🧶 Issue #52: consumer sustainability, employee engagement, and bio-based composites

First ClimateRaise meetup in the books - more to come!

and

May 02, 2023

Welcome back!

ClimateRaise showcases early-stage climate startups led by all women and non-binary founders, and connects them with investors and climate ecosystem partners through warm introductions.

how it works:

🔎 We find vetted, actively raising women-led climate startups.

📝 Our biweekly newsletter then highlights a diverse selection of those startups.

🔗 We introduce investors, ecosystem partners and fellow founders to the featured founders.

📩 Help us by submitting companies, opportunities, and resources (or say hi!) by email here or sending founders who may be a potential fit our form.

Is ClimateRaise useful to you?

It was great meeting you!

It was lovely meeting you, SF!
We had a great time meeting you at the first ClimateRaise community meetup during SF Climate Week. Big shoutout to VSC Ventures for hosting the event in their space, to our sponsors kineo finance and Powerhouse Ventures for your donation, and to Seventh Sense for the fabulous self-care gifts. Lastly, thank you to the Climatebase team for your support.

We know a lot of you had FOMO so we’re bringing ClimateRaise to Boston in a few weeks! More details in Events below on our Boston community meetup coming up Monday, May 22nd.

Live somewhere else but still want to hang out with us?
If you’d like to attend a future meetup in your city, let us know here.

Featured companies

*Featured companies are actively raising.

PDA Ecolab

#️⃣ Bio-materials, Performance Composites

PDA Ecolab is focused on decarbonizing high-performance composites. They create new bio-based materials that replace or augment carbon fiber, increasing performance while reducing both costs and emissions. In the future, they aim to develop a machine learning platform that will automate the development of sustainable composite materials tailored for specific applications.

The team recently participated in the Alchemist Accelerator. PDA Ecolab is working with Europe’s largest ski factory to prototype skis using their materials and have an R&D project submitted for funding together with a leading bicycle wheel manufacturer.

Co-Founder & CEO: Lance Johnson
Co-Founder & COO: Gillian Gover
HQ: Grenoble, FR
Current funding stage: Pre-seed

Asks: PDA Ecolab is also looking to connect with other startups in the materials space and connect with potential hires/co-founders with sales and/or machine learning expertise.

Introduce me to PDA Ecolab

Sustainacy

#️⃣Employee Engagement, Behavioral Science

Sustainacy is a B2B tool that uses behavioral economics and gamification to engage employees in sustainable decisions and actions. Sustainacy has developed an approach based on scientific evidence that combines employee learning content, networking, and sustainability incentives and rewards.

The platform helps companies not only advance employer branding & employee engagement, but also significantly improve key ESG KPIs, especially Scope 3.

The team at Sustainacy are recipients of the Berlin Startup Scholarship, funded by the European Social Fund and the State of Berlin. Sustainacy’s MVP is ready for testing with selected partners now. As the team built the MVP, their customer and market analysis involved 40 interviewees with representatives from companies such as P&G, the Schwarz Group, the Brightpoint Group and an extensive survey with over 100 participants. Sustainacy’s board of advisors include experts in gamification, product design, B2B sales and startup operations from Humboldt University of Berlin, Microsoft, and Bain.

Co-Founder & CEO: Selina Sinning
HQ: Berlin, DE
Current funding stage: Pre-Seed

Introduce Me to Sustainacy

Brightly

#️⃣media content, marketplace

Brightly combines content, community, and sustainable product recommendations to help everyone live more sustainably through small daily actions. Brightly is scaling across a rich content and media engine, eco-friendly product commerce, and co-branded partnerships with companies like Staples, Nordstrom and National Geographic. Their content reaches over 3M millennials and Gen Z consumers daily. Each product that they research, recommend, and sell is developed in partnership with their community of 25K brand ambassadors.

Brightly is revenue generating, and has a 325% growth rate in private label sales YoY and paid partnerships with brands like Nordstrom, ACER, and Staples. Their podcast, Good Together, has been selected by Variety as a "Crucial Podcast About the Climate Crisis and Sustainable Living" and Amazon Studios is developing a streaming series with Brightly based on our podcast and content.

Co-Founder & CEO: Laura Wittig
HQ: Seattle, WA
Current funding stage: Seed

Asks: Introductions to strategic corporate partners across CPG, consumer, travel.

Introduce Me to Brightly

ICYMI - They are still raising

Climate-ratings for consumer investing, Green Portfolio, led by Bonnie Gurry and Elizabeth Landau
Diverting textiles from landfill, Beni, led by Sarah Pinner and Celine Mol
Algae-shells for personal care products, Swedish Algae Factory led by Sofie Allert and Angela Wulff

Request an introduction to the companies by filling this form.

Resources for founders

📅 ClimateRaise Events

Boston ClimateRaise Meetup! Swing by our community meetup on Monday, May 22nd from 6-8 pm. Come hang out with fellow women founders, investors, and ecosystem supporters for an evening of casual conversation and drinks. We're chatting with some potential partners to make this event bigger and better, but for now it will be a casual meetup at Aeronaut in Somerville. Let us know you’re interested here.

Live somewhere else but still want to hang out with us?
If you’d like to attend a future meetup in your city, let us know here.

🫶 Networks

The Canadian Technology Accelerator for climatetech program targets high-growth Canadian climatetech companies looking to raise a seed or series A round within the next 12 months. Each startup should have clear market-entry goals and targets within the United States and initial traction is preferred. The Canadian Technology Accelerator for climatetech helps startups find venture investors and customers in four markets in the U.S (New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Denver). More information can be found on their website here or at their info session.

CrowdSolve is introducing a 4-week, intensive bootcamp to help climate entrepreneurs launch their ideas! After the bootcamp, you will have a refined idea, an initial prototype of your offering, and a crafted pitch. Join before May 8th to lock in early bird pricing. Find more info here!

🔍 Opportunities

Kineo Finance is hiring a Finance & Operations Manager. They are looking for a key addition to its small but growing team in North America to take over the management of its growing financial, accounting and controlling needs. The position would also have a minor administrative and operational component focused on supporting the president of kineo US and the US deal team. Apply here.