Energy and climate deals of the week

Venture Capital

• ASI, a Boston-based AI startup "orchestrating critical infrastructure and national security," raised $325m at a $3b valuation. Spark Capital led, joined by Citadel Securities, Meritech Capital, and Craft Ventures. Go deeper

• Peak Energy, a Denver-based sodium-ion battery maker, raised $108m in Series B funding. GM Ventures led, joined by Maverick Silicon, Infinite Capital, Eclipse, Xora Innovation, and LG Technology Ventures. Go deeper

• Oro Mobility, a fleet platform owned by Hertz, raised $80m from Cohen Private Ventures, Certares Opportunities, and Knighthead Capital Management. Go deeper

• Optitvolt, an SF-based startup developing a device to improve solar panel efficiency, raised $32m in Series A funding. VXI Capital led, joined by RA Capital, Valo Ventures and Atlas Innovate. Go deeper

• IMIO, a Chicago-based maker of agricultural biologicals, raised $12m, per Axios Pro. Sofinnova Partners led, joined by Cultivate Next, Starshot Capital, Grow Together Salinas, Earth Foundry, and Serra Ventures. Go deeper

• Electric Plant Company, a San Francisco-based plant sensor startup, raised $11.2m led by Onto Ventures and Climactic, with participation from Ponderosa, Endeavor Catalyst, Ludlow, Michigan Rise, The Fund, Schox VC, and Dug Song. Go deeper

• Veckta, a San Diego-based onsite solar and battery software startup, raised $11m led by Origin Ventures and including Tech Square Ventures, VoLo Earth Ventures, Cove Fund, Catalyst by Wellstar, Engage, Emerald Bay Ventures, She's Independent Investments and Mobilize AI x Energy Ventures. Go deeper

• Photon Bridge, a Dutch photonics startup, raised €10m. Amadeus Apex Technology Fund and 360 Capital led, joined by insiders Innovation Industries, Faber, and Brabant Development Agency. Go deeper

• Pascal, a Watertown, Mass.-based developer of solid refrigerant tech for efficient cooling, raised $8.5m. Sazze Partners and LB Investment led, joined by KDB Silicon Valley. Go deeper

• Linkener, a Spanish energy management platform, raised €7.5m. Klima Energy Transition Fund led, joined by GoHub Ventures. Go deeper

• Kodama Systems, an SF-based developer of autonomy tech for the forestry industry, raised $7m in seed funding. Konvoy Ventures and Breakwater Ventures led, joined by Blue Forest Asset Management, NYA Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Congruent Ventures, Dangerous Ventures, and M1C. Go deeper

• Stellios Technologies, an Austin-based developer of high-power energy tech, raised $5m in pre-seed funding from Sofreh Capital, Wave Function Ventures, Cubit Capital, Mana Ventures, Atoms & Bits, Output Capital, and Erik Bruckner. Go deeper

Private Equity

• Tide Rock acquired Electro-Spec, a specialty plating and surface finishing company serving aerospace, defense, medical, nuclear markets. Go deeper

• EQT agreed to buy Australia's Cleanaway Waste Management (ASX: CWY) for around A$9.3b. Go deeper

• Greybull Stewardship acquired Mid-West Textile, an El Paso, Texas-based used textile collection and recycling company. Go deeper

• SAS Group, a Spanish portfolio company of Stirling Square Capital Partners, acquired a majority stake in Afrikelp, a South African maker of seaweed-based biostimulants. Go deeper

M&A

• Infineum, Shell and ExxonMobil's jointly-owned UK-based chemicals unit, has tapped BofA for a potential sale that could value it around $8b. Go deeper

• CBRE (NYSE: CBRE) agreed to buy Onnec Group, a London-based data center infrastructure firm, for upwards of $1.1b (including $610m upfront cash). Go deeper

• Gulf Keystone Petroleum (LSE: GKP) agreed to merge with ShaMaran Petroleum (Oslo: SNMS) in a $601m all-stock deal. Go deeper

Liquidity

• Rivian (Nasdaq: RIVN) acquired Third Dimension, a 3D models developer that in 2024 raised $7m from Felicis, Soma Capital, Abstract Ventures, Stratus Ventures Management, Nkechi Iregbulem, Solari Capital, MVP Ventures, and Salt Funds Management. Go deeper

• Trilantic Europe and CDP Equity agreed to sell their stakes in Italian agritech firm Diagram to a unit of BF (Milan: BFG). Go deeper

Fundraising

• Blackstone closed its Blackstone Energy Transition Partners V at $8.7b. Go deeper

• Seaya raised €600m for a fund focused on European startups. Go deeper

• Ara Partners raised about $2.5b for its first energy projects fund. Go deeper

It's Personnel

• Alexis Glick was appointed CEO of NineDot Energy, a Brooklyn-based battery storage developer. Glick was CEO of Nature Energy North America. She succeeds founder David Arfin. Go deeper

• John Vaske joined Evercore as a senior managing director of chemicals investment banking. He previously was with Ducera Partners. Go deeper

Odds & Ends

• Westinghouse Electric, a Cranberry Township, Pa.-based nuclear reactor and fuel maker owned by Brookfield Renewable Partners and Cameco, plans to invest $1b to expand a nuclear fuel production site in South Carolina. Axios Pro flashback

• Amazon and AEP are evaluating plans to build a 960 MW nuclear project using X-energy's SMRs. Go deeper

• Microsoft withdrew from a deal to buy AI compute from Nscale in the U.K. after the data center project was hit with delays getting power. Go deeper