Issue #65
African fintech, modular interiors and CDR, climate-friendly ice cream, and more!
ClimateRaise goes global in Issue #65 🌍
This month we’re featuring 6 climate tech startups and a fund across 7(!) countries 🇳🇬 🇲🇽 🇺🇸 🇳🇱 🇮🇪 🇨🇦 🇹🇭
The ClimateRaise newsletter showcases actively-raising, early-stage climate startups (and sometimes funds!) led by founders from historically marginalized backgrounds. We connect them with investors and climate ecosystem partners through warm introductions.
📩 Submit companies, opportunities, and resources for the newsletter (or just say hi!) by emailing us here.
This month, we’re featuring 6 companies and a new fund:
Payhippo - fintech for Sub-Saharan Africa’s green transition
microTERRA - food ingredient derived from aquatic plants
Kit Switch - modular interiors for sustainable retrofits
ReCarbn - energy-efficient & modular CDR
Eve - software for fleet electrification management
Wild Coast Biologics - soil health products for regenerative agriculture
The Radical Fund - climate adaptation & mitigation VC Fund in Southeast Asia
Read more about each of them below!
Featured companies
Payhippo
Fintech for Sub-Saharan Africa’s green transition
Payhippo is accelerating clean energy adoption in Nigeria by expanding access to finance. Recognizing the significant clean energy investment gap across sub-Saharan Africa and the electricity shortfall in Nigeria, they’ve developed a platform tackling key barriers to deployment: inventory financing for solar developers, upfront costs for end-users, and carbon market access.
Payhippo is backed by Y Combinator and Mercy Corps, and their team brings experience from African and global fintechs. They’ve disbursed $70M in consumer loans for clean energy purchases and achieved a 98% repayment rate on initial loans enabled by their proprietary AI credit engine. Payhippo has recently started piloting their carbon market access concept to offer “carbon financing”—near 0% interest rate finance.
Co-Founder & CEO: Dami Olawoye
Co-Founder & COO: Chioma Okotcha
HQ: Lagos, Nigeria
Current funding stage: Pre-Series A
Asks:
Connections with investors and prospective collaborators in African climate tech and carbon markets
microTERRA
Food ingredient derived from aquatic plants
microTERRA is a BioTech company dedicated to developing sustainable and nutritious ingredients for the future. The company's flagship product, Flora, is derived from lemna, an aquatic plant that naturally cleans water by absorbing excess nutrients during its growth process. Through a proprietary extraction method, microTERRA creates a unique ingredient that enhances the sweetness perception in foods, allowing for a reduction in sugar content while maintaining desirable taste and texture.
microTERRA is currently engaged in pilot projects with TetraPak, Kraft Heinz, and Nestlé. They’ve won international AgTech and CleanTech competitions organized by National Geographic, Echoing Green, and Columbia University. microTERRA was also named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, being the only Mexican startup and the sole LatAM-based startup with a female CEO to receive this honor.
Founder & CEO: Marissa Cuevas
HQ: Mexico City, Mexico
Current funding stage: Seed
Kit Switch
Modular interiors for sustainable retrofits
Kit Switch is revolutionizing the design and construction of interiors for the growing retrofit market, focusing on sustainable, affordable, and healthy rehabilitations. The company offers a library of modular interior products and a digital design & coordination platform that streamlines information workflows from contract manufacturing to project design & delivery. This approach significantly reduces timelines and brings consistency to developers, architects, and contractors.
Kit Switch has launched one code-compliant product line, which has been delivered in four jurisdictions across California. The company has raised $650K in funding from notable institutions such as the Wells Fargo Foundation, JLL Foundation, UC Berkeley Terner Labs, and Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator. Kit Switch has generated revenue through five paid pilots and has signed three strategic partners (an architect, a general contractor, and a developer), anticipating 10%-30% cost savings on multifamily projects. The company currently has one multifamily project in design, $4M (400 units) in contracts & LOIs for 2025, and a $42M sales pipeline until 2028.
Co-Founder & CEO: Armelle Coutant
Co-Founder & COO: Candice Delamarre
HQ: San Francisco, CA
Current funding stage: Seed
Asks:
The team is looking for a business development representative
ReCarbn
Energy-efficient & modular CDR
ReCarbn is revolutionizing the fight against climate change with their cutting-edge Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, which captures CO₂ directly from the atmosphere. Their advanced DAC system employs a circulating sorbent process, reducing energy consumption by 30% compared to traditional methods. The modular design ensures scalability, making it a practical choice for widespread adoption. By integrating DAC with permanent carbon storage, they offer a robust solution for generating negative emissions. Their DAC technology also enables the production of e-fuels (synthetic fuels), providing versatile and sustainable energy solutions.
They’ve recently started working with CDR developer Deep Sky, signed a research partnership with Japanese Energy company INPEX, and have raised ~€1m in subsidies & convertibles to date.
Co-Founder & CEO: Guus Dubbink
Co-Founder & CCO: Sophia Hummelman
HQ: Utrecht, Netherlands
Current funding stage: Seed
Asks:
ReCarbn is hiring chemical engineers with carbon capture expertise.
The team is looking to network within the chemicals and efuels industries.
EVE
Software for fleet electrification management
EVE is transforming fleet management through software solutions helping commercial fleets transition to electric vehicles. EVE's software provides analytics, insights, and optimization algorithms to assist fleet managers in navigating the complexities of electrification, with the goal of optimizing operational efficiency and reducing costs and emissions.
EVE has established partnerships with a global energy company to collaborate on innovation and sustainability in the fleet electrification space. They’ve also secured Brisa, a leading organization in Portugal, as a customer, who is using EVE's solutions to support their electrification strategies and improve operational efficiency. EVE is generating revenue, has received grants from the Irish government amounting to nearly €100k, and has been recognized as a Visa Foundation GreenTech Europe recipient.
Founder & CEO: Sarah-Marie Rust
HQ: Dublin, Ireland
Current funding stage: Pre-Seed
Wild Coast Biologics
Soil health products for regenerative agriculture
Wild Coast is developing products that promote soil health and regenerative agriculture practices. Recognizing the critical role of healthy soil in food production, water purification, flood reduction, and carbon sequestration, and the global issue of declining soil quality Wild Coast has spent the past 2 years developing and testing biofertilizers, biopesticides, and biocontrols containing powerful metabolites derived from a specific microalgae strain. Their BioActive® line of products magnify the benefits of the microalgae-derived metabolites when combined with other beneficial ingredients.
Wild Coast has established a Collaborative R&D agreement with the Institute for Sustainable Horticulture at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and a Contract Manufacturing Agreement with ProAg Distributors. Next year, they plan to partner with farmers in Canada, the USA, and Mexico for expanded proof of concept field trials.
Co-Founder: Angela Fernandes
HQ: Langley, BC, Canada
Current funding stage: Seed
Asks:
The Wild Coast team is looking to connect with prospective hires and others in the industry
The Radical Fund
Climate adaptation & mitigation VC Fund in Southeast Asia
The Radical Fund is an early-stage VC fund enabling an inclusive climate transition for a resilient Southeast Asia. We support and invest in entrepreneurs building climate adaptation and decarbonization solutions that have the potential to scale and deliver commercial returns, as well as climate outcomes.
As the first female-founded and led Climate Adaptation & Mitigation VC Fund in Southeast Asia, the fund has a team of six individuals based in the region, bringing hands-on expertise to the table. The Radical Fund has made three investments across Nature-Based-Solutions, Solar Financing, and Energy Transition in Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia as of May 2024. The fund has also established a strategic partnership with Keppel Land real estate and launched a ClimateTech Report. Additionally, The Radical Fund is part of the global platform Utopia Capital Management, which has funds in Africa and other soon-to-be-announced geographies.
CEO & Managing Partner: Alina Truhina
HQ: Bangkok, Thailand
Asks:
Connections with prospective LPs/investors, thought-leadership partners to continue developing research and sharing data on climate tech in SEA, interns (investment, comms & marketing, research), and philanthropic and strategic partners interested in collaborating on their Venture Studio
ICYMI - They are still raising
Climatize - retail investing for climate projects
ReJoule - diagnostics for EV batteries
Nova Terra - low embodied carbon building materials
EcoHyde - plant-based leather alternatives
Fortuna Cools - developing insulation materials from coconut husk waste
it’s electric - curbside EV charging for cities
Request an introduction to any of the current or recently featured companies by filling this form.
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Resources for founders
🔍 Opportunities
Juniper Zero is a free, virtual incubator for early stage underrepresented founders within climate and biotech. The program teaches founders hard and soft entrepreneurial skills and connects them to grant opportunities + curated networks of VCs, angel investors, and industry partners. Programming is offered through a 12-week curriculum that culminates in an in-person Demo Day. Read more about the program inspiration here and apply through this 10-minute application!
Need help telling a compelling story about your product and its climate impact? Spiral Stories is a full-service storytelling agency dedicated to helping Deep Tech companies grow from lab to market. They specialize in video production, website design, PR, and brand design, delivering high-quality content that drives growth and strategic engagement.
Enduring Planet has launched a Fractional CFO platform! They specialize in helping climate startups with bookkeeping/accounting, FP&A, and strategic finance and fundraising advisory services at every stage. Plans start at $750/month, and ClimateRaise subscribers can get a discount of $250 when they sign up!
See you next month!
Marcella and the ClimateRaise team
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ClimateRaise resources
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