First to SMR

Hi there,

Clocks changing in the U.S. has me an hour tardy, thanks for your patience. Hope all you footy fans out there enjoyed the Liverpool v. Man City game this morning; we sure did. For the non footy fans, hope you enjoy the Oscars? If neither of those topics appeal to you, well, you tell me what does! No big intro today other than that — let’s rip in.

In today’s email:

• One story in a sentence (and a chart)

• Climate and energy headlines from the week

• Climate tech fundraising announcements

THIS WEEK IN CLIMATE TECH & ENERGY

One story in a sentence (and a chart)

• Apropos of the SMR news out of China this week (read on below), China also leads the world in its ability to build new nuclear reactors quickly, with an average reactor construction time of ~7 years since 2010. Link.

13 headlines (add one)

• Developers in China finished construction on the world’s first fourth-generation / small modular reactor. Linglong One is a modular pressurized water reactor being built in Hainan province. Specifically, it's an ACP100 design (125MWe) developed by the China National Nuclear Corporation. Elsewhere, Newcleo, a U.K.-based fission developer, noted it's raising $1B+ to develop small modular reactors fuelled by recycled nuclear waste. Link. Link. Link.

• The SEC unveiled final rules for large public companies in the U.S. to report on their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions as well as any material climate-related business risks. The rules were and will continue to be extensively lobbied, omit Scope 3 emissions, and won't go into effect until 2025. Further, there are gray areas pertaining to the 'materiality' of disclosure requirements. We'll cover this more on Tuesday (for premium subs). Link. Link. Link. Link.

• The EDF's methane-tracking satellite, MethaneSAT, successfully launched into orbit this week aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The satellite will accelerate efforts to monitor, measure, and ideally address methane emissions globally. All of its data will be open-sourced as early as next year. Elsewhere, BNP Paribas and Kayrros, which has designed methane emissions tracking services also based on satellite imagery, announced a partnership to accelerate methane mitigation for the oil and gas industry. Link. Link. Link.

• AWS, Amazon's cloud computing unit, bought a 960 MW data center co-located with a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania for ~$650M. Reading the tea leaves, we might infer that Amazon is placing its chips on the nuclear fission side of the table regarding what generation technology will meet the growing electricity demand of data centers. Link.

• rPlus Energies noted it has amended a PPA with PacifiCorp to quadruple the battery storage capacity at its Green River Energy Center project from 400 MWh to 1,600 MWh. Upon completion, the project, which also includes 400 MW of solar, should be one of the largest solar-plus-storage projects in the U.S. Based on the uprate, the project entails a $1B+ investment. Link.

• Form Energy noted they're on track to deliver novel iron-air energy storage systems manufactured at their West Virginia plant this year, with more than "5GWh in contracted deployments so far, with more to come!" (in a tweet response to me). Rondo also announced a new partnership with EDP to deploy 2 GWh of its thermal energy storage batteries. Link. Link. 

• Rivian unveiled its new R2 SUV at a starting price of $45,000. Rivian aims to launch the car in the first half of 2026. While folks seem excited about the R2, Rivian also announced this week that it's pausing construction on a $5B EV manufacturing plant in Georgia. Link. Link.

• XPrize launched a new 5-year, $150M competition ($119M in prize funding) to catalyze new innovations to address water scarcity (think, for instance, desalination solutions). Link.

• Coal India Limited, a major coal producer owned by the Indian government, recorded record production for its current fiscal year, underscoring continued demand for coal in Asia. Link.

• A utility pole owned by Xcel Energy that fell during a storm sparked the wildfire in Texas that turned into the worst in state history. An investigation from Texas A&M’s Forest Service also revealed the pole may have been improperly maintained. Link. Link.

• 'Eco' terrorists caused up to $1B in damages to Tesla's gigafactory in Germany. Not sure how those folks claim to be representing any 'eco' movement. The infrastructural damage also affected 60,000 Germans in Brandenburg. Link.

• A local planning authority in the U.K. rejected a proposed 150 MW battery energy storage system that would have been deployed alongside 373 MW of solar at the Cleve Hill Solar Park project, underscoring how permitting, environmental reviews, and local opposition continue to thwart low-carbon energy deployment both in the U.S. as well as across the pond. Link.

• Gro Intelligence, an agricultural insights and data company, laid off 60% of its staff sans severance, though it did secure rescue financing. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds

💦⚡ Sunfire, based out of Dresden, Germany, raised ~$234M in Series E funding for its electrolyzer manufacturing business. LGT Private Banking, GIC, Ahren Innovation Capital, Carbon Equity, and others invested. The company also secured up to a ~$107M term loan from the European Investment Bank as well as $200M+ in grants. More here. (Germany, Industry)

Medium-sized funding rounds.

🖥️ Efficient Computer, based out of Pittsburgh, raised $16M in seed funding to make less energy-intensive semiconductors. Eclipse led. More here. (U.S., Industry)

⬇️ Greenlyte Carbon Technologies, based out of Essen, Germany, raised ~$11.3M in equity funding for its direct air capture business from Earlybird Venture Capital, Green Generation Fund, Carbon Removal Partners, and others. More here. (Germany, Carbon Removal)

📊 HData, based out of Birmingham, AL, raised $10M in Series A funding to make AI software that reviews energy regulatory filings from public utility commissions. Buoyant Ventures led. More here. (U.S., Data Applications)

Smaller funding rounds

🧪 Jupiter Ionics, based out of Melbourne, Australia, raised $9M in equity funding to develop its electrochemical green ammonia technology. Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy & Fertilisers, CIMIC Group, and others invested. More here. (Australia, Industry)

♻️ Glacier, based out of San Francisco, raised $7.7M in funding to use “AI-powered robots to automate the sorting of recyclables and collect real-time data on recycling streams for recycling companies and consumer brands.” New Enterprise Associates and Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund led. More here. (U.S., Materials)

🥛 Malk Organics, based out of Austin, TX, raised $7M from Benvolio Group and Rotor Capital for its alt-milk products. More here. (U.S., Food & Agriculture)

⚡ Plexigrid, based out of Stockholm, Sweden, raised ~$7M in equity funding for its grid-management software. The European Innovation Council Accelerator Programme led. More here. (Sweden, Energy)

☕ Food Brewer, based out of Horgen, Switzerland, raised ~$5.6M in seed funding for its sustainable cacao and coffee alternatives. Max Felchlin AG invested. More here. (Switzerland, Food & Agriculture)

🔁 Cyclize, based out of Stuttgart, Germany, raised ~$5.4M in seed funding for its plasma-based process that turns mixed plastic waste into synthetic gas. UVC Partners led. More here. (Germany, Industry)

⚡ Nextron, based out of São Paulo, Brazil, raised $5.3M in Series A funding to connect homes and small businesses with renewable energy. Vox Capital and Copel Ventures led. More here. (Brazil, Energy)

🥛 Cultivated Biosciences, based out of Wädenswil, Switzerland, raised $5M in seed funding for its yeast-derived cream that can be used to make alternative dairy products. Navus Ventures led. More here. (Switzerland, Food & Agriculture)

🔋 phelas, based out of Munich, Germany, raised ~$4.4M In seed funding for its liquid air energy storage technology. E44 Ventures led. More here. (Germany, Energy)

📊 Gridcog, based out of Perth, Australia, raised ~$4.2M in equity funding for its distributed energy simulation, optimization, and tracking software. AlbionVC led. More here. (Australia, Energy)

🔋 Glimpse, based out of Somerville, MA, raised $4M in seed funding to make battery quality monitoring solutions with x-ray scanning services. Ibex Mobility, Flybridge Capital Partners, and others invested More here. (U.S., Energy / Transportation)

🥓 Umaro Foods, based out of San Francisco, raised $3.8M in seed 2 funding for its seaweed-based bacon. Alexandria Ventures Investments, Climate Capital Bio, and Ponderosa Ventures invested. More here. (U.S., Food & Agriculture)

🌞 Niko, based out of Mexico City, raised $3.3M in seed funding for to install more solar in Mexico. Picus Capital and 468 Capital co-led. More here. (Mexico, Energy)

🌳 Thryve.Earth, based out of Singapore, raised $2.6M in seed funding for its platform that “unites multiple stakeholders to develop high-quality nature-based carbon projects.” Openspace led. More here. (Singapore, Carbon Removal)

🐶 PawCo Foods, based out of San Francisco, raised $2M in seed funding for its plant-based pet foods. Elevate Ventures led. More here. (U.S., Food & Agriculture)

🧪 Van Heron Labs, based out of Houston, raised $1.1M in seed funding for its cell growth-focused technologies to make alternative proteins and materials. FoodLabs led. More here. (U.S., Food & Agriculture / Materials)

🛰️ Esper, based out of Melbourne, Australia, raised $1M in pre-seed funding to provide hyperspectral satellite imaging services for agriculture, mining, and environmental monitoring applications. Stellar Ventures, Day One Ventures, and Dolby Family Ventures invested, and the 776 Foundation and the Australian Federal Government provided grant funding as well. More here. (Australia, Data Applications)

🌱 NitroVolt, based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, raised ~$800k in pre-seed funding to develop a machine that makes ammonia out of air, water, and electricity and can be used at the point of use. BackingMinds led. More here. (Denmark, Food & Agriculture)

Other funding rounds

💦⚡  Electric Hydrogen, based out of Natick, MA, raised $50M in equipment financing for its green hydrogen and electrolyzer manufacturing business. The company is gearing up to manufacture electrolyzers at its factory in Devens, MA. Trinity Capital provided the financing. More here. (U.S., Industry)

💦⚡  StormFisher Hydrogen, based out of Toronto, raised ~$22.3M in private equity funding from ARC Financial to develop e-fuel projects in the U.S. and Canada. More here. (Canada, Industry)

New funds

💵 EQT, based out of New York, raised ~$3.3B for its long-hold impact fund, with which it will invest in climate, nature, and health and wellbeing-focused projects and companies. More here. (U.S., Private Equity)

💵 Cibus Capital, based out of London, raised $645M across two new funds to invest in sustainable food and agriculture companies. More here. (U.K., Food & Agriculture)

💰 Fathom Fund, based out of Houston, raised $100M+ to make deep-tech investments across technologies ranging from microchips to satellites. More here (paywall). (U.S., Funds)

💸 Nordic Science Investments, based out of Helsinki, Finland, raised ~$65M in a first close of its first fund to invest growth capital in deep-tech companies spun out of academia. More here. (Finland, Funds)

💸 DevEngine, based out of New York, launched with $20M in funding from Spring Lane Capital for its new clean energy project incubator. It will use the $20M to both help deploy projects and run DevEngine operations. More here. (U.S., Funds)

🏫 The MIT Sloan School of Management, based out of Cambridge, MA, launched a new center focused on climate policy with a $25M investment. More here. (U.S., Policy)

Be good now,

– Nick