Sightline Climate (CTVC)

Today, we’re proud to unveil Sightline Climate, our new market intelligence platform for the new climate economy. Built on the foundation of the CTVC newsletter, Sightline Climate’s subscription intelligence product goes beyond the inbox with data, tools, and frameworks to bring clarity to industry professionals navigating climate transition decisions. More than 20 leading investors, corporates, and governments already use the platform including the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), BHP, and Galvanize Climate Solutions. 👉 Explore Sightline Climate here: https://lnkd.in/eppSXmJY The highlights: 🚀 Launching the Sightline Climate platform. We’ve launched a new market intelligence product for investors, corporates, and governments building and financing the new climate economy. Use Sightline Climate to chart your path across the evolving climate landscape and spot when inflection points happen in climate sectors and technologies. 👋 Introducing “CTVC, by Sightline Climate”. We’ve rebranded our [parent] company name to Sightline Climate. After all, the new climate economy has grown beyond VC. But that’s all just an FYI, the name of this CTVC Newsletter won’t change. 🏁 The platform is live! The Sightline platform is already up and running, used daily by 20+ clients, from energy and industrial corporates, climate investors, major financial institutions, and governments, including the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), BHP, Galvanize Climate Solutions, B Capital , Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), and Acario Tokyo Gas. P.S. We're hiring! https://lnkd.in/eu4rCxnG (And don’t worry—the free CTVC newsletter isn’t going anywhere…well, except to get better and better 😉). As seen in the CTVC newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eZzSCHp8 Press release: https://lnkd.in/eWgzQjxt https://lnkd.in/eppSXmJY

Our new report on H1 2024 investment trends is featured in Axios — showing that investor appetite for early-stage and growth rounds has continued to wane through the first half of the year. But it's not all doom and gloom. Earlier stage round sizes were healthier, as well, indicating investors are going with a flight to quality. Explore the data and charts behind these trends in our full analysis here: https://lnkd.in/gne3Wx_6

Hope you got to enjoy some fireworks and barbecues over this Fourth of July weekend. At CTVC, we were cooking up our report on H1’24 climate tech funding, and we’ve got some takeaways for you. In other news: -New AI use leads to surge in Google’s emissions -Leading nonprofit Science Based Targets initiative CEO resigns -Shell pauses construction on one of its biggest planned biofuels projects In deals: -$541m in four newly announced funds, from Seaya, The Westly Group, Carbon Equity, and FreeFlow Ventures. -$183m aquisition of 3D metal printer Desktop Metal -$149m for electric aircraft across two deals with Eve Air Mobility and Archer. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/g77xuAbw

The first half of 2024 saw a weak $11.3bn start, with investment finally returning to 2020 levels pre-climate tech hype. Over the past six months, the climate tech market has continued to constrict, with a noticeable downtick in deal count and funding in H1’24, affecting even early-stage investments like Seed and Series A. But it's not just climate tech, the broader venture market is in a slump from sticky inflation, high interest rates, and geopolitical turmoil. But it's not all doom and gloom. We’re also seeing signs that many companies and projects aren’t solely relying on VC funding anymore, as they’re starting to graduate from equity to project finance and debt in the race to deploy, deploy, deploy. Some new and interesting highlights here: 💰 H1’24 $11.3bn funding: Funding in the first six months of 2024 totaled $11.3bn, down 20% from H1’23 and down 41% from H2’23. 📈 Early-stage takes a hit: Seed funding declined 12% in H1’24 vs. H1’23, and Seed deal count decreased 30% for the same period for the first time. 💸 Round size: Average deal size for Seed, Series A, and Series B increased by 19%, signaling a flight to quality for performing companies making it past Series A. 📅 Time between rounds: The average time it takes a company to raise a Series B in 2024 is more than double the time it took three years ago, jumping from 11 months to 26 months between rounds ⛰ Series B Valley of Death: And the Valley of Death between Series A and Series B has become more precarious, as a large cohort of climate tech companies approach the milestone. 💥 Notable deals: The companies that were able to get funding this half-year represented many of this year’s emerging trends in climate tech: hype-y AI and the clean firm power it requires, high-flying Sustainable Aviation Fuels, and batteries leading the charge. Advanced geo developer Fervo Energy, thermal energy storage (TES) provider Antora Energy, and textile-to-textile recycler Syre raised massive rounds for hardware buildouts. Plus, steelmaker H2 Green Steel, lithium extractor Lilac Solutions, and Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) developer Highview Power all raised “FOAK” rounds to support commercial-scale project development. 👉 Check out the full Sightline Climate (CTVC) H1'2024 investment post with charts and analysis tracking investment, deal activity, FOAK deals, bankruptcies, time between rounds, and investor activity: https://lnkd.in/evG9_-_Y 👉 And read the key takes from Michelle Ma at Bloomberg Green: https://lnkd.in/er8pjdcd #climatetechvc #climatetech #funding

Today, we released our report on H1 2024 climate tech investment trends — it’s been another weak first half, but we’ve seen some strong plays. You can check out our charts, trends, and analyses of climate tech investment totals, deal counts, top deals and FOAKs, big bankruptcies, length of time between raises, and most active investors, of the past half-year, here: https://lnkd.in/gne3Wx_6 And thanks to Michelle Ma, clean tech reporter at Bloomberg News, for covering the report, featuring an interview with our CEO Kim Zou, in this new story: https://lnkd.in/gdUTVJha

After a bleak climate change-denying US presidential debate last week, the US Supreme Court also announced another move with potentially major implications on the climate tech market — the revocation of a precedent known as the Chevron Doctrine, which allowed agencies like the EPA, IRS, and more to issue guidance around key issues. In other news: - Fervo Energy’s biggest power purchase agreements ever - Rivian and Volkswagen’s new $5bn deal - And a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) partnership between LanzaTech and LanzaJet. In deals - $375m for Sila Nanotechnologies, Inc. silicon anodes, - $211m for Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc. energy storage, - $120m for Etched's efficient AI chips. And keep an eye on your inbox for our newsletter this Friday — where we’ll have our special report on funding for the first half of 2024. Follow on for the details 👇 https://lnkd.in/e4QdeSuu

Did you know that Sightline Climate / CTVC has a job board for all things climate investment and climate tech? If you’re looking to hire for a new role — or find one — check it out here:

Deals of the Week (6/17 - 6/23) Late-Stage / Growth ♻️ Sortera Technologies, Inc., a Fort Wayne, IN-based metal recycler, raised $44m in Series C funding from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Macquarie Group, Misubishi Mineral Resources Group, and RA Capital Management. ⚡ M2X Energy Inc. a Rockledge, FL-based modular gas-to-methanol developer, raised $40m in Series B funding from Conifer Infrastructure Partners, AddVentures, Autodesk Foundation, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Eni Next. Early-Stage 🔋 Princeton NuEnergy, a Bordentown, NJ-based lithium-ion battery recycler, raised $30m in Series A funding from Helium-3 Ventures, Samsung Ventures, Honda Motor Company, LKQ Corporation, SCG, Traxys North America, and Wistron Corporation. 💨 CuspAI, a Cambridge, England-based genAI-driven search for new materials platform, raised $30m in Seed funding from Hoxton Ventures, Basis Set Ventures, FJ Labs, Giant Ventures, Lightspeed, Northzone, Tiferes Ventures, and Zero Prime Ventures. ⚡ Molten Industries, a San Francisco, CA-based methane pyrolysis developer, raised $25m in Series A funding from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Fifty Years, J4 Ventures, Jane Woodward, Mark Heising, Moai Capital, Peter Attia, Sozo Ventures, Steelhead Capital, UVC Partners, and Union Square Ventures. 🥩 Tender Food, a Boston, MA-based alternative meat maker, raised $11m in Series A funding from Rhapsody Venture Partners, Claridge Partners, Lowercarbon Capital, Nor’easter Ventures, and Safar Partners. 🏭 Maxterial, Inc., a Los Altos, CA-based sustainable advanced materials platform, raised $8m in Series A funding from Helios Climate Ventures, Mott Corporation, and QEMETICA. 🏠 Bisly - Scalable Building Automation, a Tallinn, Estonia-based energy-efficient building appliances maker, raised $6.7m in Series A funding from Aconterra, Pinorena Capital, and SmartCap Green Fund. Exits ☀️ Ojjo, Inc. solar truss foundation maker, was acquired by Nextracker. New Funds The Engine Ventures, a Cambridge, MA-based investment firm, raised $398m for their third fund that invests in companies working to commercialize “tough tech” across climate, human health, and advanced systems technology verticals. For all these and more 👇 https://lnkd.in/dGmDHARU

Happy Monday! Luxury EV maker Fisker declared bankruptcy last week, in another instance of the EV SPAC boom going bust. The dust is settling in the market as incumbents get in the game and the China trade wars heat up. In deals 🤝: - $398m for Engine Ventures climate and health fund - $317m for Hometree ’s household energy - $74m for Princeton NuEnergy & Sortera Technologies, Inc. recycling In other news 📰: - A major nuclear bill passed in the US. - BMW Group and Northvolt's contract was cancelled. - Elemental Excelerator launches a new funding tool. Follow on for the details 👇 https://lnkd.in/dGmDHARU

🌞 Happy Monday, everyone! As the heat wave continues, we’ve got some hot-off-the-press news in the energy sector. In our latest newsletter, we dive into the next frontier for energy rate structures. First came FiTs, then RECs, then PPAs, and now – the Clean Transition Tariff (CTT). With the AI race is in full swing, the rally for clean, firm power has begun. Google’s CTT model, proposed as part of its partnership with the utility NV Energy (NVE), aims to bring geothermal developer Fervo Energy’s 115 MW of enhanced geothermal power onto the grid to power two of its Nevada data centers. It aims to pay the utility the extra costs to bring in these technologies without putting the burden on the everyday ratepayer. Learn about how it works, in the words of Google’s own Briana Kobor and Fervo Energy’s own Gabe Malek, here: https://lnkd.in/gm8yQ-tZ #Energy #EnergySector #ClimateTech #EnergyMarkets #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #DataCenters #CleanEnergy #CleanFirmPower #Geothermal #Google #FervoEnergy