💸 ClimateHack Vol 117: Deep Tech and Deep Pockets

Hi There,

Would you ever conspire behind the back of a VC in order to close a deal?

Bit of a random question, yes, but without spoiling the story, I enjoyed this post from Tommy Stadlen of Giant Ventures who shared some insight into what one founder did to get them to invest in their round.

Founders take note, that’s how you make an impression.

In this week’s edition ;

💫 US-based Pacific Fusion raised $900M in for their magnetic approach to make fusion commercially viable.
🌊 Brooklyn-based CREW Carbon raised a $5.3 million seed round to capture carbon at wastewater treatment facilities.
🛩 French startup Beyond Aero, raised an additional $20M to develop the first hydrogen-powered electric business aircraft.

Digest x Climate

🇺🇸 100+ US Climate Tech Funds. For fundraising founders, being able to quickly scan through a list of who’s who in Climate investing can save you a bucketful of time and energy.

So we pulled together this list of 100+ US Climate investors to highlight who are actively deploying and have funds raised ready to back the next Climacorns (catchy, I know).

From the industry veterans that have spun up climate dedicated funds, to the former founders now championing Climate Tech inside of Generalist Funds.

→ Meet the partners behind 3 of the most active early-stage climate funds at the HackSummit NYC this 12-13th December. Already in room includes fund managers that are overseeing well over $10bn in AUM earmarked for climate.

AgriFood x Climate

♻️ French startup Hubcycle, which specialises in transforming food industry by-products into affordable, sustainable ingredients, closed a €15 million Series A round. It has screened over 1,000 side-streams to create ingredients that cost 30% less on average, avoiding 4,000 tons of carbon emissions and demonstrating its commitment to sustainable innovation.

🐄 Ruminant BioTech secured additional funding, including NZ$6 million from AgriZeroNZ and New Zealand Green Investment Finance, plus an AU$3.5 million grant from Australia’s MERiL program, to advance its methane-inhibiting bolus for reducing livestock emissions.

🇫🇮 Business Finland awarded €10 million in R&D funding to two Finnish projects, FoodID and FinBioFAB, focused on sustainable innovation. FoodID aims to create alternative proteins and lipids using plants and fermentation, while FinBioFAB is leveraging synthetic biology and AI to develop biodegradable plastics and protein-based materials

🤝 Revo Foods and Paleo have formed a new partnership, backed by €2.2 million in EU funding, to create plant-based salmon alternatives featuring precision-fermented myoglobin for a more authentic taste, texture, and nutritional profile similar to animal-based products.

🥕 Polish startup Foodsi, a marketplace for surplus food from restaurants and stores, raised €1.2 million in a seed extension round to expand its operations. It combats food waste by offering customers surprise discounted food packages from eateries and shops at up to 70% off.

🌿 OCEANIUM secured funding from Innovate UK and BBSRC to develop Project SeaFibre, advancing its nutrient-rich, sustainable seaweed ingredient OCEAN HEALTH™ NUTRA in partnership with the University of Reading.

Carbon x Climate

🌊 Brooklyn-based CREW Carbon raised a $5.3 million seed round to capture carbon at wastewater treatment facilities using engineered enhanced weathering. The company is already operating at multiple plants and are on their way to scaling operations to remove thousands of tons next year.

🏗 Emidat raised €4 million to expand its construction-focused environmental data platform, which simplifies the creation of Environmental Product Declarations, helping the industry measure and reduce embodied carbon.

Energy x Climate

💫 General Catalyst invested $900 million in Pacific Fusion, which is focusing on a pulsed magnetic approach to make fusion commercially viable. Its milestone-based funding model, where capital is unlocked upon reaching specific goals, aims to support the development of a fusion energy solution with the potential for rapid scaling.

🌸 Stockholm-based Flower raised an additional €20 million in their Series A round led by Northzone for their AI-driven optimisation and grid-level battery systems which helps build flexibility, stability and predictability to global energy grids.

:moneHystar AS has been awarded a €26 million grant from the EU Innovation Fund to support the installation and operation of its automated production line for PEM electrolyser stacks in Norway, with the goal of lowering costs, enhancing performance, and expanding access to green hydrogen through scalable production.

⚡️ Valencia-based Matteco raised €15 million Series A funding to advance its platinum-free materials for electrolysers, with the aim of reducing green hydrogen production costs and making it more competitive with fossil fuels.

🌡 Vamo, a Cologne-based startup focused on making high-efficiency heat pumps accessible, raised €7 million in an oversubscribed seed extension round led by Extantia and GET Fund to expand its green heating brand, partner network, and digital services.

🥽 US startup SpiralWave secured $1 million from IndieBio for its plasma-based technology that converts carbon dioxide into liquid fuel, which could provide a sustainable way to reduce CO₂ emissions by transforming them into usable energy, a breakthrough for carbon capture and fuel production.

☀️ Merlin Solar unveiled its crack-resistant, flexible solar panels made from monocrystalline silicon. The panels come with an adhesive, so they can be attached to surfaces like a sticker, and their flexible structure can follow the contours of different surfaces, making them suitable for application to vehicles.

🤝 Swedish startup Blykalla is joining forces with engineering firm ABB to develop advanced small modular reactor technology, starting with an SMR pilot facility near Oskarshamn, Sweden, to provide clean, reliable baseload energy.

Funds x Climate

🇺🇸 Private equity giant TPG raised nearly $5 billion for its second climate-focused fund, Climate Fund II, with which it will invest broadly in clean electrons, clean molecules and material and negative emissions. 

🇳🇴 Verdane successfully closed its €700 million Idun II fund, which will invest in decarbonising the economy with a focus on energy transition and resource efficiency, aiming for a carbon avoidance target of 5,000 tonnes of CO₂ per €1 million invested.

🇺🇸 Crosscut Ventures raised a $100 million fund that will focus on "frontier tech" across sectors like energy, space and underwater exploration, advanced manufacturing, materials, and defence.

🇪🇺 The European Union announced plans to invest €1.4 billion in 2025 to boost deep tech research and support scale-ups in key areas like AI, low-carbon technologies, agritech, and biotech, as part of the Horizon Europe program's expanded budget, with enhanced access to scale-up funding through the EIC’s Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform.

Materials x Climate

📦 Brisbane-based Earthodic raised $4 million seed funding to expand in the US with its recyclable, bio-based Biobarc coating for paper packaging, designed to reduce landfill waste and eliminate microplastic pollution.

🌿 Macro Oceans, specialising in turning seaweed into sustainable biochemicals, has partnered with Everything Seaweed to build a regenerative kelp industry, alongside raising an additional $2.5 million in seed funding.

Mobility x Climate

🛩 French startup Beyond Aero, which is developing the first hydrogen-powered electric business aircraft, raised an additional $20 million Series A funding to build a Hydrogen Electric Powertrain Lab to support its aircraft "One," set to carry 6-8 passengers for 800 nautical miles by 2030.

🔌 Ghent-based EV charging provider MobilityPlus raised €40 million to expand its operations in Belgium and France, focusing on B2B and real estate markets with its all-in-one platform that manages over 15,000 charging points and offers access to 550,000 more across Europe.

🛵 New York-based Infinite Machine secured $9 million, in a seed funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, to produce its futuristic, cyberpunk-style P1 electric scooter, set for initial deliveries next year with a $10,000 “launch edition”.

Waste x Climate

😮 Forget the plastic straws. We have a bigger waste problem at hand:

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Editorial by Arman, Curation by Nicola