Record low battery prices

Hi,

Thanks for your patience with the send time. The NYC marathon delayed my return travel, which is pretty high on my list of reasons I’d like to be delayed for (if you ran it, you’re a star!!!).

As always, billions of dollars were allocated this week and are covered in this newsletter across eVTOLs, port electrification, and more. Further, we dig into headlines, ranging from nuclear power restarts (and miscues) to the details of a battery manufacturing darlings unraveling. Proceed →

In today’s email:

• One story in a chart and a sentence

• Climate and energy headlines from the week

• Climate tech fundraising announcements

♡ If you find this work valuable, you can support it here. I put a lot of time into it. ♡

THIS WEEK IN CLIMATE TECH & ENERGY

One story in a sentence (and a chart)

• There’s a new report out on “The Future of Water Resilience” from J.P. Morgan and the ERM Sustainability Institute that I highly recommend, as it features visualizations like the one below. Link.

15+ headlines

The good

• Battery cell prices reached another all-time low, with LFP cells falling below $60 per kWh. Link.

• Operation of Onagawa No. 2, a 796 MWe reactor in Japan that was paused since the Fukushima Earthquake in 2011 resumed for two days before a problem with a radiation monitoring device forced a fresh halt again. Link.

• Japan is also getting close to restarting another nuclear fission power plant. Shimane No. 2, built in 1989 with 820 MWe capacity, recently finished all safety upgrades needed and loaded fuel into the reactor. December is the official restart target; the reactor has been offline since early 2012. This will help reduce natural gas and coal demand; Japan is a big importer of both. Link.

• China unveiled a massive 16.5 GW renewable energy project (+ coal) in the Taklamakan Desert. The project, developed by state-owned Three Gorges Energy, aims to add 8.5 GW of solar, 4 GW of wind, ~4 GW of coal power + 5 GWh of energy storage. Link.

• Lithium Americas, a Canadian mining company, closed on a $2.3 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund lithium processing at its mine in Humboldt County, Nevada. The Thacker Pass is the largest known (“Measured and Indicated Resource”) lithium source in North America. Link.

• The Biden Admin also announced $3 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act for 55 different projects to improve and electrify port infrastructure across the country. It also announced $44.8 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for eight projects making EV battery components and advancing EV battery recycling. Link. Link.

• Waymo is now doing more than 150,000 autonomous, all-electric, paid taxi rides per week. Link.

• In addition to data from Tangager-1, another methane monitoring satellite, MethaneSAT is now openly publishing data on methane releases from oil and gas operations. Link. Link.

• Metso, a Finnish industrial machinery company, opened a new DRI (direct reduced iron) Smelting Furnace pilot facility in Pori, Finland, to reduce emissions from iron making. Link.

• Greenhouse gas emissions fell by more than 8% in 2023 in Europe, according to the European Commission and as reported by Bloomberg. Link.

The inbetweens

• Chinese automaker BYD's Q3 revenue topped Tesla's for the first time since the two companies started competing seriously across global markets. GM also saw its EV sales improve, while Ford announced it would pause production at an F-150 Lightning production plant. Link. Link. Link.

The bad

• Volkswagen is planning significant layoffs and may shutter "at least" three factories for the first time in decades as Germany's industrial sector struggles for a whole host of reasons. To list a few reasons, Volkswagen has tried to push an EV strategy but has lost ground to Chinese competitors and had to deal with high European electricity prices. Link. Link.

• China is adding more export controls on mineral mining and refining needed for countless technologies, from semiconductors to batteries and more. Link.

• Northvolt missed a payment to laid-off employees as its struggles continue to mount. Volvo is also taking control of a JV it had with Northvolt. For a deep dive into the ongoing post-mortem of what's transpiring at what was seen as a 'darling' of climate tech venture capital as recently as six months ago, see the third link. Pretty massive story globally, especially when cast in relief against the simplistic headline that "domestic manufacturing is booming." It is, but manufacturing is incredibly hard! Link. Link. Link.

• Citizens Property Insurance (Florida's top insurer reportedly) also missed payments on 75%+ of claims for Hurricane Debby. TBD what happens with claims for damage caused by Hurricanes Helene & Milton (more recent). Link.

• Another Vestas turbine collapsed at a U.S. wind farm, forcing a Missouri plant to shut down. This also happened at an offshore wind development in Massachusetts earlier this year (it's the third Vestas turbine to malfunction in six months). Link. Link.

• Brazil fined 23 meat packers $64 million for buying cattle from deforested Amazon land across 69 properties that sold 18,000 head of cattle raised on deforested land. Link.

• Intense flooding across Spain killed hundreds. Meanwhile, October set records for heat and drought across the U.S. (and many other places). Link. Link. Link. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds

💵 Beta Technologies, based out of South Burlington, VT, raised $318 million in Series C funding to make electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (eVTOLs). Qatar's sovereign wealth fund led. Link.

🔌 Outrider, based out of Golden, CO, raised $62 million in Series D funding to make autonomous technologies for electric yard trucks (think shipping bays). Koch Disruptive Technologies led. Link.

🪟 LuxWall, based out of Ypsilanti, MI, raised $51 million in Series B funding to make vacuum-insulated glass (more insulated windows, to start) that helps improve energy efficiency in buildings. Climate Investment and Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital led. Link.

Medium-sized funding rounds

🔌 MobilityPlus, based out of Ghent, Belgium, raised ~$43.2 million for its real-time data insights, customer support, and energy management for EV charging. Suma Capital led. Link.

⚡ Neara, based out of Sydney, raised $31 million in Series C funding to make advanced 3D modeling software for utilities and infrastructure companies to map and simulate their networks to advance resilience digitally. EQT led. Link.

🌞 Merlin Solar, based out of San Jose, CA, raised $31 million in Series B funding to make flexible, lightweight solar panels for differentiated environments that can require additional levels of physical product resilience. Fifth Wall led. Link.

♨️ Redoxblox, based out of San Diego, raised an additional $30 million in Series A funding (on top of an initial $10.7 million) to make thermochemical energy storage systems to provide heat for industrial applications and potentially long-duration energy storage for power grids. Prelude Ventures led. Link.

🚌 BasiGo, based out of Nairobi, Kenya, raised $24 million in Series A funding to make electric buses. Africa50 led. The company also raised $17.5 million in debt from British International Investment and the U.S. Development Finance Corporation. Link.

🔎 Andium, based out of New York, raised $21.7 million in Series B funding for its remote monitoring technology for oil and gas. Aramco Ventures led. Link.

⚡ Flower, based out of Stockholm, raised ~$21.7 million in extended Series A funding to make software to help integrate intermittent renewables into power grids and manage their output more efficiently and effectively. Northzone led. Link.

✈️ Beyond Aero, based out of Toulouse, France, raised $20 million in Series A funding to make hydrogen-electric planes. Giant Ventures, Bpifrance, Initialized Capital, and others invested. Link.

♻️ Hubcycle, based out of Avignon, France, raised ~$16.3 million million in Series A funding to make more affordable, sustainable food ingredients. ETF Partners invested. Link.

⚡️💦 Matteco, based out of Valencia, Spain, raised ~$16.2 million in Series A funding for its green hydrogen production tech. Grupo ASV, Napali, and Zubi invested. Link.

🛰️ Matter Intelligence, based out of Los Angeles, raised $12 million in seed funding to develop sensors for Earth imaging purposes, whether from satellites, drones, or other aircraft. Lowercarbon Capital led. Link.

🌊 Planetary Technologies, based out of Nova Scotia, Canada, raised $11.4 million in Series A funding for its ocean-based carbon removal technology that aims to enhance ocean alkalinity to increase the ocean’s ability to remove CO₂. Evok Innovations led. Link.

Smaller funding rounds

🔌 Infinite Machine, based out of New York, raised $9.3 million in seed funding to make electric scooters. Andreessen Horowitz led. Link.

♨️ Vamo, based out of Cologne, Germany, raised ~$7.6 million in extended seed funding for its software that helps clients transition from heating oil to heat pumps. Extantia Capital and Get Fund led. Link.

💧 Crew Carbon, based out of Brooklyn, raised $5.3 million in seed funding to use “engineered enhanced weathering to remove CO2 from municipal and industrial wastewater systems.” Counteract led. Link.

🚧 Emidat, based out of Munich, raised $4.3 million in seed funding to make software to help construction companies calculate the environmental impact of building materials they use. General Catalyst led. Link.

🏘️ HomeBoost, based out of San Francisco, raised $4 million in seed funding to make home energy-management and efficiency software with DIY assessments. True Ventures, Gigascale Capital, and Incite.org led. Link.

📦 Earthodic, based out of Brisbane, Australia, raised $4 million in seed funding for its recyclable coating for paper packaging that also aims to eliminate microplastic pollution. FTW Ventures led. Link.

🐄 Ruminant BioTech, based out of Auckland, New Zealand, raised ~$3.6 million in equity funding from AgriZeroNZ and New Zealand Green Investment Finance for its methane-inhibiting bolus targeted at reducing livestock emissions from enteric fermentation. Link.

📊 Cold, based out of Minneapolis, raised $2.65 million in pre-seed funding to help consumers and businesses assess and reduce their carbon footprints. York IE led. Link.

🌿 Macro Oceans, based out of Sacramento, CA, raised $2.5 million in extended seed funding to turn seaweed into sustainable biochemicals. Refactor led. Link.

❌🗑️ Foodsi, based out of Lubin, Poland, raised ~$1.3 million in extended seed funding to make a marketplace for surplus food from restaurants and stores to reduce food waste. AIP Seed, Satus Starter, and AC/VC Impact Fund invested. Link.

🌿 Rare Earth Global, based out of Saffron Walden, U.K., raised ~$1.3 million in pre-seed funding to supply carbon-neutral hemp for energy and construction purposes and animal feed. Link.

🔁 SpiralWave, based out of San Francisco, raised $1 million in equity funding from IndieBio for its plasma-based CO2-to-methanol conversion technology. Link.

Other funding rounds

♨️ Copper, based out of Berkeley, CA, received a $32 million grant from the New York Power Authority and NYC Housing Authority to develop and install its electric induction stoves in New York City apartments. Climate Capital (where I work) is an investor here. Link. 

☀️ Kraus Hamdani Aerospace, based out of Emeryville, CA, received a $20 million U.S. Department of Defense contract for its long-range solar-powered drones. Link.

New funds

💵 KKR and Energy Capital Partners, based out of New York and Summit, NJ, respectively, announced a $50 billion (!) "strategic partnership" to invest in data centers and the power generation needed for them. Link.

💵 The European Union announced it will invest ~$1.5 billion in 2025 to accelerate deep tech research in focus areas, including low-carbon technologies, agritech, biotech, and more, as part of the Horizon Europe program and the EIC's Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform. Link.

💰 Verdane, based out of Oslo, raised ~$760 million for its second fund to invest in European companies focused on the energy transition and resource efficiency. Link.

💰 Socium Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Cox Enterprises based out of New York, launched a second $300 million to invest in industries including climate tech. Link.

💰 Crosscut Ventures, based out of Santa Monica, CA, raised $100 million for a new fund to invest in "frontier tech," including sectors like energy, space and underwater exploration, advanced manufacturing, materials, and more. Link.

💸 Tamarack Global, based out of Greenwich, CT, raised its second fund with $72 million. Its investments to date include a number of climate tech companies, from fusion energy to cloud seeding companies. Link.

⬇️ Aviva VC, based out of London, launched a carbon removal fund. Link.

Have a good week ahead,

– Nick