Prelude Ventures

Last month, we reached another milestone on our path to superhot #geothermal power: demonstrating millimeter wave #drilling outside of the lab for the very first time. To put that in perspective, it was only three years ago that our team started testing with millimeter waves. We took those early learnings from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and set up a humming campus here in Houston. We reached our 100x target in 2023 and tested at higher power throughout 2024. Now, we’re drilling under the open sky. Millimeter wave drilling is the keystone of superhot geothermal. It’s the only way to access the resource at scale while reaching economic and power parity with fossil fuels. Over the coming months, two more drilling field tests will pave the way to our first commercial developments. Join Henry Phan, Vice President of Engineering, for a rare look under the hood to see how we got here.

Last week, Forbes published a report based on alarming news coming from beekeepers: Many commercial beekeepers are experiencing massive bee die-offs well in excess of 50%. In some areas, losses have reached as high as 70%. https://lnkd.in/eeEFritv As one of the industry leaders in the article says, “There’s full panic right now to figure out what’s wrong and how bad it’s going to be.” While researchers are investigating the exact cause of this devastating collapse, beekeepers well know that Varroa destructor, a parasitic mite that preys on honeybees, are very likely part of the problem. These mites attach themselves to adult bees as they forage for nectar, using them as unwitting carriers to infiltrate the hive. Once inside, they lay their eggs on bee larvae. When the mites hatch, they feed on their hosts' glycogen and triglycerides, weakening or killing them while spreading viral and fungal infections throughout the colony. Alarmingly, Varroa mites have developed resistance to most existing treatments, leaving beekeepers with fewer options for protecting their hives. With bees pollinating nearly half of the fruits and vegetables we consume – including the upcoming almond pollination happening in California, urgent action is needed. The collapse of bee populations could drive up the cost of everyday produce and even lead to shortages. At GreenLight Biosciences, we’ve developed an innovative RNA-based solution to combat Varroa mites. Currently under review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), our technology has demonstrated long-lasting varroa mite control, leading to healthier and stronger bees. We hope this type of innovation can support healthier hives and prevent this level of loss in the future. #savethebees #RNA

Today, we announced four publications in the journal Nuclear Fusion detailing the Company’s novel system architecture and its ability to address historical limitations of the #stellarator. Full press release and links to papers here: https://ow.ly/JoXn50UPoMv “Complex, 3D magnet coils have limited prior generations of stellarators, making them extremely difficult to build and maintain. These results are a part of a new era for stellarator systems. Eos will serve as an important technology test bed that will also breed tritium for commercial use. Eos will leverage simpler coils as well as a software control layer, allowing future fusion power plants to be built and deployed on-the-grid at scale. As the team starts to construct Eos, we look forward to further expanding these findings, while at the same time increasing the fidelity of our models.” - David Gates, Ph.D., co-founder and chief technology officer of Thea Energy

Searching for some light holiday reading? Need some inspiration heading into the new year? Look no further than Climate Compass: your guide to the next generation of climate companies. In this report, industry experts, founders, and investors share their perspectives on the emerging ideas and technologies that are poised to shape the next decade and highlight the leading startups advancing our global economy towards a decarbonized, resilient, and abundant future. Huge thank you to the 50+ contributing companies, amazing authors including Priscilla Tyler, Jessica Eastling, Lily Bernicker, Mikaela Lipsky, Sabriya Stukes, PhD, Carly Anderson, Hannah Friedman, Calvin A. Cupini, Olivia Dippo, Katherine Cunningham, and Jyotika Chandhoke, and of course our brilliant design partner - Wunderdogs - who made this project possible! Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eVxdAZ3S

We’ve set a new record! Today we are announcing industry-leading neutral-atom two-qubit gate fidelities in our flagship platforms, and together with Microsoft we demonstrate the largest-ever entangled logical qubit state with 24 logical qubits, and performed error detection, error correction, and computation with 28 logical qubits! #MSIgnite These milestones show how Atom Computing’s neutral atoms provide a highly-scalable hardware platform and, together with Microsoft’s #AzureQuantum compute platform, form a state-of-the-art reliable quantum computer. This joint commercial #QuantumComputing offering, which combines logical qubits with #HPC and #AI, will enable organizations to accelerate growing their quantum ecosystems. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gg7C42dM

RedoxBlox is excited to announce the close of our Series A fundraise, totaling $40.7 million! The round was led by Prelude Ventures and joined by Imperative Ventures and New System Ventures, alongside existing investors Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Khosla Ventures. See the press release here (https://lnkd.in/g_Q3MDNA). We are also thrilled to announce that Pasquale Romano has joined the company as CEO, and we are excited to continue this journey to bring our technology to the world. Learn more at www.redoxblox.com

We are pleased to announce a $405 million Series F financing round that will enable us to accelerate and scale up manufacturing of our multi-day, iron-air batteries for the electric grid. This financing round, led by T. Rowe Price, was joined by GE Vernova and existing investors TPG Rise Climate, Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), Capricorn Investment Group’s Technology Impact Funds, Coatue, Energy Impact Partners (EIP), MIT’s The Engine Ventures, NGP, Temasek, GIC, Prelude Ventures, Claure Group, Gigascale Capital, Blindspot Ventures, and VamosVentures. From our CEO Mateo Jaramillo: “We are excited to continue proving that American manufacturing for innovative energy technology is alive and well, right here in the industrial heartland of West Virginia and the Ohio River Valley.” We look forward to continuing to ramp up manufacturing of our iron-air batteries and deploying our first commercial projects in the coming year! Learn more at: https://lnkd.in/gs4uRFCq #energystorage #multidayenergystorage #longdurationenergystorage #batterystorage #cleanenergy #renewableenergy #energystorageforabetterworld #yeswv

That's a wrap! The VCA closed out another fantastic #ClimateWeekNYC joined by our members from around the world including investors based in New York, the Bay Area, Copenhagen, Yokohama, and Singapore. Thanks to our amazing co-hosts at Union Square Ventures, Prelude Ventures, Galvanize Climate Solutions, and Tiger Global Management.