Activate Updates: February 2024

This Month's Features

Activate x Invested In Climate
SXSW Podcast Series

Plus

Activate Fellow wins
Ecosystem news
Job opportunities

Cyrus Wadia Appears on Invested In Climate

On a recent episode of Invested in Climate, Activate’s CEO Cyrus Wadia joined Jason Rissman to discuss how scientists are at the center of climate progress—and how the right funding, mentorship, and networks can catalyze their success.

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Activate will be at this year’s SXSW! Join us for a podcast series where we’ll dive into inspiring discussions covering innovative pathways for philanthropies in climate-tech solutions, a comprehensive overview of the burgeoning field of climate-tech startups, and adaptive VC strategies that fuel future climate-tech innovations. Register to attend these discussions live on March 13:

Let us know if we’ll see you there!

Fervo Energy (Jack Norbeck and Tim Latimer, Cohort 2018, Cyclotron Road) announced its $244M Series D funding, led by Devon Energy, to support Fervo’s deployment of enhanced geothermal energy–which can deliver energy around the clock, with no carbon emissions. With this funding, Fervo’s Cape Station site will begin delivering clean energy to the grid in 2026. This funding brings Activate Fellows’ total follow-on funding to nearly $1.9B!

Antora Energy (David Bierman, Cohort 2017; Justin Briggs and Andrew Ponec, Cohort 2018; Cyclotron Road) announced its $150M Series B funding, led by Decarbonization Partners, a partnership between BlackRock and Temasek. This brings Antora’s overall funding to over $230M, which the company is using to advance its thermal storage technology and enable clean industrial energy.

Anthro Energy (David Mackanic, Cohort 2021, Cyclotron Road), announced its $20M Series A funding, led by Collaborative Fund, to commercialize its electrolyte technology, which solves the tradeoff between lithium-ion battery energy density and safety. The company plans to use the new funding to build a pilot facility in the Bay Area, scale its technology, and grow its team.

Fast Company wrote about how Sublime Systems’ low-carbon cement has been used to construct a building in Boston, its first commercial use following the product’s certification that it meets the performance standard for ordinary Portland cement.

Twelve (Etosha Cave and Kendra Kuhl, Cohort 2015, Cyclotron Road) launched its commercial-scale carbon transformation unit, Opus, representing a major step toward producing sustainable aviation fuel made from captured carbon dioxide and water. The company says that at scale, Opus can transform existing supply chains to eliminate up to 10 percent of global industrial emissions in hard-to-abate sectors.

IN OUR ECOSYSTEM
Upcoming events, relevant opportunities, and what we're reading.

Upcoming Events

The Economist Impact’s Sustainability Week will take place March 4-6 in London. The event will offer solution-focused sessions, networking opportunities, and talks from sustainability leaders in business, policy, and research.
The MIT Energy Conference will take place March 11-12 in Boston. With an expert lineup of panelists and speakers, and attendees ranging from industry and innovative startups to NGOs and venture capital, this conference will offer networking opportunities and discussions on the energy and innovation technologies of tomorrow.
The Engine’s Tough Tech Talent Fair will take place on March 20 in Cambridge, MA connecting job-seekers in hard tech with mission-driven startups looking for talent.
The Industry Growth Forum, hosted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, will take place in Denver from May 1-3. The conference will convene over 200 industry experts, investors, and startups working to advance clean-tech innovation. Use code CP10 to get 10 percent off registration.
Activate is excited to be an official partner of CarbonUnbound USA, a leadership summit happening May 21-23 in New York City. Our partnership and the summit will focus on achieving a collective mission: one gigaton of carbon removed from Earth's atmosphere. Tickets are available now.

Relevant Opportunities

The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub Accelerator is accepting applications for its 2024 cohort. Selected companies will receive tailored support and industry mentorship to further their technology development and commercialization goals. Applications are due March 25.
The Engine’s Blueprint program supports graduate students, postdocs, research scientists, and their teams in exploring commercial opportunities for their breakthroughs. Blueprint is accepting applications through March 5.
Pillar VC’s Moonshot competition offers students, faculty, and alumni of MIT up to $1M in the form of an uncapped Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) to advance their startup or idea. Applications are due March 15.
Applications for the 2024 Cleantech Open Accelerator are now open and will be accepted on a rolling basis through April 14. The accelerator provides expert mentors, investor networking opportunities, industry connections, and a chance to compete regionally and nationally for cash prizes and in-kind services.

Activate Voices

Marissa Beatty (Turnover Labs, Cohort 2022) was featured in Forbes about Turnover’s system to turn carbon into syngas, which can be used to create emissions-free petrochemicals.
Saturday Startups featured Concerto Bio (Cheri Ackerman and Jared Kehe, Cohort 2020) in its "Startup Series" videos. The video features the company's microbe "ensemble" technology and explains how the company is working to bring its eczema microbe therapy to trial.
A New Scientist article about light-sensitive molecules that could make carbon capture more efficient includes Banyu Carbon (Alex Gagnon and Julian Sachs, Cohort 2023) as an example of a company working to commercialize the technology.
Sudharsan Dwaraknath (Cohort 2022) was interviewed by Azo Life Sciences, where he described Quorum Bio's engineered microbe technology and the importance of innovation in agriculture.
Pete Christensen (Cohort 2021, Cyclotron Road) launched Loamist, a new startup that helps companies access and track waste biomass sources. The company also announced the close of a $1M pre-seed funding round.
Activate Houston Managing Director Jeremy Pitts appeared as a guest on the Energy Tech Startups podcast, where he discussed his excitement for Activate Houston’s first cohort and why the Houston ecosystem is ripe for innovation.

Want us to highlight an upcoming event or relevant opportunity in next month's newsletter? Let us know.

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