💸 Funding data for 212 mobility startups | 10x growth in carbon tech VC investment | Vegans are not weenies | Save $250
Your 3-minute summary of climate tech, startups, better habits, and deep work.
Good morning, folks.
In today’s 3-minute read, we’ll cover these juicy nuggets:
🤑 Climate tech VC — 4 market updates
🏎️ Funding data for 200+ mobility startups
🏥 143 million climate refugees
🌾 Movie | Vegans are not weenies
🌎 Save $250 | Learn climate tech startup funding with me
⛈️ Under every beautiful company logo is a hot mess
Enjoy.
Chris
🤑 Climate tech VC — 4 market updates.
If you’re feeling like your capital raise is doomed, wait a second. Please put down the box of Twinkies. It doesn’t have to be this way.
These four graphs from CTVC below tell at four helpful stories.
#1 — $70B has been invested in climate tech since Q1 2021.
That’s great inertia. But we’re just getting started. The UN IPCC estimates that we need to be investing $3.5T annually to tackle climate change. (I think I feel some indigestion bubbling up. Maybe it was the Twinkies.)
#2 — $20B of climate tech VC capital (“dry powder”) has yet to be deployed.
Due to economic uncertainty right now * — but don’t say the “R” word that rhymes with introspection — the term sheets that investors now offer founders might be worse. Some would say more reasonable. 😉 Or they may go “pencils down” until they understand where they think the market is headed. But the capital is there. And it’s their job to place it.
#3 — Transportation and Energy have received the most later stage capital, while Carbon and Climate Management tend to receive earlier stage capital.
Just like in junior high school, not everyone matures at the same time. For those of us in the land of Michael Jordan (NC, baby!), we know that you gotta watch those late bloomers. He grew seven inches (to 6’6”) between his sophomore year in high school to his sophomore year in college at UNC.
$4 — Carbon startups’ Q2 funding was 10x the average 2021 quarterly investment.
1H 2022 saw $1.5B for companies in carbon removal, point source carbon capture, carbon market places, verifiers, and carbon utilization.
(Click on each graph to learn more.)
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🏎️ Funding data for 200+ mobility startups.
Thanks to Alex Mitchell — SVP at Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) — for these delectable nuggets via his Su$tainable Mobility newsletter.
In his recent issue, he analyzes the 212 early-stage mobility startups in his database.
That’s cool, but…
He also invites you to get full access to the Airtable version of the database here (scroll down).
These three snippets are worth scanning. They’re based on 29 startups that have raised recent follow-on rounds.
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🏥 143 million climate refugees.
Just in case there was any doubt…
The climate crisis is not just about polar bears and honey bees.
It’s about millions of people being forced to relocate due to a higher frequency and severity of natural disasters and temperature aberrations.
As this AP article notes:
Each year, natural disasters force an average of 21.5 million people from their homes around the world, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Over the next 30 years, 143 million people are likely to be uprooted by rising seas, drought, searing temperatures and other climate catastrophes, according to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report published this year.
In El Salvador, for example, scores each year leave villages because of crop failure from drought or flooding, and end up in cities where they become victims of gang violence and ultimately flee their countries because of those attacks.
An increasing number of countries are laying the groundwork to become safe havens for climate migrants. In May, Argentina created a special humanitarian visa for people from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean displaced by natural disasters to let them stay for three years.
If you’re thinking, “Wow, this sounds alarmist compared to last week’s newsletter.”
Hang tight.
First, we have to be aware of the facts and what’s at risk.
Then we need to choose to be optimistic about humanity’s recurring ability to innovate out of possible calamity. (Usually.)
🌾 Movie | Vegans are not weenies.
If you ever wondered whether vegans and vegetarians can be “shredded” (the muscular ambition of my two teenage boys)…
Well, here’s a compelling and contrarian movie to watch on Netflix this week:
The Game Changers
“A revolutionary new documentary about meat, protein, and strength.”
Directed by Oscar®-winning documentary filmmaker Louie Psihoyos and executive produced by James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Lewis Hamilton, Novak Djokovic, and Chris Paul, The Game Changers tells the story of James Wilks — elite Special Forces trainer and The Ultimate Fighter winner — as he travels the world on a quest to uncover the optimal diet for human performance.
Showcasing elite athletes, special ops soldiers, visionary scientists, cultural icons, and everyday heroes, what James discovers permanently changes his understanding of food and his definition of true strength.
“Unable to train for six months after my injury, I (Wilks) started researching the optimal diet for recovery and stumbled across a study about the Roman gladiators which concluded that they ate little or no meat.
This seemed really far-fetched to me since I was confident that animal protein was necessary to build muscle, sustain energy levels, and recover from injury.
So I flew to Austria to meet the researchers who made this discovery and left convinced that the gladiators really did train and compete on a plant-based diet.”
🌎 Save $200 | Learn climate tech startup funding with me in September.
I’m launching the second cohort of my live, cohort-based course in September => “Fund Your Climate Tech Startup.”
With a small group of around 20-25 entrepreneurs (preseed and seed stage) and career-switchers, it’s very hands-on and practical.
It includes:
A climate investor list (500+ emails)
My 5-step process for raising capital
A 9-step method for improving your 1-page business plan
7 tools for assessing your competitive edge
20 startup mistakes to avoid
Plus, this course is new and improved since the last cohort:
A verified certificate of completion
More small breakouts with peer feedback
More practice pitches
More months of online community Q&A support from your peers and me
More live group coaching
A new library of climate tech funding resources
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Save $250 by enrolling by August 8, Monday.
I’m offering a discount for you, the kind souls who read my newsletters. 😄
Use this code when you sign up - CLIMATE250.
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⛈️ Under every beautiful company logo is a hot mess.
I’m not sure where I heard first this sentiment.
But this is what I uttered during a recent call with one of my climate CEO mastermind peer group members.
So, if you’re feeling low confidence in your venture’s trajectory, you’re not alone.
We’re all building the airplane while we’re flying it. ✈️😌
That’s all, y’all.
Make it a great week, because it’s usually a choice.
Chris
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Dr. Chris Wedding
Founder and Chief Catalyst, Entrepreneurs for Impact
We help CEOs and investors tackle climate change with mastermind peer groups, online courses, newsletters, and podcasts