🍄 Vol 135: The Diaper That Eats Itself

Hi There,

If you logged into LinkedIn earlier week, there’s a good chance you saw our HackHour Campaign, a call to highlight science-based solutions in ClimateTech and the urgent need for or more collaboration to drive real, measurable impact. 

100+ HackSummit attendees and participating companies joined in, before we meet in Lausanne next month on May 15-16th to put science in the spotlight.

Let’s build what the future needs.

In this week’s edition:

🚢 The world’s first carbon capture system in port, achieving 94% CO₂ capture
💸 $50 million Series B to scale a capital markets platform for the clean economy
🫘 A sportswear collection from 100% bio-based nylon derived from castor beans

The Digest

🌏 Good watch: 40 years of change in 120 seconds.

💡 Opinion: What if the world was organised via bioregions instead of borders?

🎧 Tune in: A DIY solution that empowers homeowners to save on their energy bills.

📊 A voluntary biodiversity market database with 1,000 companies and 17,000+ data points.

AgriFood x Climate

🍅 Seattle-based indoor agtech company IUNU secured a $20 million Series B extension to expand its AI-driven automation tools for greenhouse growers across North America and Europe, with the aim of boosting productivity, reducing crop loss, and addressing labour shortages through advanced plant-level visibility and forecasting.

🍚 Indonesian startup Eratani secured $6.2 million Series A funding to expand its community-driven digital platform that helps smallholder rice farmers boost productivity, improve livelihoods, and access markets, while scaling precision-farming tools and supporting the country’s push for food sovereignty.

⚙️ AI-powered restaurant forecasting startup ClearCOGS secured $3.8 million seed funding. It offers decision-ready insights that help operators reduce food waste and improve efficiency, and will use the funds to further expand its platform.

🧫 Green Bioactives secured a grant of up to £1.1 million from Scottish Enterprise to scale production of sustainable plant-based bioactive ingredients, made using its Plant Cell Culture Technology platform.

Carbon x Climate

🚢 Seabound and STAX Engineering successfully demonstrated the world’s first carbon capture system in port, achieving a 94% CO₂ capture rate aboard a vessel at the Port of Long Beach, marking a major milestone for maritime decarbonisation.

📈 Occidental Petroleum acquired direct air capture startup Holocene to expand its carbon removal capabilities, and is planning to combine Holocene’s low-heat, amino acid-based technology with existing efforts to scale carbon capture for both sequestration and enhanced oil recovery.

💰 Microsoft has agreed to buy 3.7 million metric tons of carbon removal credits from CO280 over 12 years to support its 2030 carbon-negative goal, backing a future carbon capture project at a Gulf Coast pulp and paper mill.

Energy x Climate

🔋 UK-based Nyobolt raised $30 million to advance its fast-charging, high-power battery technology, aimed at electrifying power-intensive sectors like AI, transport, and data centers with minimal downtime and reduced resource use.

🇳🇬 Nigerian solar startup Arnergy raised an $18 million Series B funding round to meet surging demand driven by fuel subsidy removal and rising energy costs. Its lease-to-own solar model is designed as a cost-saving alternative to generators and unreliable grid power.

💥 Fusion fuel startup Hexium emerged from stealth with $9.5 million in seed funding to develop compact, laser-based technology for producing lithium-6—an essential but scarce ingredient for fusion energy.

🤖 US startup Cosmic Robotics secured $4 million to develop a robotic assistant that eases the physical strain of installing heavy solar panels, helping to tackle labour shortages and accelerate solar farm construction.

🪫 Austria’s SALZSTROM raised over $1 million pre-seed funding to scale its sodium-ion battery technology, to offer Europe a safer, more sustainable alternative to lithium-based energy storage.

🪨 Google announced its first geothermal investment in Asia, adding 10 megawatts of clean energy in Taiwan through a project developed by Sweden's Baseload Capital to support the country's renewable energy goals.

💡 A new study published in Sustainability shows that using the soil beneath buildings to store heat with shallow geothermal systems can make heating and cooling more efficient, cut energy use, and help reduce carbon emissions.

ESG x Climate

🇳🇱 Amsterdam-based beSirius raised €3 million seed funding to scale its AI-powered sustainability intelligence platform for heavy industries, designed to offer dynamic, data-driven insights to replace static reporting and guide strategic decisions.

🧮 Estonian ESG startup Esgrid secured new funding to expand its AI-powered platform into supplier management, beginning with automated onboarding and evaluation tools to streamline ESG risk and performance tracking.

FinTech x Climate

💸 Crux raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by Giant Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and others to scale its capital markets platform for the clean economy.

Materials x Climate

🍄 US startup Hiro Technologies debuted MycoDigestible Diapers, infused with plastic-eating fungi that rapidly break down diaper waste in landfills, offering a sustainable solution to one of the largest sources of household plastic pollution.

👟 Pangaia launched (gaia)PLNT Nylon, a limited-edition sportswear collection made from 100% bio-based nylon derived from castor beans.

🐳 Interesting: 5 tonnes of garbage turned into art.

Mobility x Climate

🛞 London-based Flock Mobility raised £1 million to scale its AI-driven platform for shared electric vehicle transport, enabling organisations like the NHS to improve fleet efficiency and reduce emissions.

🔌 Conifer, a new startup founded by former Lucid Motors and Apple EV engineers, secured $20 million to launch a rare-earth-free electric hub motor using ferrite magnets, targeting small mobility and industrial applications.

✈️ Archer Aviation, in partnership with United Airlines, unveiled plans for a New York City air taxi network using its electric aircraft to fly passengers between Manhattan and major airports in under 15 minutes.

Water x Climate

🎓 A University of Michigan study published in Nature Chemical Engineering highlights how new membranes and electricity could help desalination plants reduce hazardous brine waste, improving sustainability in freshwater production for arid regions.

History x Climate

🗓️ 87 years ago, this April.

Jobs x Climate

The norm at a Climate startup

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Editorial by Laura, Curation by Nicola