1 big thing: Khosla's fusion vision

2. The BFD: 540 million nickels

Illustration of a magnifying glass finding a dollar sign on a piece of nickel ore.

3. Expert voices: The transmission gap

4. Temperature check

Illustration of an earth emoji combined with a sick face emoji.

5. Hot deals

6. It's personnel

🍋 Sip of the week: The fall chill is setting in, and half of climate tech is out sick after RE+ and Climate Week. A hot toddy seems in order — with a COVID booster and flu vaccine sidecar. 

👋 Alan is back, with a stack of cough drops. 

💉 Katie is getting her latest COVID jab today. Wish her arm luck!

Thank you to Michael Flaherty and Phoebe Neidl for today's edits.

And thank you for reading Climate Deals! Please share with your friends, family and Cleantech 1.0 veterans.

Climate Deals

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1 big thing: Growth stage gets another billion

illustration of Ziv Avaram surrounded by colorful lines and photos of trees

2. The BFD: Honeywell backs big batteries

A crane lifts an ESS iron flow battery system into position on the desert floor, next to a solar plant in the Sacramento Municipal Utility District service area. 

3. The chatter at Climate Week: How you doin'?

Climate investors and founders chat ahead of a panel taking place in a window-filled penthouse in New York City.

4. Microsoft is seeking a nuclear energy chief

Illustration of a computer screen with a pixelated atom on it 

5. Temperature check

Illustration of an earth in space covered in red and blue meteorological color lines.

6. Hot deals

7. It's personnel

8. Quote of the day: Approval ratings

👀 Situational awareness: Our Axios Pro colleagues from the Energy Policy team published an AI whitepaper on the critical legislation, lawmakers and companies to watch right now.

"Nobody is really in charge, and everybody wants to have their voice heard."

🎃 Katie and the family visited pumpkin patches this weekend!

🦴 Alan yesterday bought his first-ever Halloween decorations. The centerpiece: A life-size plastic skeleton that the toddler immediately named "Benny the Dog." (There is also a rocking horse named Benny the Dog. And an uncle whose dog is named, yes, Benny.)

And thank you for reading Climate Deals! Please share with your friends, family and billionaires.

1. Growth stage gets another billion

2. Sailing into €19.2M

3. Anzu Partners raises $200 million

4. Carbon-removal red tape 

Illustration of three pencils erasing the phrase "CO2".

5. $70M for electric boats

6. Khosla's fusion vision

7. 540 million nickels

We made it to Friday, climate readers. Research associate Natalie Breymeyer here with your weekly digest.

Situational awareness: The White House on Thursday announced several efforts aimed at boosting nationwide resilience to climate change.

🍾 Natalie's good friend is getting married this weekend and she can't wait to celebrate. 

✏️ Special thanks to copy editor Phoebe Neidl for edits.

🙏 Thank you for reading us this week! Please ask your friends and colleagues to sign up.

1 big thing: Navigating the valuation conversation

Illustration of dollar bills on a roller coaster track.

2. The BFD: Sailing into €19.2M

3. Exclusive: Anzu closes third fund with $200M

Animated illustration of a charging battery stylied as a neon light.

a box of matches that pictures a small outline of the earth and text that reads "Temperature Check"

Tuesday Trivia: To kick off Deploy23 today we have some Jigar Shah-themed trivia: What's the name of the company that Shah (now director of the DOE's Loan Programs Office) founded two decades ago, shaping his view of clean-energy business-model innovation? Hit reply to this email with your answer.

🎃 Katie is here for the pumpkin onslaught at her local stores. Bring it on. 

👻 It's spooky season in Alan's household. Send him your movie recs. Scary yes, disturbing no. So "The Conjuring," "It Follows," "Cabin in the Woods" — not "Hereditary," thank you very much. 

And thank you for reading Climate Deals! Please share with your friends, family and those navigating tricky discussions.

1 big thing: Carbon-removal red tape

2. The BFD: $70M for electric boats 

3. Number of the day: 40%

Illustration of fingers turning a knob with a superimposed Earth on the front, up towards a higher heat. 

6. It's personnel 

👋🏻 Katie is looking forward to an extended online chat with Galvanize's Saloni Multani this afternoon. Tune in here.

🤒 Punxsutawney Phil may determine the start of spring, but the toddler bringing home an exciting new virus from school marks the official start of fall for Alan and Terry.

And thank you for reading Climate Deals! Please share with your friends, family and power-boat riders.

London-based Atlas Materials raised a $27 million Series A to design a low-emissions nickel plant for North America.

Why it matters: The plant is yet another example of the Inflation Reduction Act drawing foreign manufacturing investment to North America, as automakers and battery manufacturers race to buy raw materials that comply with the climate law's domestic sourcing requirements.

What's happening: Atlas plans to build a pilot plant in the U.S. or Canada by 2027.

It'll produce 1,800 tons of nickel annually, likely sourced from New Caledonia, a French territory off Australia.

Of note: The company will need further funding to build the plant, CEO Jeremy Ley told Reuters.

How it works: Atlas says it's developed a method to process nickel ore with few emissions and no waste.

It says the approach also produces 50% more ore for battery-grade nickel than conventional methods.

State of play: Nickel production is concentrated in Indonesia and the Philippines, where it's driving deforestation and disruption of Indigenous communities.

Meanwhile, metals processing generates as much as 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The Nickel Institute has said that nickel production accounts for a fraction of that total, though it also generates harmful local air and water pollution.

Details: Grantham Environmental Trust and Voyager Ventures participated in the round.

The Series A brings Atlas's total funding to $33 million, per Reuters.

Atlas raises $27M for North American nickel plant

The round drew Grantham Environmental Trust and Voyager Ventures.

Minerals

London-based Atlas Materials raised a $27 million Series A to design a low-emissions nickel plant for North America.Why it matters: The plant is yet another example of the Inflation Reduction Act drawing foreign manufacturing investment to North America, as automakers and battery manufacturers <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="race" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2022/09/12/us-faces-nickel-shortfall-2026" data-vars-content-id="2ee92ba0-8cec-4407-9e65-e26553c7b4cd" data-vars-headline="Atlas raises $27M for North American nickel plant" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2022/09/12/us-faces-nickel-shortfall-2026" target="_self">race</a> to buy raw materials that comply with the climate law&#x27;s domestic sourcing requirements.What&#x27;s happening: Atlas plans to build a pilot plant in the U.S. or Canada by 2027.<ul><li>It&#x27;ll produce 1,800 tons of nickel annually, likely sourced from New Caledonia, a French territory off Australia.</li></ul>Of note: The company will need further funding to build the plant, CEO Jeremy Ley <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="told" data-vars-click-url="https://www.reuters.com/business/start-up-atlas-raises-27-mln-new-nickel-technology-ev-batteries-2023-09-28/" data-vars-content-id="2ee92ba0-8cec-4407-9e65-e26553c7b4cd" data-vars-headline="Atlas raises $27M for North American nickel plant" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/start-up-atlas-raises-27-mln-new-nickel-technology-ev-batteries-2023-09-28/" target="_blank">told</a> Reuters.How it works: Atlas says it&#x27;s developed a method to process nickel ore with few emissions and no waste.<ul><li>It says the approach also produces 50% more ore for battery-grade nickel than conventional methods.</li></ul>State of play: Nickel production is concentrated in Indonesia and the Philippines, where it&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="driving" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2022/04/11/deep-sea-mining-for-critical-minerals-gains-momentum" data-vars-content-id="2ee92ba0-8cec-4407-9e65-e26553c7b4cd" data-vars-headline="Atlas raises $27M for North American nickel plant" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2022/04/11/deep-sea-mining-for-critical-minerals-gains-momentum" target="_self">driving</a> deforestation and disruption of Indigenous communities.Meanwhile, metals processing generates as much as 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.<ul><li>The Nickel Institute <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="has said" data-vars-click-url="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:lxmnKrcga5cJ:https://nickelinstitute.org/en/blog/2022/may/how-to-calculate-ghg-emissions-from-nickel-production/&amp;cd=13&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us&amp;client=firefox-b-1-d" data-vars-content-id="2ee92ba0-8cec-4407-9e65-e26553c7b4cd" data-vars-headline="Atlas raises $27M for North American nickel plant" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:lxmnKrcga5cJ:https://nickelinstitute.org/en/blog/2022/may/how-to-calculate-ghg-emissions-from-nickel-production/&amp;cd=13&amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;gl=us&amp;client=firefox-b-1-d" target="_blank">has said</a> that nickel production accounts for a fraction of that total, though it also generates harmful local air and water pollution.</li></ul>Details: Grantham Environmental Trust and Voyager Ventures participated in the round.<ul><li>The Series A brings Atlas&#x27;s total funding to $33 million, per Reuters.</li></ul>

The tech giant is looking to hire a principal program manager to implement cutting-edge small nuclear reactors to power energy-hungry data centers.

Why it matters: The unusual job posting underscores how Microsoft sees nuclear energy as central to its clean-energy ambitions, along with renewables and batteries.

What's happening: The manager "will be responsible for maturing and implementing a global Small Modular Reactor (SMR) and microreactor energy strategy."

Context: Microsoft last year announced an agreement with Ontario Power Generation to buy clean-energy credits from the Canadian utility.

Ontario Power Generation is expected to be the first in North America to deploy a small modular reactor.

Meanwhile, investment in the technology has surged in recent years.

TerraPower, the small reactor developer launched by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, raised $750 million last year.

Catch up fast: Small modular reactors and tinier microreactors can be assembled in a factory and shipped to where they're needed, promising potential lower costs.

Microsoft is seeking a nuclear energy chief

The company sees nuclear as vital for data centers.

Microsoft

The tech giant is looking to hire a principal program manager to implement cutting-edge small nuclear reactors to power energy-hungry data centers.Why it matters: The unusual job posting underscores how Microsoft sees nuclear energy as central to its clean-energy ambitions, along with renewables and batteries.What&#x27;s happening: The manager &quot;will be responsible for maturing and implementing a global Small Modular Reactor (SMR) and microreactor energy strategy.&quot;Context: Microsoft last year announced an agreement with Ontario Power Generation to buy clean-energy credits from the Canadian utility.<ul><li>Ontario Power Generation is expected <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="to be the first in North America" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2023/03/23/tva-opg-ge-hitachi-small-modular-reactor-smr" data-vars-content-id="51dbd095-1367-466c-84be-ab69e0ebe9b3" data-vars-headline="Microsoft is seeking a nuclear energy chief" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2023/03/23/tva-opg-ge-hitachi-small-modular-reactor-smr" target="_self">to be the first in North America</a> to deploy a small modular reactor.</li></ul>Meanwhile, investment in the technology has <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="surged" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2023/05/09/nuclear-energy-startups-are-starting-to-stack-some-cash" data-vars-content-id="51dbd095-1367-466c-84be-ab69e0ebe9b3" data-vars-headline="Microsoft is seeking a nuclear energy chief" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2023/05/09/nuclear-energy-startups-are-starting-to-stack-some-cash" target="_self">surged</a> in recent years.<ul><li>TerraPower, the small reactor developer launched by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="raised $750 million" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2022/08/15/terrapower-bill-gates-750m-nuclear-sk-group" data-vars-content-id="51dbd095-1367-466c-84be-ab69e0ebe9b3" data-vars-headline="Microsoft is seeking a nuclear energy chief" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2022/08/15/terrapower-bill-gates-750m-nuclear-sk-group" target="_self">raised $750 million</a> last year.</li></ul>Catch up fast: Small modular reactors and tinier microreactors can be assembled in a factory and shipped to where they&#x27;re needed, promising potential lower costs.

Billionaire investor Chris Sacca yesterday said that spraying particles into the Earth's atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays and slow global warming may now be the only way to save humanity.

Why it matters: The Lowercarbon Capital founder has helped turn a fringe idea into one now attracting serious attention.

Driving the news: "We have no opportunity for survival on this planet unless you reflect back sunlight," Sacca said at a summit in New York City organized by venture capital firm Equal Ventures.

"If we don't do it as a species, it's all over."

Catch up fast: Sacca was an early investor in Uber, Twitter, Stripe, Instagram and Kickstarter, and later a regular guest on "Shark Tank."

His climate-focused firm, Lowercarbon, this week announced that it raised another $550 million, bringing its total assets under management past $2 billion.

The latest: Sacca has previously called for research into solar radiation management. He was especially forthright yesterday in arguing that the tech is needed to "buy time" to switch to low-carbon energy sources and remove carbon from the air.

He and his wife, Crystal, have funded research into spraying salt particles into the atmosphere.

The intrigue: The White House this summer outlined a potential research program focused on solar reflection, such as with salt, and the European Commission called for high-level talks on the issue.

The other side: Former Vice President Al Gore has criticized geoengineering proposals, citing potential unintended consequences.

A UN panel in February called for at least a temporary moratorium on deploying the tech.

What they're saying: "Bless Al Gore, this movement would not have happened without him and 'Inconvenient Truth,'" Sacca said yesterday. "But he has for years shamed anyone paying attention to that space because he's considered it a moral hazard."

"We've all been geoengineering the planet for decades," he continued. "If we don't normalize research in sunlight reflection, we're all f__ed."

Editor's note: This story was updated to correct the term in paragraph 7 to solar radiation management from sunlight radiation management. 

Chris Sacca's plan to salt the Earth

Illustration of a spray head on a salt shaker spraying salt.

Climate change

Billionaire investor <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Chris Sacca" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/26/sacca-hydrogen-carbon-capture" data-vars-content-id="6cb5077e-e4d0-482f-86dd-7ec31bb6001c" data-vars-headline="Chris Sacca&#x27;s plan to salt the Earth" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/26/sacca-hydrogen-carbon-capture" target="_self">Chris Sacca</a> yesterday said that spraying particles into the Earth&#x27;s atmosphere to reflect the sun&#x27;s rays and slow global warming may now be the only way to save humanity.Why it matters: The Lowercarbon Capital founder has helped turn a fringe idea into one now attracting serious attention.

Climate investors and founders spent Climate Week NYC sizing up the state of the market — and whether the chill of the past year has started to ease.

Plus: The Big Apple fly-in also marked a debut party of sorts for some of the newer climate-focused venture firms, among them Voyager Ventures and Overture VC.

Catch up fast: Climate Week started in 2009 as a small add-on to the UN General Assembly. It's since become a sprawling constellation of mini-conferences, one-off panels, cocktail hours and much else.

Investors remain wary — cleaving the startup ecosystem between a handful of "haves" drawing the bulk of funding, and a larger pool of "have-nots."

"First-of-a-kind factories" and "Series B-plus" were the phrases of the week.  Both areas are seeing gaps in investment.

Everyone is keeping an eye on what's going to happen with AI.

Meanwhile, Axios' Andrew Freedman attended the policy gatherings ay Climate Week.

Andrew's take: "Progress is being made to decarbonize economies, but the pace and scale are nowhere as fast or sweeping as needed."

The chatter at Climate Week: How you doin'?

Investors and founders size up the market.

A photo of investors and founders chatting ahead of a panel, amid white chairs and a few white curtains, in a window-filled penthouse in NYC.

Investors and founders chatting ahead of a panel last week atop The Standard East Village, hosted by Wireframe Ventures, Piva Capital and Overture VC. Photo: Alan Neuhauser

Venture capital

Climate investors and founders spent Climate Week NYC sizing up the state of the market — and whether the chill of the past year has started to ease.Plus: The Big Apple fly-in also marked a debut party of sorts for some of the newer climate-focused venture firms, among them Voyager Ventures and Overture VC.

French startup Ayro closed a €19.2 million (~$20.3 million) Series B to expand construction of its towering sails for oceangoing ships. 

Why it matters: Incorporating advanced sails with cleaner-burning fuels may be the only way to fully decarbonize the maritime industry — and enable companies to meet tightening emissions regulations.

What's happening: Ayro is one of a handful of startups building multistory sails for large ships, cutting their fuel consumption by as much as 50%.

Driving the news: Swen Capital Partners led the company's all-equity round through its ocean-focused fund, Blue Ocean.

Existing investors Ocean Zero and Bpifrance joined, as well as new investors AmInvest, Colam Impact, Normandie Participations and another Swen-managed fund, FCPI Capital Innovant N°2.

Blue Ocean managing director Christian Lim is joining Ayro's board.

Of note: The Series B closed in mid-August, around the time the company began sea trials with four 120-foot sails it installed aboard the Canopée freighter ship. 

The ship is transporting space-launch components from Europe to French Guiana for Arianespace, a French satellite-launch company.

State of play: The Canopée trials are one of several such efforts, spurred by public pressure, rising fuel costs and a new pair of regulations. 

The UN's International Maritime Organization last year instituted a "Carbon Intensity Index," which rates and potentially penalizes high-polluting ships.

Meanwhile, the European Union's Emissions Trading System, which had excluded shipping, will begin requiring shippers to buy offsets for the pollution they produce starting next year. 

What's next: Ayro plans to expand its existing manufacturing site in Normandy to make as many as 20 of its Oceanwings sails next year for shipbuilders.

Exclusive: Ayro raises €19.2M to build huge ship sails

The sails are said to cut fuel consumption by as much as 50%.

The Canopée began sea-trials this summer with four Oceanwings sails, each 120 feet tall. Photo: Courtesy of Ayro

Climate tech

French startup Ayro closed a €19.2 million (~$20.3 million) Series B to expand construction of its towering sails for oceangoing ships. Why it matters: Incorporating advanced sails with cleaner-burning fuels may be the only way to fully decarbonize the maritime industry — and enable companies to meet tightening emissions regulations.

Alan Neuhauser

Stories

Atlas raises $27M for North American nickel plant

Exclusive: Ayro raises €19.2M to build huge ship sails

Microsoft is seeking a nuclear energy chief

The chatter at Climate Week: How you doin'?

Chris Sacca's plan to salt the Earth

Newsletter editions

Climate: 🗞 Catch up quick

Climate: 🔮 Khosla's fusion future

Climate: Electric 🚤

Climate: 🚢 Cargo ship sails

Climate: Climate Week takes