⛏ ClimateHack Vol 114: AI-Metal Discovery Brings in $491M

Hi There,

This is for the hardware founders out there who can can sometimes get overwhelmed by the enormity of the task ahead.

Just remember that this is what Solugen’s early prototype looked like. They’re now a $2bn+ valued company with over 200+ employees.

In Today’s Edition;

🚜 Italy's xFarm Technologies raised €36M to expand its “better farm management” platform.
⛏ US-based KoBold Metals secured $491M to help find critical minerals for the energy transition using AI.
🧱 Rotterdam-based Paebbl raised €22.8M to convert captured CO2 into carbon-storing building materials.

Digest x Climate

⛽️ Meet 90+ eFuel Companies. As the world shifts to cleaner energy, a quiet revolution is happening in the world of fuel – one that could change how we power everything from jets to factories.

With transportation sector alone accounts for nearly a quarter of global CO2 emissions, the race to decarbonize how we get around is picking up pace.

We've done the research and listed over 90 eFuels companies globally and spotlighted 10 select startups that particularly caught our interest in this space.

→ Headlining as a speaker at the HackSummit NYC this December is Staff Sheehan, Co-Founder and CTO of Air Company who recently raised their $69M Series B to create jet fuel from CO2.

AgriFood x Climate

🚜 Italy's xFarm Technologies raised €36 million, in a Series C funding round led by Partech, to expand its “better farm management” platform across the EU, Turkey, India, and beyond, while developing new fintech divisions and products.

🥓 French plant-based meat startup La Vie secured €25 million following 192% sales growth YOY, taking its total funding to date to €50 million, and announced the launch of its vegan meatballs.

🌾 The UK’s Pulse Crop Genetic Improvement Network received £3 million from the government to develop climate resilient legumes. It will use the funds to support research into tackling threats from pests and diseases, as well as improving nutritional traits.

🏭 Planetary SA secured a CHF 3 million investment from Cosun to advance the development of sustainable, cost-effective food ingredients made via fermentation.

🍫 California Cultured, which uses plant cell culture to produce flavanol-rich cocoa, secured “significant investment” from Sparkalis to help transform cocoa production in a market where “demand is expected to dramatically exceed supply”.

👨‍🌾 M&S launched an autonomous field farming trial using drones and robot tractors to reduce carbon emissions and improve parsnip crop quality, with the first autonomously farmed vegetables expected in stores by November.

Biodiversity x Climate

🌳 AirForestry, the first company to develop aerial tree harvesting technology using drones, raised €10.3 million seed funding to advance its fully electric solution that minimises terrain disruption and promotes healthier forests through targeted thinning.

Carbon x Climate

🔎 Berlin-based forward earth raised €4.5 million seed funding, in a round led by Mosaic Ventures, to scale its AI-powered environmental management software, with a view to expanding to the US and an eventual launch in Asia.

🇨🇦 The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat recently announced a carbon removal procurement program starting with a $10M commitment - making Canada one of the first countries to commit to purchasing carbon removal.

Construction x Climate

🏡 Gropyus raised €100 million to use robots to rebuild homes faster and more sustainably in Ukraine. It will use its automated timber-hybrid construction method to rebuild housing 30% faster than traditional methods, supporting Ukraine's recovery efforts from the ongoing conflict.

🧱 Rotterdam-based Paebbl raised €22.8 million Series A funding to convert captured CO2 into carbon-storing building materials. It will use the funds to scale up its operations and establish a value chain that turns the built environment into a “key player in mitigating climate change”.

🤝 Carbon Re is joining forces with ABB to help cement producers cut their emissions, lower costs and boost productivity with its SaaS solutions.

Energy x Climate

⚡️ Aachen-based Voltfang raised €8 million in Series A funding and €800,000 in grants to expand its product offerings and enhance its green energy storage technology for commercial, industrial, and grid-scale applications.

🌡 Finland’s Synergi raised €2 million seed funding to support its energy efficiency platform, which encourages households and utilities to use home energy assets like EVs, heat pumps, and solar panels flexibly, contributing to virtual power plants and the green transition.

☁️ QUIXOTIC, based in Madrid, secured €1.3 million seed funding for its cloud-based energy management platform, designed to provide comprehensive solutions for energy marketers and communities to manage green energy and billing of advanced products and services.

🐢 Sweco is set to design Green Turtle, one of Europe's largest battery parks with a storage capacity of 2,800 MWh, for GIGA Storage Belgium.

Funds x Climate

🇦🇺 Virescent Ventures secured $100 million at the first close of its second climate tech fund. It will focus on strategic investments in startups addressing challenges like the clean energy transition, electrifying the economy, enhancing grid management, decarbonizing transport, developing smarter cities, promoting sustainable food and agriculture, and advancing the circular economy.

🇨🇦 Montreal-based venture studio Diagram launched its Diagram Climate Tech Fund, raising $80 million CAD to support startups working across industries from electric vehicles to biodiversity and food and agriculture.

🇩🇰 New deep-tech Danish fund PSV Hafnium announced the first close of DKK 385 million (≈ €48M) with backing from the EIFO and EIF. The fund will primarily focus on the verticals: new energy, bio solutions, food- & ag-tech, future of compute, health tech, resilience & dual-use tech, new materials, and space tech and has already invested into CELLUGY® who are creating biodegradable cellulose ingredients.

Materials x Climate

⛏ KoBold Metals secured $491 million to help find critical minerals for the energy transition. It uses AI to search for mineral deposits like copper, lithium, nickel, and cobalt, and after discovering a large copper deposit in Zambia, it is now shifting from prospecting to developing the resource itself, a project estimated to cost $2.3 billion.

🌊 US-based Lithios raised $10 million seed funding and $2 million in venture debt. Its ALE technology takes lithium from salty water, making it possible to access over 85% of previously unreachable lithium brine sources.

🦠 Parisian startup baCta secured €3.3 million to use engineered bacteria to produce natural rubber. It will use the funds to scale its operations to support demand for its biosynthesised sustainable material.

🥤 University of Edinburgh startup E.V.A. Biosystems unveiled a ‘smart’ plastic that ‘self-destructs’ in the ocean, without producing microplastics.

💄 British cosmetics company THG Labs is joining forces with Clean Food Group to create beauty and personal care products using eco-friendly oils derived from food waste.

Mobility x Climate

🚐 US-based Grounded secured 3.5 million pre-seed funding, in a round led by The 81 Collection, for its custom-designed modular electric vans for services like mobile medicine, pet grooming, food transport, and more.

Water x Climate

☀️ MIT engineers have developed a solar-powered desalination system that efficiently adjusts to fluctuations in sunlight, designed to maximise clean water production without the need for batteries or a supplemental power supply.

🧪 Researchers at Oxford Brookes University have developed a hydrodynamic reactor that uses cavitation to eliminate toxic "forever chemicals" from water supplies by forming and collapsing bubbles through pressure fluctuations.

Memes x Climate

⛈ Community notes is the real hero here.

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Editorial by Arman, Curation by Nicola

p.s. If you’re planning to join us at the HackSummit in New York, get your pass this weekend as prices increase next week.