- Apple’s sustainability-focused Impact Accelerator invites first 15 Black- and brown-owned companiesAmong Apple’s more recent social good initiatives is the Impact Accelerator, an effort launched about a year ago intended to find and elevate minority-owned small businesses taking on sustainability and climate change. The program now has its first 15 participants, gathered from all over the country for a three-month program ... read more
- 44.01 secures $5M to turn billions of tons of carbon dioxide to stoneReducing global greenhouse gas emissions is an important goal, but another challenge awaits: lowering the levels of CO2 and other substances already in the atmosphere. One promising approach turns the gas into an ordinary mineral through entirely natural processes; 44.01 hopes to perform this process at scale using vast deposits ... read more
- Following the IPCC’s report, we need more technology to respond to more disastersThis week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its major sixth assessment report on the physical science of climate change. The details are grim, if getting more precise as better and more comprehensive data becomes available. As my colleague Mike Butcher summarized yesterday, it’s “stern and blunt in its ... read more
- UN’s IPCC report on climate change sounds “code red” for planetA major UN scientific report has concluded that human activity is changing the climate at an unprecedented rate. The report has been describe as a “code red for humanity” by its authors. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is stern and blunt in its conclusions: “It is unequivocal ... read more
- $100M donation powers decade-long moonshot to create solar satellites that beam power to EarthIt sounds like a plan concocted by a supervillain, if that villain’s dastardly end was to provide cheap, clean power all over the world: launch a set of three-kilometer-wide solar arrays that beam the sun’s energy to the surface. Even the price tag seems gleaned from pop fiction: one hundred ... read more
- Australia’s v2Food aims to expand its plant-based meats to Europe and Asia with €45M raiseV2Food is one of many new contenders in the alternative protein space, founded in Australia but now setting its sights on Europe, Asia and beyond. It has a few key advantages over the competition, and with €45M in new funding it may be finding its way to plates in the ... read more
- GM is adding two new zero-emission commercial vehicles to its lineupGeneral Motors said Wednesday it is adding two new zero-emissions vehicles to its commercial portfolio as it looks to expand its first-to-last-mile business arm, BrightDrop. The first vehicle will be a battery electric cargo van under the Chevrolet brand that will likely be similar to the popular Chevy Express van. ... read more
- Tech leaders can be the secret weapon for supercharging ESG goalsJeff Sternberg Contributor Share on Twitter Jeff Sternberg is a technical director in the Office of the CTO (OCTO) at Google Cloud, a team of technologists and industry experts that help Google Cloud's customers solve challenging problems and disrupt ... read more
- Automakers have battery anxiety, so they’re taking control of the supplyBattery joint ventures have become the hot must-have deal for automakers that have set ambitious targets to deliver millions of electric vehicles in the next few years. It’s no longer just about securing a supply of cells. The string of partnerships and joint ventures show that automakers are taking a ... read more
- Pivot Bio rakes in $430M round D as modified microbes prove their worth in agriculturePivot Bio makes fertilizer — but not directly. Its modified microorganisms are added to soil and they product nitrogen that would otherwise have had to be trucked in and dumped there. This biotech-powered approach can save farmers money and time and ultimately may be easier on the environment — a ... read more
- Rise Gardens grows with $9M Series A to help anyone be an indoor farmerAs more consumers embrace plant-based diets and sustainable food practices, Rise Gardens is giving anyone the ability to have a green thumb from the comfort of their own home. The Chicago-based indoor, smart hydroponic company raised $9 million in an oversubscribed Series A round, led by TELUS Ventures, with existing ... read more
- What the growing federal focus on ESG means for private marketsAnthony Cimino Contributor Share on Twitter Anthony Cimino, head of policy at Carta, works with policymakers and innovators to drive economic opportunity through expanding equity ownership and private market liquidity. The increasing regulation of ESG (environmental, social, ... read more
- Revel turns to software to keep its e-moped fleet powered without straining NYC’s gridRevel is turning to an app that gamifies energy use to keep its fleet of more than 3,000 electric mopeds charged without putting a strain on New York City’s power grid. Electricity is the key ingredient for the Brooklyn-based startup, which has more recently expanded beyond shared electric mopeds ... read more
- Mighty Buildings lands $22M to create ‘sustainable and affordable’ 3D-printed homesOakland-based Mighty Buildings, which is on a quest to build homes using 3D printing, robotics and automation, has raised a $22 million extension to its Series B round of funding. The additional capital builds upon a $40 million a raise the company announced earlier this year, bringing its total funding ... read more
- Vaayu’s carbon tracking for retailers raises $1.6M, claims it could cut CO2 in half by 2030Carbon tracking is very much the new hot thing in tech, and we’ve previously covered more generalist startups doing this at scale for companies, such as Plan A Earth out of Berlin. But there’s clearly an opportunity to get deep into a vertical sector and tailor solutions to it. That’s ... read more