More than a car company

Hi there,

If you missed us on Thursday, we skipped a send because it would have fallen on the fourth of July holiday. Back to your regular scheduled planning next Thursday, though we may also skip a few more emails this month as we’ll be in Europe and aim to build in some screen-free time.

It was a busy week across climate tech and energy fundraising and headlines, U.S.-holiday notwithstanding. Here are the updates.

In today’s email:

• One story in a chart and a sentence

• Climate tech and energy headlines from the week

• Climate tech fundraising announcements

MORE ~COOL~ STUFF

While today’s newsletter covers Tesla’s maturation into more than a car company, we don’t dive deep on EVs that much anymore in these pages. If you’re looking for more stellar content on electrification and EVs, then The EV Universe is perfect newsletter for you. See more here:

THIS WEEK IN CLIMATE TECH & ENERGY

One story in a sentence (and a chart)

• Tesla stationary energy storage deployments surged 157% year-over-year to 9.4 GWh deployed in Q2 as its Megapack prices fell 44%, marking “the highest quarterly deployment yet,” per the company. Link. Link.

13 headlines

The good

• While Tesla car sales fell again year-over-year, both the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 (both are EVs) set Q2 sales records in the U.S., refuting narratives surrounding the demise of EV sales. Abroad, BYD set a new monthly EV sales record in June, with 341,658 plug-in vehicles sold. That's a 35% jump compared to June 2023. Link. Link.

• The DOE announced a $2.7B request for proposals for low-enriched uranium produced from domestic sources to ensure the sustainability of the U.S.'s operating nuclear fleet. Link.

• Even as its competitor Universal Hydrogen went under last week, ZeroAvia announced a 100-engine order from American Airlines. Link.

• Rio Tinto and Investissement Québec announced they will invest $285M to develop a plant with carbon-free aluminum smelting cells in Québec. Link.

• Amplify Cell Technologies, a joint venture between Accelera, Daimler, and Paccar, commenced construction on a 21 GWh battery cell factory in Marshall County, Mississippi. Link.

• Avangrid received federal approval for its 2.6 GW offshore wind projects, New England Wind 1 and 2 projects in Massachusetts. Link.

The inbetweens

• Chinese state-owned power company China Three Gorges Renewables announced plans to build an 8 GW solar PV project in Inner Mongolia, China, alongside 4 GW of wind, 4 GW of coal-fired power, and 5 GWh of battery energy storage. Link.

• A federal court halted the Biden Admin's pause on new approvals for natural gas LNG export facilities. Judge James Cain, a Trump appointee in Louisiana, approved a request from Republican-led states to lift the pause while the rule gets litigated. This doesn't mean that new permits will necessarily be approved; it just means the rule is in limbo. Link. Link.

• Data center operators are trying to lock up nuclear energy supply across the U.S.; the problem is there isn't much new nuclear under construction; while a positive signal for nuclear, for now, this is just shifting supply. Link.

The bad

• Google isn't making good on its decarbonization target (so far): The company has a net zero target for 2030, but its emissions grew 13% in 2023 and have grown 48% since 2019, thanks in part to AI energy demand. Makes you wonder when an internet company in California can't hit a climate commitment... Link.

• C-Quest Capital, a carbon offset project developer, noted it had to report a former CEO, Kenneth Newcombe, to U.S. federal law enforcement as he allegedly issued millions of worthless carbon credits. Link.

• SunPower shares fell some 50% after the company received an SEC subpoena over accounting irregularities. Link.

• Upside Foods is conducting more layoffs. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds

🚁 Eve Air Mobility, a four-year-old startup based in Melbourne, FL, raised $94M in equity funding to make electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) for urban air transportation. Embraer and Nidec invested. More here. (U.S., Transportation)

🚁 Archer Aviation, based out of San Jose, CA, also raised another $55M in equity funding from Stellantis for its eVTOL business. More here. (U.S., Transportation)

Medium-sized funding rounds

🧪 Aether Fuels, based out of Chicago, raised $34M in Series A funding for its sustainable fuels business. AP Ventures led. More here. (U.S., Transportation)

⬇️ SCW Systems, based out of Alkmaar, Netherlands, raised ~$27M in equity funding for its direct air capture and synthetic natural gas and green hydrogen production technologies. PFZW led. More here. (Netherlands, Energy / Carbon Removal)

❄️ Artyc, based out of San Francisco, has stealthily raised $14M in equity funding so far for its cold supply chain technology that includes a lithium-ion battery and a solid-state heat pump. More here. (U.S., Industry)

🖥️ Phaidra, based out of Seattle, raised $12M in equity funding to make control systems that optimize the performance of industrial facilities and data centers. Index Ventures led. More here. (U.S., Industry)

🔎 Apiday, based out of Paris, raised ~$10.8M in  Series A funding for its AI-powered ESG data platform that helps companies with compliance. Daphni led. More here. (France, Data Applications)

🧑‍🌾 eAgronom, based out of Tartu, Estonia, raised ~$10.8M in extended Series A funding to help farmers adopt sustainable farming practices. Swedbank led. More here. (Estonia, Food & Agriculture)

🧱 alcemy, based out of Berlin, raised $10 million in equity funding to help construction companies with operational efficiencies to reduce emissions from cement use. Norrsken VC led. More here. (Germany, Built Environment)

Smaller funding rounds

♻️ Vytal, based out of Cologne, Germany, raised ~$6.7M in equity funding to make reusable packaging for restaurants and the food service industry. Emerald Technology led. More here. (Germany, Materials)

🔋 Feon Energy, based out of Woburn, MA, raised $6.1M in seed funding to make non-flammable liquid electrolytes for batteries. Fine Structure Ventures led. More here. (U.S., Energy / Transportation)

👜 Uncaged Innovations, based out of New York, raised $5.6M in seed funding to make sustainable leather alternatives. Green Circle Foodtech Ventures and Fall Line Capital co-led. More here. (U.S., Materials)

🌳 Tree.ly, based out of Dornbirn, Austria, raised ~$5.4M in seed funding to develop forest-protection projects across Europe. Portfolion Capital Partners led. More here. (Austria, Nature-Based Solutions)

🖥️ Vaire Computing, based out of London, raised $4M in seed funding to make more efficient silicon chips for computation. 7percent Ventures and Jude Gomila co-led. More here. (U.K., Industry)

🔬 Altrove, based out of Paris, raised ~$4M in pre-seed funding to use AI and lab automation to accelerate new material discovery, focused on rare earth materials. Contrarian Ventures led. More here. (France, Materials)

📊 Sensorita, based out of Oslo, Norway, came out of stealth with ~$3.5M in seed funding to use digital twins to help waste management streamline their operations. Brick & Mortar Ventures led. More here. (Norway, Industry)

🌞 GlassPoint, based out of New York, raised $2.5M in extended Series A funding to build and operate solar steam facilities for industrial use. MIG Capital led. More here. (U.S., Industry)

📊 Versiro, based out of Trondheim, Norway, raised ~$2.5M in equity funding for its real-time analysis software for power producers. Alliance VC led. More here. (Norway, Data Applications)

🧱 Cambridge Electric Cement, a spinout of the University of Cambridge, raised $2.4M in seed to scale its low-carbon, recycled cement production process. Zero Carbon Capital led. More here. (U.K., Built Environment)

🚀 ISPTech, based out of Hardthausen, Germany, raised $2.1M in pre-seed funding to make propulsion systems for spacecraft that use more environmentally friendly fuels. HTGF led. More here. (Germany, Transportation) 

🥩 Matr Foods, based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, raised an undisclosed amount in equity funding from Novo Holdings to make sustainable meat alternatives from mycelium and upcycled vegetables. More here. (Denmark, Food & Agriculture)

🔋 Stafl Systems, based out of South San Francisco, raised an undisclosed amount in equity funding from WindSail for its lithium-ion battery pack and battery management platform. More here. (U.S., Energy / Transportation)

Other funding rounds

🔌 The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach announced plans to invest $25m to develop heavy-duty truck charging depots. More here. (U.S., Transportation)

📊 Natural Capital Research Limited, based out of London, raised $10M in Series A funding to help organizations understand nature-related risks and opportunities inherent to their operations. Norinchukin Capital, Yeo Ventures, and Pelican Ag participated. More here. (U.K., Data Applications)

🌞 New Green Power, based out of Taiwan, raised an undisclosed amount of money from Google for its solar development and operations business. More here. (Taiwan, Energy)

New funds

💵 Novo Holdings, part of Novo Nordisk (Ozempic's producer), launched a growth equity strategy to invest in climate change-focused startups. Novo Holdings has ~$160B in AUM and plans to focus on "sub-$1 million" pre-seed checks across sectors. More here (paywall). (Denmark, Funds)

💰 Seaya, based out of Madrid, Spain, raised ~$324M for a new climate tech fund, 'Andromeda', from which it will invest in startups across themes including the energy transition, decarbonization, sustainable food, circular economy, and more. More here. (Spain, Funds)

💰 The Westly Group, based out of Menlo Park, CA, raised $100M to invest in seed-stage companies across climate, energy, and industry. More here. (U.S., Funds)

💸 Freeflow Ventures, based out of Pasadena, CA, raised $35m for its second fund and $15M for an opportunity fund. The fund invests in "human and planetary health challenges." More here. (U.S., Funds)

I’m off to Europe for the rest of the month. If you’re in Germany, Italy, Portugal, or Spain and want to hang out, LMK!

– Nick