Kyle Arteaga

A SAFE and convertible note had a baby and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati was the midwife- out popped the D-SAFE! 👶🏽🎉 A new #climatetech funding instrument was announced by Elemental Excelerator last week. One of the company’s main goals is to support smaller, up and coming companies during the awkward “Scale Gap” phase between #VC funding and natural growth. It’s called the #DSAFE (Development Simple Agreement for Future Equity) and it aims to aid the process by giving companies a small amount of cash to overcome initial risks and expenses during the developmental stages of a product launch or company. How does it work? D-SAFE has a redemption clause meaning companies can choose to have their payments offered as a loan or convert to equity at the investor’s discretion. Funders and companies will have clear communication and expectations about where the money is going and how it will be applied to either the company or the projects at hand. Financiers and companies will work together with more #transparency, and that’s a great boon for #startups and VC alike. As of this month, Elemental has already invested using D-SAFE in eight different companies, including Dimensional Energy and Origen — both companies investing in innovative and out-of-the-box solutions to environmental issues! Seems like a win-win on the surface. What do you all think about the D-SAFE? Alfredo Coppola Momoka Ueda Tim Wagner Stephen D. Torres Olya Irzak Natsuho Toyama Noriya Tarutani Shin Ogawa

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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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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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💡 Interesting takeaways (+ my own commentary) from this #SFClimateWeek session on startups engaging with #utilities - Bits (software) and atoms (hardware) will both be required to power #decarbonization and the #energytransition. Enterprise SaaS is a proven business model that needs to complement innovations in deeptech. Start by targeting the customers most open to moving quickly with new approaches - which might be municipal and coop utilities. Referencing those early customers and successful deployments then helps when you start targeting more risk-averse companies, who have higher expectations and potentially more to lose from new technologies. I've seen the latter play out many times in SaaS markets. Successfully penetrating more mainstream (and conservative) segments of a market requires thoughtfully sequencing and orchestrating product development, partnerships & integrations, go-to-market capabilities, and delivery/service capabilities. Would have loved to be at the session to hear firsthand from Adriana Penuela-Useche Louisa White Page Crahan Andrea Sguazzi Giancarlo Savini.

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Partnering with startups can help companies to "solve a product problem, create a new avenue for revenue, accelerate R&D, or accelerate time to market for a specific product," according to Otilia Barbuta, principal at HP Tech Ventures, the venture capital arm of HP. She was talking at a breakout session at Circularity 2024. "There are solutions in the market created by startups and in this circularity realm, I think it's more important than ever to partner with [them]." #climatetech #startups #climateVC

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Is SF Climate Week banter a good barometer of the macro climate tech investment mood? Key nuggets to ponder: 💰💰💰 Climate solutions (like most science/engineering and hardware based deep tech) are capital intensive. They require an "all of the above", creative financing approach to obtain the capital needed to scale (from CVCs, government, public-private partnerships, green banks, debt financing...). 🤖 AI - Everything, Everywhere (all at once). As in most sectors, AI is white hot. It can be a key component of climate solutions, but also a demand accelerant ⏩ More AI = ↗ compute and power demand ⚡= ↗ need for energy storage and grid enhancing solutions 🔋. 🏛 🤵 Political Angst. Real worry that a new administration will cut or impede climate tech catalyzing funding (e.g., DOE funding from IRA). #climatetech #climateweek

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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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Listened to Bloomberg’s Zero: The Climate Race recently—worth a listen for anyone in the climate tech space. Akshat Rathi interviews Eric Toone from Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Key topics: ⚡️ Carbon removal ⚡️ Grid modernization ⚡️ Nuclear fusion and fission ⚡️ Green hydrogen—the hype, promise vs reality Good insights on where innovation is heading in sustainability and energy. #ClimateTech #Sustainability #Energy #Innovation

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In this week's column: The math at the heart of venture capital is out of whack. Successful exits have become vanishingly few and far between. That’s because it’s been next to impossible for startups to go public, and the regulatory climate for extremely large mergers and acquisitions is generally unfavorable, too. Many venture funds so far have been betting on lower interest rates and better IPO conditions in 2025. But the outlook for lower rates is receding, especially given today's strong jobs report. For many funds, particularly those in the middle quartiles when it comes to assets under management or performance, it’s time to move on with life. To survive, let alone prosper, they need an alternative to the traditional venture capital math based on big-number investments, $1 billion-plus valuations and gargantuan exits. The good news is that current conditions have prevailed since the Fed began raising interest rates in 2022—long enough that a few funds have brought forth alternatives to holding their breath or trying to manifest something better. Touring Capital arrived in 2023 with just such a thought in mind: It has positioned itself as an early growth stage fund with a focus on unconventionally modest Series B rounds. Co-founder and General Partner Nagraj Kashyap knew that startups were staying private for longer, but even he was surprised when research showed IPOs could take 15 years, far too long for venture investors to tie up their capital. And he knew firsthand that billion dollar-plus exits via mergers and acquisitions are exceptionally difficult to achieve. Touring builds relationships with startup founders at an early stage and advises them to take a smaller round of capital than they would traditionally raise, especially at the Series B stage. They get less rocket fuel to underwrite rapid growth, but founders and initial investors’ stakes are also less diluted. That should allow them to ultimately sell their companies for more modest valuations and still make substantial returns on their investment of time and capital. “A larger fund will have to invest in a quantum that is very significant because they can’t do $5 million or $10 million at a time,” Kashyap said. “So they’ll invest between $75 [million] and $100 million. Then you see that that means for the full B round, it becomes $150 million and the dilution for the founder becomes significant. That’s basically the math that goes on, which sometimes artificially takes the pricing higher.” The total size of each B round involving Touring is $30 million to $40 million. But it’s important to see that venture capital, designed to capitalize on “broken” models and experiences in a wide range of markets, is beginning to train its sights on itself, where there’s a pressing need for greater liquidity. 

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My biggest challenge in the second week of Climate Drift Accelerator is limiting myself to just one challenge to work on. Skander Garroum and Marco Morawec have created a robust roadmap. There are so many interesting problems and ways to approach them. As I reviewed the topics from my substack (https://lnkd.in/gimxrMd4) (see below), I asked myself if there was a recurrent theme. - I want to see residential buildings become self-contained biospheres reusing water, energy and waste to minimize impact to resources - I am converting my garden to native plants to use less city water to plant - I looked at how my carbon footprint varied from living in Hawaii to living in Texas - The lower carbon impact of working remotely - I checked in with myself on this journey to climate change I have been on - My affinity for trees and how unique they are to addressing carbon capture I had an epiphany this week that it might be the circular economy so I am digging in here to start my journey. #ClimateDrift #Climate #NetZeroBuildings #CarbonEmissions #Afforestation #WaterSustainability

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⚡ Every week, I turn a whole lot of open tabs into the Climate Draft weekly digest featuring the best things to read, watch and listen to about climate tech. For job seekers, we also highlight open roles, upcoming events, and programs to help people accelerate their efforts and transfer their skills to work on climate solutions. If you haven't subscribed yet, check it out at climatedraft.org. ⚡

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That feeling when you watch the macro forces that undergird your Industrial Transformation & Supply Chain Technology investment thesis at ⁦‪REFASHIOND Ventures: The Industrial Transformation Fund unfolding every single day: Escalating Geopolitical Tensions; The Climate Crisis & Severe Weather; Consumer Behavior & Demographics. At most venture capital firms, Industrial Transformation & Supply Chain Technology is a tiny, emerging “area of interest” . . . At REFASHIOND Ventures, it’s our entire world. Join us. #IndustrialTransformation #SupplyChain #Innovation #Technology #Startups #VentureCapital

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This week at #ClimateWeekNYC, stress about geopolitical headwinds is palpable, a reluctance as elections near for countries to pledge new, major climate finance and other commitments. While the media landscape is littered with headlines calling out bumps in the road about troubled offshore wind projects and sluggish EV sales, reality paints a different picture. Let's look at the facts: 🔹Solar generation is now 29% cheaper than fossil fuels on a lifetime basis. 🔹In the U.S., hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and EVs accounted for more than 16% of light-duty vehicle sales in 2023 🔹Over 90% of global GDP is now covered by net-zero goals. 🔹60% of Gen Z and millennials are willing to pay more for sustainable products. The transition to a low-carbon economy isn't just happening - it's accelerating. Choosing inaction, or sitting on the sidelines isn't just unproductive - it's risky. As Steven Goldbach, Geoff Tuff, and Derek Pankratz argue in their recent MIT Sloan Management Review article, the question isn't "Should my business become more sustainable?" But "How should my business become more sustainable — and what advantages might that bring?" #ClimateWeekNYC #Sustainability #CleanEnergy #BusinessStrategy #ClimateAction

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Love this article from Monica (White) highlighting the investment we're making in the Carbon Black portfolio and the eco-system of Partners!

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BW Businessworld Weekly Tech Newsletter for this past week. Link >> https://lnkd.in/gsGEWHWr This past week was headlined by CES 2025, the premier consumer technology expo on the planet. We witnessed numerous launches from companies like HP, Asus, Acer, Dell, Gigabyte, MSI, Samsung and Valve. In other news, among the talks about low yields and high cost of TSMC's 2nm process, Qualcomm and Nvidia are rumoured to be considering Samsung's foundry services. Meanwhile, privacy concerns are high yet again after popular virtual assistant Siri has been accused of eavesdropping on users' conversations. Apple settled the suit for $95 million amounting to approximately $20 per person (the apparent price of your privacy). Intel and AMD launch new processor at CES 2025 displaying x86 in all its glory wrapped in an AI gift wrap. Nvidia was far behind as it unveiled its new RTX 50 series GPUs with Blackwell architecture. Yes, the same architecture it uses in its flagship GB200 AI chips. CEO Huang also unveiled the Digits, a $3,000 portable supercomputer that will probably democratise personal AI computing like no other. We also L'Oreal step up with its L'Oréal's Cell BioPrint, a skin analysis device capable of providing a personalised skin analysis in just five minutes. Netherlands and Nvidia's partnership to set up an AI supercomputer facility, Apple raising Tim Cook's salary to $74.6 million, tariff cuts on smartphone components and smartphones like the OnePlus 13 and Poco X7 Pro making their debut, all of this in this edition of BW Tech Weekly. Qualcomm | NVIDIA | Samsung Semiconductor | Apple | EY | FICCI | OnePlus | Microsoft | POCO India | Intel Corporation | AMD | MediaTek | Lenovo | L'Oréal | Valve corporation | #tech #consumertech #CES2025 #technewsletter #BWWeeklyTech

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Excellent blog post on the realities of Climate & VC. While these are "tough times for the transition," there are also many opportunities. Significant capital will continue to flow, with Corporate VCs playing a larger role in financing this transition. Through this process, they will strengthen their LP positions in funds tackling climate challenges. I receive weekly calls from large Holding & Corporate VCs seeking introductions to Climate / Energy / Infra VC Funds. When I ask about their target sub-verticals within Climate / Energy, they often mention that they default to focusing on specific regions due to limited resources and coverage. In other words, rather than evaluating whether a DACH VC is better positioned for solar or grid-tech compared to a Nordic or US VC, they simply pursue whichever regions they can access—a haphazard approach at best. I always advise LPs to evaluate VCs within their operating market context. Since sourcing is crucial in venture capital, Holding Cos. and Family Offices should carefully assess a VC's location, regulatory context, and market environment before investing and building a portfolio of Funds. I've heard "I wish I had discovered this VC / region sooner" far too many times... * At ComposeVC's Built World Fund, we do not invest in Climatetech or Energytech directly, only as it relates to our Built World thesis.

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We exceeded our ROAS goal by 79% for Galileo Learning. How? By just thinking strategically at every stage… We took time to understand the client’s goals and analytics. We took time to understand the climate and market. We took the time to find the best solution that fit our needs. We developed a cross-platform paid media strategy to support key areas of their business. The campaigns ran across Meta, TikTok, Google, Programmatic, CTV and IP targeting. Our geo-targeted approach tailored messaging and creatives to specific locations, enhancing efficiency and driving enrollments with the highest ROAS and lowest CPA. Creatives, messaging and keyword strategies were frequently tested and refreshed to maximize the success of advertisements. The results speak for themselves: 📈 Total impressions increased 133% YoY 📈 Paid media conversions increased 64% YoY 📈 We fell 23% under customer acquisition costs 📈 We measured a positive correlation between spend and revenue over a rolling 7-day window A strong strategic campaign will always exceed expectations! #advertising #marketing #paidmedia #digitalmarketing

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Very excited to be digging further into how we can accelerate the scaling of our decarbonization efforts with data insights from our past (cleantech 1.0) with Caleb Cunningham and Deanna Zhang! See our latest post in our series below. We are looking forward to collaborating with anyone else interested in these topics.

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'Drill, baby, drill' isn't just for oil and gas - it could unlock geothermal energy and geologic hydrogen too. That's the fascinating paradox of climate tech I discussed in a recent TechCrunch feature examining how VCs are viewing the sector's future. The reality is that policy impacts are rarely straightforward - deregulation of drilling and permitting, such as for overhauls in transmission and distribution, could actually accelerate clean energy solutions. Furthermore, the sector has shown remarkable resilience through multiple administrations and market cycles. The core message I shared with Tim De Chant and Rebecca Szkutak rings true: technological advancement and declining cost curves will keep driving solutions forward, regardless of the political situation. The energy landscape continually presents new opportunities at every turn. Worth a read for anyone interested in the exciting future of climatetech investing. https://lnkd.in/gjNdm4DW #ClimateInnovation #VentureCapital #Geothermal #GeologicHydrogen

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