🌿 ClimateHack Vol 118: Underwater gardening robots

Hi There,

In exactly one month’s time we’ll be opening the doors to day two of the HackSummit in New York.

Already in the room includes founders behind some of the most novel climate deep tech startups, as well as the investors backing them, including :

• Augustus Doricko, Co-founder and CEO of Rainmaker (cloud seeding technology).

• Beth Shapiro, CSO at Colossal Biosciences ($225M raised for de-extinction).

• Etosha Cave, Co-founder & CSO at Twelve ($645M raised to make fuels from CO2).

• Clay Dumas, General Partner of Lowercarbon Capital (OG climate tech seed investor with $2B AUM).

Plus we’ll be joined by several hundred other innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, banks, policy makers and scientists across climate deep tech.

We mean this when we say, there’s no better time or place to be than New York this 12-13th December to come and discuss the future of climate tech.

Reserve your place, and mark your calendars for what might just be the most important event you’ll attend this year.

In this week’s edition ;

🌾 Berlin-based regenerative agriculture startup Klim raised $22M to expand its digital platform for farmers.
🌿 SF-based Ulysses Ecosystem raised $2M for its autonomous robot that plants seagrass on the ocean floor.
🪨 US-based Vaulted Deep, secured $32M for its technology to bury organic waste underground to lock away carbon.

Digest x Climate

⚡️ 50+ Top Energy Startup to Watch. We asked 17 leading investors for their top energy startups to watch and these are the 59 companies they picked.

💸 Hear from Crux CEO and Co-Founder Alfred Johnson on how they are enabling efficient finance for the energy transition.

🇪🇺 Bloomberg highlights some of the major setbacks faced by European tech startups, including Lilium’s financial struggles and Northvolt’s stalled growth.

⛽️ Oil and gas giant BP is killing 18 early-stage hydrogen projects in a bid to boost its bottom line.

💨 Research from the Global Carbon Project reveals that global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have reached a record high in 2024.

AgriFood x Climate

🌾 Berlin-based regenerative agriculture startup Klim raised $22 million Series A funding, marking Germany’s largest Series A round in AgriTech this year. It will use the funds to expand its digital platform, which has so far helped over 3,500 farmers transition to sustainable practices, improve soil health, and reduce emissions, with clients including Nestlé and Kaufland.

🔎 AI-powered startup Shiru secured $16 million in a Series B funding round, led by S2G Ventures, to expand its protein discovery marketplace and ingredient portfolio, bringing its total funding to $36 million.

🦗 French insect ag firm Innovafeed received a grant of $11.8 million from the USDA to build a facility in Illinois producing sustainable fertiliser from black soldier fly larvae manure, aiming to improve soil health with nutrient-rich, slow-release insect frass.

🧪 Danish startup NitroVolt raised €3.5 million to further develop its "Nitrolyzer" system, which produces green ammonia directly on farms using air, water, and renewable electricity, offering a carbon-free alternative to traditional ammonia production and reducing supply chain emissions and disruptions.

🔬 Ghent-based Zymofix raised €2 million from investors including HTGF, The Nest Family Office, and VP Capital to scale its solid-state fermentation technology, which converts biomass residues into cost-effective microorganisms aimed at enhancing soil health and crop productivity in a sustainable way.

🪴 Belgian startup Protealis raised €1.2 million from the Flemish Agency for Innovation & Entrepreneurship to scale its UpCoat soy seed coating technology that applies nitrogen-fixing bacteria to soybean seeds, enhancing yield and protein content for European farmers without synthetic fertilisers.

🍫 California Cultured secured investment from Puratos' venture arm Sparkalis to scale its cell-cultured chocolate production. It is working to make chocolate more sustainable, ethical, and high-quality by growing cacao cells in controlled environments.

🍫 UK startup Nukoko secured investment from ingredients giant Döhler to scale its cocoa-free chocolate made from fava beans, as it transitions from pilot-scale to industrial-scale production by 2025.

Biodiversity x Climate

🤖 San Francisco-based Ulysses Ecosystem has developed an autonomous robot that plants seagrass on the ocean floor 100 times faster than manual efforts, and raised $2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Lowercarbon Capital to expand its team and market reach.

🌳 Munich-based startup Hula Earth secured €1.6 million pre-seed funding to scale its automated platform for biodiversity monitoring across global industries.

🛰 A new study in Marine Pollution Bulletin introduced the Beached Plastic Debris Index, a spectral tool using satellite imagery to detect and monitor plastic debris on beaches, aiming to support ecosystem protection and improve coastal cleanup and management strategies.

Carbon x Climate

🪨 US-based Vaulted Deep, which uses oil industry technology to bury organic waste like biosolids and manure a mile underground to lock away carbon, secured $32 million to expand its operations, including a new site in Colorado.

🧪 San Francisco-based Anthrogen raised $4 million in a seed funding round led by BoxGroup and ReGen Ventures. It uses AI-designed enzymatic cascades to convert carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals.

🌊 Dutch startup SeaO₂ raised over €2 million to advance its Direct Ocean Capture technology, which removes CO₂ from seawater and returns carbon-free water to boost oceanic CO₂ absorption, aiming for one megaton removal by 2030, starting with a 2025 pilot plant capturing 250 tons annually.

💸 Deep Sky has sold 10,000 carbon credits from its technology-agnostic direct air capture centre, Deep Sky Labs, to Microsoft and RBC, marking the first such credits globally.

Energy x Climate

💫 El Segundo based Microreactor developer Radiant Industries raised $100 million Series C led by DCVC which will primarily go towards the completion of their Kaleidos Development Unit.

☀️ Paris-based ZE Energy, which specialises in hybrid solar power and Battery Energy Storage Systems, raised €54 million from investors including Amundi Transition Énergétique and Demeter’s Climate Infrastructure Fund. It will use the funds to support its European growth plans.

🔋 Sympower, based in Amsterdam, closed its Series B1 funding round with €21.3 million. It will use the funds to expand its energy flexibility and battery storage solutions across Europe, with the aim of stabilising national grids and supporting renewable energy integration.

🏢 Berlin-based proptech KUGU secured €8.5 million Series A funding, with support from new investors including Tengelmann Ventures, to enhance its digital energy management solutions for real estate companies, helping them meet emissions targets.

☀️ Norway’s Glint Solar, a solar developer software platform used in over 35 countries by companies like Recurrent Energy and Statkraft, raised $8 million in a Series A funding round led by Smedvig Ventures to further expand its operations.

💨 Gazelle Wind Power raised €11.4 million, in a funding round led by Indico Capital Partners, to advance its 2MW Nau Azul floating offshore wind platform demonstrator in Portugal, featuring a patented mooring system designed to reduce costs and improve stability in challenging offshore environments.

🔋 Tozero, based in Munich, secured €11 million seed funding to scale its innovative lithium-ion battery recycling technology, aiming to construct its first industrial plant. Currently processing nine tonnes of battery waste daily at its pilot plant, Tozero plans to achieve unlimited recycling capacity in the coming years.

💨 US-based Transaera secured $8.2 million seed funding following the successful installation of its massive ventilation system, known as a dedicated outdoor air system, atop a warehouse. The system dehumidifies fresh air coming into the warehouse, allowing the building’s air conditioning to operate more efficiently. 

🚀 Former SpaceX engineers have founded General Galactic, which repurposes Mars mission CO₂-to-fuel technology for Earth-based applications, aiming to convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into sustainable fuels. It recently raised $8 million in a seed funding round led by Harpoon Ventures and Refactor Capital to scale its technology.

👨‍🌾 German agri-PV startup feld.energy raised €1.7 million pre-seed funding to help farmers generate additional income by installing photovoltaic systems on agricultural land, enabling them to earn up to €4,000 per hectare while supporting Germany’s renewable energy goals.

🌡 Swedish startup DREM raised €1 million to support its expansion into France and broader European growth. It uses smart heat pump technology with AI-driven efficiency to offer users a more efficient and sustainable heating solution.

⛴ New York-based Ecolectro secured funding in a Series A round led by Toyota Ventures, having developed a cost-effective hydrogen production system housed in shipping containers, designed to reduce the expenses associated with green hydrogen generation.

Funds x Climate

🇫🇷 Capagro Fund II secured over €115 million in commitments, boosted by a major investment from Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale’s Environmental and Solidarity Revolution Fund, to support innovative, impact-driven agrifood startups across Europe.

🇳🇱 Pymwymic’s Healthy Food Systems Impact Fund II, backed by over 250 private and seven institutional investors, closed with €71.5 million to support agrifood companies advancing sustainable farming, food waste reduction, and regenerative agriculture solutions.

🇳🇱 Dutch venture capital firm 4impact Capital secured €68 million for its second fund, an SFDR Article 9 fund aimed at early-stage digital and sustainability startups in North-Western Europe, with a particular focus on energy efficiency, grid optimisation, and carbon removal.

🇫🇷 French VC Axeleo Capital announced the first closing of its €125 million Green Tech Industry I fund, backed by major investors including Bpifrance, with which it is aiming to invest €3 to €10 million in 15 to 20 European startups working across the energy, materials, agriculture, food, and mobility sectors.

🇫🇮 Helsinki-based Maki.vc launched a €100 million fund focused on pre-seed and seed-stage startups in deep tech and sustainability, with early investments including electric vehicle marketplace Ever Cars.

Materials x Climate

🥤 UK startup Naturbeads, a spinout of the University of Bath, raised £7.8 million Series A funding to scale its cellulose microsphere technology, developed to combat global microplastic pollution.

🦠 Researchers at KAIST have developed a microbial strain that produces a biodegradable pseudo aromatic polyester monomer, offering a promising eco-friendly alternative to PET with superior physical properties and enhanced biodegradability.

🌱 Ranpak Holdings unveiled GrasiKraft, a sustainable paper void fill made from grass fibres and recycled paper.

Mobility x Climate

📊 French startup OpenAirlines raised nearly €45 million to advance its eco-flying software, which helps airlines reduce fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions in response to growing environmental pressures on the aviation industry.

🔌 Melbourne-based software startup Orkestra received $2.77 million in co-funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to accelerate the deployment of commercial EV chargers. Its feasibility modelling software is designed to help businesses to better understand the financial performance of EV chargers.

🛩 NASA’s AACES has awarded $11.5 million to support early-stage, innovative aircraft concepts aimed at enhancing sustainability in aviation, including projects by Electra and JetZero focused on electric and hydrogen-powered designs.

Tweets x Engineering

⚡️ It genuinely boggles my mind that we can build things like this, and optimistic on the future of climate deep tech

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Editorial by Arman, Curation by Nicola

p.s. here’s what HackSummit NY attendees have on the menu over the two day event🌮