⚛️ Vol 148: Nuclear next for data centres

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Isn’t it time to back the underdogs? Here at Hack, we think so. And caught up with 20 investors to hear which ClimateTechs are being overlooked and deserve 10x more funding.

While solar, EVs, and carbon removal dominate headlines, a fresh wave of lesser-known solutions prove just as transformative.

Think climate adaptation tools for communities on the frontlines, biomanufacturing platforms rethinking materials and food, demethanisation tackling one of the most potent greenhouse gases, ocean alkalinity enhancement to lock away carbon at scale and grid cybersecurity protecting our clean energy future.

Are you working on the solution to one of these overlooked Climate Technologies?

In this week’s edition:

⚛️ Aalo Atomics raised $100 million to advance its small modular reactor technology and launch its first facility in 2026.
💰 Norrsken Foundation launched Norrsken Evolve, a €57 million pre-seed fund to back early-stage European startups in sustainability, deeptech, and resilience.
⛏️ Hades Mining announced a €5.5 million pre-seed funding to develop breakthrough drilling systems for ultra-deep geothermal energy and critical mineral extraction.

Digest x Climate

👋 Join us as a ClimateHack Ambassador in Paris, Berlin, London, Nairobi, New York, Sao Paulo.

🇸🇪 🇰🇪 Meet us in Stockholm for the city’s first ClimateHack Meetup on Investing in Nature. Or in Nairobi for an Investor Meet and Greet.

💡 Jobs at altrove, Mati Carbon, ECBF, Automated Architecture, EDERA Lab, WWF, Planetary Impact Ventures

AgriFood x Climate

🍄 California-based The Better Meat Co raised $31 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Future Ventures and Resilience Reserve, with participation from Glenn Hickman, Epic Ventures, Sigma Ventures, and other investors, to scale commercial production of its Rhiza mycoprotein and make it “cheaper than beef”.

🌾 US ag intelligence startup Soil Action raised $5.25 million in a seed funding round led by R7 Partners, with participation from Climactic VC, Dolby Family Ventures, Ponderosa Ventures, the University of Wyoming Foundation, and Ag Ventures Alliance, to deploy its AI-powered real-time soil chemistry analysis platform for farmers.

🇸🇬 Singapore-based Singrow secured $4.5 million Series A funding from Finc Pte. Ltd., Cyanhill Capital, Pasudeco, Eastern Wind International, and returning investors Ritz Venture Partners and AgFunder. The plant genomics and precision agriculture company will use the capital to expand its seedlings, vertical farming, and genetics platform across Asia and beyond.

🌱 Oxford-based agri-biotech spinout SugaROx raised an additional €1.1 million in a seed round extension, which included investment from The Mosaic Company and returning angels and funds including UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and Regenerate Ventures, to accelerate development and production of its crop-enhancing biostimulant.

Biodiversity x Climate

🏊🏼‍♀️ Comparison: The Mediterranean Sea is now hotter than your swimming pool.

🦅 Wyke Farms, the UK’s largest independent cheese producer, has launched a three-year “Birdsong for Biodiversity” initiative with Chirrup.ai, using AI-powered bioacoustic monitoring to track bird populations and enhance ecosystem health as part of its broader sustainability strategy.

Carbon x Climate

🏭 OCOchem is partnering with ADM to build a CO2 conversion facility at ADM’s Decatur, Illinois complex, using OCOchem’s Carbon FluX Electrolyzer to transform biogenic CO2 emissions from ethanol production into carbon-negative formate products for industrial and consumer applications.

Construction x Climate

🏗️ Berlin-based WALLROUND raised an oversubscribed €4.2 million seed funding round led by Revent with participation from GGF, Vonovia, KVL Group, Founders Factory, S&B Capital, Superangels, and Marc Müller, to expand its tech-enabled platform for energy-efficient building renovations and build Europe’s largest renovation franchise.

🧱 Opinion: If low‑carbon concrete costs the same, why aren’t we pouring it everywhere?

Energy x Climate

💥 US-based nuclear startup Aalo Atomics raised $100 million in a Series B funding round led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation from 50Y, Alumni Ventures, Crescent Enterprises, Crosscut, Fine Structure Ventures, Gaingels, Harpoon Ventures, Hitachi Ventures, Kindred Ventures, MCJ, NRG Energy, Nucleation Capital, Perpetual VC, Tishman Speyer, and VamosVentures, to advance its small modular reactor technology and launch its first facility in 2026.

⚛️ Canadian nuclear fusion startup General Fusion secured $22 million from existing investors including Chrysalix Venture Capital, Gaingels, Hatch, MILFAM, JIMCO, PenderFund, Presight Capital, Segra Capital Management, and Thistledown Capital, to advance its LM26 prototype toward key scientific milestones.

☀️ Australian solar wholesaler One Stop Warehouse raised $5.5 million in strategic funding from Shanghai-based SparkEdge Capital to accelerate its international expansion and scale its GreenSketch clean energy platform, which it says is the world’s first free end-to-end solar design tool integrating design, procurement, subsidy applications, and project management.

📝 Meta signed its 18th deal with Silicon Ranch to build a $100 million, 100-megawatt solar farm in South Carolina to power its planned $800 million AI data center, with both set to begin operations in 2027.

📊 Graph. Why the data is clear: Clean energy is now the most economical choice.

Funds x Climate

💰 Sweden’s Norrsken Foundation launched Norrsken Evolve, a €57 million pre-seed fund to back early-stage European startups in sustainability, deeptech, and resilience, with its first portfolio including companies such as FION Energy (smart industrial battery storage), Bubble Robotics (underwater robotics for climate resilience), and New Dawn Bio (fast-growing wood alternatives).

💷 UK-based climatetech VC Clean Growth Fund secured £49 million - one-third of its £150 million target - for its second fund, with backing from Strathclyde Pension Fund, Islington Pension Fund, and East Riding LGPS, to invest in early-stage startups cutting emissions and driving net-zero innovation.

🚀 The University of Cambridge’s King’s College launched its first startup incubator, SPARK, supporting 24 research-born ventures including Zenithon AI, which is supporting the advancement of nuclear fusion, and GreenHarvest, a data-driven agtech firm using satellites and climate data to predict crop yields.

Materials x Climate

🍻 Good watch: The world’s smallest controllable brewery.

⛏️ Munich-based deep-tech startup Hades Mining raised a €5.5 million pre-seed funding round led by Project A, with participation from Visionaries Tomorrow, Founders Factory, and strategic angels, to develop breakthrough drilling systems for ultra-deep geothermal energy and critical mineral extraction.

💄 Tokyo-based IntegriCulture and Singapore’s Umami Bioworks have partnered to co-develop novel cosmetics, combining IntegriCulture’s cell-cultured egg-derived ingredient Cellament with Umami’s AI-driven Alkemyst platform and starting with fish-cell-based products under Umami’s new Marine Radiance line.

🌵 Could cacti be the solution to 300M tonnes of plastic waste?

Mobility x Climate

🌙 Good watch: Can you spot the moon after the initial turn?

🔋 US-based battery materials startup Group14 raised $463 million in a funding round led by SK with participation from ATL, Lightrock, Microsoft, Porsche, and OMERS, to expand production of its silicon anode materials for next-generation lithium-ion EV batteries.

🚌 BasiGo reached a milestone of deploying its 100th electric bus across Kenya and Rwanda, making it one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest e-bus fleets and enabling cleaner, renewable-powered public transport for over 20,000 passengers daily.

Science x Climate 

🤯 Confusing confidence with competence

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Editorial by Laura, Curation by Nicola