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☆ Startup investors are fueling a boom in U.S. defense tech as China standoff opens doors at home
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Louie added that he doesn't "know of a single major fund out there that isn't thinking about disruptive tech investing in the U.S., investing in defense tech, investing in microelectronics and AI in the next generation and next iteration." Stephen McCarthy | Sportsfile | Getty ImagesVC funding in aerospace and defense tech has shot up in recent years, according to data compiled by PitchBook for CNBC. The poster child for U.S.-focused defense tech is Anduril Industries, co-founded in 2017 by Oculus Rift designer Palmer Luckey. They can just look at the untapped potential in defense tech. "The government's becoming a better customer," said Shah, who previously served as managing partner of the Defense Department's Defense Innovation Unit, which seeks to accelerate the use of emerging technologies.

Persons: Hadrian, Chris Power Hadrian, Joe Biden, Gilman Louie, Alsop, Louie Partners, He's, Louie, Biden, Lindsay Gorman, she's, Gorman, Chris Power, Power, Hadrian's, Peter Thiel's, Palmer Luckey, Stephen McCarthy, Sportsfile, Anduril, Richard Jenkins, Bilal Zuberi, Lux, Zuberi, Jenkins, Saildrone didn't, Paul Kwan, Catalyst, What's, Kwan, Kyle Harrison, Saul Loeb, Raj Shah, Josh Wolfe, There's, Shah, Wolfe Organizations: Chris Power Hadrian Automation, America's Frontier, U.S, Marshall Fund's Alliance, Securing Democracy, Lux Capital, Fund, Andutil Industries, Enercare Center, Getty, PitchBook, CNBC, Industries, Oculus, Blue Force Technologies, Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Navy, Coast Guard, Google, Intel, AFP, Shield, Lux, Defense Department's Defense Innovation Unit, Power, YouTube, China Locations: China, U.S, America, Torrance , California, Los Angeles, Toronto, Canada, Ukraine, New Albany , Ohio, Silicon

☆ Opna helps corporates invest in carbon removal. It just raised $6.5 million with this 11-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Opna, a startup that helps carbon removal projects get funded, just raised $6.5 million. Opna, which helps corporations invest in carbon removal or reduction projects, has just secured $6.5 million from European venture capital firm Atomico. The London-based startup, founded in 2022 as Salt, helps corporations find, fund, and monitor carbon removal projects. Carbon removal projects generate carbon credits, one of which represents one ton of Co2 removed from or prevented from entering the atmosphere. This led to market hesitation and a subsequent move to fund carbon removal projects directly via forward-purchasing and long-term off-take agreements.

Persons: Shilpika Gautam, Gautam, Opna, Tiny Organizations: Stripe's Frontier Fund Locations: London, India, Gaumukh, Atomico

☆ Climate startup Supercritical nabbed $13 million to help carbon removal projects get funded. Check out the 11-slide pitch deck it used to secure the funds from Lightspeed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

London-based startup Supercritical just raised $13 million to help projects get funded via companies. London-based startup Supercritical has just raised $13 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners to help the "groundswell" of businesses pledging to invest in carbon removal. That's where carbon removal — tree-planting, sucking CO2 from the air using technology, or enhanced rock weathering — comes in. Long term, it wants to be the "no brainer" option for carbon removal purchases. Check out the 11-slide redacted pitch deck Supercritical used to raise the funds.

Persons: we've, Michelle You, Aaron Randall, Carbo Organizations: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Paris, Frontier Fund, RTP Global, Greencode Ventures, MMC Ventures Locations: London

☆ Facebook-Giphy sale shows how fear of regulators is slowing M&A market
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri touted Giphy's "amazing team" and "expressive" userbase, and stressed Giphy's user data was "not the motivation." The sale was forced by the U.K.'s antitrust regulator, which ruled Meta's acquisition posed a risk to the social media and advertising markets. Jonathan Kanter, who helms the Department of Justice's Antitrust Unit, and Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission's chair, have been given wide latitude by President Joe Biden to pursue potentially anticompetitive behavior. Prior to his DOJ posting, Kanter worked in private practice, advising directors and executives on potential deals and attendant regulatory pitfalls. Van Grack, the former chief of the DOJ's Foreign Agent Registration Act unit, noted regulatory scrutiny was increasing for years prior to the current administration.

☆ Clearview AI scraped 30 billion images from Facebook and gave them to cops: it puts everyone into a 'perpetual police line-up'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Clearview AI scraped 30 billion photos from Facebook to build its facial recognition database. Representatives for Clearview AI did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Since then, the spokesperson told Insider, Meta has "made significant investments in technology" and devotes "substantial team resources to combating unauthorized scraping on Facebook products." CNN reported Clearview AI last year claimed the company's clients include "more than 3,100 US agencies, including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security." "You don't know what you have to hide," Guariglia told Insider.

☆ Corporations desperate to avoid poor quality carbon credits and are starting up their own climate funds to offset emissions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The voluntary carbon market has a problem with bad quality carbon credits. "Headline after headline is published exposing these offsets for poor quality," Michelle You, CEO and cofounder of carbon removal platform Supercritical told Insider. The London Stock Exchange has also done this for investors - instead of getting dividends, they get carbon credits. He expects bespoke funds will phase out when the quality of carbon credits is better assured. Frontier Fund has brought widespread attention to the carbon removal space and sends critical demand signals to early carbon removal companies, Supercritical's You said.

☆ Carbon-related tech raised a record-breaking $4.2 billion in 2022 as VCs poured into direct air capture and carbon accounting startups despite wider slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Emissions removal and management startups raised $4.2 billion last year, up from $3.6 billion in 2021. Carbon-related startups raked in $4.2 billion from venture capitalists globally last year across 204 deals, according to a new report from PitchBook. PitchBook's carbon tech categorization also includes fintech and analytics companies such as Coatue-backed carbon accounting firm Sweep. "We can't contain the climate crisis to an acceptable degree of global heating without actively addressing carbon capture and sequestration." While carbon tech is defying the wider venture-capital slowdown, which has seen valuations and deal counts plummet in the face of the war in Ukraine and fears of recession, the wider carbon and emissions tech category has remained flat.

☆ Scientists can spike startup bets in Planet A's new $172 million climate tech fund even if they have a good business case. Check out the 20-slide LP deck it used to raise the fresh cash.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

German VC Planet A has just closed its first 160 million euros (around $172 million) fund. Planet A, a European venture capital firm, has just closed its inaugural 160 million euros (around $172 million) fund to back startups doing just that. Founded in 2020, Planet A is looking for market-ready tech startups with significant impact potential in climate change mitigation, waste reduction, resource savings, and biodiversity protection. The early-stage investor will write checks of between 500,000 euros to 3 million euros to startups in Europe, the UK, and Israel. The Planet A team intended to raise 100 million euros, Detzner said, so the fund was oversubscribed.

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☆ Chip-Making Push Expected to Boost U.S. Innovation
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. efforts to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing will have a beneficial impact on homegrown innovation, in part by ensuring tech startups have the resources they need to scale emerging technologies, industry experts said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. PREVIEWMs. Levine, speaking Tuesday at The Wall Street Journal’s CIO Network online summit, said a robust domestic semiconductor industry can help unlock downstream innovation. The bipartisan Chips and Science Act, which Congress approved in July, goes a long way to boost innovation, Ms. Levine said. But in a capital-intensive industry like semiconductor fabs, where other countries have long supported private manufacturers, “it’s problematic that the U.S. isn’t involved,” Mr. Burns said.

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