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☆ Instagrid replaces gas-powered generators with electric alternatives. Check out the 23-slide pitch deck it used to raise $95 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewA German startup replacing fossil fuel generators used to power construction, film sets, music festivals, and first responders has just raised $95 million in a Series C funding round. "What people did before, if they needed more computational power, they built bigger and bigger and bigger computers – so these mainframe computers that you had in the early 90s," he told Business Insider. AdvertisementIts customers, which buy units for use or to rent on to others, include Swedish construction company Skanska, European construction rental company Loxaml, and the Red Cross. The fresh funds will be used to expand the rollout of the current system and launch additional powerful electric generator systems.

Persons: —, Instagrid, Sebastian Berning, Berning, Morgan Organizations: Service, Business, Teachers ' Venture, Ontario Teachers, Energy Impact Partners, SET Ventures Locations: Swedish, Ontario, Europe, North America, , California

☆ This startup wants to be the leading clean energy provider to businesses. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck Reel used to raise $5.4 million.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Businesses can currently purchase certificates or credits to say they have used renewable energy, representing the output from a renewable energy project that's already supplying the grid. The startup's platform aggregates smaller companies' energy demands so they can sign PPAs, which locks in a fixed price. It will also expand into new European markets and grow its 15-strong team across tech, energy, commercial, and operations. With its eye on becoming the leading B2B energy provider, the startup plans to build energy storage and demand response capabilities down the line.

Persons: —, David, Jon Sigvert, Sigvert, Daniel Nathan Organizations: Service, Business, Energy, International Energy Agency . Companies, Fortune, UVC Partners, Firm Locations: Copenhagen, Ukraine, Finland

☆ Temo just raised $6.5 million to make small sailing boats electric. Check out the 19-slide pitch deck it used to secure the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Arriving, you quickly and easily attach the motor to a dinghy or rowing boat to make a short but peaceful journey to the main sailing boat. That's the picture Temo cofounder Justine Perussel paints when describing her company's electric motor technology. Founded in 2018 in Vannes, France, Temo just raised 6 million euros, around $6.5 million, to make electric alternatives to combustion engines for small boats such as dinghies, sailboats, and rowing boats. "The electric motor market is moving very fast – it's booming," Perussel said. Small crafts are typically used to get to and from larger sailing boats or are rented for recreational use on lakes, Perussel said.

Persons: Justine Perussel, Temo, Perussel, – Organizations: Business, International Council of Marine Industry, One Ventures, Bpifrance, Partners Locations: Vannes, France, Europe, Italy, Spain, North America

☆ Climate tech in 2023: More grants, experienced founders, and new laws help sector to standout year
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-29 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

While much of Europe's startup ecosystem has been hobbled by the rocky macroeconomic environment and soaring interest rates, climate tech has continued to lure funds from venture capitalists. Many climate tech companies work with hardware, meaning debt financing is also an attractive non-dilutive option for working capital between funding rounds. Global private market equity and grant funding for climate tech startups is actually down – it slid 40% to $65 billion in the 12 months ending September 30, according to PwC. Some smaller climate tech companies have made cuts, including vertical farming company InFarm, which retreated from Europe and was declared bankrupt in the Netherlands. Generally, however, layoffs have been a boon for climate as big tech talent has moved into or launched climate tech startups.

Persons: —, Siobhan Brewster, Atomico, Brewster, Piotr Bukanski, Mike Schroepfer, Greg Sandoval, retrofits, Barcelona's, Balderton Capital's Magda Lukaszewicz, Stuart Ferguson, Schroepfer, Warner, Aenu's Brewster Organizations: Service, Business, Venture, Energy, Beringea, Gigascale, Sustainable Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, Global, Ada Ventures Locations: London, Europe's, Ukraine, United States, Europe, Silicon, Netherlands

☆ Strong By Form uses timber to make construction more sustainable. It just raised $5.2 million with this 32-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Strong By Form, a bio-composite materials startup hoping to make construction more sustainable, has just secured $5.2 million in seed funding. Founded in 2018 in Chile, the now Madrid-based startup uses timber for bio-composites to replace concrete and steel. It uses software to optimize the material's structural design and resource use, making it tough and more sustainable. "There is a growing demand for structural materials as the world needs to build 13,000 buildings every day, for the next 25 years, just to cope with population growth. Its structural timber products, such as slabs for buildings, will still use petrochemical-based resins as the company waits for a bio-based formula to be certified.

Persons: Andrés Mintik, Mintik, Minitik Organizations: Business, CMPC Ventures Locations: Chile, Madrid, Europe

☆ Modo Energy wants to become the Morningstar of the renewable energy market. It just raised $15 million with this 9-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A British company that wants to become the go-to data platform for renewable energy just raised $15 million in a Series A funding round. London-based Modo Energy, which was founded in 2019, has developed a software-as-a-service data platform to help renewable energy owners, operators, and investors navigate the market and ultimately make more money. The startup operates a "freemium" software-as-a-service business model with three tiers, including free access to a paid version for university students. Modo Energy is also working with co-located solar and storage facilities, so that batteries are charged with solar before the energy is sold onto the grid. Check out the pitch deck Modo Energy used to raise the cash injection below.

Persons: Morningstar, Quentin Scrimshire, Banks, Fred Olsen, Scrimshire Organizations: Modo Energy, Business, Reuters, Bloomberg, MMC Ventures, Triple Point Ventures, Fred, Fred Olsen Limited, Catalyst Capital Locations: London, Texas

☆ One Click LCA makes construction more sustainable. It just raised $43.8 million with this 15-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Finnish software company One Click LCA, which aims to make construction more sustainable, has raised 40 million euros, $43 million, in its first external funding round after it was bootstrapped for the past 22 years. One Click LCA helps them measure, report, and reduce emissions of their products and projects. It embeds emissions data into every decision, suggests changes to reduce environmental impact and improve circularity, and allows users to model changes. One Click LCA puts this number at 57% based on its aggregation of existing data and its own calculations. "That's not possible to do after you have commissioned the design," Pasanen said.

Persons: Panu Pasanen, Pasanen Organizations: Business, US, Leadership, Energy, Environmental, PSG Equity, InfraVia Capital Partners, Sustainability Locations: Helsinki

☆ Safi just raised $19.5 million for its B2B recycling marketplace. We got an exclusive look at the pitch memo it used to secure the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A London-based startup using AI to increase recycling rates has just raised a $19.5 million Series A funding round. Safi, which was founded in 2021, has built a B2B marketplace for trading recyclable materials such as plastic, paper, and metal. Only then will buyers move to use recycled materials whenever possible, he added. Using recycled material to make things creates significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions versus virgin sources, Stocker noted. That's thanks in part to pressure from manufacturers, consumers, and policymakers to use more recycled material, Stocker said.

Persons: Rishi Stocker, Revolut, Stocker, Safi Organizations: Business, Europe –, Italy –, Nosara, Lowercarbon Capital Locations: London, WhatsApp, Europe, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, India

☆ There's a wave of pre-IPO startups with pandemic-era price tags stuck in limbo right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

There is a wave of pandemic-era startups stuck in limbo right now. The days of seeing 80% to 100% year-on-year revenue growth are gone, Hussein Kanji from early-stage fund Hoxton Ventures told Business Insider. Hoxton Ventures' Hussein Kanji said the days of companies racking up 100% year-on-year revenue growth are over. Investors tend to assess whether a company is IPO-ready on the rule of 40, which is revenue growth plus EBIT margin. Kanji added: "This is a lesson for a lot of people – if the IPO window opens up, take the company public."

Persons: they're, James Ulan, Klarna, Ulan, Karna's, Hussein Kanji, Morgan Stanley, Kanji, Kamil Mieczakowski, Fabian Heilemann, Graphcore Organizations: Business, Hoxton Ventures, Hoxton, Nvidia, Sequoia Locations: Ulan

☆ Sequoia-backed Upway refurbishes and resells e-bikes. It just raised $30 million with this 17-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Upway, a French startup that refurbishes and resells secondhand e-bikes, has just raised $30 million in Series B funding. The Paris-based company, founded in 2021 by former Uber executives Stéphane Ficaja and Toussaint Wattinne, buys up used e-bikes, refurbishes them where necessary, and sells them on for a discounted price. Electric bikes sales hit 5 million in 2021 , out of 22 million overall bike sales, according to European trade organization CONEBI. Micro-mobility rentals, such as Lime and Tier, helped popularise the market and accelerate the adoption of e-bikes in cities, Wattinne said. Check out the 17-slide redacted pitch deck it used to raise the funds:UpwayUpwayUpwayUpwayUpwayUpwayUpwayUpwayUpwayUpwayUpwayUpwayUpwayUpwayUpwayUpway

Persons: Stéphane Ficaja, Toussaint Wattinne, Wattinne, Bolt, David Helgason, Ari Organizations: Uber, Business, Korelya, Sequoia, Exor Ventures, Unity Locations: Paris, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, LA, Grover, Berlin

☆ Octarine Bio makes sustainable dyes for the fashion industry. Check out the 11-slide pitch deck it used to raise $4.6 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Danish biotechnology startup making sustainable dyes for the fashion industry just raised 3.4 million euros ($4.6 million). Octarine Bio started out focusing on cannabinoid and psilocybin-derived therapeutics but has since pivoted to natural dyes. On top of that, natural dyes don't always work well with synthetic fabrics such as polyester and nylon. "This is a huge value inflection point" as Octarine Bio's colors are scalable thanks to fermentation and work well on synthetic fabrics, Gallage said. Octarine BioOctarine BioOctarine BioOctarine BioOctarine BioOctarine BioOctarine BioOctarine BioOctarine BioOctarine Bio

Persons: Octarine, Nethaji Gallage, Gallage Organizations: Nordic, Unconventional Ventures, Óskare Capital, Firm, bioscience, Dsm Locations: Danish, Copenhagen

☆ Here's what Britain's venture capital limited partners are backing: men
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The institutional investors plying Britain's venture capital sector with cash have a penchant for backing funds owned entirely by men. All-male-owned firms raised 10 times more capital than funds owned by their female counterparts between 2017 and 2023, according to a report by impact fund Ada Ventures. A similar disparity was found among mixed-gender funds, which raised almost five times less than the male-owned funds. Those firms raised around 6.6 billion pounds during that period. Venture capital's diversity issues are well documented but there has been a slew of women leaving the industry this year.

Persons: VCs, Ekaterina Alamasque, Warner, Alamasque Organizations: Ada Ventures, Diversity, Google, Venture, Partners, Women

☆ Climate tech startups Montinutra, Harvest Thermal, Bisly, and Twig recently raised a combined $13.6 million. We got a look at the pitch decks they used to raise the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Climate tech startups Montinutra, Harvest Thermal, Bisly, and Twig have recently raised a collective $13.6 million between them as early-stage deals continue to dominate the venture capital industry. Biochemicals startup Montinutra, founded in 2018, raised 2 million euros, $2.1 million, in October to convert forestry sidestreams into sustainable alternatives to petrochemicals. Check out the 18-slide pitch deck below:MontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraHeat pump startup Harvest Thermal raised $4 millionCalifornia-based Harvest Thermal raised a $4 million round for its heat pump and thermal storage combination in October. It is riding political tailwinds amid the US' recent commitment to install 20 million heat pumps by 2030. Check out the redacted pitch deck that it used to raise the funds below:Harvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest Thermal Harvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalBuilding energy management startup Bisly secured $3.8 millionEstonian startup Bisly, which wants to make it cheaper to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, just raised 3.6 million euros, $3.8 million, in seed funding in October.

Persons: Twig, Pajunen, Portfolia, Russ Tucker Organizations: Metsä, Earth Foundry, Climate Partners, Starshot, National Science Foundation, California Energy Commission, International Energy Agency, Aconterra, Second Century Ventures, SmartCap, Fund, Pinorena, Innovation, Seed Fund Locations: California, London

☆ AI supply chain startup Tacto is set to raise funds from Sequoia. It's already in talks to bring in more cash.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Callum Burroughs | Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tacto, a small German AI supply chain startup, is set to raise new funding from US giant Sequoia and is already in talks with a different high-profile investor to raise another round. Sequoia is set to lead Tacto's Series A round, six sources familiar with the deal told Insider. Unusually, the startup has already begun talks to raise another round of funding in addition to the Sequoia deal. Tacto is also in talks with London-based Index Ventures to immediately raise another funding round, five sources said. Andreessen Horowitz led a seed round in tiny AI startup ElevenLabs in March, and is also in talks with months-old company Mistral.

Persons: Tacto, Andreessen Horowitz, Fintech, Hanno Renner Organizations: London, Ventures, Sequoia, Energy, nab, Cherry Ventures, UVC Partners, Club Locations: Sequoia, Munich, Berlin

☆ Climate tech is like catnip to investors. Here's why the $13 billion sector is outperforming other industries.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Europe's startup ecosystem has been battered this year but climate tech founders have managed to avoid the brunt of the immense downturn so far. PwC's global analysis of the sector also points to climate tech outperforming the norm, accounting for a tenth of private market investments in 2023. Venture capital investment into European startups more broadly is primed to slump by around 46% to 58.1 billion euros in 2023. These obligations have helped make climate tech startups "catnip to investors," Sustainable Ventures' Stuart Ferguson said. Last year, European companies like electric vehicle manufacturer Polestar and batter-maker Northvolt raised 1.6 billion euros and 1 billion euros respectively.

Persons: They've, Stuart Ferguson, Fabian Heilemann, Heilemann, Biden's, Warner, Namratha, Mark Bula, Northvolt, Lisa Barclay, Ferguson, Aenu's Organizations: Steel, Venture, Sustainable Ventures, Warner, Ada Ventures, Elyos Energy, Green Steel, Nesta, Investments Locations: Swedish, British, Norwegian, London, Norway

Mistral, a tiny AI startup that aims to be Europe's answer to OpenAI, is in discussions to raise a major round of funding that could push its valuation above $2 billion. Its cofounders are in talks with venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz to raise further funds, seven sources familiar with proceedings told Insider. Mistral is set to raise around $400 million at a valuation of at least $2 billion, which could rise to as high as $2.5 billion, three sources said. The deal is not yet finalized and the round size, valuation figures, and participants could still change. Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Mistral, Abstract Ventures, and Bezos Expeditions did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, Catalyst, Arthur Mensch, Guillaume Lample, Timothée Lacroix, Jeff Bezos, Xavier Niel Organizations: Mistral, Meta, DeepMind, Bezos Expeditions, Amazon, Catalyst, Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners Locations: Paris

☆ How generative AI's uncomfortable relationship with copyright law will determine the future of the industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Rights holders argue that AI using their work without a license should be considered "unauthorized derivative work" — an infringement of copyright law. Meanwhile, AI startups insist that their models comply with fair-use doctrine, which grants them some leeway to others' works. This month, Universal Music Group sued the AI startup Athropic for circulating copyrighted lyrics. He believes that future regulations may explicitly forbid AI data scraping. "They can train models on data that's not universally available to customers, and tell them it's licensed and compliant."

Persons: Eva Toorenent, who's, that's, Simon Menashy, Menashy, Ekaterina Almasque, OpenOcean Almasque, Getty, Sunny Dhillon, Harvey, Horowitz, Andre Retterath, GDPR, CCPA, Taylor, Swift Organizations: Universal Music Group, Getty, Harvard Business, MMC Ventures, Kyber Knight Capital, Nvidia, Earlybird Venture Locations: what's, Europe

☆ 'They're not reaching out to us': How the Israel-Hamas war demolished Gaza's struggling tech economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Palestinian tech workers in the Gaza Strip and West Bank are struggling to operate in the crossfire. AdvertisementAdvertisementPalestinian tech workers have comparatively fewer resources (namely internet connectivity and cash) at their disposal and tend to be reliant on outsourced work. This affects remote workers, freelancers, tech workers, and students who "won't be able to pursue their duties," Shtaya added. It was already difficult to import hardware and other equipment, the West Bank consultant said. Nvidia hired 100 engineers in the West Bank, and Apple also has a presence, TechCrunch reported.

Persons: —, Ryan Sturgill, TechCrunch, Avi Hasson, Israel, Mona Shtaya, Shtaya, PayPal doesn't Organizations: Hamas, West Bank, Service, Aqsa University, Google, Microsoft, TechCrunch, Mercy Corps, Israel Innovation Authority, Nation Central, Gaza Health Ministry, Gaza, Institute, Middle East, Bank, Israel, Wired, PayPal, Tech, Nvidia, Apple Locations: Gaza, Palestinian, Al, Israel, Hamas, Egypt, Europe, Persian

Not every AI company is hot right now. While European and US tech investors are throwing funding at startups that look like the next Nvidia or ChatGPT, they're less optimistic about one big player: British AI chip company Graphcore. The UK tech industry is small, and Insider granted anonymity to these people to avoid jeopardizing their professional relationships. One founder operating in the same space as the AI chip firm speculated that Arm could be a leading contender to acquire Graphcore. In September, Toon pitched Graphcore in an interview with Insider as a viable rival to Nvidia, which holds around 70% of the AI chip market, per Omdia analysis.

Persons: Graphcore, Baillie Gifford, it's, Nigel Toon's, Toon, we'll, Rishi Sunak Organizations: Nvidia, Graphcore, Insider, Sequoia Capital, Bloomberg, UK, China Locations: British, Europe

☆ This startup wants to make nature a balance sheet-grade asset. Check out the 19-slide pitch deck The Landbanking Group used to raise $11 million.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A climate fintech startup that wants to make nature a balance sheet-grade asset has just raised $11 million in seed funding. The Landbanking Group, founded in 2022, has created a software platform for land owners and investors. These assets can then be sold on to the likes of investors or corporations set on decarbonizing their supply chains. But in compensation markets, "you need to do harm first, for you to have an incentive to actually engage with nature," Stuchtey said. From there, the startup is positioning itself as a depository bank where nature assets are held, exchanged, and settled.

Persons: Martin Stuchtey, Sonja Stuchtey, Stuchtey Organizations: McKinsey, Force, 4P Capital Locations: Munich

☆ GoStudent, the $3 billion edtech darling, scaled fast and partied hard. The result was a mess.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

These people were employees of GoStudent, an Austria-based online-tutoring startup that had quickly become the darling of the European tech scene. But 28 current and former GoStudent employees and tutors said they experienced a poorly run organization with clumsy management. Edtech companies "rarely have any major competitive advantage other than scale," a European venture capitalist who's not affiliated with GoStudent said. A GoStudent employee threatened to track down the petition's author using tutors' IP addresses, according to the German publication Handelsblatt. According to public documents updated in December 2022, GoStudent had shrunk to 15 markets and 1,500 employees, including its acquisitions.

Persons: Felix Ohswald, Gregor Müller, GoStudent, who'd, I'm, Heinz, Peter Meidinger, cofounders, Ferdinand von Hagen, Prada, GoStudent's, Dave Benett, Müller, —, Ohswald, Anthony Canavan, Canavan, Brutkasten, Norbert Wess, Harry Murphy, Duncan McIntyre, McIntyre, Neel Gupta, Anna Tuchy, Patrick Nadler, Nadler, Sarah Heuberger, Ross Slater Organizations: German Teachers ' Association, Employees, GoStudent, Conseil, prud'hommes, DBS, Safety Officers, Web, Getty, JP Morgan, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, TechCrunch, Organisation for Economic Cooperation Locations: Vienna, Austria, Silicon Valley, North America, South America, Europe, London, France, Soho , London, Dock, DACH, Germany, Switzerland, Spanish, Sweden, Swedish, GoStudent, Ukraine, Ibiza, GoStudent's, Deliveroo

☆ Climate fintech is exciting investors right now. Here's why it's primed to be the next red-hot sector.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Startups operating at the intersection of climate tech and fintech are attracting a lot of investor attention right now. The so-called "climate fintech" sector is another such area that has seen investment tick up against the backdrop of the broader malaise that has hobbled the startup ecosystem, according to investors. Fintech-focused venture firm CommerzVentures defined climate fintech as companies that speed up decarbonization or help manage and adapt to climate risks. Climate fintech is also a software play so it has the ability to scale quickly and efficiently, which is a sweet spot for most VC investors, Morgenthaler added. "Clear and simplified renewable energy contracts, energy invoices, and tariffs in turn allow consumers to access the cheapest energy from multiple renewable sources," Bessemer investor Aia Sarycheva said.

Persons: Paul Morgenthaler, Morgenthaler, Jeremy Brown, fintech, It's, Sarycheva Organizations: " Venture, Morningstar's, Equity, Energy, Bessemer Locations: Europe, Anthemis, Bessemer

☆ Check out the 17-slide pitch deck energy storage company Skeleton Technologies used to raise $114 million in a mix of debt and equity funding from Siemens and Marubeni
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Estonian energy tech company Skeleton Technologies has raised 108 million euros (around $114 million) from multinational Siemens and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni. Skeleton, which was founded back in 2009 in Tallinn, manufactures fast-charging energy storage systems for transport, maritime, the grid, and medical equipment. Its secret sauce is its own material, Curved Graphene, which increases how much energy can be stored in its supercapacitors. The fresh funds, which bring Skeleton's total raised to over 300 million euros (around $316 million), is a mixture of equity and debt. Marubeni, meanwhile, distributes Skeleton's products in Asia and helps it secure customers in the region.

Persons: Taavi Madiberk, Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, Skeleton's, Madiberk Organizations: Technologies, Siemens, Strategic, Siemens Financial Services, Marubeni Corporation, North America Locations: Tallinn, Germany, Asia, North

☆ Britain rolled back an array of its net zero goals. It could spell pain for climate tech startups, experts say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Britain's dramatic rollback of its net zero ambitions will threaten climate tech startups' ability to raise fresh capital from investors, industry experts have warned. Sunak said the government remained committed to its obligation to reach net zero by 2050, despite the u-turns. He also unveiled a grant for boiler upgrades, reforms to energy infrastructure planning, and £150 million ($183 million) for the development of green tech. Climate tech is particularly exposed to this as it changes on a country-by-country basis, compared with health tech which has a "stable" and well-established regulatory process. "The bottom line for me is that it will happen independently of the politics now," said SE Ventures' Christiani.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Asif Ghafoor, Kiko Ventures, Arne Mortaeni, Michael Smith, Julien Christiani Organizations: EV, Kiko, Government, Ventures Locations: Europe, Germany, France

☆ The 53 most promising climate tech startups of 2023, from AI robotics to soil carbon sampling, according to top VCs
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Climate tech, which encompasses everything from sustainable materials and financing for farmers to e-bikes and carbon accounting software, has not been immune to the tech slow down. But as society increasingly realizes it must race to net zero greenhouse gas emissions, climate tech continues to spark interest from VCs. Insider asked top VCs which climate tech startups were hot this year. Some VCs named several startups. Check out the 53 startups below, in alphabetical order.

Persons: John Kerry Organizations: Energy, Redwood Materials Locations: VCs

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