3 biggest climate tech fundraises.
+ CEO's sustainability interest at 4-year low. Climate guilt when using AI. Ex-Google executive on clean energy across Africa. Peace is not found where you think. Leadership fable on listening. (#173)
Welcome to the shortest newsletter in climate tech — from Entrepreneurs for Impact (EFI).
I write about climate tech startups and investment, personal optimization, and conscious leadership (with poor attempts at humor).
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Today’s topics:
CEO interest in sustainability at a 4-year low.
Feeling “climate guilt” when using AI?
Podcast — Ex-Google executive on clean energy across Africa.
The biggest climate tech fundraises.
Peace is not found where you think.
Leadership fable — Can you hear those voices?
1.
CEO interest in sustainability at a 4-year low.
Uh, “Houston, we have a problem.”
So what?
Don’t use metal chopsticks with cold, oily noodles.
Huh?
Forget about the “sustainability” angle. Make sales easier. Connect your climate tech solution to the CEO’s other top priorities.
How can you help customers boost profits, manage costs in supply chains, and reduce geographic risks with vendors?
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2.
Feeling “climate guilt” when using AI?
Vox raises a question I was considering as my daughter used ChatGPT to create funny images on my phone.
“Is this AI photo of a painted elephant hiking the Appalachian trail in a miniskirt worth the power equivalent of a light bulb’s 20 minutes of electricity usage?”
A ChatGPT search uses 10x the energy of a Google search (Goldman Sachs).
So what?
Get smarter friends. Use AI less.
Or balance this energy burden with some better news:
“9 ways AI is helping tackle climate change”
This World Economic Forum article lists examples such as:
Mapping deforestation with AI
Using AI to recycle more waste
Reforesting hills in Brazil using drones
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3.
Podcast: Ex-Google Executive on Clean Energy Across Africa.
My guest on a recent Entrepreneurs for Impact (EFI) podcast was Jon Kornik, Co-founder and CEO of Plentify.
Plentify is a smart energy company that makes affordable, reliable, and clean electricity a reality for all. Their current focus is on the demand-side management of water heaters to create virtual power plants.
Jon is the former head of clean energy for Google across Africa and a consultant with McKinsey.
In this episode, you’ll learn four important takeaways.
How smarter water heaters can reduce energy storage costs by 75%
Why their capital raise was hardest in the easiest market (a few years back) and easiest in the hardest market (today)
What “presencing” is and how to use it to grow your business
Why he loves this quote: “Opportunities multiply as they are seized”
So what?
Listen to the episode and share your thoughts on my LinkedIn post.
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4.
Biggest climate tech fundraises.
Here are the top three recent climate startup financings.
Waymo — $5.6B Series C funding for its autonomous (all electric) robotaxi service. Investors include Alphabet, Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price.
Pacific Fusion Corp. — $900M Series A funding for its fusion technology. Investors include General Catalyst, Breakthrough, Lowercarbon Capital, Lightspeed, and Leitmotif.
Redaptive — $100M in equity (post-Series E) funding for its efficiency-as-a-service solution. The investor is the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
So what?
Get detailed lists of recent climate tech capital raises from my friends at CTVC and Keep Cool.
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5.
Peace is not found where you think.
“Peace lies not in the world, but in the man who walks the path.”
— Master Po from the 1970’s TV show Kung Fu (yes, the one where a white guy plays the lead Chinese martial artist)
So what?
Don’t expect that others will cradle you with positive emotions. Instead, bring the energy, vision, and clarity you seek into every room you enter.
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6.
Leadership fable — Can you hear those voices?
No, this is not about Halloween.
Instead, it comes from the leadership classic, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. I’ll summarize.
People don’t need to get their way all the time. Instead, they want to know their voice is heard and responded to when decisions are made.
So what?
We have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen more. Earn that buy-in.
Finally, your moment of optimism.
Geologists discovered a new lithium brine in Arkansas that might equal 9x the 2030 demand for lithium in car batteries.
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Let’s get to work,
Chris
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P.P.S. If you’d like to join our private climate CEO peer group or receive executive coaching from me, visit our website: EFI (Entrepreneurs for Impact)