Decarb Weekly 10/10/24

Decarb Weekly, by Industria Partners, is a collection of articles focusing on trends and transactions in industrial decarbonization and climate tech. 

Chart of the Week: 

Growth of U.S. grid-scale solar battery capacity over last 20 years – Cipher

Recent Market News:

• The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, part of the Inflation Reduction Act, has begun disbursing $20 billion in federal funding aimed at attracting $150 billion in private investment for climate and clean-energy projects. – Canary Media
• The U.S. Forest Service and the National Forest Foundation are collaborating with Charm, a carbon removal startup, on a pilot project to transform forest-thinning debris into bio-oil for underground storage, aiming to reduce wildfire risk and sequester carbon. – Heat Map
• Two former executives of CQC Impact Investors have been charged with data manipulation to fraudulently secure carbon credits and deceive an investor into contributing over $100 million to the firm. – WSJ

Transactions:

• 10/9/24: Form Energy, a company that is beginning to produce a longer-lasting alternative to lithium batteries, secured $405 million in funding – US News
• 10/9/24: Ex-Planetly founders came back together to create Forward Earth, an AI-centered carbon accounting startup. The company just raised €4.5 million in a seed funding round. – TechCrunch
• 10/7/24: KoBold, a mineral discovery startup, has raised $491 million of its $527 million target in its latest funding round, aiming for a $2 billion valuation. The company uses AI to locate mineral deposits like copper, lithium, nickel, and cobalt to support the energy transition. – TechCrunch
• 10/3/24: Vycarb, a startup building and deploying hardware-software systems that remove and store CO2 in water, raised pre-seed funding from Twynam. – Twynam
• 9/24/24: Low-carbon cement technology company Sublime Systems partnered with two of the largest building materials providers, CRH and Holcim, securing a combined $75 million investment.

In-Depth Read:
Decarbonizing Industry Resource Tool (DIRT) – RMI

Podcast:
The Evolution of Sustainable Investment – Research @ Citi

Industria Partners provides focused strategic advisory services to industrial, climate, infrastructure, and energy companies at every point across the business cycle. Through industry connectivity, transaction experience, and expert execution, Industria delivers superior outcomes to its clients.