Circular fashion stats + Climate Week announcements | #75
Understory newsletter on climatetech and sustainability
Greetings! At the United Nations General Assembly meeting this week, the topic of climate change was front and center. Even the K-pop band BTS talked about fighting climate change in its heavily watched address. Concurrently, NYC hosted its Climate Week and many climate related announcements were made by governments, corporations, non-profits, and more. We’ve included key news from the week as well as some of the stories that might have gone unnoticed.
Understory also has lots of announcements and content you shouldn’t miss!
RSVP for our October 21st ‘Startups Driving Sustainability’ Showcase featuring JLL, eKlozet, Mycocycle, and Refinitiv. There will be lightning talks spanning best practices in built tech, sustainable fashion, the circular economy, and groundbreaking ESG research.
And if you missed our September Showcase, you can watch the recording.
We have a new Understory Podcast episode featuring Nicole Doucet, CEO of Open Water. Nicole talks about the recyclability of different materials, changing consumer preferences for bottled water, and how unit economics and closed loop practices give her an advantage.
Finally, don’t forget to join us on Slack! Feel free to share your job postings, news about your business, or other industry events that we should attend.
📚 Worth Reading
Rent the Runway, a rental and subscription fashion platform, conducted a life cycle assessment to understand the environmental impact of its platform. The resulting report had a variety of eye-popping statistics showcasing the power of a rental business model. Circularity for the win!
The company has displaced the production of 1.3 million-plus new garments since 2010.
The weighted average environmental savings of renting one single item is: a net 24% reduction in water usage, a 6% reduction in kWh of energy usage, and 3% reduction in pounds of CO2 emissions.
89% of members say they buy fewer clothes than before joining the platform.
🚀 Funding and Congrats!
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst raised $1 billion from major corporations: BlackRock, Microsoft, General Motors, Bank of America, American Airlines, BCG, and ArcelorMittal. The program focuses on accelerating the commercial viability of green hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel, long-duration battery storage, and carbon capture.
Blue Bear Capital raised a $150 million climate fund which will focus on energy technologies.
Fifth Wall, announced it has raised over $140 million for its real estate focused Climate Tech fund with large investors including Equity Residential, Hudson Pacific Properties, Invitation Homes, Ivanhoe Cambridge, and Kimco Realty Corp.
Emerging market distributed energy provider Zola Electric raised $90 million of new funding to enter new markets.
Battery Resources, a closed loop lithium-ion battery materials company, raised $70 million of mid-round funding.
6K announced closing of a $51 million Series C round. The company produces sustainable advanced materials for energy storage and additive manufacturing powders.
Calyxia announced a €15 million Series A round. The company is based in Paris and has produced biodegradable microcapsule technology to reduce the use of microplastics.
Ubco, an electric utility bike company out of New Zealand, raised a $10 million strategic investment from TPK Holdings.
Leonardo DiCaprio announced his investment in two alternative meat companies: Aleph Farms and Mosa Meat. He will become an advisor to both companies.
💡 Startup Spotlight
Recykal - a digital marketplace that bridges gaps between waste generators and waste processors.
🌱 Startup Resources
Sustainability startups are too focused on the numbers. Investors and customers want to hear your narrative, not the stats.
👀 Quick Hits
The EPA issued new restrictions on hydrofluorocarbons, HFCs, which are greenhouse gases used in refrigerators and air conditioners.
A group of 60 CFOs who support the UN SDGs committed to linking half their corporate financing to ESG targets by 2025.
BP and Brightmark established a partnership to develop next generation plastic waste renewal plants in Europe, designed to process products that aren’t currently recyclable.
Google launched an “Eco-Certified” label for hotels that meet third party certification requirements.
Ford Motor Company signed a partnership with Redwood Materials which will both recycle and supply EV battery raw materials to Ford.
🎧 Podcast
Nicole Doucet of Open Water: climate-friendly bottled water
Hetal Parekh of EnerYields: financing green building projects
Abby Lyall of Big Idea Ventures: investing in foodtech
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.
🆕 Multiple VC roles at Revaia
🆕 Senior Software Engineer at Gaiascope
🆕 Climate Change and Sustainability - Manager at EY
🆕 Product Lead, Sustainability at JLL
🆕 Regional Sustainability Value Practice Lead at Google
🆕 Project Leader/Principal, Climate & Sustainability at BCG
Multiple roles at Sway, seaweed bioplastic company.
Climate and Net Zero Specialist at Citibank
Sustainability Tech Investment Principal at G-Force
Account Manager at Climate Neutral
Multiple Roles at TheRealReal
Vice President of Operations at LimeLoop
Head of Marketing at ZigZag Global
VP / Director of Marketing at Cloverly
Software Engineer at Joulea
Multiple Roles at Patch
Sustainability Communications Specialist - CSR at Thermo Fisher
Director of Sustainability at MassMutual
Head of Sustainability Underwriting at Zurich North America
Senior Product Manager, Re-commerce at REI
Senior Legislative Counsel at Earthjustice
Marketing Associate at Big Idea Ventures
Head of Product, Bus Dev Director, Engineers at Nitricity
Developer roles at Gybe
🗓 Events
October 21: Startups Driving Sustainability - October Showcase (REGISTER NOW!)
October 28-30: Sustainable Fashion Week Atlanta (TICKETS AVAILABLE!)
December 1: Startups Driving Sustainability - December Showcase
📧 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.
And as you plan your week ahead, we challenge you to commit to one sustainable swap. Drop a comment about the one change you will make to be more sustainable, and we will post our favorites to our Saturday #LiveSustainably! series.
Until next week!