Amazon funds two climate tech firms as third gains ground
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The Amazon Climate Pledge Fund announced investments in two new companies on Tuesday, both as Series A funding rounds made alongside other investors.
Driving the news: The larger Series A round totals just under $20 million for Brooklyn-based Amogy, a company that aims to decarbonize transportation, starting with marine shipping.
- Company co-founder and CEO Seonghoon Woo told Axios its mission is to use energy-dense liquid ammonia for producing zero-emissions vessels, as marine shipping is one of the hardest sectors to convert from fossil fuels.
- The firm's technology uses compact reactor technology to convert liquid ammonia into hydrogen components to generate power.
- "We view ammonia as part of the broader hydrogen economy. And the hydrogen economy is something that is of great interest to us," Matt Peterson, head of the $2 billion Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, told Axios, noting hydrogen's potential for cleaning up long-haul trucking and potentially aviation.
Separately, the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund also invested in Hippo Harvest, a California agriculture company that seeks to slash emissions and waste from produce farming by using plant science, machine learning and robotics.
- The company boasts that its greenhouse system uses up to 95% less water than traditional farming techniques while moving food production closer to consumers.
- This is the Amazon fund's first agriculture investment, and other funders in this $11 million round include Congruent Ventures, Energy Impact Partners and Collaborative Fund.
Meanwhile: Sweep, a French carbon management company that helps large businesses reach their emissions reduction goals using a data-driven platform, announced a $22 million Series A round, led by Balderton Capital.
- Rachel Delacour, CEO and co-founder of Sweep, tells Axios the company works to give customers a 360-degree view of their emissions, including what is embedded throughout their supply chain and the end-use of their products (Scope 3 emissions), to enable them to turn their pledges into actions.
