Talking Climate Tech 001 redux
Farming, Agtech Startups, my 3 picks from Hack Summits 17 x VC watch list, and Pylon of the Month!
Issued to subscribers 22nd November 2024.
Here we go with the weekly newsletter - there has to be a first-time!
Straight down to business - what's in store?
💸 Startup News
🔎 Deeper Dive
🏡 Konfab News
😃 Other Stuff
Farming has been in the news this week here in the UK, specifically inheritance tax on farming. You can dive into that here if you want, including Jeremy Clarkson squirming just a little bit on his tax avoidance strategy, which may or may not amuse you 📽️.
In climate tech, the future of sustainable farming and agtech are key enablers in mitigating climate change and delivering food security - some timely startup news then...
Startups to Watch
🇩🇪 Klim - Agtech for regenerative agriculture platform, raised $22m in Series A funding from BNP Paribas, Achmea, AgFunder, Ananda Impact Ventures, Earthshot Ventures, and other investors.
Why it matters - regenerative farming will help us use fewer chemicals, restore soil, and sequester carbon. 🌱
🇧🇪 BiocSol, microbial-based crop protection, has secured €5.2m in seed funding led by Agri Investment Fund (AIF) and VIVES IUF, the round also included Belgian investors Invest.BW and IMBC Spinnova.
Why it matters - fungal and oomycete pathogens destroy 20–40% of annual crop yields worldwide, threatening food security. By providing farmers with reliable, cost-effective biopesticides, BiocSol seeks to mitigate these losses and support the transition to sustainable agriculture. ♻️
🇬🇧 Nukoku has previously raised $1.5m in seed funding to scale up its technology to produce cocoa-free chocolate from fava beans. Now, it's scaling up with Dohler as a partner for pilot-scale to industrial-scale production in 2025, utilising 10,000-litre fermentation batches to increase output efficiency.
Why it matters - we all love chocolate, right? 😋 Rising prices [89% in 2023], climate change, crop yields, and socio-economic challenges impact our favourite sweet treats. The upside? It has 40% less sugar and more protein, fibre, and antioxidants without compromising on taste, apparently. And it uses the famous fava bean, which can be grown in the UK - so there is a huge reduction in transport emissions. 🍫
Deeper Dive
Got some more time? Jump into these climate tech resources:
There are over 72,000 energy-related startups worldwide, according to IEA ⚡
Global investments in low-carbon energy transition technologies increased 17% YoY to a record high of 1.8 trillion US dollars last year. 💰
Hack Summit asked 17 VCs for their picks on startups to watch in this space - take a look for yourself and see what you think. 🤔
Plenty of very good ones missed - perhaps a longer post for another day. Here are three that caught my interest:
🇸🇪 PlexiGrid - SaaS
Reinventing electricity grids for the energy transition by combining data analysis and optimization technology in a platform.
Why? Large-scale electrification needs grid optimisation. ⚡
🇸🇰 GA Drilling - Hardtech
Novel plasma drilling technology for deep geothermal energy access and reduced costs.
Why? We need large-scale global deep and high temp. geothermal for heat and power, to supplement variable renewable energy. ♨️
🇱🇺 Circu Li-ion - Circular
Reuse and recycling of batteries by focusing on diagnosis, disassembly and second-life applications.
Why? We have a lot of batteries to deal with, and plenty more to come - lots of life in them for extended and alternative applications. 🔋
Konfab News
Our first guest contributor article is now live, dive on in, thanks to Jack Lewis;
"Energy System Modelling for UK Industrial Decarbonisation"
Jack Lewis
Other Stuff
The automotive is amid its greatest ever shake-up. VW is certainly feeling the heat - challenging sales numbers, outdeveloped by China, factory closures, and having to stump up for Rivian - gulp, some big numbers;
Rivian announced on Wednesday a $5.8 billion investment from German automaker Volkswagen as part of a joint venture, driving the Amazon-backed electric truck maker’s stock up over 15% on Wednesday.
The funding is a much-needed boost after Rivian posted a $1.45 billion loss in the first quarter of 2024, widening from a $1.35 billion loss in the same period in 2023. The cash infusion comes as Rivian’s cash burn rate remains high, and billions more will be needed to keep operations on track.
Our future is all about electrification, let's celebrate with last month's sexy snap,
That's it for this week, see you next Friday!
Kane 🌱
