Recent Deals – 31 October
Recycling complex plastics; an app that manages EV charging; decarbonizing rice farming through satellite data– Recent deals worth looking at:
Agriculture & Food
CarbonFarm (2021) is a provider of a satellite-based platform allowing rice farmers to quantify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sell carbon credits.
CarbonFarm’s Series A funding round raised $2.7M on October 25th. This funding will aid expansion across leading global rice cultivating regions in Asia, Africa, and South America, furthering CarbonFarm’s aim to decarbonize rice farming through its operations.
Energy & Power
Aira (2022) is a developer of energy-efficient heat pumps.
On October 18th, Aira secured $82.5M in funding to launch its monthly payment model to supply heat pumps to homeowners across Europe. The funding will also be used to expand its product range into solar, dynamic energy tariffs and energy storage, and develop manufacturing capabilities in Poland.
Finally, Aira intends to put the funding towards expanding its presence in Europe and reducing reliance on gas-based heating. They have launched in both Italy and Germany with plans to enter the UK market in late 2023.
Materials & Chemicals
Montinutra (2018) is a manufacturer of high-value products from forest industry side streams.
On October 26th, Montinutra secured seed funding of $2.1M to accelerate international expansion, advance its design processes, and introduce new products to market. Through this growth, Montinutra aims to earn €100M in revenue by 2035.
Montinutra will also put funding towards advancing the development of its industrial demo production plant, which it aims to complete by 2026.
Resources & Environment
Recyc’Elit (2019) is a developer of proprietary technology that breaks down textile and plastic waste to recover monomers.
On October 27th, Recyc’Elit raised $3.4M to industrialize its operations and services. This includes a patented process to recycle complex PET waste through selective depolymerization to preserve the integrity of the original fibres. This process can break down textiles of various colours and origins.
Transportation & Logistics
Flexcharging (2017) is a developer of an app to help drivers and utility partners manage and understand electric vehicle charging. Through its app, Flexcharging supports existing and prospective electric vehicle owners to gain access to charging networks and incentives. It incorporates grid demand metrics to manage energy generation and balance existing grid networks.
Flexcharging raised $500K in debt funding on October 19th via a regulatory filing.
Enabling Technologies
Rhizome (2023) is a developer of a SaaS platform that measures the impact of infrastructure projects.
Rhizome’s seed funding round on October 25th raised $2.5M that will be put towards building out its software to use collected data regarding extreme weather events to predict grid resiliency.
This funding coincides with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, through which $65B will be invested into strengthening and modernizing the U.S. grid.
