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The week that was

Deals of the week

Temperature check

 🏛️ Policy corner

BP Ventures has cut back its U.S. workforce and sold certain green investments to free up cash and prioritize technologies tied to fossil fuel production, three sources familiar with the moves tell Axios Pro.

Why it matters: The venture arm is under pressure from lackluster returns and its corporate parent's renewed focus on oil and gas development.

Driving the news: BP Ventures, based in London and Houston, quietly closed its San Francisco office in January and laid off five workers associated with the location, two of the sources say. Go deeper

🏗️ Exclusive: Amazon plans to buy low-carbon cement from Brimstone. Go deeper

🌾 Scoop: Tikehau buys farming supplier Horizon Ag-Products. Go deeper

⛏️ Investors dig into minerals startups. Go deeper

1 big thing: The week that was

Illustration of the BP logo falling apart. 

• DISA Technologies, a Casper, Wyo.-based developer of mineral recovery and uranium remediation tech, raised $30m in Series A extension funding. Evok Innovations led, joined by Constellation Technology Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, Veriten, and Halliburton Labs. Go deeper

• Tanso, a German environmental compliance software developer, raised €12m in Series A funding led by HenQ and Fortino Capital, with participation from Capnamic and UVC Partners. Go deeper

• SG Enviro, a Singapore-based wastewater treatment tech developer, received an $8m investment from Emerald Technology Ventures. Go deeper

• Wattch, an Atlanta-based solar and battery storage monitoring and controls provider, raised $6m in seed funding led by Spero Ventures. Go deeper

• EVeez, an Indian electric two-wheeler subscription service, raised $5.4m in Series A funding led by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, joined by Caret Capital, ThinKuvate, Ev2 Ventures, Barbershop With Shantanu, SailThru Ventures, and Ah Ventures Fund. Go deeper

• Pearl Edison, a Detroit-based home upgrade services provider, raised $3.3m in seed funding from New System Ventures, Commonweal Ventures, Lightbank and Newlab, per TC. Go deeper

• Hylenr, an Indian developer of industrial heat systems powered by low-energy nuclear reactions, raised $3m in pre-Series A funding led by Valour Capital and Chhatisgarh Investments. Go deeper

• AlterEco Pulp, an Italian sustainable packaging producer, raised €3.5m in seed funding led by Eureka! Venture, joined by Azimut Eltif and Open Venture. Go deeper

• Brookfield Renewable acquired a 19.7% indirect equity stake in Florida Progress, which owns regional utility Duke Energy Florida, for $6b. Go deeper

• GHK Capital Partners acquired Rogers Building Solutions, a Douglasville, Ga.-based provider of HVAC and plumbing services to commercial and industrial end markets. rogersbuildingsolutions.com

• Lyten, a San Jose, Calif.-based battery startup, says it will acquire the remaining Swedish and German assets of bankrupt battery maker Northvolt. Go deeper

• Carbon DC, a Canadian EV charging systems provider, acquired Elywhere North America, the Portland, Ore.-based arm of Norwegian EV charging tech developer Elywhere AS. Go deeper

• ABB, the Swedish-Swiss electrical engineering firm, is investing C$130m+ to expand R&D and production of power and grid products by combining two Quebec factories. Go deeper

• X-energy Reactor Company, a Rockville, Md.-based nuclear reactor developer, awarded $48.2m to Clark Construction to build an advanced fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Go deeper

• LevelTen, a Seattle-based marketplace for renewables projects, is laying off 60 workers. Go deeper

• Plant-based cheesemakers Schuman Cheese and Good Planet Foods launched a JV, GPV Foods. Go deeper

• Joby Aviation, a Santa Cruz, Calif.-based eVTOL developer, signed an agreement with defense contractor L3Harris Technologies to potentially develop gas-turbine hybrid autonomous aircraft. Go deeper

• Noya, an SF-based carbon removal developer, is closing. Investors include Union Square Ventures, Collaborative Fund, and Lowercarbon Capital. Go deeper

• Vertical Future, a UK-based vertical farming startup, is for sale on an insolvency market after disclosing £10m+ in pre-tax losses, per AgFunderNews. Investors include SFC Capital and Pula Investments. Go deeper

• FlyBlast, a Belgian startup genetically engineering black soldier flies to produce insulin and other proteins, filed for bankruptcy, per AgFunder News. Go deeper

• Matson, a Honolulu-based maritime shipping service, said it will stop transporting EVs and plug-in hybrids due to fire risk. Go deeper

• Volkswagen Group has postponed plans to bring Spanish brand Cupra, and a pair of debut EVs, to the U.S. Go deeper

• Ford confirmed it will share details next Monday about its forthcoming low-cost EVs, starting with a mid-size pickup truck. Go deeper

• Ford also delayed a full-size electric pickup and an electric van to 2028, per Automotive News. Go deeper

• Ore Energy, a Dutch developer of multi-day iron-air batteries, connected what it says is the first such battery to an electric grid. Go deeper

• Rayan Tegtmeier was named CEO Veganz Group, a German plant-based food producer, effective Oct. 1. He succeeds Jan Bredack. Go deeper

• Steve del Cardayre and Brett Boghigian have joined Switch Bioworks as CTO and chief business officer, respectively. Cardayre was previously co-founder and CTO of Zero Acre Farms. Boghigian was previously SVP at Mori. Go deeper

• Todd Shutley joined Radiance Solar as COO. Shutley was previously COO of Inlight Real Estate Partners. Go deeper

• Bill Vasquez was named COO of Paladin EnviroTech, a Tampa-based provider of sustainable IT equipment disposal. Vasque was Americas GM for SKtes. Go deeper

• Tad Glauthier joined Halcyon, an SF-based energy regulatory data provider, as chief revenue officer. Glauthier was VP of e-mobility and sales at Stem. Go deeper

• Curtis Brockelman and Keith Oldewurtel were named executive chairman and board member, respectively, of Prosper Water, a Miami-based sustainable water treatment developer. Go deeper

• Jim Hagemann Snabe joined Bloom Energy's board of directors. Snabe is chairman of Siemens AG. Go deeper

• Christopher P. Liddell joined the board of directors of Commonwealth Fusion Systems. Liddell was assistant to the president during the first Trump administration. Go deeper

• Bret Zahn joined Wolfspeed, a Durham, N.C.-based developer of silicon carbide semiconductor tech, as VP and GM of its automotive business, particularly EVs. Zahn was previously VP and GM at Onsemi. Go deeper

• Megan Britt was named VP of investor relations for Air Products, the Lehigh Valley, Pa.-based industrial gases supplier, effective Aug. 11. Britt was VP of investor relations at Archer-Daniels Midland. She succeeds Eric Guter. Go deeper

• William Waltz is retiring as president and CEO of Atkore, a Harvey, Ill.-based electrical products manufacturer. Go deeper

• Donald Sadoway is stepping down from his role as chief science officer and board director at Pure Lithium, a Charlestown, Mass.-based lithium extraction and anode production startup. Go deeper

2. Deals of the week

👥 Unexpected FOAK friends: Corporate venture capital arms can be a potent ally for startups seeking to build a first-of-a-kind, or FOAK, production plant.

"They have the in-house expertise to test materials and make bets which would potentially scare off a lot of other investors," Louis Fearn, an investor at Jaguar Land Rover's InMotion Ventures, tells Sifted.

🤖 $800m investment: That's the median figure for U.S. data center projects, per CTVC and its research arm, Sightline.

While data center developers say they want "clean, fast, cheap and firm" power, Sightline reports, "most operators are compromising on at least one to get their projects built" as they race to build gargantuan data campuses and generation systems. 

🛑 Solar for none: The EPA this week said it will end the $7 billion Solar for All program, an Inflation Reduction Act initiative that aimed to reduce energy bills for nearly 1 million low-income U.S. households by enabling access to solar energy.

3. Temperature check

Illustration of a pattern of repeating thermometers with different temperature levels.

A swing-district Republican is pressing the Trump administration to protect offshore wind projects and allow wind and solar developments to access IRA tax credits, Daniel Moore reports in Axios Pro Energy Policy.

Why it matters: Rep. Jen Kiggans is part of a growing chorus of GOP lawmakers who are speaking out against their party's widening attacks on renewable energy projects.

Sen. Chuck Grassley this week put holds on three Treasury nominees to protest any move by the agency to restrict wind and solar projects from claiming the credit over the next year.

Daniel's thought bubble: Soaring power demand from AI data centers and military bases could thaw opposition to offshore wind, particularly as rising electricity prices create political headaches in places like Virginia. Go deeper

August 09, 2025

1 big thing: The week that was