#108 Startups in Sustainability / Should S&P kick Tesla out?
Startup Driving Sustainability Showcase
We have a diverse set of startups speaking on Tuesday.
Partsimony - Intelligent manufacturing supply chain platform.
Agolo - AI-powered summarization engine for business including ESG.
TrueToForm - Sustainable apparel design process with 3D and machine learning.
Greenpixie - Cloud Netzero. Demystifying the environmental impact of cloud computing.
📚 Worth Reading
It seems to be getting hot really fast, at least in parts of the U.S.
It turns out that in some parts of the country and world, this May has broken some kind of records.
Heat means we need to drink more probably contributing to more consumption of plastic bottled water. Heat means we are using more air conditioning in homes, offices, cars, and stores which takes energy. Heat also means more powerful cooling is needed for food, medicine, and other heat-sensitive items. Heat also means that some crops are going to die if there isn’t enough water. Heat can shorten batteries in electric vehicles.
Not to get us down, but there are so many problems with a heating Earth. At the same time, many opportunities exist to break cycles of polluting consumption in reaction to a warming climate. The point is that more can be done now with innovation, technology applications, business process transformations, and daily life adjustments (e.g., use reusable bottles)
In other worthy news - S&P took Tesla out of the S&P ESG index due to “low carbon strategy” and “code of business conduct.” Regardless of the reason and whether or not the reasons are right, kicking Tesla out of S&P ESG Index is a bold call. It raises the question of how to give weights to the E, S, and G. Further questions are raised about who assigns the weight of E, S, and G - humans or machine learning algorithms. All approaches right now are fraught with risks. Last thing we need is either green-washing or green-eliminating. It is better to raise questions, make those questions transparent, explain what the company needs to do better or more rigorously as part of the ESG index, and how other companies can avoid the same issues as perceived or interpreted by the S&P Index.
On this point about ESG investing, check out this quant-based perspective from our friend Adam Baron.
🚀 Funding and Congrats!
The U.S. Department of Energy released a notice of intent for Carbon Capture tech providers - and will use up to $3.5 billion of infrastructure expenditures to fund these initiatives.
Generation Investment Management launched a $1.7 billion growth equity fund focused on sustainable solutions.
Group14 Technologies, a global manufacturer and supplier of advanced silicon-carbon technology for lithium-silicon batteries, raised $400 million in Series C funding led by Porsche AG with participation from OMERS Capital Markets, Decarbonization Partners, Riverstone Holdings LLC, Vsquared Ventures, Moore Strategic Ventures, and other investors.
Mangrove Lithium closed a new investment round led by US-based BMW i Ventures (BiV) and joined by returning investor Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV). Mangrove focuses on launching commercial-scale plant and technology to refine lithium from a variety of sources.
💡 Startup Spotlight
Mangrove LIthium
🎧 Podcast
Justin Whitehead: investing in a greener future
Rich Mokuolu: sustainable and resilient supply chains
Christian Mundy of Greencom: rewarding green behavior
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.
🆕 Project Manager in Sustainability at infogr8
🆕 Operations Coordinator at Re:Company
🆕 Multiple Roles at Virtual Peaker
🆕 Scientist Roles at Project Drawdown
🆕 Chief of Staff at New Age Meats
🆕 Director of Operations at Returnity
🆕 Engineering roles at Sunairio
🆕 Multiple roles at Pani Energy
🆕 Senior Mechanical Engineer at Charge Robotics
🆕 Product Owner at Return Rabbit
🆕 Product Manager, Low-Carbon Aviation at Google Climate Research
🆕 Director, Investor Relations at Closed Loop Partners
Environmental Program Officer- Thriving Communities at Patagonia
GEM Project Manager at Greenlink Analytics
Business Development, Marketplace Partnerships at Cloverly
Sr. Product Sustainability Strategist at Intel
Circular Economy Specialist at Rubicon
Multiple Roles at Air Protein
Social Media Engagement Intern at Wallet Max
Multiple Roles at Gradient Comfort
ESG/Sustainability Product Lead at Hartford Funds
🗓 Events
May 24: Understory’s Startups Driving Sustainability - May Showcase
June 22: Understory’s Startups Driving Sustainability - June Showcase
Do you have any events to share? Post them in our Understory Slack community.
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