February Week 2, 2023: In this monthly 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.
Do not hesitate to join our collective movement by requesting your membership.
With care,
Guillaume and the SBC TEAM,
Energy use in Industry and Buildings
Founded:
2021 – Los Angeles, CA, USA
Founder:
Casey Handmer
Elevator Pitch:
Terraform Industries is scaling technology to produce cheap natural gas with sunlight and air. We are committed to cutting the net CO2 flux from crust to atmosphere as quickly as possible. As solar power gets cheaper, there will come a time when it is cheaper to get carbon from the atmosphere than an oil well. That time is now.
Problem they solve:
In 2022 oil is scarce, atmospheric CO2 levels are rising, and solar energy continues to decline in cost. Indeed, the efficiency of converting natural gas to electricity is about 40%, the efficiency of converting electricity back to natural gas (experimentally) is perhaps 30%. There will come a time, sometime this decade in most places, when it is cheaper to get hydrocarbons by capturing atmospheric CO2 than by drilling a hole in the ground.
Impact:
The overarching goal is to zero out the net transport of carbon from the crust to the atmosphere and oceans as quickly as possible by displacing drilled natural gas production with direct atmospheric processing.
Stage:
Seed
Interested in Terraform Industries?
To learn more about their technology or get in touch, see here.
Founded:
2017 – Marly, Switzerland
Founders:
Remy Buser and Florent Héroguel
Elevator Pitch:
Bloom Biorenewables is making biomass a true alternative to petroleum.
Problem they solve:
We provide an opportunity for our customers to bypass harmful petrochemicals and support the growing consumer trend in sustainability.
Impact:
With our disruptive technologies, we provide product solutions that enable the transition from a linear, petro-based economy to a circular, plant-based one.
Stage:
Seed
Interested in Bloom Biorenewables?
If you are interested in learning more, see here.
3. Kraftblock
Founded:
2014 – Saarland, Germany
Founders:
Susanne König and Martin Schichtel
Elevator Pitch:
Kraftblock’s energy storage systems enable industry players to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energies in their industrial processes and to recycle waste heat.
Problem they solve:
The Kraftblock energy storage system has two application forms: It can be used a Waste-Heat Recycling System for the conversion and reuse of waste heat and as Net-Zero Heat System to replace fossil energies with renewable ones.
Impact:
We are committed to transforming the way energy is used. To achieve this, we are focusing on technologies to overcome the inefficiencies of traditional energy production. We won’t stop until we see renewable, environmentally friendly energy being used in industry.
Stage:
Series A
Interested in Kraftblock?
To learn more about this company, see here.
Waste (water & landfills)
4. UP Catalyst
Founded:
2019 – Talinn, Estonia
Founders:
Gary Urb and Kätlin Kaare
Elevator Pitch:
We will secure a sustainable supply chain of carbon materials by giving the unwanted waste product CO₂ a green purpose.
Problem they solve:
From industrial waste product to valuable raw materials. We have been developing, testing and perfecting the method to produce high quality sustainable carbon nanomaterials and graphite, which stand out from the competitors by their purity, thermal and electrical conductivity as well as competitive price.
Impact:
The no 1 aim of UP Catalyst is to revolutionize the global electric car battery industry by increasing the battery properties like energy density, charge rate and lifetime through sustainable products.
Stage:
Pre-seed
Interested in UP Catalyst?
If you are interested in learning more, see here.
GHG Capture, Use, and Storage
Location:
2021 – Nottingham, UK
Founders:
Sid Pourfalah, Dalraj Nijjar, and Michael Wise
Elevator Pitch:
Concrete4Change is developing an array of novel technologies for carbon sequestration into concrete, helping concrete manufacturers and the construction industry achieve net-zero.
Problem They Solve:
Approximately 4 billion tonnes of cement are produced annually which creates 3 billion tonnes of CO2 per year, accounting for 8% of global CO2 emissions.
Presently, the concrete industry is relying on waste by products of other carbon intensive industries to reduce embodied carbon through using less traditional cement – these are not viable long-term solutions. These materials are quickly running out according to the UK government and can at best only displace 5% of the current global demand.
C4C exists to provide a solution to this, turning an emission problem into an emission solution.
Impact:
Concrete can naturally absorb CO2 – this process is known as carbonation, but it can never reach to full potential in nature. With C4C technology, we exploit this potential, enabling concrete to become the safest form of CO2 sink in the world. Even after the demolition of concrete, there is no leakage of CO2.
Stage:
Pre-seed
Want to learn more about Concrete4Change?
To learn more about their technology or get in touch 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 350+ climate tech startups to watch we have featured.
