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Hi,

Quieter week as we inch closer to summer and folks (including myself) flock to coastal retreats. I enjoyed a few days out in the Hamptons but still pulled together the latest, greatest, and not so greatest from across climate tech and energy from the week for you all. Hope all who spent their time over the past few days focused on New York tech week enjoyed it.

In today’s email:

• One story in a chart and a sentence

• Climate tech and energy headlines from the week

• Climate tech fundraising announcements

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THIS WEEK IN CLIMATE TECH & ENERGY

One story in a sentence (and a chart)

• Heat records are being shattered left and right over the past decade, underscoring that global warming is here, now, and that the time to start working on adaptation alongside mitigation was yesterday. Link.

11 headlines

The good

• Clean energy infrastructure and project development spending is set to reach $2T this year. Link.

• U.S. domestic solar module manufacturing capacity nearly doubled to 26.6 GW from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, as lots of new IRA-spurred manufacturing capacity comes online. Link.

• Researchers at the Helsinki Institute of Life Science developed a way to make cultivated meat with stem cell metabolism instead of more expensive growth factors, which could help cut the price of cultivated meat. Link.

• Harbinger Motors, a California-based electric truck manufacturer, noted it has more than 4,000 binding pre-orders worth more than $400M. Link.

The in-betweens

• The world’s largest solar farm got turned on in Northwestern China recently. At 3.5 GW capacity, this is an absolute monster and could cover the electricity demand of entire U.S. states. It’s also in the infamously troubled Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, making it part of a monster of a different variety. China also installed the world’s first monstrous 18 GW wind turbine this week. Link. Link.

• The size of the global natural gas market out to 2032 is estimated at a staggering $400 trillion-plus. Link.

The bad

• Droughts across the world are stretching hydropower, including in Canada, which is now importing more power from the U.S. than usual, given lower reservoir levels. Link.

• Gro Intelligence, an agricultural data platform, is going under after mostly recently raising an $85M Series B. The company laid off 60% of its staff in March and will now shutter. The company is also under investigation by the SEC. Link.

• Ionic Materials, a solid-state EV battery startup that had raised a $65M Series C round back in 2018, shut down this week. Link. Link.

• New York Governor Kathy Hochul indefinitely postponed plans to institute a congestion pricing policy that would have charged vehicles different rates depending on their class for entering much of Manhattan, dealing a blow to punitive climate policy in general. Link. Link.

• Heat records rocket places from Arizona to Egypt this week. Link. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds

⚛️ Xcimer Energy, based out of Redwood City, raised $100M in Series A funding for its inertial confinement laser-based fusion startup. Hedosophia led. More here. (U.S., Energy)

🥩 Prolific Machines, based out of Emeryville, CA, raised $55M in Series B-1 funding for its photomolecular biology platform that uses light to make proteins. Ki Tua Fund led. More here. (U.S., Food & Agriculture / Industry)

🐙 Octopus Energy, based out of London, raised an undisclosed amount from Galvanize Climate Solutions and Lightrock at a $9B+ valuation. More here. (U.K., Energy)

Medium-sized funding rounds

🔨 Neural Concept, based out of Lausanne, Switzerland, raised $27M in Series B funding for its software that helps engineers optimize designs for products like EVs, aerospace applications, and other industrial machinery. Forestay Capital led. More here. (Switzerland, Industry)

🔌 Euler Motors, based out of New Delhi, India, raised an additional ~$24.1M in Series C funding for its electric three-wheelers designed to carry cargo. British International Investment, Blume Venture, and Piramal Alternatives invested. More here. (India, Transportation)

🔌 Gireve, based out of Léchère, France, raised ~$21.8M in equity funding to connect commercial EV drivers with charging services across networks. Partech led. More here. (France, Transportation)

📊 Understory, based out of Madison, WI, raised $15M in Series A funding to provide insurance products designed to protect against severe weather. True Ventures and Prelude Ventures led. More here. (U.S., Finance / Insurance)

🚚 Qargo, based out of Ghent, Belgium, raised ~$14M in Series A funding for its transport management software for the trucking industry. Balderton Capital led. More here. (Belgium, Transportation)

🚲 Whizz, based out of New York, raised $12M in equity funding to make it easier for gig workers to get e-bikes on a subscription basis. LETA Capital. More here. (U.S., Transportation)

⛏️ SiTration, based out of Boston, raised $11.8M in seed round funding to develop technology to extract metals from industrial waste. 2150 led. More here. (U.S., Industry)

🔌 Fuuse, based out of Lancaster, U.K., raised ~$11M in equity funding for its EV charging management platform. YFM Equity Partners led. More here. (U.K., Transportation)

🔌 Viaduct, based out of Menlo Park, CA, raised $10M in Series B funding to help manufacturers and fleet operators manage quality and maintenance data for their vehicles. FM Capital led. More here. (U.S., Transportation)

Smaller funding rounds

🌞 Samara, based out of Madrid, Spain, raised ~$9.8M in Series A funding for its solar installation startup. Green Generation Fund and Move Energy co-led. More here. (Spain, Energy)

🖥️ Sopht, based out of Lyon, France, raised ~$3.6M in equity funding to make software to decarbonize IT infrastructure. Ring Capital and Climate Club led. More here. (France, Industry)

👷 Field Materials, based out of San Jose, CA, raised $3.5M in extended seed funding to build a procurement platform for contractors. DivcoWest Ventures, Navitas Capital, Zelda Ventures, and others invested. More here. (U.S., Built Environment)

🚛 Decade Energy, based out of Paris, raised ~$3.2M in seed funding for its software that helps truck operators transition to electric fleets. Ananda Impact Ventures and Contrarian Ventures co-led. More here. (France, Transportation)

🍄 Novobiom, based out of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, raised ~$2.2M in seed funding for its mycoremediation process that uses fungal biotech to turn waste streams into useful products. Noshaq, Planetary Impact Ventures, and others invested. More here. (Belgium, Industry)

♻️ Nova Carbon, based out of Mérignac, France, raised ~$1.6M in equity funding to create carbon fiber recycling tech. Ventech, UI Investissement, and others invested. More here. (France, Materials)

🔋 Entroview, based out of Saint-Martin-d'Hères, France, raised ~$1.6M in equity funding to provide analytic tools to improve battery diagnostics. AFI Ventures and Rethink Ventures led. More here. (France, Transportation / Power)

🏡 Prȇts, based out of Amsterdam, raised ~$1.1M in equity funding to help homeowners finance home electrification and decarbonization upgrades. Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland, Rubio Impact Ventures, Rockstart and angel investors invested. More here. (Netherlands, Built Environment)

📊 Unibloom World, based out of London, raised ~$830k in pre-seed funding to make software that integrates climate data into business planning and financial forecasts. Zinc VC, Regenerate Ventures, and others invested. More here. (U.K., Data Applications)

🍫 Kokomodo, based out of Israel, emerged from stealth with $750k in funding from The Kitchen FoodTech Hub and the Israeli Innovation Authority to make cell-based cocoa and chocolate. More here. (Israel, Food & Agriculture)

Other funding rounds

🧱 Sublime Systems, based out of Somerville, MA, raised $87M in grant funding from the DOE to make zero-carbon cement via its proprietary electrochemical approach. More here. (U.S., Built Environment)

🧪 Aymium, based out of St. Paul, MN, raised $210M in debt financing to build a biocarbon production facility in Williams, California. More here. (U.S., Energy)

♨️ Aira, based out of Stockholm, raised $216M in debt financing for its heat pump business. More here. (Sweden, Built Environment)

🌞 Sol Systems, based out of Washington, D.C., raised $85M in debt from Macquarie Asset Management to build five utility-scale solar projects across Illinois and Ohio. More here. (U.S., Energy)

New funds

💵 Creandum, based out of Stockholm, raised another ~$543M for its seventh fund to invest in seed through Series A companies, including in climate startups. More here. (Sweden, Funds)

💰 Pollination, based out of London, raised $150M for a new fund to invest in climate and nature tech startups across sectors. More here. (U.K., Funds)

Have a nice week ahead,

– Nick