New Deals – 22 October 2024

Laser-powered gardening devices, long-duration iron-air batteries, and carbon negative construction materials derived from captured CO2: New Deals worth looking at

Agriculture &amp, Food

Carbon Robotics ( 2018 ) develops automated laser-powered weeding devices. Their technology utilizes artificial intelligence, robotics, and lasers to effectively eliminate weeds to increase crop yield and quality.

On October 21^st, Carbon Robotics raised$ 70M in Growth Equity from Bond, NVentures, Anthos Capital, FUSE, Ignition Partners, Sozo Ventures, Voyager Capital and Revolution LLC. &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

The funding will enable Carbon Robotics ‘ LaserWeeder business to grow as a result of the development of new software and hardware products as well as the expansion of its manufacturing capabilities. Through the investment round, Carbon Robotics will support its growth into new markets in Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and the Asia-Pacific Region.

Energy &amp, Power

Form Energy ( 2015 ) develops an iron-air battery capable of delivering long-duration energy storage for 100 hours to replace existing baseload generation.

Form Energy’s October 10^th Grow^th Equity around raised$ 405M. The round was led by T. Rowe Price, wi^{th th}e participation of existing investors GE Vernova, TPG Rise Climate, Break^through Energy Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, Coatue, Energy Impact Partners, Engine Ventures, NGP Capital, Temasek Holdings, GIC, Prelude Ventures, Gigascale Capital, Blindspot Ventures, and VamosVentures. &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

The funding round will help Form Energy move into its second growth stage as it scales operations in the United States to meet growing demand and expand its business there.

Materials &amp, Chemicals

Paebbl ( ₂0₂1 ) manufactures carbon negative construction material from captured CO₂ from industrial facilities. Their technology speeds up CO₂ mineralization by 10 million times, converting it into useful good carbonate materials.

Paebbl raised$ 24.9M in Series A funding led by Capnamic Ventures, with participation from Climate Pledge Fund, HOLCIM, Aurum Impact, 2050 VC, Pale Blue Dot, and Grantham Foundation. &nbsp,

Through the construction of a fresh plant, which will increase their production capacity to 3 tons of product per day, the funding will be used to expand operations and development efforts. Paebbl properly sequestered its second whole ton of CO₂ in their mineral product in May ₂0₂4.

Resources &amp, Environmental Management

Nattergal ( 2021 ) develops nature restoration projects for land and seascapes to recover biodiversity. In order to restore biodiversity and enable functioning biological processes, Mattergal purchases, leases, or manages significant amounts of ethically degraded land and seascapes across the UK and Europe.

Aviva Insurance and Landsowne Partners provided$ 52.2 million in seed funding to Nattergal. Aviva invested via its business venture capital fund, Aviva Ventures, becoming a vital institutional investor for Nattergal.

The Seed funding round has enabled Nattergal to expand operations and acquire three sites, including the newest, Harold’s Park Wildland, in Essex, in June 2024. Alongside Lansdowne Partners and Aviva, Nattergal has attracted a number of innovative institutional, venture, and angel investors as shareholders.

Transportation &amp, Logistics

Joby Aviation ( 2009 ) provides electric aircraft mobility systems. Their calm, all-electric 5-seat passenger aircraft can take off and land vertically and is optimized to deliver air-transportation-as-a-service.

On October 14^th, Joby Aviation raised$ 500M in Grow^th Equity from Toyota Motor Corporation. The investment will be split into two tranches, ^the first of which will be released ^this year and ^the next in 2025.

The funding will allow Joby and Toyota to continue working together to develop powertrain components and build more crucial eVTOL components. Toyota and Joby’s partnership supports the commercialization and certification of Joby’s evTOL aircraft.

Waste &amp, Recycling

Gropyus ( 2019 ) develops construction management software for multi-residential and commercial construction. In order to create sustainable buildings, they employ a completely digital and automated construction process to address the housing shortage.

The October 9^th Grow^th Equity round of Gropyus raised$ 108 million from Practical Venture Capital and Semapa.

The proceeds will be used by Gropyus to turn its Richen plant into a completely digitally and flexible robotic smart factory. According to the company, it will use robots to make wall and ceiling parts in about 16 minutes, with 86 % automation. By the end of 2024, it will produce 250, 000 m² per year, plenty for over 3, 500 apartments.