Climate Tech Highlights #5

Hello there!

For those of you who are new around here, every Tuesday at 8:55, I share the latest updates from the climate tech world. And today is a special day—it's our monthly wrap-up! 

If you've missed any intriguing stories from the past month, stay with me and let’s unpack the most impactful news from April!

Around the globe 🌎

• The world's first eco-friendly browser:  The nonprofit Ecosia has launched its new browser with a remarkable feature: it claims to produce 25Wh of renewable energy for each day you use it — enough to power a lightbulb for three hours! The browser is powered by renewable energy from Ecosia’s own solar farms, and the company states that it is already producing enough renewable energy to power all searches more than twice over. Get to know it!

• The Big Bet: Nuclear Fusion Energy: Nuclear fusion energy is a promising clean energy field, and this month, two notable developments have made headlines.

  • The first is a world record set by scientists in South Korea, who successfully sustained plasma at 100 million degrees Celsius for 48 seconds. Check out the video I made about it!

  • The second features the €20 million investment in the German company Proxima Fusion. This innovative firm is not only pioneering the use of stellators—complex machines designed to contain plasma—but has also developed AI technology to simulate plasma behavior, which is crucial for advancing fusion energy. Read the full story

• Money talks: April has been a promising month for climate tech financing, with several developments to note:

  • Jeff Bezos, the former CEO of Amazon, has launched a $100 million grant initiative through the Earth Fund’s AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge. This initiative aims to support innovators in developing technologies that address major climate issues such as sustainable proteins, biodiversity conservation, and power grid optimization. Read the full story

  • Óscar Lería Luksic, formerly a Principal at WildSur Inversiones—a Chilean Single Family Office—has founded Sunna Ventures. This new venture capital firm is dedicated to climate and energy solutions, and decarbonization efforts. With WildSur Inversiones as the sole Limited Partner (LP), Sunna Ventures will dedicate its initial $40 million fund to Seed and Series A investments in startups across the EU, US, and Latin America, with plans to begin investing by May 1st. They are currently seeking to hire a Climate Tech VC Analyst.

  • Decarbonization Partners, a joint venture between BlackRock and the Singaporean state investment firm Temasek, has successfully raised $1.4 billion for its first fund—exceeding its $1 billion target. This fund attracted more than 30 institutional investors from 18 countries, including public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices. Read the full story

A glance at Brazil 🇧🇷

• Banana Peel Bioplastic Film: Researchers at Embrapa and the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) have innovated a bioplastic film derived from banana peels. This film is suitable for primary packaging, which is in direct contact with food. It not only benefits the environment but also offers protective qualities to the contents it wraps. The peel contains natural antioxidant properties, and the film itself helps block some ultraviolet light, effectively reducing the rate at which food oxidizes. Read the full story

• Competition for sustainable finance solutions: On April 25th, the Brazilian Central Bank announced the G20 TechSprint, a global hackathon-style competition aimed at discovering solutions for sustainable finance. This challenge is a joint initiative between the Brazilian presidency of the G20 and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). According to the BC president, the aim is for TechSprint 2024 to leverage the potential of innovative technologies to scale up sustainable finance solutions. Read the full story

Don't miss out! 👀

• The 2024 Brazil Nature-based Solutions Investment Summit, organized by Capital for Climate in partnership with Converge Capital, will take place on May 22nd during the inaugural Brazil Climate Investment Week (May 21-23). The event provides a valuable opportunity to forge in-person connections and catalyze deal-making. Read more about it.

• Interested in AI? Join the Autonomous Innovation Virtual Summit and follow interesting discussions on the future of innovation, AI ethics, regulation and more! Reserve your seat!

• Recommended Reading: "AI threats to Climate Change" Report.

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See you next Tuesday!