🦫 ClimateHack Vol 124: Giving a dam about drought defence

Hi There,

It’s easy to feel disheartened about climate progress as we see wildfires sweep across Los Angeles, hear that the world has crossed the 1.5 degrees warming threshold and now Trump’s claim of an ‘energy emergency’ and a motto ‘drill, baby, drill’.

That’s why we’re here, to give you your Friday-dose of all the latest ClimateTech funding news and industry milestones, as well as offbeat stories to lighten your spirts as you learn something new.

And this week is no exception as we see the viral livestream of a blooming corpse flower, learn how beavers are engineering drought defence, and show how a hairdryer can explain the effect of melting permafrost.

Let’s jump right in.

In this week’s edition:

☀️ Palmetto raises $1.2bn in 2024 for residential solar and electrification projects
💥 MIT researchers develop emissions-free ammonia via natural geochemical reactors
🏡 Domna secures £70m to support landlords with on-site upgrades and software tools

The Digest

📈 What’s up? Researchers at the Institute of Plasma Physics set a new record in fusion power research by sustaining high-confinement plasma in the EAST reactor for 1,066 seconds, advancing efforts to develop a clean, limitless "artificial sun."

📉 What’s down? One of Donald Trump's first executive orders as president halted new federal leases for offshore wind development, threatening the growth of the nascent US offshore wind industry.

🌺 Cool: 9,000 people tuned in to watch a live stream from the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney of an Indonesian lily, famed as the largest and stinkiest flower-spike in the world, as it bloomed.

📈 Trend: As some Climate VCs broaden their focus from climate to other verticals, here’s why accelerating prosperity is now a priority according to Jetstream’s Founding Partner.

🦫 Spot the Difference: Why it’s time to give a dam about drought defence.

AgriFood x Climate

🥩 Germany’s Project Eaden secured €15 million Series A funding to scale its operations and launch its fibre-spun plant-based ham at 3,800 REWE supermarkets in early 2025, as it aims to revolutionise the alternative meat market with “ultra-realistic” taste and texture.

💸 The US Department of Energy has allocated part of its Technologies for Industrial Emissions Reduction Development Program’s $136 million funding to advance sustainable, low-carbon technologies in the food and beverage industry, focusing on reducing emissions, energy use, and waste while improving production efficiency. Recipients include the likes of Tender Food and Ginkgo Bioworks.

🪸 Indonesian seaweed startup Banyu raised $1.25 million seed funding to empower the country’s smallholder farmers with high-quality spore seedlings, advanced techniques, and transparent market access.

🧫 Singapore-based Umami Bioworks unveiled its latest product, cultivated caviar, made from a mix of cultured sturgeon cells and plant-based ingredients, targeting Gen Z whilst creating a more sustainable luxury food market and protecting endangered sturgeon species.

✔️ Dutch startup Mosa Meat filed a novel food application in the EU for its cultivated beef fat, aiming to use it in blended meat products like burgers and meatballs, with potential approval granting market access across 30 European countries.

🚀 RSSL, Imperial College London and The Supplant Company have launched the UK's first Novel Foods Expert Network for Regulatory Challenges, funded by Innovate UK, to drive innovation, collaboration, and streamlined regulation in the novel foods sector.

🇨🇳 Beijing's Fengtai District has launched China's first alternative protein center for cultivated meat and microbial protein, supported by an ¥80 million investment to advance research and commercialisation efforts.

Carbon x Climate

🌾 Denmark-based Agreena achieved a milestone by registering its AgreenaCarbon Project under Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard, the first large-scale agricultural project to do so, paving the way for issuing certified carbon credits in 2025.

🌴 Microsoft signed a second agreement with re.green to purchase 3.5 million tons of carbon removal, supporting the restoration of ~33,000 hectares in Brazil’s Atlantic and Amazon forests.

🎥 Good watch: There’s 4x more carbon trapped in permafrost than all human-generated CO2 in modern history, and it’s melting. Here’s how and why. 

Chemicals x Climate

🧪 Addis Energy raised $8.75 million to advance its groundbreaking ammonia production technology, which uses subsurface iron-rich resources to produce clean, net energy-positive ammonia at 75% of the cost of the traditional Haber-Bosch process without CO2 emissions.

💥 MIT researchers have developed a novel, emissions-free method to produce ammonia by using Earth's natural underground heat, pressure, and iron-rich rock formations as a geochemical reactor.

Construction x Climate

🏡 UK startup Domna, which helps decarbonise and retrofit energy-inefficient homes, raised £70 million to support landlords with on-site upgrades and software tools that cut bills by 40% and boost home valuations by 20%.

🧱 A recent article published in the journal Science highlights the potential of modified building materials to sequester up to 16.6 billion tons of CO2 annually, offering a significant solution for achieving net-zero emissions.

Energy x Climate

☀️ Palmetto Clean Technology raised $1.2 billion in 2024 for residential solar and electrification projects, with plans to raise $800 million in the first quarter of this year as demand for leasing home upgrades grows.

🔋 Spanish hydrogen startup H2SITE raised €36 million in a Series B funding round to scale its proprietary membrane reactor technology, designed to enable efficient hydrogen production, transport, and separation.

🏭 British Columbia-based Moment Energy secured $21.7 million from Amazon and Voyager Ventures to build the world's first factory for repurposing used EV batteries into commercial-scale energy storage systems.

⚡️ ecoplanet secured €16 million in a Series A funding round led by EQT Ventures. It will use the funds to expand its AI-powered energy management platform, which optimises energy use, reduces costs, and ensures regulatory compliance across 2 TWh and over 2,000 locations.

🔢 Gravity raised $13 million in a Series A round, bringing its total funding to over $20 million, to expand its carbon accounting and energy management platform that helps companies automate reporting and reduce energy consumption, addressing the $2T in missed efficiency savings.

🏢 Berlin-based Green Fusion raised €12 million Series A funding to scale its AI-powered software that optimises apartment building heating systems, reducing energy costs by an average of 16% and lowering carbon emissions.

🪨 Bedrock Energy, a geothermal startup targeting commercial buildings and data centers, secured $12 million Series A funding to advance its deeper drilling technology, which increases space efficiency and reduces land requirements for heating and cooling systems.

🔌 Fusebox, based in Estonia, secured €2.6 million to scale its SaaS platform and expand its Virtual Power Plant technology, helping utilities and industrial clients reduce energy imbalances, integrate renewables, and optimise energy costs across 13 global markets.

🔥 Swiss startup SolidWatts raised €850,000 to commercialise its solid-state Radio Frequency heating technology, which offers a safer, more efficient, and low-maintenance alternative to traditional industrial heating systems.

⛽️ The UK HyRES Hub awarded £3 million in grants to researchers developing hydrogen and low-carbon liquid fuel technologies, aiming to advance innovative solutions for reducing carbon emissions in the energy sector.

📈 Energy management platform Chapter secured €3 million to expand its AI-powered operating system, which streamlines knowledge sharing and optimises workflows in the sustainable energy industry to help accelerate the energy transition.

🏗️ South Carolina utility Santee Cooper plans to revive construction of two ‘zombie’ reactors at the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Power Station, to capitalise on the AI data center power boom.

FinTech x Climate

🧮 German climate fintech Bees & Bears secured €500 million to expand its software platform, which it says will enable over 24,000 sustainable energy installations by offering instalment payment options through small and medium-sized installers.

Funds x Climate

💸 Startup studio 4elements raised €27.4 million to create and launch around ten high-impact climate startups over five years, focusing on innovative, technology-driven solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

💰 US climate fund Regeneration VC, backed by Leonardo DiCaprio, has taken over management of Sky Ocean Ventures’ sustainability portfolio, including startups like Xampla and Notpla.

Materials x Climate

⛏️ Cyclic Materials secured a $2 million investment from Jaguar Land Rover's InMotion Ventures, bringing its Series B funding round to $55 million to scale its proprietary recycling technologies for Rare Earth Elements, addressing critical supply chain challenges in the automotive industry and beyond.

♻️ ScrapBees GmbH, based in Germany, secured €4 million to scale its digital-first, transparent recycling solutions nationally, streamlining the 'first mile' of recycling to accelerate resource recovery in the circular economy.

Methane x Climate

🤝 CH4 Global has partnered with Mitsubishi Corporation to accelerate the adoption of its Asparagopsis-based Methane Tamer feed supplement, targeting methane reduction in cattle across Australia and exploring market opportunities in Japan.

Mobility x Climate

🚲 London-based shared bike operator Forest raised €15.3 million Series B funding to expand its zero-emission fleet with three new e-bike types, helping to promote sustainable urban mobility and reduce car dependency.

🔌 German mobility startup ENAPI secured €7.5 million seed funding to enhance its EV charging software platform, designed to improve data exchange and charger reliability to address widespread dissatisfaction with public EV charging infrastructure.

🚗 US electric vehicle startup Canoo has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, citing failed funding efforts, and will cease operations immediately.

Just for Fun

7 signs you work in sustainability. Add yours here.

Meme x Climate

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Editorial by Laura, Curation by Nicola