Climate tech and sustainability funding and quick hits #75
Happy Monday! More funding news and jobs from last week - no doubt the sustainability and climate space continue to be very active. Check out our startup spotlight Andes Ag and featured jobs at Sway! If you missed the September Showcase event, don’t worry. Our October showcase event sign up is open! We have a great slate of speakers! Have a wonderful week. 🌳
📺 Worth Watching
September ‘Startups Driving Sustainability’ Showcase was a success! We had incredibly informative presentations from SolarKal, United by Zero, and Smartbin.io and A100x Ventures. Some key takeaways 👇
Education won't improve recycling rates - but robots might.
Consumers need more (and better) data to make sustainable purchasing decisions.
Marketplace innovation can overcome market fragmentation. Solar is a good use case.
Blockchain technologies continue to have potential to drive impact in sustainability use cases.
Worth watching (you have to sign in to www.theundrestory.io)
Save your calendar and RSVP for our October showcase event! We have a great line up of speakers. Check it out!
🚀 Funding and Congrats!
Measurabl raised $50 million Series C. The company is an ESG reporting platform for the real estate industry.
Munich-based Tanso raised $1.9 million in pre-seed funding. The company helps industrial manufacturing firms with sustainability reporting.
Solugen raised a $357 million Series C round led by GIC, Baillie Gifford and other vc funds. Solugen produces chemicals from custom enzymes and renewable resources, rather than from petroleum.
Aira Technologies, California-based AI software technology startup charging wireless connections, raised $13M in financing.
Andes raised $15M in Series A funding, led by Leaps by Bayer and Cavallo Ventures. Andes develops microbial seed treatment technology to reduce the need of synthetic fertilizers and helps seeds reduce nitrogen in the air.
Bidgely, a Mountain View-based developer of electrification and decarbonization innovations, closed a $26M round of strategic financing. Investors include Moore Strategic Ventures (MSV), Accurant International, and existing investors such as Future Energy Ventures, Georgian and Constellation Technology Ventures.
EnerVenue, a California-based company that develops metal-hydrogen batteries, raised $100m in funding.
💡 Startup Spotlight
Andes - empowers microbes to enable positive action against climate change
👀 Quick Hits
Harvard University, the largest University endowment, will divest fossil fuels investments from its portfolio. The move is significant because Harvard endowment is a big player in public and private equity investments.
Whitest paint? Oh yes. Scientists have made a whitest paint that has the potential to reduce or even eliminate air conditioning because the whiteness of the color reflects sunlight away from buildings. This whitest paint can reflect 98% of solar radiation. The Purdue University research team that discovered this whitest paint is partnering with a company to commercialize this whitest paint.
🗓 Events
October 21: Startups Driving Sustainability - October Showcase (RSVP Open!)
October 28-30: Sustainable Fashion Week Atlanta
December 1: Startups Driving Sustainability - December Showcase
🎧 Podcast
Hetal Parekh of EnerYields: financing green building projects
Abby Lyall of Big Idea Ventures: investing in foodtech
Climate Neutral: certifying climate claims
The Understory Podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Google Podcasts.
⚙️ Active Jobs Opportunities
Find and share your open positions on the Understory Slack channel.
🆕 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
Associate, Corporate Sustainability at BlackRock
Multiple Roles at TheRealReal
Vice President of Operations at LimeLoop
Head of Marketing at ZigZag Global
VP / Director of Marketing at Cloverly
Director of Sustainability Initiatives at Coca-Cola
Software Engineer at Joulea
Multiple Roles at Patch
Sustainability Strategy Manager at Accenture
Sustainability Communications Specialist - CSR at Thermo Fisher
Director of Sustainability at MassMutual
Head of Sustainability Underwriting at Zurich North America
Chief of Staff, Sustainability at JPMorgan
Director, Strategic Initiatives (Circular Economy) at Walmart
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
Chief of Staff at ReGen Ventures
Numerous Roles at CarbonCure
VP, Sustainability at Macy’s
📧 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.
Hope to see you at our showcase on Wednesday!