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BFD Expert Voices - Climate Deals

BFD Expert Voices

Artificial intelligence is making its way to the trenches.

Why it matters: Much of the field work being done in infrastructure areas like electricity, water and gas networks lacks digital tools, causing inefficiencies across the job site.

Driving the news: Fyld, a startup developing AI to manage field workers, closed £12 million in funding ($15 million) led by pension giant Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, writes Katie.

How it works: A field worker uses a tablet to capture a 90-second video clip of the site where a maintenance project or an upgrade is meant to be done.

Fyld's software can analyze the videos and enable a remote manager to help collaborate with the field worker.

The AI can give the manager tips on where to focus attention or alerts for safety hazards.

Fyld CEO Shelley Copsey says the product can help companies boost productivity by 8% in as little as six weeks and can slash transportation travel by supervisors by 50%.

Zoom in: London-based Fyld was originally launched in 2020 by the venture studio of Ontario Teachers', called Koru.

Copsey says the company plans to use the funds to hire executives and build out its AI tech.

The startup collaborated early on with UK gas utility SGN.

The big picture: Infrastructure companies are facing the combined pressures of a skilled labor shortage, inflation and regulatory oversight.

More digital tools, and AI, can help companies operate more efficiently and cost effectively.

1 big thing: AI field funding

Fyld with construction company Granite Construction in Houston, Texas on-site at a 2024 highway project

Fyld staff work with Granite Construction on a highway project in Houston. Photo: Courtesy of Fyld

Wellington Management raised $385 million for its first private fund focused solely on climate investments, the firm tells Alan.

Why it's the BFD: It's a significant commitment to climate by one of the world's biggest investors.

The big picture: Wellington, with more than $1.1 trillion assets under management, has invested in climate companies through its public market funds since 2007, but it hadn't yet established a private fund dedicated to the space.

The latest: The Boston-based investor last week held final close on its Climate Innovation Fund, concluding a lengthy raise that started in the second half of 2021.

LPs include sovereign funds, sovereign pensions, insurance providers, banks, and wealthy individuals, Greg Wasserman, Wellington's head of private climate investing, tells Axios.

Driving the news: The fund will focus on software, data, AI and software-enabled hardware, where tech has largely been de-risked and the company has evolved beyond small pilots.

"We are very much more tech than science," Wasserman says. "We are not what I'd think of as a cleantech fund. We are not investing in asset-heavy projects."

Case in point: The fund's investments so far include circular economy service Trove Recommerce, energy data provider Arcadia, electrical panel manufacturer Span, mushroom-protein startup Meati, robot recycling developer Amp Robotics, and energy analytics provider Orennia.

What's next: Wellington expects to back 15-20 startups through its climate fund, writing initial checks ranging from $10 million to $25 million.

It will target Series B through Series D rounds, typically as lead investor seeking board seats.

The firm will chiefly focus on North America and Europe. Target industries span smart buildings and cities, food, agriculture, mobility, energy transition, and the enterprise and industrial sectors.

2. The BFD: Wellington wades deeper

Illustration of the earth as a pie chart made up of various coins

🌊 Apple's water ambitions: Apple has long been an aggressive clean energy buyer, but today the tech giant announced it's working on water security, too.

Apple says it has started freshwater replenishment programs in California, Arizona's Colorado River Basin, and the Indian states of Telangana and Maharashtra.

Apple says it has spent $8 million since 2023 refilling fresh water in watersheds.

🏗️ Tripling tariffs on Chinese steel: President Biden plans to call for tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum to be tripled at a United Steelworkers Union event in Pittsburgh today.

The escalation is an effort to shield U.S. manufacturers from a flood of low-cost Chinese imports.

🧱 The missing manual for scaling climate tech: A group of European climate tech investors created The Climate Brick, a project to help climate tech companies grow rapidly to commercialize their products.

The report used interviews from over 100 climate experts and 3,000 companies like European heavyweight Northvolt.

🏆 Jigar's on the list: The head of the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office, Jigar Shah, was named one of Time's 100 most influential people of 2024.

"Overseeing more than $200 billion in government loans to bring energy innovation to the market, Jigar leads one of the largest economic-development programs the world has ever seen," billionaire Richard Branson writes.

3. Temperature check

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

• Iceye, a Finnish satellite Earth-observation provider, raised $93m led by Solidium Oy, joined by Move Capital Fund I, Blackwells Capital, and Bulgarian entrepreneur Christo Georgiev. axios.link/3Q8NyxY

• Mosa Meat, a Dutch cultivated beef producer, raised €40m led by Lowercarbon Capital and M Ventures. axios.link/3xCkvMT

• Eocycle Technologies, a Canadian maker of small wind turbines, raised $25m to expand into the U.S. and Europe, led by Export Development Canada and including the Fonds de Solidarité FTQ and a loan from Investissement Québec. axios.link/445qRR6

• Israeli precision ag startup Greeneye Technology raised $20m led by Deep Insight to scale U.S. operations. Iron Nation joined with insiders Syngenta Group Ventures, JVP, and Orbia Ventures. axios.link/3xBLJDk

• NBA champion Rick Fox has raised at least $12m for his green concrete startup, Partanna, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4aVD2lB

• Cozero, a German carbon management software, raised a €6.5m Series A led by Kvanted Ventures and EnBW New Ventures. axios.link/3JocQnK

• Finnish startup NPHarvest raised €2.2m led by Nordic Foodtech VC, joined by Stephen Industries, to recycle wastewater nutrients for fertilizer. axios.link/3QatUl1

• VinFast, the Vietnamese EV maker with global ambitions, reported first quarter earnings which saw its loss decline but also its car sales. axios.link/3UiCkJE

• Singapore's government plans to raise $5b in public and private funding for Asia-focused climate projects, per Reuters. axios.link/3xFIj2k

• Intel's deep-tech accelerator program, Intel Ignite, selected 10 startups for its next cohort, convening in Munich. axios.link/3U4RBMU

4. Hot deals

• Barry Matsumori joined Skydweller Aero, the Oklahoma City-based solar aircraft developer, as president and COO. Matsumori was previously COO of Impulse Space. axios.link/3Q4H576

5. It's personnel

👀 What we're watching: White House climate adviser John Podesta said yesterday that the U.S. is committed to protecting its investments in domestic clean energy manufacturing in the face of China flooding the markets.

⚾️ Katie can't quite get used to Brandon Crawford wearing red. 

📺 Alan isn't sure what to make of the "Fallout" show on Prime. The guys at "The Watch" podcast probably said it best: seeing ultra-serious director Jonathan Nolan try to do comedy is like hearing Liam Neeson saying he wants to perform improv. 

Thank you to Michael Flaherty and Chris Speckhard for today's edits.

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

April 17, 2024

1 big thing: AI field funding