Josh Moser

🌍💡 Embracing Interoperability: The Evolution of Carbon Markets 💡🌍 The landscape of carbon markets is rapidly evolving, with a significant shift towards fungibility and interoperability. What does this mean? We (at the SoHo Global Climate Fund) spoke with leading climate fund manager, Charles Bedford of Carbon Growth Partners, to shed light on this important trend in the carbon markets. It's about creating seamless connections between compliance and voluntary markets, allowing for the exchange and recognition of carbon credits across borders and sectors. This trend marks a pivotal moment in our collective efforts towards combating climate change. By enabling carbon credits to be fungible and interoperable, we're fostering a more efficient and scalable approach to carbon pricing and emissions reduction strategies. Companies and organizations now have greater flexibility to participate in markets that align with their goals. #CarbonMarkets #ClimateAction #Fungibility #Interoperability #Sustainability #Innovation #GlobalImpact

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The latest data on the plastics pileup from Crunchbase: as plastic waste soars, so does investment in solutions. Over $300 million has been invested in the last year in companies developing greener consumer products, alternative materials, and improved waste management techniques. Notable solutions include CA based ZenWTR (creating water bottles from recycled ocean-bound plastic), and with Travis Kelce as a lead #investor, Tel Aviv startup UBQ Materials (straddling both waste & alt. material categories), and Hamburg based traceless materials (creating plant based, plastic-free and home compostable materials from leftovers of ag food production). #Sustainability #Startup #Green

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Throw back Thursday! 😊Excited to look back at 2023 through the publication of our Catalyst Fund Impact Report! The report spotlights the hard work of our portfolio companies after a year of work with them, as they continue to build game-changing solutions from precision agriculture technologies to water access solutions or waste management tools. 👉 Dive into our portfolio companies' impact to date, our theory of change, and how we empower bold founders to build a climate-resilient future for millions of Africans. 👉 Learn about our gender lens investing approach, sustainability focus, and how our startups are driving green growth and positioning Africa as a leader in climate action. 👉 Explore spotlights on select portfolio companies and discover how Catalyst Fund's hands-on venture building accelerates the path to scale for early-stage climate tech in Africa 👉 See the recognition our fund has earned to date and join us in investing for a climate-resilient future on the continent. Sand to Green, Bekia inc, Visual and AI Solutions (VAIS), Assuraf | Insurance, Simply, Eight Medical | Techstars ‘23, Farmz2U, Farm to Feed, Octavia Carbon, PaddyCover, Agro Supply, NoorNation, Scrapays, THOLA, Earthbond, Zebra CropBank, Medikea, Keep IT Cool, Tolbi Link to download the report: https://lnkd.in/ejJjH6aD

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"There's plenty of capital available in multiple flavors for Climate Tech Companies..." 🌍💸 Did you know that in 2023, 50 VC deals for climate tech companies exceeded $150 million, with nine of those surpassing $500 million? Venture capitalists are increasingly turning their focus toward startups to tackle the climate crisis, marking a significant shift in investment priorities. Despite the challenging environment for venture capital in 2023, with overall investment in climate tech falling by 14.5% to $41.1 billion, the commitment to climate solutions remains robust. Key trends and insights are shaping the evolving landscape of climate tech investment. Are you an early-stage Climate Tech founder looking to fundraise? Curious about the main drivers for the industry? ⬇ Dive into my latest Forbes article to learn more. Special thanks to Hannah Sieber & Arun Gupta for sharing your invaluable insights! https://lnkd.in/gNhe8jew #ClimateTech #VentureCapital #Forbes Artyc Skyven Technologies

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We are #live in #5 on The Plantbased Business Hour with Elysabeth Alfano to discuss VegTech Invest white paper with Harvard students on Stakeholder Engagement in Plant-based Innovation & Diversified Proteins. Chief Investment Officer Sasha Goodman joins in to discuss the top 5 findings and why they are important. Bring your questions here to this page in 5, 4, 3, 2.... and download the paper at https://lnkd.in/g8KKjsb2 #whitepaper #stakeholderengagement Gwendolyn Brown

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I'm humbled to officially welcome the first cohort of ventures and entrepreneurs we'll be supporting in year 1 of our Unreasonable Food partnership. It's estimated that more than 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity can be attributed to the way we produce, process, and package food. As one of the world’s largest food companies with some of the world’s most admired brands, Mars, together with the entrepreneurs we are supporting, is uniquely positioned to put that statistic where it belongs — in a museum. Press release - https://lnkd.in/ggN4nZhh Read about each of the ventures selected - https://lnkd.in/gDSRtv4y It's hard to imagine a better cohort of ventures to be supporting in our shared desire to collectively set a new standard for sustainability in our food systems: Mootral, Yard Stick PBC, Regrow Ag, LandScan, Nitricity, Absolute®, Xampla, LOLIWARE Inc., Farmerline Group, 80 Acres Farms, MycoTechnology, Inc., Voyage Foods, String Bio Private Limited, Air Protein, Sea Forest

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Icos Capital Innovation Summit is approaching. I am looking forward to once again meet with the Industry leaders and discuss #accelerating #sustainability!

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Prime Coalition has long taken a different tack to climate finance compared to its for-profit brethren. It makes the usual venture-style investments in startups through Azolla Ventures and also helps philanthropists direct their money to climate-related projects that it deems high impact. Trellis Climate follows the latter model with a focus on middle stages, where capital has grown scarce. #climatetech #climateVC #climatefinance

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🌱🚀 Exciting News! Xefco, one of our portfolio companies, just secured A$10.5 million in funding to revolutionize the textile industry and reduce emissions! 🌎💡 With their innovative water-free textile finishing and dyeing solution, Ausora, Xefco is poised to make a significant impact. Their technology not only preserves precious resources but also cuts energy consumption and costs. Plus, it's already gaining traction with leading apparel brands like Zara and The North Face. At Investible, we're committed to backing visionary companies like Xefco that are driving positive change. This investment reaffirms our belief in their potential to transform industries and tackle pressing environmental challenges. #ClimateTech #SustainableInvesting #ImpactInvesting #MandiriInvestibleGlobalClimateTechFund 🌿📈

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Summary: The article discusses the challenges faced by climate tech startups as they transition from the lab to commercial outfit. These companies, which work on hardware and infrastructure projects for climate solutions, struggle to raise necessary funds and often face difficulties in scaling up production. Key takeaways: The transition from early-stage startup to commercial operation is difficult, especially for hardware and infrastructure projects in the climate tech industry. The lack of financing options and specialized expertise for these types of projects creates a "commercial valley of death" that many companies struggle to overcome. Startups often fall into the trap of trying to expand their business too quickly, losing sight of their core value proposition and failing to ensure proper execution. Counter arguments: Some may argue that this "first of a kind" problem is not unique to the climate tech industry and can be seen in other industries as well. Others may argue that with the increasing focus on climate change and need for sustainable solutions, more funding and support will become available for these startups. #venturecapital #vc #startups

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Grants are supporting many startups that are doing work to address climate change and other environmental issues. However, because of structural limitations, financial availability, and certain regulations, there could be gaps in how funding is delivered and received. A new model aims to seamlessly connect established companies and young entrepreneurs so that funding is smoother and more considerate of business growth. #ImpactInvesting #Funding #Startups

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I'm looking forward to moderating a panel on June 17th at the Future Food-Tech Alt Protein Conference titled: "Boosting Investor Confidence: Adapting Innovative Financing Models to Overcome the Trough of Disillusionment" ___________________________________________________________________ I'll be joined by a great group of investors in the space, including: Shayna Harris of Supply Change Capital Ashley Hartman of Bluestein Ventures Nadav Berger of PeakBridge Rosie Wardle of Synthesis Capital We plan to hit on various topics: 🔵 Current fundraising environment for alt protein companies 🔵 How this varies by stage 🔵 What investors are looking for that help a company stand out 🔵 What needs to change in the space 🔵 Innovative financing approaches being taken beyond VC 🔵 and more Should be a great discussion, and I'm looking forward to hearing questions from the audience as well - from startups to corporates to other investors - hoping to get questions about what's really on everyone's minds If you'll be at the conference, let me know, as I'd love to connect! 💻 PS: If you were wondering what AI Image Generators create if you type in "Boosting Investor Confidence in Alternative Proteins" the pic below is one of the ones you get. Good? Bad? Odd? Not sure - but who knows what actually goes on within AI

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The last few days I've been attending SynBioBeta conference in San Jose, CA. Really cool innovations that are tackling big problems in health, industrial production, and climate. It was also AgFunder's AGM... some non-standard observations: 1- Venture markets are not back: it will not be a bounce, but a slow recovery 2- Smart startups are partnering with engineering/EPC firms earlier in their life. This is key to de-risk scale production from day 1. My first employer out of college Black & Veatch was a key partner in the growth of Tesla, and now they're active in the bio space 3- If you say you're AI, you better prove it. Nothing wrong with saying you're doing ML

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I'm a firm believer that we need a more sustainable food supply chain in the US, one that is attentive to natural resource consumption and emissions. According to McKinsey, food and agriculture account for 27% of the world's GHG emissions, and over half of that stems from animal farming. With urbanization and incomes rising, demand for more animal-sourced foods will only increase. There is a need for a better solution to our agricultural needs; however, future food sectors like controlled environment agriculture and alternative meats have faced a harsh reality over the last few years, with many promising companies like AppHarvest (greenhouses) and New Age Eats (cultivated pork) filing for bankruptcy. At the end of the day, it's hard to justify hundreds of millions of dollars in capital and operating expenditures to produce lettuce, meat, or other staple foods. While I am a strong supporter of agrifoodtech, there must be consideration for unit economics. If you are producing a commodity product, particularly in stressed economic periods, then you must charge a commodity price. Factors like sustainability and impact get thrown out the window when the numbers don't add up. If you're building a next generation agrifoodtech company that shares this idea, I would love to connect.

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Mobility and EV are synonymous conversations in the investing world these days. While #Sustainability, #innovation #SDG are central to this discussion, Wider Consumer adoption will come from #scale. My conversation with EV Mechanica is around #automation in manufacturing, role of #semiconductor and #AI in achieving efficiency and scale. Swapp Design Docker Vision Redwing Genrobotics MIHIR MISHRA https://lnkd.in/guxN47_g seafund Mayuresh Raut MANOJ KUMAR AGARWAL Supratik Swain Agam Gupta Bhagyashree Rana Virat Gandhi Tushir Doshi

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Last week, we mentioned that we scrutinize the strength of the link between emissions reduction and revenue generation during our due diligence process. More specifically: we assess whether a company could mitigate upwards of 1M tCO2e annually when they reach $50M in topline annual revenues. This connection is a key component of our investment thesis, and it matters because it aligns our portfolio’s financial success with its environmental impact. 🚀 In other words: strong revenue growth translates directly into significant emissions reductions. 🌱 🔍 While Fund II is early in its performance and emissions mitigation journey, the 2023 numbers are in and they are strong: 37% of our Fund II companies have tripled their revenues year-over-year (YoY) or more, a benchmark for exceptional growth Nearly 70% are at least doubling revenues YoY, which is a strong representation of demand The chart below is from a recent investor report, and clearly demonstrates this revenue-impact connection in action, although the company name is redacted for confidentiality.  We’re very excited about the ongoing potential for real emissions reduction as our companies come to market and find receptive audiences. 👏 #ImpactInvesting #Sustainability #CleanTech #GrowthMetrics #EnvironmentalImpact #ActiveImpactInvestments

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Great episode for early stage VC's and capital allocators to check out. https://lnkd.in/ekz7JHJd #vc #fundraising #venturecapital

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Climate change often focuses on reducing carbon emissions, but what about methane? Unlike carbon, which is a waste captured for disposal, methane holds untapped potential as energy that can be repurposed. Startup Windfall Bio’s solution intrigued me: Methane-eating microbes that convert emissions into fertilizer. They supply them to industries like agriculture, oil and gas, and landfills, where companies have the option to either use the fertilizer themselves or sell it for additional revenue. This not only offers a low-cost alternative to traditional carbon capture methods but also creates a near-term revenue stream for companies. While carbon reduction has long been the focus, methane's shorter lifespan (10-12 years) and potential for repurposing make it a promising avenue for immediate impact. Founder: Josh Silverman “It was a long road getting here, lots of years of zero traction.. Now that the traction is there and there aren’t very many people working in this area, there aren’t that many competitors. We are the best of the very few options. As I’ve said, ‘in my land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.’” #Climate #Innovation #Methane

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One thing that has really changed about seed investing in the last three or four years is what it means to have coverage on seed opportunities. A few years ago, good seed firms saw the vast majority of interesting companies raising seed rounds. The persistent presence of multi-stage firms at seed had changed the game (again). There are many categories where seed firms see great companies raising $2-4 million seed rounds and multi-stage funds see most (but not all) of those companies *and* see teams raising $5-7 million (or more) seed rounds from scratch. I have seen many seed companies surprised to learn that there are stealthy companies in their categories who have raised a lot more money to pursue the same ideas and their investors never saw the company. Doesn’t mean the better-funded company will win, but it does change the calculus around perceived competition.

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