#99 | Startup Resources + Clean Energy Employment Stats
Understory newsletter on climate and sustainability tech
Hello! We have lots of startup resources in this week’s newsletter. Plus we hope to see you at our showcase event on Wednesday.
‘Startups Driving Sustainability’ Showcase on Wednesday - REGISTER NOW!
Last chance to register for our March showcase. We have an excellent group of climate tech startups who are tackling challenges such as clean water, wildfires, sustainable food chains, and e-commerce waste. Join us to hear from Varuna, Re-Nuble, Robotics Cats, and LimeLoop.
NEW! Understory Investor Community
The Understory Investor Community brings curated climate tech startups and accredited investors together.
Are you a climate or sustainability tech startup that is currently fundraising? Let us know here!
Are you an accredited investor who wants to connect with fundraising startups? Let us know here!
📚 Worth Reading
The transition to clean energy and the rise of renewables will create 10.3 million net new jobs by 2030. This number only covers the jobs needed to meet current net zero pledges as of 2021. The amount could balloon an additional 22.7 million net new jobs if the globe achieves a net zero clean energy transition.
Almost 75% of these jobs will be focused on modernizing the energy grid, including EV infrastructure, grid efficiency, and operating technologies to use new sources of energy. New energy sources are expected to create enough jobs that could be lost in the fossil fuel sector - meaning a net gain to employment.
🚀 Funding and Congrats!
The Renewal Workshop was acquired by Bleckmann. The acquisition will help scale circular services to fashion and lifestyle brands, further enabling recommerce business models.
Retriev Technologies acquired Battery Solutions and will scale battery recycling solutions after the combination.
ESG Analytics, an ESG data provider, was acquired by The RepTrak Company.
Heirloom Carbon Technologies, a carbon capture company, raised $53 million from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund.
Komaza, which turns unutilized land in Africa into microforests, raised $10 million from Mitsui & Co. and Sobrato Philanthropies.
Cambium Carbon raised $3.2 million in seed funding. The company is creating a circular supply chain for wood products, diverting wood waste from the landfill.
💡 Startup Spotlight
SupPlant - an agtech startup that uses sensors to inform irrigation decisions.
🌱 Startup Resources
ERA Summer 2022 Accelerator Program: Applications due April 25th. 4-month program starts mid-June.
Create ATL’s The Collective Impact Accelerator Program: Applications due April 10th. Program lasts 2 years.
What does a ‘market’ term sheet look like right now? Sifted digs into the common terms you’ll see after interviewing over 200 VCs.
Beyond VC funding, there are many alternative funding options available for early-stage founders. Here’s a few resources to consider.
👀 Quick Hits
Starbucks moves to reuse of cups as it plans to phase out disposables.
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures released its beta version of a disclosure framework which is now available for comment.
Activist shareholders are pushing ESG resolutions for corporate boards - the number of resolutions filed is up 22% over last year.
A deep-dive on bio-based synthetic material replacements, including some of the leading innovative companies.
A new report details the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest and warns that it is at a tipping point.
🎧 Podcast
Stefan Gönner of Seqana: sequestering soil organic carbon
Shuchi Nijhawan of Eka Software Solutions: carbon accounting to reach net zero
Jason Nachamie of Rho Impact: the art and science of ESG impact tracking
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.
🆕 General Manager of Supply at Cloverly
🆕 Head of Marketing at Nth Cycle
🆕 Director of People at Nth Cycle
🆕 Multiple Roles at Goodr
🆕 Business Development & Strategy Lead at Sway
🆕 Fellow, Climate Solutions at Emory University
🆕 Sustainability Engagement Lead at Twitter
🆕 Sustainability Offering, GTM Lead: Financial Services at IBM
🆕 Aladdin Product Marketing, Aladdin Sustainability – Aladdin Climate Lead, Vice President at BlackRock
🆕 Circular Economy Portfolio Leader at Owens Corning
🆕 Director of ESG & Sustainability at La-Z-Boy Incorporated
Director at Georgia Social Impact Collaborative
Head of Growth at Gaiascope
Intern (development & product marketing) at Hazel
Senior Director, Corporate Partnerships at Closed Loop Partners
Recruiting Specialist and In Store Style Curator at Borobabi
Solutions Engineer at Clarity AI
Manager - Supply Chain Environmental Sustainability at McKinsey & Co.
Manager, Global Communications at Interface
Key Account Director at Interface
Director of Sales at WasteWizer
State Climate Policy Network Intern at Climate XChange
Sustainability Lead, Nature at Ralph Lauren
Software Engineer and Communications Coordinator at Greenlink Analytics
Principal, Circular Economy at Amazon
🗓 Events
March 23: Understory’s Startups Driving Sustainability - March Showcase
April 23: Atlanta Green Business Market Fair
April 26: Understory x gener8tor: Startups Driving Sustainability Showcase
May 17-19: Circularity 22 Conference
Do you have any events to share? Post them in our Understory Slack community.
📧 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.