What lies beneath the murky depths? SolarCity co-founder Peter Rive wants to help you and the scientific community find out. He’s just led a $7 million Series A for SoFar Ocean Technologies, a new startup formed from a merger he orchestrated between underwater drone maker OpenROV and sea sensor developer Spoondrift. Together, they’re teaming up […]
View More Ocean drone startup merger spawns SoFar, the DJI of the seaCategory: GreenTech
Our 9 favorite startups from Y Combinator W19 Demo Day 2
Heathcare kiosks, a home-cooked food marketplace, and a way for startups to earn interest on their funding topped our list of high-potential companies from Y Combinator’s Winter 2019 Demo Day 2. 88 startups launched on stage at the lauded accelerator, though some of the best skipped the stage as they’d already raised tons of money. […]
View More Our 9 favorite startups from Y Combinator W19 Demo Day 2VCs have growing appetite for “AgriFood”
Venture investors are pouring billions of dollars into feeding their hunger for food and agriculture startups. Whether that trend line is due to enthusiasm for the sector or just broader heavy investing in the VC space is much less clear. According to a recent report published by AgFunder – a VC and investing marketplace focused […]
View More VCs have growing appetite for “AgriFood”Climate change kills off clouds over the ocean in new simulation
We all know climate change is affecting weather systems and ecosystems around the world, but exactly how and in what way is still a topic of intense study. New simulations made possible by higher-powered computers suggest that cloud cover over oceans may die off altogether once a certain level of CO2 has been reached, accelerating warming and contributing to a vicious cycle.
View More Climate change kills off clouds over the ocean in new simulationThese hyper-efficient solar panels could actually live on your roof soon
The clean energy boffins in their labs are always upping the theoretical limit on how much power you can get out of sunshine, but us plebes actually installing solar cells are stuck with years-old tech that’s not half as good as what they’re seeing. This new design from Insolight could be the one that changes all that.
View More These hyper-efficient solar panels could actually live on your roof soonBy Humankind picks up $4M to rid your morning routine of single-use plastic
Single-use plastics are the scourge of the environment, which is why many lawmakers are working to eliminate them. Today, a new brand is launching to try and eliminate single-use plastic in the area of personal care. With $4 million in seed funding led by Lerer Hippeau (with participation from Red Sea Ventures, BoxGroup, SV Angel, […]
View More By Humankind picks up $4M to rid your morning routine of single-use plasticAurora Solar’s computer-generated installation maps pull in a $20M Series A
Solar installations are becoming a no-brainer for anyone with a roof in much of the country. But getting an estimate on how much it would cost and how much juice it would generate can be complicated and time consuming. Aurora Solar has made an automated process for doing this, and attracted $20 million in funding as a result.
View More Aurora Solar’s computer-generated installation maps pull in a $20M Series ALet’s save the bees with machine learning
Machine learning and all its related forms of “AI” are being used to work on just about every problem under the sun, but even so, stemming the alarming decline of the bee population still seems out of left field. In fact it’s a great application for the technology and may help both bees and beekeepers keep hives healthy.
View More Let’s save the bees with machine learningSustainable Ocean Alliance nets $1.5 million donation from Benioffs
Healthy oceans are on the minds of Marc and Lynne Benioff, and they showed it today with a $1.5 million donation to the Sustainable Oceans Alliance, a new non-profit attempting to promote and incubate conservation-focused startups. The money will considerably expand the organization’s upcoming Ocean Solutions accelerator.
View More Sustainable Ocean Alliance nets $1.5 million donation from BenioffsGoogle launches clean energy project in Taiwan, its first in Asia
Google has launched its first clean energy project in Asia. The company announced today that it struck a long-term agreement to buy the output of a 10-megawatt solar array in Tainan City, Taiwan, about 100 km south of its data center in the country. Google already has solar and wind projects across North and South […]
View More Google launches clean energy project in Taiwan, its first in AsiaGeoengineering could solve our climate problems if anyone allowed it
This weekend, I finished reading Oliver Morton’s The Planet Remade (thanks to reader Eliot Peper for recommending it). Morton has a multitude of goals with the book, but there were two I think are deeply valuable. First, geoengineering is a plausible approach to solving our climate problems this century, and second, engineering the climate generates […]
View More Geoengineering could solve our climate problems if anyone allowed itTesting times for second wave scooter startups
Investors are still pouring millions into scooter startups, albeit sometimes at flat valuations. At the same time a little cash is flowing the other way, in cases where cities have realized the importance of prioritizing the needs of the local environment and its citizens, over and above the ambitions of VCs for a swift and lucrative […]
View More Testing times for second wave scooter startups