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BFD Expert Voices - Climate Deals

BFD Expert Voices

Wireframe Ventures raised $77 million for a pre-seed and seed fund focused on climate tech, health and other verticals.

Why it matters: The size of the fund, and the investor interest it attracted, is the latest sign of how competition in climate tech is driving funders to seek earlier-stage — and riskier — companies. 

Details: Wireframe Ventures II is the firm's second fund to target companies at the pre-seed and seed stage. It is targeting about 30 companies.

One early Fund II company, Solo Advanced Vehicle Technologies, announced $7 million in seed funding last month, led by Trucks VC, along with Wireframe and Maniv Mobility. 

Catch up fast: Wireframe Ventures' first fund launched in 2016. Its investments included Span.io, which last month announced a $90 million Series B; Mammoth Biosciences, which became a unicorn in September; and Electriphi, which was acquired by Ford Motor Company last summer.

Go deeper: Wireframe's founders tell Alan their second fund has attracted a wider range of limited partners compared to 2016, including a broader array of institutional investors.

LPs in Fund II include The Nature Conservancy and Three Cairns Group, among others. 

What they're saying: "You start to see explosive valuations once there is proof in the technology, scale in the business," Wireframe Ventures managing partner and co-founder Harsh Patel tells Alan. "Once there is validation in the technology, scale in the business, you attract very, very competitive rounds."

1 big thing: Wireframe raises $77M pre-seed fund

A green seedling shaped like a dollar sign sprouts from a terra cotta pot.

Leaft Foods, a plant-based protein maker out of New Zealand, raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures, the company tells Megan exclusively.

Why it matters: Khosla Ventures' position as a leading force in biotech could expand to dominate the nascent but growing alternative protein industry. 

Driving the news: Leaft Foods' $15 million Series A funding is the startup's first time taking on outside capital, save for government grants. 

Memphis Grizzlies player Steven Adams, the New Zealand tribal Ngāi Tahu New Economy Fund and the ACC Climate Change Impact Fund also participated in the round. Leaft declined to disclose the valuation with the round.

How it works: Leaft Foods makes a protein powder using RuBisCo, a protein commonly found in leafy green plants. 

Leaft makes a sort of "juice" out of plants, processes the juice to remove individual components and dries the protein into powder that is packaged for direct consumer sales.

State of play: Protein powders have traditionally been sourced from beef components and have a large corresponding carbon footprint.

Yes, but: Plant-based and alternative proteins have gained popularity among users in the U.S, signaling the appetite is there for an alternative.

Between the lines: Leaft co-founder Dr. John Penno tells Megan that the startup is focusing on getting its initial protein powder product into customers' hands, but didn't shrug off working with other food manufacturers in the future to incorporate the protein into other food products.

"People in the food industry know about [RuBisCo] but no one has figured out how to commercialize it," Penno says.

💭 Our thought bubble: Consumers are fickle, and the supplement market is rife with snake-oil cure-alls that have left many people skeptical in trying new products. Leaft will have to deploy much of its recently raised capital to convince customers it's worth a shot.

2. The BFD: Khosla bulks up Leaft with $15M

Illustration of a muscular arm holding a bunch of kale.

Grover, a German-based subscription service for consumer electronics, closed a $330 million Series C.

Why it matters: The company says its model — which involves renting everything from GoPros to Xboxes to AirPods (gross) — reduces e-waste by as much as 4 times. That got the attention of the climate-focused VC Energy Impact Partners, which led the funding round.  

The details: Energy Impact Partners led the Series C round that consisted of $110 million in equity from EIP, Co-Investor Partners, Korelya Capital, Mirae Asset-LG Electronics New Growth Fund, and existing investors Viola Fintech, Assurant and Coparion. 

The round additionally included $220 million in debt financing from Fasanara Capital. Media funds German Media Pool and SevenVentures also participated.

The funding round pushes Grover's valuation past the $1 billion mark, making it the latest tech unicorn, the company says. 

What they're saying: "The central thesis of our impact is carbon mitigation," Nazo Moosa, managing partner at Energy Impact Partners in Europe, tells Alan. "Grover marks our first investment in the circular economy — this combination of the circular economy that allows you to recycle, but also rent and extend the life" of products. 

💭 Our thought bubble: If you're wondering whether this is truly a "climate deal," you're not alone. It's the latest investment to add to the question whether, if something is simply more efficient, does that make it climate tech?

Grover describes its model as Netflix-style. Does that mean streaming, by reducing the emissions and waste associated with manufacturing, shipping, and discarding DVDs, is climate tech?

3. Tech-subscription startup Grover goes unicorn

Illustration of pile of money with hovering cursor

$96 million for community solar: Aspen Power Partners is acquiring 53 megawatts of community solar projects in Maryland and Pennsylvania from Trajectory Energy Partners. 

Trajectory Energy Partners will develop the 10 projects while Aspen Power Partners provides financial support amounting to about $96 million. Aspen will also oversee design, subscriber management and long-term ownership.

London, baby: Watershed, the carbon accounting startup, is hopping across the pond and expanding to Europe.

European climate regulations and reporting structures are a heck of a lot more strict than in the U.S., so Watershed likely sees this as a *ahem* watershed moment for its potential revenue. It's opening a new office in London as its European HQ and has already tapped European tech heavyweights Monzo and Klarna to vouch on its behalf.

You down with VPPs: The distributed generation firm AutoGrid and consulting firm Guidehouse say that virtual power plants can replace fossil fuel-fired peaker plants in New York and Texas as soon as 2024 and 2030, respectively.

Interesting, but not quite earth-shattering. Peaker plants, which typically only run during peak demand, are especially expensive. Battery storage has been more cost-effective in certain markets for a few years now. 

Today in jargon: Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (Nasdaq: FFIE), which is now calling itself [puts on reading glasses] a "global shared intelligent electric mobility ecosystem company," says it's partnering with Meta System to supply on-board power management module products for Faraday's "ultimate techluxury" FF 91 EV and FF 81 vehicles. 

If you have to ask what "ultimate techluxury" is... 

4. 🌡️ Temperature check

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

e-Zinc, a Toronto-based zinc-based battery maker, raised $25m in Series A funding led by Anzu Partners, BDC Capital, Toyota Ventures and Eni Next. http://axios.link/Qwta

Liminal, an Emeryville, California-based battery manufacturing intelligence startup, raised $8m in Series A funding. Good Growth Capital and UTEC co-led, and were joined by Volta Energy Technologies, Helios Capital Ventures, Impact Science Ventures, Chrysalix Ventures, Elemental Excelerator and Incite.org. http://axios.link/ulWq

Wisewell, a startup that makes water filtration stations, raised $2m in pre-seed funding led by BECO Capital. http://axios.link/MnBw

Ceezer, a Berlin-based enterprise carbon market software startup, raised €1m (~$1m) in pre-seed funding from Picus Capital. http://axios.link/LT9g

Earthview Corporation, developer of a continuous methane monitoring platform, announced preferred funding led by  Green Park & Golf Ventures, an early-stage investment fund. http://axios.link/mJFw

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (NYSE: HASI) announced a private offering of $200m in aggregate initial principal amount of 0.00% green exchangeable senior notes due 2025 by its indirect subsidiaries, HAT Holdings I LLC and HAT Holdings II LLC. http://axios.link/qaoC

Lendlease is partnering with Ameresco (NYSE: AMRC) on a $102m energy efficiency and renewable energy project at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. http://axios.link/trAe

Porsche invested $75m for a 12.5% stake in HIF Global, a Chilean developer of synthetic fuels. http://axios.link/QQcl

Tidal Vision, a Bellingham, Washington-based company that turns discarded crab shells into chitosan-based chemical solutions, acquired ViaeX Technologies, a Bay Area biotech startup, for an undisclosed amount. http://axios.link/P3xf

Chase is installing fast EV chargers at 50 of its U.S. branches as part of a pilot program with EVgo (Nasdaq: EVGO).  http://axios.link/UCkE

5. Hot deals

ViaeX founder Vivian Qu will join Tidal Vision, a Washington-based biochemicals startup, as chief product officer following Tidal's acquisition of ViaeX. http://axios.link/P3xf

6. It's Personnel

Welcome to your Thursday edition of Climate Deals! In today's issue: "ultimate techluxury." That's right, buckle up!

🍻 Megan's visitors arrived yesterday and doubled her weekly trivia team size. Unfortunately that didn't help performance at all, but they walked away with a consolation prize of $2 in beer tokens for next week.

🤙 Alan's 9-month-old has started responding to basic sign-language. Today: Requests for more formula. Tomorrow: Nothing short of Peter Luger's.

Thanks for reading Climate Deals! Please share with your co-workers, peers, and all the VCs running due diligence this month.

April 07, 2022

1 big thing: Wireframe raises $77M pre-seed fund