🌎 Climate sentiment: the survey! #129

Happy Monday! This week, we’re launching an open sentiment survey to get behind the numbers and understand where investors and founders think the climate world today is. We’ll share the results openly before EOY – our goal is to understand and enable climate builders to do their best work, especially as each week seems to change the answer around what’s fundable.

CTVC Market Sentiment Survey

In this week’s fundings, an India based agricultural services platform raises $60m, a regenerative ag solution raises $47m, and precision crop pollination company raises $42m (for the bees!).

In the news, the EU bemoans the IRA’s US friendliness while also trying to fix a gas price cap ahead of winter. NASA scuttles plans for a greenhouse monitoring satellite as costs balloon, and a 339-mile hydropower line from Canada to power NYC begins construction.

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Surveying climate tech funding sentiment

Valuations across the early stage market are wildly divergent and shifting in real time. Since the first half of 2022, each week feels singular and the fundraising dynamic is ever evolving. When the waters are choppy, we anchor on the data. While our mid-year funding update found climate tech to be relatively insulated compared to the overall market environment, deal announcements are often lagging indicators of current market sentiment.

We’ve created a market sentiment survey to capture a real-time, quantified pulse check on the climate tech early stage funding environment - for both investors and founders.

Take me to the survey!

We’re primarily eager to understand deal velocity, valuations, and terms. In turn, we’ll share this back as aggregated anonymized results in an open report before the end of the year.

We believe in the longer horizons of climate tech, but recognize that the most obvious numbers can sometimes mask the feelings that drive the numbers further out.

This is a 5-minute anonymous survey. We’re grateful for your open insights!

Deals of the Week (11/28-12/4)

Venture Fundings

🌾 DeHaat, an India-based platform providing agricultural services, raised $60m in Series E funding from Sofina Ventures, Temasek, RTP Global Partners, Prosus Ventures, and Lightrock India.

🌎 Verdant Robotics, a Hayward, CA-based RaaS company providing regenerative agriculture solutions, raised $47m in Series A funding from Cleveland Avenue, SeaX Ventures, Futures Ventures, DCVD Bio, Cavallo Ventures, Autotech Ventures, AgFunder.

🐝 BeeHero, a Fresno, CA-based precision crop pollination company, raised $42m in Series B round from Convent Capital, General Mills, Cibus Capital, Rabobank, MS&AD, Firstime, J-Ventures, Plug & Play, iAngels, Gaingels, and UpWest.

🏠 Plant Prefab, a Rialto, CA-based maker of sustainable prefabricated homes, raised $42m ($30m equity, $12 debt) in funding from Gerdau, Western Technology Investments, ATEL Capital, Asahi Kasei, Unreasonable Collective, Amazon and Obvious Ventures.

🌳 TreeCard, a UK-based tree planting fintech platform, raised $23m in Series A funding from Valar Ventures, World Fund, Seedcamp, EQT Ventures, and Episode 1.

🌍 OroraTech, a Germany-based provider of therma-infrared satellites for wildfire monitoring, raised $16m in Series A funding from Edaphone, SpaceTec Capital, Findus Venture, European Space Agency, ConActivity KG, Bayern Kapital, APEX Ventures, and Ananda Impact Ventures.

♻️ CleanFiber, a Buffalo, NY-based provider of carbon-negative building installation from recycled cardboard, raised $10m in funding from AXA IM.

🌎 FigBytes, a Canada-based ESG insights company, raised $10m in funding from Quantum Innovation Fund.

🔥Earth Force, a San Francisco, CA-based wildfire prevention company, raised $8.6m in Seed funding from Alley Robotics Ventures, Bold Capital Partners, and Third Sphere.

🚚 Range Energy, a Mountain View, CA-based company providing electric trailers for the commercial trucking market, raised $8m in seed funding from UP Partners, R7, and Yamaha Motor Ventures.

☀️ ROSI, a France-based company recycling photovoltaic panels, raised $8m in funding from ITOCHU Corporation, the European Innovation Council and InnoEnergy.

🌾 BigSis, a UK-based chemical-free insect control robotics platform, raised $5.4m in Series A funding from Regenerate Ventures.

🛵 Oben Electric, a India-based electric scooter developer, raised $4m in Seed funding from US India EV Angels, Dholakia Ventures, and We Founder Circle.

🚆 RailVision Analytics, a Montreal-based train efficiency platform lowering fuel consumption and emissions, raised $4m in Seed funding from Trucks VC, MUUS Climate Partners, Blackhorn Ventures, Incite, Measured Ventures, and Active Impact Investments.

🏠 Elephant Energy, a Boulder, CO-based home electrification platform, raised $3.5m in Seed funding from Building Ventures.

⚡ Buzz Solutions, a Palo Alto, CA-based predictive analytics platform for energy infrastructure, raised $3.3m in funding from GoPoint Ventures and MaC Venture Capital.

🥩 Bright Biotech, a UK-based cultured meat company, raised $3.2m in Seed funding from Food Lab, Big Ideal Ventures, CPT Capital, and the FoodHack syndicate.

⚡ Cactos, a Finland-company provider of smart energy storage systems, raised $3m in Seed funding from Superhero Capital.

💨 Carbon Reform, a Newark, DE-based provider of carbon capture and indoor air purification systems, raised $3m in Seed funding from Azolla Ventures, Virya, Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Plug and Play Ventures, Gaingels, and Preston Schell.

💨 Cedara, an Austin, TX-based carbon intelligence platform for the media industry, raised $3m in funding.

🌍 Faradai, a UK-based net zero intelligence platform, raised $2m in Seed funding from Sangha Capital, EdenBase, ACTAI Ventures, Goldacre, and EthAum Venture Partners.

🥩 Opo Bio, a New Zealand-based cultivated meat company, raised $1.5m in Seed funding from Matu Fund, Booster, The Inventors’ Fund and angels.

⚡ EcoSync, a UK-based provider of HVAC control solutions for commercial buildings, raised $1m in funding from RO Capital Partners and Oxford Innovation.

🌾 Agrology, a Alexandria, VA-based regenerative and predictive agriculture platform, raised Seed funding from Active Impact Investments, Skyview Ventures, and Phoenix Venture Partners.

🔋 Natron Energy, a Santa Clara, CA-based sodium ion battery developer, raised funding from United Airlines Ventures.

Other Fundings

💨 Rubicon Carbon, a Marina del Rey, CA-based carbon marketplace platform, raised $300m in funding from TPG Rise Climate.

🔋 Kore Power, a Coeur D’alene, ID-based lithium-ion battery manufacturer, raised $75m in funding from Siemens, Quanta Services, Nidec Motor, Honeywell Ventures, and Trog Hawley Capital.

⛏️ E3 Metals, a Canada–based company extracting lithium from old oilfields, raised $27m from Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund.

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Exits & New Funds:

Shell has agreed to acquire Nature Energy, a Denmark-based producer of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) for $2B.

In the News

The IRA is facing critics abroad and at home. EU officials are complaining that Biden’s climate law unfairly favors US-made climate tech, while energy expert Jason Bordoff argues the culprit is really “Europe’s lack of competitiveness without cheap Russian gas, not America’s new climate law.” While Biden suggested tweaks to appease French president Macron, reopening the law would likely face hurdles.

Republicans are also digging into Biden's climate policies, submitting probes and letters on issues like the working conditions of overseas mining projects and the viability of moonshot climate technologies.

The EU is unveiling plans to slash plastic and packaging waste by 20% by 2030. Draft regulations would ban mini-shampoo bottles and single-use cups, with a push towards reuse over recycling.

As winter kicks into high gear, the EU is negotiating a gas price cap. The currently proposed cap at €275 ($289) per MWh is seen as too high to adequately cushion the blow from price spikes. Meanwhile, European countries are scrambling to shore up their LNG supply including Germany’s latest deal with Qatar Energy which will supply up to 2M tons of LNG annually for 15 years starting in 2026.

“Sorry for the delay.” Tesla finally launched its first Semi-truck. Deliveries start with 100 trucks for Pepsi Co, while other other high-profile customers including Anheuser-Busch, Walmart and UPS wait for their turn.

Mauna Loa’s eruption halted the recording of the Keeling Curve, a key measurement of atmospheric CO2 buildup that proves CO2 levels are higher now than at any time in at least 3 million years.

NASA dropped plans for a greenhouse gas monitoring satellite over the Americas, after costs ballooned from $166m to over $600m. Perhaps the satellites are now best left to the startups?

Construction has begun on the 339-mile Champlain Hudson Power Express, which will supply 1,250 MW of Canadian hydropower to NYC as the city retires fossil fuel plants.

Pop-up

Climate tech is now royally cool. Prince William and Kate Middleton visited Greentown Labs to crown the 5 Earthshot 2022 prize winners.

The doors’ open! Sign up for office hours with climate veterans to think through your career transition. Climate vets, volunteer your time.

Congrats to this year's 30 under 30, featuring a strong representation of climate tech folks from Lightship, Molten, Limelight, Lydian, Heirloom, Perennial, Lowercarbon, and (amazingly!) too many more to list. For everyone else who didn’t make the list Comedian Alexis Gay has your consolation prize covered.

AWS Sustainable Cities Accelerator awarded 9 startups from St. Louis to Rotterdam.

How British architecture has made homes vulnerable to extreme heat and cold.

The economics of carbon removal with Nan Ransohoff on a16z.

An ancient zombie virus was defrosted by climate change.

100 million sharks are killed in industrial fishing nets annually. Now, shocks may save sharks.

A member of the Bribri Indigenous peoples of Costa Rica writes about the extractive and culturally reductive nature of the carbon credit market.

EDF’s new tracker breaks down FY21’s $14B federal budget spend on climate.

In a SPAC-tacular downfall, Bird issued a “going concern” for its shared mobility business.

A case study on how the USPS’s new electric fleet is going.

Opportunities & Events:

🗓️Out in Climate: Connect with queer folks in the broader climate space at a casual happy hour Dec 8 at Julius' in NYC.

🗓️ PRIME Project Frame: Learn how to assess emissions impact in practice from fellow community members on Dec 8.

💡AWS Clean Energy Accelerator: Apply by Jan 3 to AWS’s equity-free accelerator for clean energy startups.

Harvard Climate Entrepreneurs Circle: Apply by Jan 8 to the 2023 Climate Circle, a selective incubation program for high-potential ventures working to address climate change.