Wildfire defense startup raises $6.4M seed round

1 big thing: Wildfire defense funding

2. The BFD:

2. The BFD: Private equity takes big steps in India

Illustration of smoke from two smoke stacks forming a dollar bill sign.

4. 🌡️ Temperature check

3. 🌡️ Temperature check

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5. Hot deals

4. Hot deals

6. It's personnel

5. It's personnel

🌞 Happy Monday! This week is already off to a good start, so let's join in.

😬 Situational awareness: Lordstown Motors, the Ohio-based electric pickup truck startup, warned that it’s on the brink of bankruptcy after manufacturing giant Foxconn threatened to withhold funding and withdraw from their production partnership, Bloomberg reports.

🤞🏻 Megan is hoping her luck changes with the Phantom Ranch reservation lottery today. Hopefully a Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike is in her future!

📦 The move to Rhode Island went smoothly last week. Now: unpacking. Send music recommendations, please.

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

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

Climate Deals

Standard

1 big thing: $750M climate fund

Illustration of cloud dollar sign disappearing into the air

2. The BFD: Ex-Meta CTO unveils Gigascale Capital

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3. Exxon's quest for its "holy grail"

Sen. Joe Manchin and Exxon CEO Darren Woods

4. Temperature check

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

🥂 Join Axios Pro Deals and business editor Dan Primack for an exclusive happy hour event in San Francisco on Tuesday, May 9! Register here.

🥘 Megan is going on a trip next week, so her all her meals have one goal — use up all the food in the house before Saturday.

🏠 It's much quieter in the suburbs. More birds — and spookier trips into the basement to do laundry.

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

1 big thing: Alternative fuels' state of play

Illustration of a gas can with a dollar sign etched on the side. 

2. The BFD: Air taxis gaining altitude

A Joby Aviation eVTOL on display outside the New York Stock Exchange

3. Hive Brands and Comcast buzz

Illustration of a bag of groceries and money.

Illustration of an earth in a roast pan with a meat thermometer.

Some personal personnel news: 👋 Hey, Megan here. Tomorrow is my last day on the Axios Climate Deals beat. It’s been an awesome ride, but I'm taking some time off to explore what's next for me. Thanks for reading, and a special thanks to all my talented colleagues. Stay in touch!

🫶🏻 Megan will miss all of her Axios colleagues immensely. She's planning to spend most of her newfound free time outside — as expected — around the desert and in the mountains with her partner and dogs.

👋 Happy trails and best wishes to Megan! She will be missed.

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

1 big thing: Wireless chargers hit the production line

2. The BFD: Energy-management startup nets $50M

Illustration of a knob turning towards dollar bill signs of increasing size. 

Illustration of a thermometer shaped like a smoke stack with smoke spewing out.

🎥  Today in clean-energy pop-culture moments: John David Washington's character in "Tenet" apparently holes up at the Nysted Wind Farm off the coast of Denmark before his adventures in time travel.

🍝 A late-season cold snap is giving Megan plenty of excuses to try out some new pasta recipes.

🍩 Anyone else absolutely loving this final season of "Barry"? Alan is all-in. 

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

1.  Wildfire defense funding

2. Investors take big steps in India

3. $750M climate fund

4. Ex-Meta CTO unveils Gigascale Capital

Mike Schroepfer delivers a speech during the the Web Summit at Parque das Nacoes in Lisbon

5. Energy-management startup nets $50M

6. Air taxis gaining altitude

An  Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft outside the New York Stock Exchange

7. Hive Brands and Comcast buzz

Situational awareness: Editor Michael Flaherty here wishing happy trails and the very best for our colleague Megan Hernbroth, who starts a new chapter today. Here's one of my favorite articles of hers — one that detailed how a hedge fund managed to build the third-largest portfolio of U.S. solar projects.

📝 Today's digest was compiled by Axios Editorial Research Associate Natalie Breymeyer.

🚗 Natalie joined Axios Pro a few weeks ago and is jumping into the fray already. Based in Washington, she'll be spending the weekend driving across the state for her brother's college graduation.

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Redaptive, a Denver-based startup that manages energy use in buildings, raised $50 million in Series E extension funding, the company exclusively tells Axios.

Why it matters: The new tranche of funding brings Redaptive's Series E total to $250 million. The initial Series E funding closed in December.

Details: Private equity firm and long-time Redaptive investor Linse Capital led the additional $50 million in equity funding.

CEO Arvin Vohra tells Axios that an unnamed strategic investor also participated in the second closing, but declined to share details.

The influx of new funds did not change the company's valuation, which was pegged at $1 billion in December, per Bloomberg.

How it works: Redaptive makes software to help building owners better manage energy consumption.

The company has three primary revenue streams. The first is an energy-as-a-service product, which provides building owners funding to make energy efficient upgrades via a combination of Redaptive's balance sheet and third-party financing.

It also has a data software component, which looks like a typical hardware-connected SaaS business, and a project management component where Redaptive manages construction contractors and other on-the-ground project needs.

Redaptive's customers include Iron Mountain, Aramark and Cintas. The company typically works with large companies that have significant real estate footprints either through manufacturing centers, warehouses or offices.

What we're watching: Real estate tends to be a large contributor to a company's total emissions footprint, so we're watching whether Redaptive's pipeline of projects picks up as the SEC disclosure rules — which will require all companies to report said emissions — go into effect.

Exclusive: Energy-management startup Redaptive nets $50M

Long-time Redaptive investor Linse Capital supplied the funds.

Startups

Redaptive, a Denver-based startup that manages energy use in buildings, raised $50 million in Series E extension funding, the company exclusively tells Axios.Why it matters: The new tranche of funding brings Redaptive&#x27;s Series E total to $250 million. The initial Series E funding closed in December.

What's happening: As more companies seek out infrastructure that allows for increased emissions tracking data, climate-focused AI and robotics companies are attracting investors. 

Sniffer, an environmental technology firm, closed a $2 million seed funding round led by Michigan Angel Fund.

BrainBox AI, a technology developer focused on energy consumption, announced a $20 million fundraise led by the Québec government and ABB.

BrainBox AI also acquired ABB’s energy management system integrator business.

The Venture Capital Alliance, a coalition of more than 20 VC firms, launched in April with the goal of encouraging the VC industry to increase its commitment to climate tech.

Infogrid, a startup that analyzes smart building technology, raised $90 million in a Series B round led by Northzone.

Everstream Analytics, a supply chain sustainability insights company, raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

CS Microsensor raised CNY 10 million (~$1.5 million) in angel financing for developing gas sensors targeting emissions monitoring.

Carbon Direct raised $60 million from private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners and investment group Decarbonization Partners, the joint vehicle formed by BlackRock and Temasek.

YvesBlue raised $5 million in seed funding from Illuminate Financial, Aflac Ventures, Tribeca Early Stage Partners, SixThirty, Day One Ventures and Walter Ventures.

Patch raised $55 million in Series B funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Energize Ventures, and Coatue.

State of play: Climate analytics

Climate analytics sees investor interest grow as more companies track emissions.

Illustration of sticky notes overlapping that say State of Play

Climate tech

Last updated May 18, 2023What&#x27;s happening: As more companies seek out infrastructure that allows for increased emissions tracking data, climate-focused AI and robotics companies are attracting investors. Recent deals in the space include:

The emissions tracking software spaces remains a land grab with well-funded startups taking on the Big Four and Big Tech in a David vs. Goliath battle. 

TBD on who will actually emerge as a leader in the space, but recent developments include:

ENVEA, a manufacturer of emission and process monitoring systems, acquired California Analytical Instruments, a business specializing in environmental monitoring, for an undisclosed amount.

CarbonChain, a carbon accounting platform, announced its $10 million Series A round co-led by Union Square Ventures and Voyager Ventures.

nZero, a carbon management platform, closed a $16 million Series A funding round led by Fifth Wall and a U.S. energy company.

ACT, a provider of environmental commodities trading services, acquired a controlling stake in Green Project Technologies, a software company focused on corporate climate accounting.

Context Labs, a data provider that helps companies track carbon emissions, is in talks to raise $150 million from investors.

Watershed, a startup that analyzes companies’ greenhouse gases, acquired VitalMetrics, an emissions accounting and data firm, for an undisclosed amount.

Halliburton and Siguler Guff launched Envana Software Partners, a venture that offers emissions management SaaS.

PortXChange launched its EmissionInsider platform for emissions tracking and reporting.

NevadaNano, a provider of ESG tools, closed a $30 million Series C funding round led by Honeywell Ventures and Emerson Ventures.

Pathzero, a platform for financial institutions to exchange carbon information, raised AUD$8.6 million for its Series A+ round.

Microsoft is adding emissions tracking software and a carbon credit network into its 365 enterprise software.

Fifth Wall, a VC firm with an active climate fund, partnered with consulting group EY to offer emissions tracking software for real estate portfolio holders.

Felicis Ventures backed GreenPlaces, an emissions tracking software startup for small and medium businesses, to the tune of $4 million in seed funding.

Sweep, a carbon accounting software startup that has raised nearly $100 million, rolled out a new tool for financial institutions to track emissions while simultaneously taking aim at bigger tech companies like Salesforce for lackluster emissions tracking products.

KKR revamped its ESG data collection process after more than a decade. 

Sustain.Life raised $16 million in seed funding co-led by Tapestry Venture Capital and Sustain.Life co-founder Mike Hanrahan, who previously founded Jet.com and sold it to Walmart for $3.3 billion.

What we’re watching: Banks, insurers, private equity and investment managers are expected to spend $256 million by 2027 on carbon tracking software as more climate-related disclosure rules are adopted.

State of play: Emissions tracking software

Big Tech, The Big Four and startups are in a land grab.

Illustration of an upside-down wallet pouring out carbon dioxide molecules

Last updated May 18, 2023The emissions tracking software spaces remains a land grab with well-funded startups taking on the Big Four and Big Tech in a David vs. Goliath battle. <ul><li>TBD on who will actually emerge as a leader in the space, but recent developments include:</li></ul>

Mike Schroepfer is ready to debut his next act: climate VC firm Gigascale Capital.

Why it matters: Gigascale will back early-stage climate companies with a particular focus on hardware startups.

Driving the news: Former Meta CTO Schroepfer — aka Shrep — founded Gigascale with former Prelude Ventures general partner Victoria Beasley and former Fine Structure Ventures investor Evaline Tsai.

The firm is entirely funded by Schroepfer's family office, but will seek additional LPs down the road, Schroepfer tells Axios. That kind of funding allows the firm to better withstand volatility. 

Schroepfer declined to share the firm's initial fund size. Gigascale will invest in pre-seed through Series A stage companies and typically write checks for "a few million" dollars, he says.

Zoom in: As the firm's name implies, Gigascale plans to focus its investments on hardware businesses that have potential to grow.

The team has so far worked in thematic stretches, Schroepfer says. The first focus area was building decarbonization and industrial electrification, but the firm has not yet announced any investments publicly.

Tsai is also particularly interested in companies working on sustainable aviation fuels, and Beasley has revisited grid interconnectivity as a potential focus area at Gigascale.

Though the firm's initial focus is on hardware, the founding team isn't writing off software or consumer-facing investments entirely, as long as there is a tangible climate impact, Schroepfer says.

Of note: Schroepfer is part of a broader trend of Big Tech executives launching climate investment firms. 

Most notably is Chris Sacca's Lowercarbon Capital, which has cemented itself as an active investor for early-stage climate companies. Before starting Lowercarbon, Sacca was an executive at Google.

What they're saying: "As I was doing philanthropic work, I realized that if we want to solve a climate crisis, we need to sort of reengineer almost every industrial and consumer system on the planet, and that's going to require capital," Schroepfer tells Axios of his decision to spin up Gigascale independent of his existing philanthropic activities.

What we're watching: Gigascale's first investments as indication of where it plans to place its biggest bets.

Meta CTO unveils venture firm Gigascale Capital

The firm is backed by his family office and will invest in early-stage companies.

Venture capital

Metaverse, VR and AR

Mike Schroepfer is ready to debut his next act: climate VC firm Gigascale Capital.Why it matters: Gigascale will back early-stage climate companies with a particular focus on hardware startups.

Alternative fuels are gaining ground as more startups dig for ways to power machines and vehicles without fossil fuels.

Why it matters: Investors are clamoring to fund the future of fuel, even though most of the technology and science remains in early stages.

Fuel replacements: Hydrogen and ammonia are both considered drop-in fuels because they can run on lightly retrofitted vehicle engines without major changes. Understandably, oil and gas majors have expressed interest in backing some promising hydrogen startups.

CERAWeek preview: All eyes are on green hydrogen

Novel fuels: Other options, like sustainable aviation fuel, are looking toward entirely new ways to power machinery and vehicles. Though decades-old, novel interpretations of nuclear energy have also been growing in popularity among climate investors.

Air Company inks $65M fuel deal with U.S. Air Force

Renewable Natural Gas maker Divert secures $63M

Electric fuels: For some lighter-weight vehicles and machinery, going all-electric makes the most sense for fossil-fuel alternatives.

At-home battery systems are having their moment

BP buying TravelCenters in huge EV charging push

Energy storage is starting to rival new transmission

State of play: Alternative fuels

Where we stand on hydrogen, nuclear and battery tech.

clean energy

Alternative fuels are gaining ground as more startups dig for ways to power machines and vehicles without fossil fuels.Why it matters: Investors are clamoring to fund the future of fuel, even though most of the technology and science remains in early stages.

Megan Hernbroth

Stories

State of play: Climate analytics

State of play: Emissions tracking software

State of play: Alternative fuels

Exclusive: Energy-management startup Redaptive nets $50M

Meta CTO unveils venture firm Gigascale Capital

Newsletter editions

Climate: 🗞 Catch up quick

Climate: 🛫 Air taxi lift

Climate: ⚡ Building with $50M

Climate: 💰 Shrep's Gigascale Capital

Climate: Investors eye India