💨 ClimateHack Vol 27: CO2 Food x Climate

Hey There,

26 editions later, here we are at the final newsletter of 2022! 

Before we dive in to today's roundup, here's a quick look back:  

📧 Published the first edition of ClimateHack on June 24th💡 Experimented with different formats before finding our groove👋 Featured guests from Planet A, AENU, Collaborative, Partech & more⛏ Covered everything from biominerals to biomaterials, batteries to biodiversity 👀 Teased the idea of a ClimateHack Meetup in a newsletter🔥 Heard from 50+ readers that we should do the meetup 📆 Scheduled our first two meetups for early February+ Invested into 24 Climate startups along the way phew. 

Looking ahead we're excited to keep growing out the ClimateHack community, getting to know and learn about more of our readers and meeting some of you IRL!

With that out the way, here's your final edition of ClimateHack for 2022.

Digest x Climate

📊 Data: This deep dive by CTVC is a fantastic overview of the current fund and fundraising environment in Climate. Instead of looking at data of announced rounds (usually representing the markets from 3-6 months ago) CTVC collected this data from 168 of their readers for a more accurate representation of the climate sector today.

📈 What’s up? Global coal use is set to hit an all-time high this year, increasing by 1.2%, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.

🔎 Lists / Resources:- Check out Extantia’s CO2 utilisation deep dive.- Here’s a list of the top five European climate tech funding deals of 2022, by tech.eu.- Here's an extensive list led by Nicole Kelner of MCJ Collective which covers everything from Climate jobs board to newsletters, blog to books. 

💡 Contribute: What niches in Climate Tech are exciting you? Let us know by commenting on this post and we’ll share a summary of all top entries in the next edition. 

Carbon x Climate 

⚡️ Voltiris, based in Lausanne, raised CHF 1.4 million pre-seed funding for its solar modules that allow “double use of agricultural land” by producing electricity without reducing the yield of greenhouse crops placed underneath the modules, saving energy and reducing their carbon footprint.

🌳 A new study involving UCL researchers shows that UK forests could store almost double the amount of carbon than previous calculations suggest.

Food x Climate

💨 Arkeon (portfolio co.) from Vienna, raised an additional €4M+ from strategic investors, including ICL, aws Gruenderfonds, FoodHack and Tet Ventures to build out its CO2 utilization technology for converting carbon dioxide directly into protein ingredients. Here's more on why we invested and what this team of scientist has been working on.

☕️ Revive Eco, based in Scotland, secured £375,000 seed funding to commercialise its technology that transforms coffee grounds into a palm oil alternative, suitable for applications in sectors including cosmetics, home cleaning, pharmaceutical, food and drink.

👩🏻‍🔬 Scientists at Pennsylvania State University have demonstrated a novel way to recapture rare earth elements using food waste. Chemical reactions ensuing from ground up food waste from tomatoes and corn added to wood pulp and cotton paper soaked in water resulted in micro and nanoparticles which have an interesting attractive relationship with metals.

👀 Here’s a thread with an awesome overview of some of the best FoodTech in SF

Energy x Climate

☀️ Spanish solar energy company Samara raised €4.5 million in a seed funding round led by Seaya and Pelion Green Future. Its tech allows consumers to preview 3D designs of their solar panels, calculate energy savings and understand their reduction of CO2 emissions.

🏭 A study backed by the European Investment Bank shows that Africa has the potential to produce €1 trillion of green hydrogen a year by 2035, likely across three geographical hubs, which would allow it to export fuel and boost local industry.

Materials x Climate

🍃 Ukrainian startup Releaf Paper secured €2.5 million from the EU Commission after winning the 2022 EIC accelerator programme. It will use the funds to build a pilot production line for its concept to make paper using cellulose from fallen leaves.

👟 Netherlands-based PRIMAL Soles says it is the first company in the world to create 100% recyclable shoe insoles from natural Mediterranean cork and recyclable memory foam. 

🌹 Phool, based in India, has developed an animal-free leather alternative using discarded temple flowers. Its material, Fleather, is a versatile textile containing chitin, a protein that Phool says gives it the same delicate and smooth touch as animal leather.

Transport x Climate

⛽️ Porsche pumped the first gallons of its fully synthetic fuel into a 911 this week. Its eFuel is designed as a carbon-neutral alternative, though it is currently all theory and, as yet, no exemptions have yet been granted for eFuels.

🛫 UK businesses Airlines UK, LanzaTech, alfanar Global Development, Velocys and Fulcrum BioEnergy are set to receive a share of £165 million in government funding from the Advanced Fuels Fund.

🔋 Dutch startup Eco-Movementclosed its Series A funding round, co-led by Dow Jones and Ponooc. Its "independent B2B data platform" is designed to aggregate EV charging data from operators of public-access chargers in Europe and North America to optimise energy transition

Conversations x Climate: Reach out! 

No conversations today, but please do reach out if you're a Climate VC or Founder that has strong opinions and would like to be featured in a future ClimateHack edition in 2023.

Reflections x Climate: 

A massive thank you to everyone for reading and supporting ClimateHack in 2022. 

I hope you've had a fantastic year, have a restful holiday ahead and a successful start to 2023! 

Speak soon,

Arman

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Curated by Nicola & Arman