🌊⚗️🎮 Issue #60: closed loop hydration systems,sustainable chemistry, climate gamification
Spanning the sustainability transformation of our materials, hardware and behavioral systems!
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.
📩 Submit companies, opportunities and resources (or say hi!) for the newsletter here.
This week, we are doing a special where we feature some fresh funds in the sustainability space! Having heard about the challenge that founders face in discovering angel and seed investing funds and syndicates (and vice versa), we hope that this will be useful to our community in getting climate $$$ flowing to the brightest ideas.
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Featured companies
*Featured companies are actively raising.
kadeya
#️⃣ circular economy, food and agriculture, water
kadeya eliminates packaging & GHG footprint of the beverage industry while hydrating frontline workers.
kadeya’s patented kiosk washes, sanitizes, inspects, and refills bottles, combining a bottling plant with dishwasher and soda fountain in a unit akin to a vending machine. They decentralize the inefficient linear beverage supply chain to the point of sale, eliminating inefficiencies for 33% better profit margins and a 77% smaller GHG footprint. Grab & go bottles provide the sustainability of refill with the convenience of single use. Digital tools empower workers to monitor hydration levels to prevent heat illness or other hydration-related risks; employers dynamically implement water and rest breaks depending on changing environmental, health, and work conditions.
kadeya has sold out 75% of units for 2024. Their first customer, a construction firm, went from one pilot unit a year ago to seven units on one work site. Three other works sites have requested units and the company is structuring a Master Service Agreement (MSA) so kadeya will become available to all global projects in a true “land and expand” story. kadeya has also won two SBIR contracts and will initially deploy one unit each at two domestic Air force Bases. Six other Bases have requested multiple units. Additionally, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has identified Kadeya for another non-dilutive R&D grant. Current investors include Supply Change Capital, former Oculus/Xiaomi/Google product lead Hugo Barra, Benchmark Capital co-founder Andy Rachleff, and Bonobos cofounder and former CEO Andy Dunn.
Co-Founder & CEO: Manuela Zoninsein
HQ: Chicago, IL
Current funding stage: Seed
Asks: investors and potential customer connections in the construction, manufacturing, distribution & fulfillment space
E.D.E.N. Concept Fill
#️⃣ sustainable materials, circular economy, industry
EDEN Concept Fill has developed Cellyfill cushion products as a fully sustainable cellulose-based replacement to petroleum-based Polyurethane foam cushioning, at lower cost and higher quality and value to manufacturers and consumers. Polyurethane foam, or Polyfoam, is a $75B industry, found everywhere: in homes and offices (sofas, bed mattresses, insulation), in cars (seating), in planes (seating), and in packaging, to name a few. Polyfoam has numerous problems: crude oil-based, toxic, hazardous, non-sustainable, leads to eroding landfill space and creates tons of CO2 emissions.
Cellyfill works for both consumers and manufacturers alike; it’s fully sustainable, safe and scalable. Cellyfill, is cellulose-based and infinitely abundant because it’s a by-product (waste) of plants, trees, and agriculture, ranging from corn to wheat to poplar to nuts, bananas and cotton. EDEN brings experience and expertise in developing proper cushion compression/lumbar where needed.
EDEN's is working with NREL as their R&D consultant, and have established a $290K grant-like structure via a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). EDEN was a finalist for Shell GameChanger Cohort 6 in 2023 (1 of 5 out of thousands) and has an LOI in place to begin testing with Wayfair for the furniture/bedding sector.
Co-Founder & CEO: Lisa Jacks Lazar
Co-Founder & CIO: Jeff Lazar
HQ: Corona del Mar, CA
Current funding stage: Seed
Additional Asks: EDEN seeks strategic advisors to help offer additional guidance.
Habitable Earth
#️⃣ gamification, climate action
Habitable Earth is building an innovative gamified platform that leverages dopaminergic and social rewards to make planet-friendly behaviors the easy, fun and rewarding choice for millions of consumers. The IPCC is clear that any viable pathway to reaching our Paris Agreement Goals will require significant bottom-up shifts in demand, i.e., behavior change at scale — the Habitable app combines deep insights from the science of behavior change with the power of immersive gameplay to empower the growing majority of climate-concerned consumers to make choices that are better for the planet, and crucially, better-aligned with their goals and values (e.g. health, savings, well-being benefits). Habitable Earth is a U.S. company (DE C-Corp) backed by Unshackled Ventures, and the founder is a Harvard- and Stanford-trained cognitive scientist with expertise on human behavior.
Founder & CEO: Pooja Paul, PhD
HQ: San Francisco, CA
Current funding stage: Pre-seed
ICYMI - They are still raising
Regenerative Agriculture startup,Good Agriculture, led by Alex Edquist and Kirsten Simmons
Batteries startup, COnovate, led by Carol Hirschmugl
Agricultural marketplace, Curuba Tech, led by Paula Aponte
Resources for founders
🤑Funding
D-Prize grant for new social ventures.
D-Prize is a business competition offering new social ventures fighting poverty through interventions in water, agriculture, energy and other sectors up to $20K to get started. Their current call is live now with a final deadline of 26 November. You can learn more and apply here: www.d-prize.org
🔍 Opportunities
Climate Capital Bio hiring a Program Director to manage the day-to-day running of the incubator! Job description here: https://www.climatecapital.co/ccbilead
The New Mexico Clean Energy Resilience and Growth (NM CERG) cluster is accepting applications for their next cohort. The programs is funded in part by the Department of Energy and supports clean energy technology companies with modules and mentoring to support their growth and development. The program is open to companies with or planning for operations in New Mexico, as well as developing technology that could have economic and/or social impacts for the state. Apply here!
📚 What we’re reading this week
How Major Environmental Groups Ended Up on the Wrong Side of California’s Housing Crisis
Striking the Balance- Catalyzing a Sustainable Land Use Transition
And watching: "The challenges of our time & rediscovering philanthropy's role in our shared future.", a session at the recently organized WINGSForum featuring remarkable stories from young activists, including Indigenous rights activist Txai Suruí, whose passionate address was a testament to the power of youth-driven movements and the vital role they play in influencing philanthropy.
Thanks!
~Ratnika and the ClimateRaise team
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