May Week 4, 2024: In this weekly series, we highlight 5 climate tech startups to watch by featuring the incredible startups, companies, or projects that are leading the fight against the climate crisis.
Each month, we add these startups to our running list, which we have categorized based on fuel emission sector data from the most detailed, recent data SBC could identify from the World Resource Institute in 2016.
This initiative from Startup Basecamp aims to support founders by giving them access to networking and exposure opportunities that help them to scale and finance their climate tech solutions.
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With care,
Guillaume and the SBC TEAM
GHG Capture, Use, and Storage
1. Carbon Fact
Founded: 2021 – Paris, FR
Founder: Marc Laurent, Martin Daniel & Romain Champourlier
Elevator Pitch: Carbon Fact offers specialized carbon management software tailored for the fashion industry, providing automated solutions for measuring, reporting, and reducing emissions. With seamless integration and comprehensive features, Carbon Fact empowers apparel, luxury, and footwear brands to efficiently track their carbon footprint and meet regulatory requirements, saving valuable time and resources.
Problem they solve: The fashion industry faces significant challenges in managing and reducing carbon emissions, exacerbated by complex supply chains and regulatory pressures. Manual carbon accounting processes are time-consuming and prone to errors, hindering sustainability efforts. Carbon Fact streamlines carbon accounting, compliance reporting, and product lifecycle assessment, enabling fashion brands to accurately measure their environmental impact and make informed decisions to reduce emissions.
Impact: By automating carbon accounting and providing detailed insights into product-level emissions, Carbon Fact facilitates the fashion industry’s transition to a more sustainable model. By accurately measuring and reporting emissions, brands can identify areas for improvement and implement strategies to reduce their environmental footprint. Ultimately, Carbon Fact contributes to the industry’s collective efforts to decarbonize fashion supply chains and mitigate the environmental impact of apparel production.
Stage: Series A.
Interested in Carbon Factor?
To learn more about their technology or get in touch, see here.
Waste (water & landfills)
2. Aquacycl
Founded: 2016 – Escondido, CA, USA
Founders: Orianna Bretschger & Sophia Babanova
Elevator Pitch: Aquacycl revolutionizes industrial wastewater treatment with its innovative modular biological treatment system. By effectively eliminating sludge and recovering energy as direct electricity, Aquacycl offers a cost-effective and sustainable solution for managing high-strength wastewater. With significant cost savings, greenhouse gas reductions, and a compliance guarantee, Aquacycl empowers industries to address their most challenging wastewater problems while minimizing their environmental impact.
Problem they solve: Traditional industrial wastewater treatment methods often struggle to handle high-strength wastewater, leading to costly and inefficient processes. Aquacycl addresses this challenge by offering a modular biological treatment system that efficiently removes contaminants and generates electricity, eliminating the need for extensive energy inputs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. By providing a comprehensive solution that ensures compliance and reduces operational costs, Aquacycl enables industries to effectively manage their wastewater challenges.
Impact: By recovering energy as direct electricity, Aquacycl minimizes reliance on fossil fuels and reduces the carbon footprint of wastewater treatment operations. Additionally, the elimination of sludge reduces the need for disposal and mitigates environmental pollution. With a focus on sustainability and efficiency, Aquacycl contributes to the preservation of natural resources and the protection of water quality for future generations.
Stage: Series B.
Interested in Acquacycl?
If you are interested in learning more, see here.
Cross-cutting enablers
3.Arculus Solutions
Founded: 2021 – North Bethesda, MD, USA
Leadership: Gianluca Roscioli & Biman Herlekar
Elevator Pitch: Arculus Solutions is revolutionizing the hydrogen economy by retrofitting natural gas transmission pipelines with advanced hydrogen-barrier coatings. Their innovative technology enables the safe and cost-effective transport of hydrogen, both blended and pure, within existing infrastructure, facilitating a swift transition to a decarbonized energy network.
Problem they solve: The integration of hydrogen into existing natural gas pipelines presents significant challenges, including hydrogen embrittlement and stress-induced cracking of pipeline steels. Traditional solutions such as designing hydrogen-resistant alloys or deploying new infrastructure are costly and time-consuming. Arculus Solutions addresses these issues with a protective hydrogen-barrier coating, allowing for the continued use of current pipelines without the need for expensive replacements or extensive repairs.
Impact: By enabling the safe transport of hydrogen through existing natural gas pipelines, Arculus Solutions significantly reduces the need for new infrastructure, thereby minimizing resource use and environmental disruption. Their technology supports the decarbonization of gaseous networks, accelerating the adoption of hydrogen as a clean energy source.
Stage: Seed.
Want to learn more about Arculus Solutions?
To learn more about their technology or get in touch see here.
Cross-cutting enablers
4. Ourobio
Founded: 2020 – Charlottesville, VA, USA
Founders: Alec Brewer & Kobe Rogers
Problem they solve: Traditional petrochemical-based production methods are resource-intensive and environmentally damaging, extracting 88 billion tons of resources annually and contributing significantly to pollution and waste. As the global population grows, there is an urgent need for more sustainable production, consumption, and waste management practices. Ourobio addresses these challenges by converting waste into valuable bioproducts, reducing both environmental footprint and production costs.
Impact: Ourobio’s circular biomanufacturing practices significantly reduce resource extraction and environmental degradation. By utilizing waste-based feedstocks, they produce bio-based, biodegradable materials that can replace conventional petroplastics. This approach not only lowers greenhouse gas emissions but also helps alleviate the waste management crisis. Their unique bioprocesses upcycle industrial byproducts, creating sustainable alternatives that do not compete with food production, thus supporting the transition to a circular economy and a cleaner, healthier planet.
Stage: Pre-Seed.
Interested in Ourobio?
To learn more about this company, see here.
Cross-cutting enablers
5. Modern Synthesis
Founded: 2019 – London, UK
Founders: Ben Reeve & Jen Keane
Elevator Pitch: Modern Synthesis develops an innovative class of natural textiles that are inherently circular and customizable, aiming to replace animal and fossil fuel-derived materials with sustainable alternatives.
Problem they solve: The textile industry heavily relies on animal and fossil fuel-derived materials, contributing significantly to environmental degradation and unsustainable resource use. Modern Synthesis addresses these issues by leveraging microbial processes to produce eco-friendly textiles. Their approach aims to reduce dependency on traditional, environmentally harmful materials and promote a more sustainable textile industry.
Impact: Modern Synthesis utilizes microbes to naturally convert agricultural sugars into valuable material building blocks, creating textiles that are both sustainable and customizable. Their patent-pending biotechnology process integrates biology, material science, engineering, and design to produce materials that are circular by nature. This innovative approach reduces environmental impact by minimizing reliance on non-renewable resources, lowering carbon emissions, and promoting a circular economy in the textile industry.
Stage: Seed.
Interested in Modern Synthesis?
If you are interested in learning more, see here.
Do you know of other startups we should include in our Startups to Watch Series? Submit to our list!
How do these startups fit in with all the others we have looked at?
Check out our running list of the 400+ climate tech startups to watch we have featured.
