembles a chicken nugget but is plant-based, has raised $50 million in Series B funding. Seven Seven Six led the round, joined by NOMO Ventures, McCain Foods, Imaginary Ventures, Day One Ventures and Chris and Crystal Sacca. The company has now raised $61 million altogether. Crunchbase News has more here.
Energy & Infrastructure
First Solar is building a new solar-panel factory in Ohio (WSJ)
Swedish battery maker Northvolt raised a $2.75B round at a $11.75B valuation co-led by Omers, Goldman Sachs and Volkswagen (BBG)
Other
Terraformation, a four-year-old, Bay Area-based startup that provide tools, training, financing and business support to scale forest restoration projects, has held a first close on $30 million in Series A funding led by brothers Sam and Max Altman, along with nearly 100 angel investors, including Sahil Lavingia and Joe Lonsdale.Terraformation was founded by Yishan Wong, a former Reddit CEO and former engineer at both Facebook and PayPal. TechCrunch has more here.
One Concern, a six-year-old, Menlo Park, Ca.-based company selling resilience as a service -- it models and simulates community resilience and response to earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters -- has raised $45 million from SOMPO Holdings, the holding company of Japan’s SOMPO, one of the country’s largest insurers. TechCrunch has more here.
The “Not Business But Still Good Content” Section
Fun fact--aluminum is the most recyclable material in the world (at least among common CPG product materials). Up to 75% of all aluminum in use today has already been recycled. Next time you want to buy a drink, pass on the trendy paper containers and stick with trusty aluminum cans. Don’t forget, though, that reducing and reusing are steps 1 and 2--reusables are best, aluminum is next. Read more here.