🌳 #65. ESG Investing webinar + cleantech as sixth wave of innovation
Hello! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, especially for anyone that’s still on holiday.
Last week, we published our latest webinar about ESG Investing. Check it out! We talk about how ESG applies to asset and wealth management, why the asset class has grown, and the innovation powering the industry. One key takeaway? Data transparency is critical for all ecosystem stakeholders.
🗓 Events
July 21: Startups Driving Sustainability - July Showcase
Don’t miss presentations by:
Open Water - making sustainable and climate neutral bottled water
Topl - using blockchain to increase transparency in ESG initiatives
NEXT Energy Technologies - transforming windows into solar energy
📚 Worth Reading
For lovers of infographics, Visual Capitalist published a fascinating look at the history of innovation cycles. They showcase the last 250 years of change from the start of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700’s all the way through to what the next 25 years will look like. Notably, they call out cleantech as part of the sixth wave of innovation driven by the need to solve climate change’s pressing issues.
🚀 Funding and Congrats!
Lizee, the circular economy tech platform, raised €1.3 million from Ring Capital, Speedinvest, Volta Capital, and Alante Capital. They are hiring - see jobs below. 👇
Turntide Technologies raised a massive $225 million round to help reduce carbon emissions in buildings, agriculture, and transportation. Investors include: CCPI, Monashee Investment Management, JLL Spark, Breakthrough Energy, and Suvretta Capital.
Fortera, a low carbon cement provider, raised $30 million led by Temasek and Khosla Ventures.
Futureproof raised a $3 million seed round led by Innovation Endeavors along with MS&AD Ventures and Blackhorn Ventures.
BMW’s Corporate Venture Fund raised $300 million to invest in sustainable supply chain, manufacturing, and transportation.
🤝🏽 M&A & Partnerships
J.P. Morgan acquired OpenInvest, an ESG investment platform that helps advisors create and report values-based investment strategies.
AMG purchases Parnassus Investments, an ESG fund manager, for $600 million.
Consolidation in the green building space: Premier Modular acquires NetZero Buildings.
Nasdaq launched a new ESG Data Hub, connecting investors to various ESG datasets from other providers. Launch partners include: Equileap, Ecogain, RepRisk, Inrate, Upright Project, Cleantech Group, Munich Re.
🔊 Opportunities
New York City launched a global competition to find a partner for an upcoming Climate Solutions Center on Governor’s Island. The island will become a living laboratory for urban climate solutions.
The UN launched a call for innovative solutions in Cleantech and Sustainable Land Management. Applications are due August 2nd.
💡 Startup Spotlight
Spintex - spins high performance silk fibers, using a spider-inspired process.
👀 Quick Hits
The Wall Street Journal highlights recent trends in ESG investing and changing expectations regarding investor returns.
New York Times writes a deep dive on carbontech featuring innovators like Interface, CarbonCure and LanzaTech.
LVMH is launching a research and innovation center to create more sustainable and digital luxury solutions. It will house up to 300 employees, including scientists.
Gucci launched a vegan leather alternative material and made it available to the industry.
ThredUp’s 2021 Resale Report has a ton of great statistics on the state of the industry and changing consumer trends. Of note, the industry is expected to double to $77 billion over the next 5 years and overtake fast fashion.
Barclays and other companies are increasingly concerned about water scarcity. We wrote about the impacts to hydropower two weeks ago, and this article details even more issues with drought.
🎧 Podcast
A Good Company: mitigating mindless consumption
LimeLoop: revolutionizing smart reusable packaging
WasteWizer: weighing waste, transforming the waste industry
The Understory Podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Google Podcasts.
⚙️ Jobs
Find and share your open positions on the Understory Slack channel.
Climatetech Financial Analyst at Climate Collective
Fellowship Senior Product Manager at The Cartier Women’s Initiative
Senior Product Manager at The RealReal
Sustainability Director at Avery Dennison
Packaging & Sustainability Expert at The Clorox Company
Environmental Data Analyst at Arc’teryx
Multiple Roles at Rheaply
Senior Product Marketing Manager, Carbon Buyer at Indigo
Head of Sales at LimeLoop
Multiple Roles at Cervest
Brand Partnerships Manager at TerraCycle
Circular Economy Product Manager at Iron Mountain
Head of ESG Solutions, Energy at AWS
Sr. Program Manager, NA Transportation Sustainability at Amazon
Sustainability & Social Impact Lead at Adobe
Sustainability Program Manager - Carbon at Facebook
Senior Director, Sustainability at Tory Burch
Associate for Sustainability and ESG Strategies at JP Morgan
Head of Sales at Lizee
Business Developer & Sales at Resortecs
Product manager and engineers at Topl
📧 Stay in Touch!
You don’t have to wait for our weekly newsletter for all the latest content. Join us on Slack or follow along on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter to see real-time updates.
Until next week!