This is ZERO #5
Oodles of cash for climate via SPACs. New climate tech report. Space pollution. Quotes to ponder. Be that amazing human. Bugs Bunny.
What the SPAC?!
Our favorite new four-letter word: SPAC = Special Purpose Acquisition Company.
TechCrunch describes them like this: “Blank-check companies that are formed for the purpose of merging or acquiring other companies.”
In the climate and energy sectors, they’ve become the coolest kid at the party. You know, the one with billions of dollars raised.
Shayle Kann of Energy Impact Partners summarized the climate SPACs here:
Five EV OEMs (Nikola, Canoo, Hyliion, Lordstown, Fisker)
Two LIDAR companies (Luminar, Velodyne)
Two battery tech companies (Quantumscape, EOS)
One additive manufacturing company (Desktop Metal)
And we can’t forget the latest announcement:
Climate Change Crisis Real Impact I Acquisition just raised $200M for renewable energy and energy efficiency investments. It is led by clean energy leaders like Chairperson Mary Powell, former CEO of Green Mountain Power, and CEO David Crane, former CEO of NRG Energy.
New mechanisms like this are exciting. Fingers crossed that we do not repeat the ICO or YieldCo roller coasters.
Dear, climate tech. The world loves you.
A recent PwC report notes that “climate tech investment grows at five times the venture capital market rate over [the last] seven years.”
That includes $60B invested in early stage ventures.
The most adored sectors have included mobility and transport, food, agriculture and land use, and the energy sector.
Let’s hope that we’ve learned our lessons from cleantech v1.0, and this time we get ‘er done right. We don’t have time to lose.
As a famous man once said, “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.”
That man was Martin Luther King, Jr.
And while his statement then was about racial justice, today it’s also about climate change, and somehow and most unfortunately, still about racial justice.
Pollution on Earth wasn’t quite enough?
The United Nations this week announced that “none of the 20 global biodiversity targets agreed to 10 years ago with a 2020 deadline were fully met.”
A big fat score of “F.”
And even as the UN Secretary General warns humanity to stop “waging war on nature,” we see this headline:
“Space Debris Buildup Could Threaten Satellites, Space Travel” from NPR
Not only do we have a stewardship problem here on Earth, but we’ve also created one in outer space. (Jaw drop)
“The trash that circles our planet is from the last 63 years of space travel — broken bits of satellite and other items flying up to 18,000 miles per hour…”
“It's estimated that there are 8,000 metric tons of sort of human-engineered mass zooming around the planet. About 26,000 of those are of a size that the U.S. military can track, so 10 centimeters or larger. But when you get below the size of 10 centimeters, then you end up with something like a 100 million pieces that are the size of a millimeter or even a 100 trillion, the size of a micron. At the speeds we're talking about, something the size of a grain of sand can destroy an entire spacecraft.”
Ugh. Where’s the “ostrich hole” I want to bury my head in?
Oh, you’re bored. Want a change?
It’s a luxury and a gift to be bored. Or so I try and tell my three kids or retired friends.
And sometimes our business or personal focus just loses its appeal. Wrong path.
But that’s great! (Huh?)
The opportunities are so abundant to do cool sh*t with that free or repurposed time.
Consider these lists for some inspiration:
A ranking of the world’s top 100 solution to climate change — Project Drawdown
World Changing Ideas — Fast Company
Ashoka Fellows — Search to find inspiring world changers
United Nations Equator Prize 2020 — Winners with nature-based solutions
Quotes to ponder in the shower
“We are what we repeatedly do.” — Will Durant
What do you do every day, every week? OK, now flash forward 5 or 25 years. That’s you.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” — James Clear
Goals and visions are great. But systems, teams, and rules are better.
“Daddy, cute animal videos on YouTube are very relaxing.” — My 9-year-old daughter
How much calmer could we all be during our four-fold crisis (COVID + recession + racial tension + climate change) if we did more recharging like this? OK, so maybe the adult versions would be a regular stroll in the woods, a weekend morning cup of Zoom tea with a friend across the country, or a socially distanced beer by a campfire.
And some links to explore
Climate Change Investment Brief (August issue)
Our September issue will come out in our next ZERO newsletter. Each Brief includes about 25 bulleted summaries of new climate investments (seed, VC, etc.), new climate funds announced, climate finance headlines worth skimming, and a few climate investor profiles.
From PwC, released September 23, 2020
ESG Investing #1: Values or Verbiage?
From Ramanan Raghavendran, cofound of Amasia (climate VC firm)
High-power Peer Groups for Serious Climate Entrepreneurs and Investors
If you’re looking for “your people” via a mastermind (aka, brain trust + executive coaching), check out the invite-only group I’m putting together via Entrepreneurs for Impact. A few spots still remain.
That’s all, folks.
(Insert Bugs Bunny’s voice, combined with sugary cereal on Saturday mornings. Ah, the 1980’s, when parenting seemed easy.)
Hopefully you’ve recovered from the “hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck” that was the debate this week. (Shout out to CNN’s Jake Tapper.)
And remember, despite the “doom scrolling” that social media provides, the world is full of positive news (let’s create more) and amazing human beings (let’s be those people).
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It takes a village, and all that jazz.
Fist bumps and such,
Chris
P.S. If you’re curious about where the name ZERO comes from, check it out here.
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Dr. Chris Wedding
Entrepreneurs for Impact, Founder
Executive Masterminds for entrepreneurs and investors tackling climate change
Invite-only peer groups. Executive coaching. Investor data. Leadership development.
(919) 274-7988
