To the mines

Hi there,

Hope you’re managing to keep cool amidst escalating political chaos. We’re taking the next week off as part of a rolling summer hiatus that’s now coming at a better-than-ever moment to get off the internet. In this newsletter we still tallied up the top hits from the past week in climate and energy, including notable investments in water-focused companies and positive news about a massive copper deposit

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

We don’t dive super deep on EVs all that much in these pages. If you’re looking for more stellar content on electrification and EVs, then The EV Universe is perfect newsletter for you. More here:

THIS WEEK IN CLIMATE TECH & ENERGY

One story in a sentence (and a chart)

• It’s not just climate tech: U.S. bankruptcies are at their highest level in four years, surpassing levels seen at the beginning of the pandemic. Link.

13 headlines

The good

• KoBold Metals noted it has made the largest copper discovery globally in more than a decade. The company estimates its mine in Zambia may produce more than 300,000 tons of copper a year once fully operational. Link. 

• The DOE offered $1.2 billion in conditional loan funding to Entek Lithium Separators, a manufacturer of battery components, for the company to build a new factory in Indiana. The Biden Admin also offered $1.7 billion to 11 recipients across eight states, including a Jeep factory in Illinois, to develop EVs. Link. Link.

• BYD plans to invest $1 billion to build a new EV manufacturing plant in Turkey. Link.

• The new moderate British government has made some swift moves to support renewable energy, including repealing a ban on new onshore wind development in the U.K. Link.

• Despite Google's struggles with its decarbonization targets, Amazon has made quick progress reducing emissions. Link. Link.

• Joby Electric demonstrated a hydrogen-electric aircraft with a 523-mile test flight. Link.

• Verdagy plans to build a second, $150 million "multi-gigawatt scale" factory to make its large-scale electrolyzers. Link (paywall). 

• Microsoft announced it will buy 500,000 tons of carbon removal over six years from Occidental Petroleum's direct air capture company, 1PointFive. This marks the largest-ever single of DAC-based carbon removal credits. Frontier also committed $40 million to another DAC player, 280 Earth, which initially spun out of Google. Link. Link.

The bad

• CTVC's report, which came out last week, on the state of climate tech funding halfway through 2024, was sobering. Funding in the first half of 2024 fell 20% from H1'23 and 41% from H2'23. Link.

• Highlighting stratification across the EV market, Audi may shutter a Brussels EV factory, citing weak demand. Link.

• The SEC and DOJ are investigating Aspiration, a provider of more 'climate-friendly' consumer-facing financial products and services. Link.

• Hundreds of thousands were out of power for days in Houston after Hurricane Beryl. Link.

• Alaskan glaciers near Juneau are at risk of surpassing an irreversible tipping point. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds

💧 Upwell Water, based out of San Francisco, raised $100 million in equity funding from Climate Adaptive Infrastructure for its sustainable water infrastructure development business. More here. (U.S., Water)

💧 ZwitterCo, based out of Woburn, MA, raised $58.4 million in Series B funding for its advanced membranes for water treatment. Evok Innovations led. More here. We also did a podcast with the CEO a while back – listen here. (U.S., Water)

🔋 Planqc, based out of Munich, raised ~$54.5 million in Series A funding to use quantum computing to build better EVs batteries (among other applications). CATRON Holding and DeepTech & Climate Fonds led. More here. (Germany, Energy /Transportation)

Medium-sized funding rounds

🔥 ​​OroraTech, based out of Munich, raised ~$21.8 million in equity funding from Greece's Ministry of Digital Governance to make satellite-based wildfire warning systems. More here. (Germany, Adaptation)

♻️ NovoNutrients, based out of Sunnyvale, CA, raised $18 million in Series A funding to upcycle industrial CO2 waste into sustainable proteins via microbes. Woodside Energy and CM Venture Capital led. More here. (U.S., Food & Agriculture)

♻️ Polystyvert, based out of Montreal, Canada, raised $16 million in a first close of Series B funding to build its first commercial plant to recycle contaminated polystyrene waste. Infinity Recycling led. More here. (Canada, Materials)

⚡️💧 Dynelectro, based out of Viby, Denmark, raised ~$12 million in equity funding for its solid-oxide electrolysis technologies to make green hydrogen with industrial waste heat. Export & Import Fund of Denmark, Yara Growth Ventures, Vsquared Ventures, and others participated. More here. (Denmark, Industry)

📊 Eneida, based out of Coimbra, Portugal, raised ~$11.4 million in Series B funding to make sensors and data analytics software for grid operators. Junction Growth Investors led. More here. (Portugal, Data Applications)

⚡️ epilot, based out of Cologne, Germany, raised ~$10.9 million in equity funding from Expedition Growth Capital to help grid operators digitize their operations and accelerate renewable energy adoption. More here. (Germany, Energy)

🏢 Scaler, based out of New York, raised $10 million in Series A funding for its platform that combines machine learning, ESG data, and reporting to help decarbonize real estate. Plural led. More here. (U.S., Built Environment)

Smaller funding rounds

🏡 Switchee, based out of London, raised ~$6 million in equity funding to help homeowners lower their heating bills via its smart thermostat. Octopus Energy led. More here. (U.K., Built Environment)

♻️ Sircel, based out of Sydney, Australia, raised $5 million in equity funding from Kilara Capital to recycle solar panels. More here. (Australia, Materials)

✈️ Unum Aircraft Seating, based out of Crawley, U.K., raised ~$4.6 million in equity funding to develop lighter business-class aircraft seats to help airlines save fuel. ACF Investors participated. More here. (U.K., Transportation)

⬇️ Yama, based out of Paris, raised $3 million for its hybrid electrochemical technology direct air capture technology. The Grantham Foundation, Susquehanna Sustainable Investments, Kibo Invest, and others invested. More here. (France, Carbon Removal)

🍎 Aurea Imaging, based out of Utrecht, Netherlands, raised ~$3 million in Series A funding for its sensor systems designed for orchard farmers. Pymwymic led. More here. (Netherlands, Food & Agriculture)

🏢 Orus Energy, based out of Paris, raised ~$2.4 million in pre-seed funding for its demand-side flexibility platform for commercial buildings. b2venture, Asterion Ventures, and Ring Capital led. More here. (France, Built Environment)

📊 kolum, based out of Berlin, raised ~$2.3 million in pre-seed funding for its regulatory compliance platform targeted at the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. FoodLabs led. More here. (Germany, Data Applications)

⬇️ Fugu Carbon, based out of Sydney, Australia, raised $1.7 million in seed funding for its CO2 capture technology made from mass-manufactured parts. Investible led. More here. (Australia, Carbon Removal)

🪰 ByBug, based out of Coquimbo, Chile, raised $1.4 million in seed funding to produce recombinant proteins from genetically engineered black soldier flies. Südlich Capital, Arpegio VC, and others invested. More here. (Chile, Food & Agriculture)

👕 GALY, based out of Boston, raised an undisclosed amount of equity funding from Inditex (owner of Zara) to make cultivated cotton from plant cells. More here. (U.S., Materials)

New funds

💵 Flagship Pioneering, based out of Cambridge, MA, raised $3.6 billion to create 25 “impact-driven companies” in human health, sustainability, and artificial intelligence. More here. (U.S., Funds)

💰 Mundi Ventures, based out of Madrid, raised ~$380 million from the European Investment Fund for its Kembara Fund I FCR to invest in growth-stage deeptech and climate companies. More here. (Spain, Funds) 

💰 Orion Infrastructure Capital, based out of New York, raised $370 million to make loans to maturing climate startups. More here. (U.S., Funds)

💰 North Sky Capital, based out of Wayzata, MN, raised $250 million for its Clean Growth VI impact secondaries fund. More here. (U.S., Funds)

💰 LUMO Labs, based out of Eindhoven, Netherlands, launched a ~$109 million fund to invest in impact-driven European startups. More here. (Netherlands, Funds) 

💸 Frumtak Ventures, based out of Iceland, closed its fourth fund with $87 million to invest in startups across ocean tech, energy, climate, and more. More here. (Iceland, Funds)

Ciao,

– Nick