🏢 ClimateHack Vol. 51: Decarbonizing cities

Hey There,

Fun fact: While only covering 2% of the Earth’s surface, cities are one of biggest contributors to the climate crisis (≈70% of GHG emissions).

Okay, not so fun - but decarbonising cities is absolutely critical to a net zero future, and will require significant investments in low-carbon energy and transport systems, programs to reduce urban sprawl, and nature-based solutions for urban cooling and disaster risk management.

Step in Sweden’s CliamteView, which helps cities analyze, plan and finance projects that will reduce their climate footprint and fossil emissions.

Their solution is already used by over 30 cities across the world including metropoles like Madrid, Dortmund, Cincinnati and Nottingham - and this week the company announced their €14M in funding led by 2050.

ClimateView are doing what I like to call the boring, but essential work. No one really likes doing planing, budgeting, reporting - but it is essential in order to mobilize capital towards climate action.

Any other examples of the boring but essential work in Climate? I’m making a list.

In today's edition:

🍗 USDA has approved the label “cell-cultivated chicken”.
🌡 Czech startup Woltair secures €20.5 million for heat pumps.
👜 Biomaterials startup Uncaged Innovations raised $2M from Land Rover.

Digest x Climate

📈 What’s up? British energy company Bulb went bust in 2021, but Sifted has identified nine companies which have risen from its ashes.

📉 What’s down? Research from Cornell University shows that the metaverse could lower the global surface temperature by up to 0.02 degrees Celsius before the end of the century.

🇺🇸 The US Treasury Department announced new guidance, as part of its Inflation Reduction Act, that could pave the way for “hundreds of millions of dollars” to support the development of a range of renewable energy projects.

Carbon x Climate

🌎 Swedish startup ClimateView secured €14 million to further develop its climate finance platform and to 'support cities in their climate investment planning needs as part of the EU’s program - 100 Climate-neutral and Smart Cities'.

💨 Skytree, based in Amsterdam, raised $6 million seed funding in a round led by Horticoop. It uses direct air capture technology to harvest CO2 from the surrounding air, and stores it in pressurised buffer tanks where it can be accessed and used by any company which requires concentrated CO2.

📊 UK-based Omnevue secured $3.1 million seed funding, in a round led by Elbow Beach Capital and Pi Labs, for its ESG accounting solution, which it hopes will become the ‘QuickBooks for ESG’.

🔎 Netherlands-based Ecochain secured €3 million to grow its life cycle assessment software, designed to support industries such as packaging, construction, apparel, food and beverage, and consumer electronics by helping eco-design and measuring the impact of manufacturing sites.

🏡 Belgian energy management software startup Enersee raised €1.2 million seed funding to target large real estate portfolios, offices, hospitals and industrial buildings with its AI-based energy usage optimisation platform.

Food x Climate

🐄 Australian synbio startup Number 8 Bio secured AU$1.8 million pre-seed funding to scale up its novel fermentation-based platform for enteric methane reduction.

🍗 The USDA has approved the label “cell-cultivated chicken” for the chicken produced by Eat Just and Upside Foods, when the products are eventually approved for sale. The approval signifies that the department feels these companies “have demonstrated full compliance with pre-market labelling requirements”, and brings them a step closer to commercialisation.

🧫 UK-based industrial biotechnology CDMO Extracellular announced the availability of low-cost and license-free cell banks for early-stage cultivated meat researchers and startups. Its animal primary cells suitable for cultivated meat research and development are up to 90% cheaper than other cell line providers and free from licensing restrictions.

🧀 Californian food tech Climax Foods debuted what it says is the world’s first plant-based casein, which it claims mimics the functionality, flavour, texture, melt, and stretch of animal dairy casein.

🍦 Singapore restaurant Fico unveiled the world’s first gelato made from air, developed using Finnish startup Solar Foods’ incredibly versatile Solein protein.

💡 Good Read: Steve Molino, Principal at Clear Current Capital, tells what it’s like attending a cultivated meat tasting and explains why, without trust, it’s game over for sustainable foods.

Energy x Climate

🔋 Australian battery materials startup Sicona Battery Technologies raised AU$22 million Series A funding to commercialise its silicon-graphite composite technology, used in the anodes of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and renewables storage.

☀️ Germany’s Enpal secured €430 million debt financing, bringing its total debt financing to €1.9 billion. The startup, recently ranked as the fastest-growing energy company in Europe, rents out green hardware, including solar panels and heat pumps, to consumers.

🌡 Czech startup Woltair secured €20.5 million to expand its operations into Germany and Italy. Its digital platform supports the deployment of heat pumps and photovoltaics into the residential sector.

🏭 Denmark’s Dynelectro raised €4.5 million seed funding to scale its Dynamic Electrolysis Units to 1 MW ahead of planned commercial launch in 2025. These units use a patented technology to produce affordable, green hydrogen through advanced, scalable solid-oxide electrolysis.

🛰 Eight British startups and universities will share £4.3 million in government funding to develop space-based solar power technologies to harness energy “day and night”. These include Cambridge University, which is developing “ultra-lightweight” solar panels to withstand radiation, and Queen Mary University, which is working on a wireless system to transfer energy to Earth.

💡 London-based Tem. raised £2.5 million for its AI-driven platform which offers businesses a way to bypass inefficient utility solutions, instead matching them with clean generators.

🔌 Also in London, Axle Energy secured $1.6 million pre-seed funding for its “virtual wires” technology which, when charging devices such as EVs, adapts depending on when electricity is cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

🏭 French battery startup Verkor, currently building a gigafactory in Dunkirk, is set to announce a €2 billion fundraise, which will rank amongst the largest rounds in Europe this year.

Metals x Climate

👜 Uncaged Innovations, based in New York, secured $2 million pre-seed funding from investors including Jaguar Land Rover, Stray Dog Capital, and HackCapital. It will use the funds to launch its next-generation high-performance vegan leather, made via its formulation library technology which produces biomimetic leather alternatives based on composite plant-based proteins and polypeptides.

🧪 Californian startup Albert Invent raised $7.5 million seed funding to continue developing its state-of-the-art, end-to-end R&D platform for the $5T global chemicals industry, which is currently used in 30+ countries at chemicals and material science companies of all sizes to dramatically accelerate development of new materials.

🍻 London-based Arda Biomaterials raised £1.1 million, in a round led by the Clean Growth Fund, to transform beer waste into a sustainable leather alternative.

Transport x Climate

🚚 Madrid-based Trucksters secured €33 million Series B funding to support its mission to be the first electric long-haul operator in Europe.

🚗 Indian fleet management company Everest Fleet raised $20 million, in a round led by Uber, to accelerate its transition to electric vehicles, with the aim of having 10,000 EVs in its fleet by 2026.

💰 The corporate venture arm of automaker Stellantis has invested €100 million into ten startups working in everything from battery technology and holographic augmented reality to sustainable manufacturing and e-bikes.

🤝 Cargill has joined forces with Dutch towage and maritime company Kotug to deploy the “world’s first” fully electric pusher boat and barges, which will transport cocoa beans from the Port of Amsterdam to its cocoa factory in Zaandam, the Netherlands.

Funds x Climate

💸 Nordic VC firm Voima Ventures announced an initial closing of €90 million for its third fund, which will support early-stage “deep tech” startups working within sustainability, life science and health, and other “groundbreaking” technologies such as quantum computing. Its previous funds have supported the likes of Finland’s Solar Foods, which produces a natural protein, Solein®, using carbon dioxide and electricity.

💰 The UK’s national research and innovation funding agency is investing nearly £318 million into a plant and microbial research hub, which will focus on the impact of climate change, sustainable food and human health.

Memes x Climate

Reduce emissions you say? But it’s so much more fun to just build giant factories that suck up the carbon instead 😞

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend ahead

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Editorial by Arman, Curation by Nicola.