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⛔ Situational awareness: Volvo Cars this morning nixed its plans to sell only EVs by 2030, instead saying it will allow plug-in hybrid and conventional hybrid models, citing market conditions and consumer demand.

Buzzy venture capital firms once again topped the list of the most active investors in U.S. climate startups so far this year, per PitchBook data.

Why it matters: The firms are pushing through a prolonged slowdown in venture investment, including in climate.

The big picture: We asked PitchBook for a list of the busiest investors in climate tech, based on deal count.

Between the lines: The chart depicts the most active investors across all stages.

Within early-stage rounds specifically, the busiest firms by deal count were Breakthrough Energy Ventures, SOSV, and Lowercarbon Capital, per a Jefferies analysis this week of data from research firm Sightline Climate.

Breakthrough Energy Ventures also led late-stage rounds, joined by Temasek and Energy Impact Partners.

Context: Investment across all stages has tumbled.

👀 What we're watching: Climate-focused venture investors are sitting on a record $41 billion of dry powder. That capital is going to be allocated somewhere.

Busy bodies

Private equity giant Blackstone plans to acquire Australian data center operator AirTrunk for $16.1 billion.

Why it's the BFD: In the face of the AI explosion, power-hungry data centers are a hot commodity, and many in the Asia Pacific region will plug into gas and coal-powered grids.

Zoom in: Blackstone said it's buying the company from Macquarie Asset Management and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.

AirTrunk has a portfolio of data center assets across Asia Pacific, including Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

The company has 800MW of capacity committed to customers and owns land that can support another 1GW of future growth.

AirTrunk said it will "support the energy transition in Asia Pacific," according to a statement from founder and CEO Robin Khuda in a release.

The big picture: Natural gas and imported coal play a considerable role in many nations in the Asia Pacific region.

Google recently announced a deal with BlackRock's climate infrastructure business to develop solar capacity for Taiwan's grid, which is largely fossil fuel powered.

Tech companies like Amazon, Google and Apple are members of the Asia Clean Energy Coalition, which tries to boost the amount of clean energy to buy in the region.

According to data from the Climate Group, in 2019-2020, its member companies covered only 16% of their electricity consumption in Asia-Pacific with renewable electricity, compared to 59% in North America and 81% in Europe.

Blackstone down under

Illustration of a set of binary unplugged from a socket.

AI chemistry startup Entalpic has raised an €8.5 million seed round to hire employees, buy data, and compute power, the company tells Axios.

Why it matters: AI-generated materials could lead to more efficient and decarbonized chemical processes for sectors like hydrogen, energy storage and fertilizer production.

Zoom in: Entalpic, based in Paris, raised the round (worth around $9.4 million in U.S. dollars) from investors including French VC Breega, Silicon Valley's Felicis, and Cathay Innovation, the VC arm of Cathay Capital.

The company, founded this year, has a focus on using its AI models to help decarbonize industrial chemicals.

"We are dedicated to this idea of discovering new materials, which we believe is the best way to use AI for climate," said Entalpic co-founder and CEO Mathieu Galtier.

How it works: In the same way that ChatGPT's generative AI can spit out new text or images, Entalpic's models can generate hypotheses about new materials used in climate tech like catalysts used for producing hydrogen.

The models can also do automated experiments to test those hypotheses and use the resulting data to continue to learn. The models simulate the physics between atoms.

Entalpic is targeting selling its product to big players in the chemicals industry.

The big picture: Startups are beginning to tap generative AI for all sorts of climate sectors like climate risk analysis, buying clean power, and navigating ESG data.

Many new applications will emerge as the field of generative AI matures.

AI chemistry course 

Illustration of a robotic claw grasping a small Eiffel tower with euros and shapes in the background

🇨🇳 Podesta in China: U.S. climate envoy John Podesta is in China today to kick off three days of talks with Chinese climate counterpart Liu Zhenmin, his second round of talks after replacing John Kerry in the role.

Policy watchers aren't expecting a breakthrough, but sustained discussions leading up to the deadline of the beginning of next year for countries to submit new contributions to the UN.

🍿 Netflix tries to cut carbon: Netflix is trying to cut its emissions in half by 2030, but its progress has been marginal in the three years since it began focusing on sustainability in 2020, reports Bloomberg.

Netflix Sustainability Officer Emma Stewart is tasked with helping the company replace diesel generators with batteries, hydrogen and solar.

⚕️ Air taxis for rural health care: Electric aircraft developer Beta Technologies closed a $20 million contract with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to install chargers at 22 landing sites across the East and Gulf coasts, Axios' Joann Muller reports exclusively.

The chargers will support an HHS program exploring how cutting-edge transportation can ferry equipment, medicine, and patients across rural areas, a need that's especially acute after a natural disaster.

🎓 Northvolt's alumni network: Katie yesterday wrote how Cleantech 1.0 veterans, including no shortage of former Tesla employees, are guiding a host of new climate tech startups. It turns out battery giant Northvolt has become a European university of sorts for climate founders.

Startups led by former Northvolt employees include battery marketplace Cling Systems, heating software startup Nrlyze, energy storage developer Rebaba, zinc-ion battery maker Enerpoly, plus plenty more listed in a story by Sifted.

Temperature check

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

• SET Ventures, a Dutch climate-focused venture firm, closed its fourth fund with €200m, targeting €2m-€5m Series A investments in 20-25 European startups, per TC. Go deeper 

• Dutch DAC developer Carbyon raised a €15.3m Series A from Siemens Financial Services, Omnes Capital, Global Cleantech Capital and insiders Invest-NL, Innovation Industries, Lowercarbon Capital, and the Brabant Development Agency. Go deeper

• Reduced, a Danish ingredients maker from upcycled foods, raised an €8m Series A from investors including European Circular Bioeconomy Fund. Go deeper

• Skarper, a UK startup that's developed a clip-on ebike conversion device, raised €5.3m led by Adjuvo, joined by insiders Starry Group, Mobilitech Capital and Resilion chairman Yaron Kottler. Go deeper

• Signol, a UK emissions-reduction software developer for shipping and aviation, raised €2.9m led by TMV, joined by ship operator Ultranav, Mitsui OSK Lines venture arm Mol Plus, and insider East Innovate. Go deeper

• Involve, an Italian stratospheric balloon developer for Earth imaging, raised a €2.5m seed round led by Earlybird Venture Capital, joined by aerospace accelerator Takeoff and TLI Space. Go deeper

• Tiptapp, a Swedish app developer that says it's reducing car trips by connecting city dwellers in need of recycling and moving services with drivers who have spare room in their vehicles, raised €1m

• Kimmeridge is raising a second "carbon solutions fund," per an SEC filing. Go deeper

• Partners Group led a $1.9b purchase of a majority stake in EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, a Broomfield, Colo., data center operator. Go deeper

• Kohlberg & Company, a middle-market PE firm, acquired a majority stake in Clearesult, an Austin, Texas, energy efficiency and sustainability services provider, from TPG Growth and TPG's The Rise Fund. Go deeper

• TPG Rise Climate acquired Miratech, an NYC developer of aftermarket emissions and noise reduction tech for stationary industrial engines, from BP Energy Partners. Go deeper

• Acon Investments acquired a control stake in Rymel, a Colombian electricity transformer manufacturer. Go deeper

• One Rock Capital Partners entered a definitive agreement to sell ArchKey Solutions, a St. Louis electrical services provider, to 26North Partners. Go deeper

• Solar Foods, a Finnish startup making protein through fermentation, plans to go public on Nasdaq's First North Growth in Finland next Tuesday. Go deeper

• Abu Dhabi National Oil Company plans to acquire a 35% stake in Exxon Mobil's proposed low-carbon hydrogen project in Texas, with a final investment decision slated for 2025. Go deeper

• Bureau Veritas, a French testing, inspection, and certification provider, acquired ArcVera Renewables, a Golden, Colo., consulting and technical services provider for wind, solar, and battery storage projects. Go deeper

• Haley & Aldrich, a Burlington, Mass., environmental and engineering consulting firm, acquired The Elm Group, a Princeton, N.J., environmental and engineering consulting firm. Go deeper

• Japanese cell and module manufacturer Toyo Solar plans to invest $100m to open a 2 GW solar module factory in the U.S. Go deeper

• Volvo Cars expects this month to deliver its first EX90 three-row electric SUV to customers following extensive delays. Go deeper

• Plant-based meat makers Impossible Foods and Motif FoodWorks settled their IP litigation. Go deeper

Hot deals

• Marie Sylla Dixon joined Exelon as SVP of federal affairs. Sylla Dixon was previously SVP of government and external affairs at Albertsons. Go deeper

• Michael Schwartz joined the board of AtmosZero, a Fort Collins, Colo., startup developing a decarbonized industrial boiler. Schwartz was previously president and CEO of Daikin Applied Americas. Go deeper

It's personnel

👋🏻 Katie is looking forward to RE+ next week. Send me a note if you want to connect there. 

🗽 Alan is headed to Climate Week NYC later this month. His schedule is bananas, but if you'll be there, let him know!

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 busy climate investors.

September 04, 2024

1 big thing: Busy bodies