Andy Wheeler

Excited to announce our investment in Alta Resource Technologies alongside Leonardo Banchik (Voyager Ventures) with participation from Orion Resource Partners, Overture Ventures, and WovenEarth Ventures. Rare earths are critical in products from magnets to ceramics and it's important for the US to develop its own supply chain. While the US has some of the best rare earth resources, separating them has historically proven expensive and environmentally unfriendly. Alta through it's computationally designed and optimized proteins allows the US to bring back rare earth production with a cleaner, lower capex, and lower opex solution - and that's just the beginning. Congrats to Nathan Ratledge and the entire Alta team. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gbGnAJn3

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I find it hard to believe that with millions of EVs entering the market and the proliferation of AI compute that PGE is actually going to have excess capacity in 2040 without any additional generation from 3rd parties. I am also curious if there are enough transmission lines and if PGE views that as someone else’s problem. Maybe they are planning on AI and ACTUAL figuring it all out! https://lnkd.in/gybsMmaw

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🚀 While the world grapples with access to baseload energy for compute, we've been proud to watch 8090 Industries portfolio founders Hannan P. and Jack Abraham of Exowatt quietly build. 🤯 Today, Exowatt unleashes a new dawn for the energy industry with unveiling P3s - with the ability to generate electricity at scale at just a $0.04 LCOE and with entirely baseload renewable tech. That’s lower than the cost of most fossil fuels and doesn’t account for subsidies. The company has already amassed a 1.2 GW backlog, worth $Billions from mega tech hyperscalers, energy giants and data center companies. Renewable energy can power the data centers of the AI era, and Exowatt founders Jack Abraham and Hannan P. are building that future. We're honored to be backing Exowatt alongside Sam Altman, Andreessen Horowitz, Felicis, Atomic, Overmatch Ventures and Climate Capital. Read more about their launch today here: https://lnkd.in/gZDKZdk8 cc Kerem Ozmen Wes Mendenhall Filip Vurdelja Haluk Sabanci Dincer Grant Brown Ishan Meswani Garuth A. Andrew Irwin Shilpa Patel

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My friend Raj Mistry of Sunya produces straight fire in all things energy transition news. Not surprised that practically every major energy company C-suite reads the Sunya Scoop every week. Was excited to provide our quick thoughts at 8090 Industries on our latest investment in Exowatt - a company making energy for $0.01 per kWh, and available 24 hours a day for commercial and industrial customers. "At 8090 Industries, we have long been active in standing up and fortifying new, paradigm shifting forms of baseload renewable power. However, the boom in generative AI has catapulted the energy demand needed to power our data centers. In response, we are thrilled to be an investor in Exowatt led by Hannan P. as it pioneers a new reality towards energy that costs $0.01 per kWh, and is available 24 hours a day. Exowatt’s 3-in-one modular system delivers baseload renewable power, industrial-grade heat and energy storage that can be dispatched and deployed to a wide range of commercial, industrial applications and sites. The company already has a backlog of demand for over 500 MW to power data centers across the U.S. and plans to begin deployments later this year."

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Three big mega trends converging at #NARUC2024 - 1) large load interconnection (e.g., AI DCs); 2) Resilience (fire/hurricane); and 3) Demand flex. The through line is how do we deploy the capital we have more efficiently and effectively to achieve goals? Time to push more on technology and the right economics/incentives to move these solutions forward.

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I'm happy to announce our investment in OnSight Technology! OnSight’s robotics platform helps solar operators scale without additional headcount; improves operations, maintenance and safety; and stops fires before they happen! Feedback from their customers is among the best I’ve ever heard 🤖☀️ Some of the macro tailwinds that make this timely:  🔋 Utility-Scale Solar: Large-scale projects, often spanning hundreds of acres, are becoming a cornerstone of renewable energy strategies worldwide. In the US, utility-scale solar grew by over 20% in 2023, and there is a massive backlog of new projects planned or waiting for grid connection. 🏠 Commercial/Rooftop Solar: On the smaller scale, businesses are increasingly adopting solar panels. This reduces energy bills and contributes to a greener planet. The dirty secret is that many business turn off their rooftop solar because of the threat of fire and business interruption. OnSight’s OWL fixes this. ⚠️ Growth in Thermal Events: With the rapid expansion of solar farms, there has also been an uptick in "thermal events," or fires. These incidents destroy infrastructure and threaten nearby communities. 👷‍♂️ Labor Challenges: Like so many other industries, the solar industry is facing labor challenges. The availability and quality of skilled workers is crucial to maintaining and expanding solar infrastructure. Additionally, workers often have to operate in extremely hot environments, which can impact productivity and safety (hi, OSHA). Derek Chase Doug Matlack John Shepard, PhD Graham Ryland Jeff Struhm Jeff Olyniec Rick Spencer Bill Clerico Aiden Cathcart 

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Check out my recent post on why President Trump is the forcing function for us to solve the “Missing Middle” and catch the industrial Tsunami of onshoring coming to the US!

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Excited for DCVC portfolio co Alta Resource Technologies to emerge from stealth! The design space of biology is many orders of magnitude larger than inorganic chemistry, and Alta uses it to massively reduce the cost of extracting rare earth metals. https://lnkd.in/g_q5UwRF

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Grid, schmid, indeed! Much rightful rage directed at Centerpoint here in Houston over the past week, and I wonder if its CEO may last the week? But after the big Texas grid freeze failure of 2021, I decided to put in my own solar+battery system so that it never happened again. It sailed through the blackout with ease - wouldn't have even known we lost power except for the notification sent to my phone by my SPAN smart panel. My desktop computer didn't see the slightest hiccup. Now our own outage only lasted ~12 hours, so wasn't able to give every aspect the full stress test, but approach sunset on the first day w 94% in my battery when the power came back on, and am confident based on prior experience in managing these 2x Tesla Energy batteries, that we would have been fine. Wouldn't have cranked the 2 A/C's as hard as usual during the night, but am confident would have made it to sunrise (and next recharge cycle) just fine. In an island of darkness, our home also became refuge for family, and for that I am doubly grateful. The future of energy is not only electric, but more decentralized. The rapidly declining cost of batteries, and a bit more improvement in software, will make such options accessible for many more people. And then, they too, will never have to go through the pain of an extended outage again! https://lnkd.in/d2ssrphd

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I spent many weeks researching the story of Robin Zeng and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (or CATL) -- the powerful and politically divisive battery maker that commands the largest global market share (and growing) Zeng's story is nothing short of the classic rags to riches narrative we all worship, yet...there are many useful lessons to learn on how/why certain industrial policies succeed via the CATL/Robin Zeng lens These lessons are all the more timely given what is happening to Intel, Stellantis, Northvolt. In my view, CATL could not have existed without China's exclusionary subsidies. Robin Zeng started CATL as a spin out from TDK Corporations, because TDK was Japanese, thus wouldn't qualify for gov't subsidies. Yet, that's not the end of the story. CATL still had to compete with 200+ domestic companies, like BYD etc. Favorable treatment was also removed after a few years, foreign battery companies were invited back into China (LG, Samsung, Panasonic), so CATL had to prove its worth. Yes, it got a leg up initially, but wasn't coddled and protected indefinitely Robin Zeng was also a rare breed...read my story on why. What can we learn from this? Industrial policy works in 3 steps: 1. Subsidize/protect/spur new startups 2. Stop protection, invite competition 3. Hopefully you get a Robin Zeng (or Wang Chuanfu) among your population who is as talented (and paranoid) as Andy Grove to rise above the ashes Agree? Disagree? Either way, I hope you give my telling of the Robin Zeng story a read. It deserves to be told properly. https://lnkd.in/eXXt5mna

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Friends, Q2 was a quarter of progress and learning for us at HawkTower, where we invest in early-stage startups applying breakthrough computing technologies to maximize California's natural resource markets. Our focus is on technology-enabled interventions (e.g., AI-enabled geospatial radars for lithium-ion batteries in the waste stream) for critical, market-level imperatives (e.g., disaster prevention) that can drive rapid commercial adoption (e.g., placed on every recycling truck in the world). Our current investment priorities are: - Agricultural productivity and efficiency - Biomanufacturing - Labor and mobility automation - Waste stream optimization and decarbonization - Disaster prevention and management Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to: Milestones and Investments: - In late April, we officially launched our fund, filing with the SEC. Yay. - By June, we completed our first fund close ahead of schedule, with backing from family offices, foundations, high-net-worth individuals, and organizations aligned with California's future. - Our portfolio now includes three early-stage investments (Farm-ng, Agriful Software, and Nexstera Tech). Strategic Partnerships: - We believe that startups operating closer to their customers and resources, especially in agriculture and biomanufacturing, have a strategic advantage. For instance, the Salinas Valley, a major agricultural hub, is less than an hour from Silicon Valley and serves as a center of thought leadership in the convergence of agriculture and AI (from Western Growers, Taylor Farms, and others). - Similarly, the North San Joaquin Valley is emerging as a biotech and agtech innovation hub, and we are proud to support BEAM Circular, a startup hub for the circular bioeconomy. Key Relationships: - Karen Warner, CEO of BEAM Circular, joined HawkTower as a strategic advisor. - Jackie Cruz, Ed. D. Cruz, Hartnell College’s VP of Advancement, advises on Salinas Valley and workforce development. - Ben Palone from Western Growers, with his technical background in agriculture, became a trusted advisor. - Matthew Hoffman from Driscoll's Global R&D team provides insights on global agriculture, product positioning, and investment strategy. - We collaborated with Monterey Bay DART for workforce development and automation in agtech. - Dominic Milano and the Milano Technical Group from Merced collaborated on key initiatives and advised us on investments. - HawkTower is participating in Santa Cruz Works's accelerator cohort as a mentor and advisor. Thank you Doug Erickson. - We published an overview of entrepreneurship across the UC system with input from across the University of California system. Moving into the fall, we remain deeply committed to supporting founders shaping California's future natural resource markets. Stay tuned and be in touch! : ) Db

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Today I want to put the spotlight on Arelys Sosa, Thomas Tingelöf and Kent Moore who are the amazing founders of DREV.🔦 The problem they are tackling is that battery gigafactories, semi-conductor factories, and battery recycling plants face big challenges collecting hazardous metal micro-particles, slowing production, and they are squandering precious materials, and endangering staff. These are all individually big problems and combined this is huge.☣️ Drev has the solution to all to this with The Vault, an innovative technology powered by patent-pending dry brush technology and a revolutionary canister design, eliminates water and chemicals from the cleaning process, improves safety, and enables the adaptive reuse of valuable materials that would otherwise be thrown away with save manufactures millons. 🧹 The Drev team has the unique domain experience for solving a particular problem that we're always looking for when we are backing founders at the Norrsken Accelerator. Arelys is an industrial engineer who was part of the original team at Panasonic Energy at Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 so she has seen this problem first hand for years. Thomas has a PhD and he has been the CTO of PowerCell and VP at Volvo Cars and has massively scaled technologies before.🤩 The interest from the industry is huge and they are currently running projects with some of the leading battery manufacturers. You can read more and contact them here: https://lnkd.in/d7V-mKrx

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Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) illustrates the current "readiness" of #ClimateTechs + their potential impact on carbon reduction. As shown, many techs are at an early stage of being able to have a material impact. Concerningly, some tech funds recently returned capital back to investors recently + closed their funds - citing inability to fund capital intensive techs, found in areas like ClimateTech. This in part may be contributing to the $2 trillion shortfall in ClimateTech, that Deloitte estimates. What this may mean for the future? - The migration of LPs to global, super VC funds within ClimateTech, given the large capital pools needed to fund tech development - Greater specialization from smaller funds, energizing more niche elements of the ClimateTech market - but also altering their / LP's risk profile - A greater role to be played by debt financing in funding growth entities at an earlier stage - impacting cashflow dynamics Will be an interesting space to watch moving forward. We at The Proptech Connection are constantly working with all parts of the Proptech ecosystem. From the leading LPs, funds, techs and adopters in market, providing an independent view. Reach out to us today to find out how we can help. #InvestorTrends #Strategy #Global Ivo van Breukelen Stuart Daun Kiki C. Ethan Ward

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Powering the future…

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Introducing the 2024 LA Hard Tech 50! 🚀 The momentum has become unstoppable for the ecosystem of entrepreneurs and engineers building in the hardware industrial ecosystem in Southern California. The story goes back over 100 years to the days of early aviation pioneers Glenn Martin, Allan Lockheed, Jack Northrop, and Howard Hughes, and to the founding of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory just before World War II. The macroeconomic, geopolitical, and technological tailwinds have been brewing for years, and the talent pool that accumulated in the legacy primes and subs became a tinderbox, where SpaceX served as a match and lit the industry on fire. The Algorithm, hardcore work ethic, and sense of responsibility and ownership instilled in SpaceX engineers built a uniquely entrepreneurial culture that is churning out new startup founders, and we’re now seeing second-order centers of excellence like Anduril and Hadrian. New startups are being founded almost every week in LA across space, defense, manufacturing & industrial automation, and energy & critical resources. The list was harder to write this year as the ecosystem has grown. The 2024 LA Hard Tech 50 includes 30 companies that were on last year’s list, and 20 new entrants who made a big impact this year. Nick Kim and I also give shout-outs to 5 key ecosystem builders and 10 exceptional operators in the community. There’s also a link to a more comprehensive Airtable list and a map of the companies. Let us know who we missed!

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Great coverage on Carbon Quest and their amazing #carboncapture solution for decarbonizing “hard-to-abate” sectors, especially in regions where facilities like data centers are significantly increasing power demand👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

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ex Google CEO Eric Schmidt spoke at Stanford this week. Lots of nuggets here, but most interesting for the near term, Schmidt believes in the next year AI is set to make a big leap forward. He predicts AI will combine three important features: 1. Vast knowledge retention (1 million token models) 2. Text-to-action capability 3. Personal AI agent fleets While the full impact is unknown, everyone may soon command their own AI teams. Here's an example: Imagine you're developing new quantum computing algorithms. Your AI assistants could: - Continuously scan and synthesize global quantum research papers - Generate novel algorithm ideas based on this knowledge - Simulate and test these algorithms across various quantum architectures - Automatically document findings and prepare draft papers - Identify potential collaborators and draft outreach emails All initiated by a command like "Advance our quantum algorithm research." This could dramatically accelerate R&D cycles and scientific breakthroughs.. https://lnkd.in/eJbg6cnD #frontiertech #AI #futurefrontier

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