Articles tagged with "climate-tech"
Investors are betting $21 billion that the energy transition isn’t going away
Despite political opposition in the U.S., notably from Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration, investor confidence in the energy transition remains robust. This is evidenced by significant capital commitments to clean energy funds: Brookfield recently raised $20 billion for its second energy transition fund—33% more than its first fund in 2021—and Energy Impact Partners closed its third flagship fund at $1.36 billion, a 40% increase over its prior fund. These investments target renewable power projects and climate tech companies, reflecting sustained belief in the sector’s long-term growth potential despite a less favorable economic environment than in previous years. While the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts a 45% reduction in U.S. renewable adoption by 2030 compared to last year’s forecast, global renewable capacity is still expected to double by 2030, driven by solar expansion in China, India, the EU, and other regions. Analysts at DNV foresee continued momentum toward renewable energy, though acknowledge that current efforts will
energyrenewable-energyclean-energyenergy-transitioninvestmentclimate-techventure-capitalNovoloop’s upcycled plastic takes a step closer to production
Novoloop, a plastic recycling startup based in Menlo Park, has secured a commercial-scale production deal with Huide Science and Technology to supply a chemical building block—polyol—used to make thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). Novoloop’s polyol is produced from post-consumer polyethylene waste, such as plastic bags, which are notoriously difficult to recycle. TPU is a versatile plastic used in products ranging from running shoes to medical devices. This agreement marks a significant milestone for Novoloop as it navigates the challenging “valley of death” phase common to hardware-dependent climate tech startups, where technology validation has occurred but revenue generation remains limited. Currently, Novoloop operates a demonstration plant in India capable of producing tens of tons of polyol annually, sufficient for major pilot projects including an upcoming footwear collaboration. The company previously supplied Swiss shoe manufacturer On with its Lifecycled TPU material. CEO Miranda Wang emphasized that achieving economies of scale through deals like the one with Huide is critical
materialsplastic-recyclingthermoplastic-polyurethaneupcycled-materialssustainable-materialschemical-building-blocksclimate-techEarthmover wants to become the Snowflake of weather and geospatial data
Earthmover, a climate tech startup co-founded by Ryan Abernathey and Joe Hamman, is repositioning itself to focus on weather and geospatial data that change frequently, rather than broader climate data which tend to be more static. Their platform is designed to handle large, complex datasets—referred to as rasters, tensors, or arrays depending on the field—and provides tools to help customers extract actionable insights. This pivot toward weather-related data has helped Earthmover secure over ten paying customers and raise a $7.2 million seed round led by Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from Costanoa Ventures and Preston-Werner Ventures. The company’s technology stack is built on open-source software such as Xarray, Pangeo, and Icechunk, and operates across major cloud providers as well as on-premise servers. This open-source foundation not only suits the demands of massive Earth observation datasets—often tens to hundreds of terabytes per customer—but also reduces customer risk by ensuring data accessibility
energyclimate-techgeospatial-dataweather-forecastingrenewable-energydata-storageopen-source-softwareHow Bill Gates’s fellowship program is adapting to global uncertainty
Bill Gates’s climate tech organization, Breakthrough Energy, is adapting its fellowship program to address growing global uncertainty, including economic challenges and shifting policy priorities. The program, which supports startups led by budding entrepreneurs, has announced a new cohort of 45 fellows across 22 startups, marking its most globally diverse group yet—with half of the teams based outside the U.S., including locations in Asia, Canada, Germany, the U.K., and South Africa. This international emphasis is partly driven by the opening of a new fellowship hub in Singapore in partnership with Temasek and Enterprise Singapore, reflecting the recognition that climate change solutions must be globally sourced and locally tailored. The new cohort focuses on areas such as hydrogen, circularity (recycling materials), critical minerals, agriculture, and grid modernization, with particular attention to regional priorities like Asia’s interest in hydrogen and recycling due to its manufacturing footprint. The fellowship’s curriculum has also evolved to emphasize techno-economic analysis, encouraging startups to rigorously assess the economic viability of
energyclimate-techhydrogen-economycircular-economycritical-mineralsgrid-modernizationstartup-innovationTED leader’s $300M ‘valley of death’ fund might be just what later-stage climate tech needs
The article discusses a new $300 million fund called All Aboard, led by Chris Anderson, former head of TED Talks, designed to address the significant financing gap—often called the "valley of death" or "missing middle"—that climate tech startups face between early-stage funding and growth capital. This gap is especially wide in climate tech because many startups focus on hardware solutions that require expensive first-of-a-kind power plants or factories, often costing tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. All Aboard aims to provide equity or convertible equity investments, rather than loans or project-specific financing, to help startups secure the $100 million to $200 million rounds necessary to scale their technologies commercially. The fund brings together a coalition of prominent climate-focused venture firms, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and Energy Impact Partners, among others. While participation in the fund does not require investment from these partners, their involvement is intended to create a "Sequoia-like" signal to attract additional
energyclimate-techclean-energyventure-capitalstartup-fundingclimate-technologyenergy-investmentAmogy raises $80M to power ships and data centers with ammonia
Brooklyn-based startup Amogy has raised an additional $23 million in funding, bringing its total to $80 million and increasing its valuation to $700 million. The funding round was led by Korea Development Bank and KDB Silicon Valley LLC, with participation from other investors. Amogy focuses on ammonia-to-power technology and targets Asian markets such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, where demand for alternative power generation methods is growing due to limited solar, wind, geothermal, and nuclear options. The company aims to provide a clean energy solution by fully replacing fossil fuels with ammonia as a fuel source. Ammonia, commonly used in fertilizers, serves as a hydrogen carrier that is easier to transport than hydrogen itself. While some Asian countries and shipping companies currently burn ammonia mixed with fossil fuels to reduce carbon emissions, this approach does not achieve full decarbonization. Amogy’s technology cracks hydrogen atoms from ammonia and uses them in fuel cells to generate electricity and water vapor without combustion, thus eliminating NOx
energyammonia-fuelclean-energyhydrogen-carrierpower-generationdecarbonizationclimate-techAlt Carbon scores $12M seed to scale carbon removal in India
energycarbon-removalclimate-techsustainable-agricultureenhanced-rock-weatheringenvironmental-impactIndiaBosch Ventures is turning its attention to North America with new $270M fund
energy-efficiencyautomotiveclimate-techsemiconductor-manufacturingAI-in-manufacturingdeep-tech-startupsNorth-America-investmentsAra Partners’ new $800M fund will decarbonize old industrial assets
energydecarbonizationclimate-techindustrial-assetsinfrastructure-fundcarbon-emissionsinvestment