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The materials developer formerly known as ELeather has a new name and $18 million in fresh growth funding from some of the world’s fanciest brands.
Now going by Generation Phoenix, the upcycler says its new investors include Coach parent Tapestry, Jaguar Land Rover (via InMotion Ventures) and Dr. Martens, plus lead investor Material Impact and prior investor Hermès.
The 15-year-old firm is based in Peterborough, U.K., and has worked with brands such as Nike and Delta. The upcycler intends to use the new cash to expand “into the luxury fashion and footwear categories,” Gen Phoenix said in a statement. The company claims it has diverted more than 8,000 tons of leather waste from landfills to date.
“Imagine what can happen when waste is no longer wasted,” Gen Phoenix says in an aspirational message on its new website. The upcycler tells TechCrunch that its “feedstock comes directly from tanneries where about 1/3 of a leather hide is typically discarded.” Turning the leather waste into a usable, leather-like product involves shredding and “entangling” it “around a high-performance core using nothing but high pressure water,” the firm said.
Gen Phoenix’s “recycled leather” is not entirely made of recycled materials. A spokesperson for the company tells TechCrunch that its products feature “up to 86% recycled content,” including recycled leather and recycled plastic. Still, the firm’s final product also contains virgin plastic.
Gen Phoenix founder and CEO John Kennedy explaining the company’s leather-like product. Image Credits: Gen Phoenix
Without sharing a specific deadline, a spokesperson for Gen Phoenix said the company aims to “reduce and eliminate virgin materials from their products completely.”
The upcycler is also “commercialising a bio-based coating system and bio-based substitutions for any synthetic materials used in the process,” the spokesperson added. Hopefully, we’ll soon see Gen Phoenix kick virgin materials altogether.
Zooming out: Gen Phoenix’s inclusion of plastics is hardly unusual, even for “sustainable” brands. Fossil fuel–based materials permeate the fashion business. Polyester? Nylon? Elastane? All plastic.
Even the rise of recycled plastic fabrics warrants deep skepticism; the resulting synthetic clothing is rarely recycled, and the microplastics they shed go basically everywhere, including the ocean, mountaintops, the insides of sea critters and even our own bodies. Addressing the industry’s climate and broader environmental toll demands rethinking everything, from how we dye fabrics to killing “fast fashion” altogether.
Gen Phoenix’s upcycled leather woos luxury brand investors by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
Investors just pumped millions into Irrigreen, a startup vying to quench America’s thirsty lawns with “approximately 50% less water.”
Seed investor Ulu led the $15 million funding round. Two tech investors that are focused on water conservation — Burnt Island and Echo River — also chipped in, among a handful of others.
The San Francisco–based sprinkler startup says it maps lawns to drizzle water precisely where lawn-havers want it, without clumsily soaking walkways and passersby.
Irrigreen’s system tasks users with tracing the contours of their yard, and identifying obstacles, such as footpaths and driveways. The tech sounds somewhat like Roomba’s Keep-Out Zones, yet these sprinklers are stationary; instead of wandering the lawn, the startup says its sprinkler heads adjust the stream to send water where you want it.
Image Credit: Irrigreen
Americans are thirsty mfs: The typical family uses around 320 gallons per day, “about 30 percent of which is devoted to outdoor uses,” the EPA says. Water is already scarce, and droughts exacerbated by climate change make water conservation all the more critical. There are lots of ways to conserve water, and outdoor options include planting native ground cover and installing custom irrigation systems.
In other words, internet-connected sprinklers like Irrigreen’s are not the only way to save water. Still, founder Shane Dyer tells TechCrunch that the startup’s system is cheaper than traditional options “for larger yards (those with 7 or more zones).”
Dyer added, “Our hardware costs more, but the labor to install is 1/3 of a traditional system since there is 80% less heads and trenching and piping.” Regardless, if tech is what gets you jazzed about saving water, then by all means give it a go.
TechCrunch has not tested Irrigreen’s sprinklers. The startup pointed us to a Fresno State study it commissioned, which found that its sprinkler heads used around 40% less water by avoiding “overwatering, overspray, and application rate inaccuracy.” Dyer told TechCrunch that Irrigreen also factors in weather, soil, plant types, and shade to “calculate the minimum water needed for healthy plants.” The startup says these additional factors deliver around 50% water and cost savings in all.
Dyer declined to share Irrigreen’s valuation but said the new cash will go toward “developing next generation sprinkler software, creating next generation cloud watering intelligence, and smartphone app control and reporting features.”
Among the coming software updates, Dyer said Irrigreen will be able to adjust the amount of water it sends to different sections of plants via a single sprinkler head. This could come in handy if, for example, you plopped some thirsty flowers beside some drought-tolerant shrubs.
Irrigreen’s precision sprinklers prevent water waste and wet legs by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
A brown macroalgae native to the Atlantic’s Sargasso Sea is increasingly a menace to coastal ecosystems and communities across the Gulf of Mexico, ever since mats of the normally beneficial seaweed (known as sargassum) exploded in numbers in 2011. This is the backdrop for Carbonwave, which recently raised $5 million to put the hulking algae blooms to good use.
Researchers say farm and sewage runoff is likely driving the now 5,000-mile-wide “Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt.” Climate change may also be playing a role.
There’s no need to run screaming from sargassum, despite the tone of some stories covering the Florida-bound blooms. Still, they pose a threat to coral reefs and tourism-dependent livelihoods alike. When the stuff piles up on beaches, it rots, emitting skunky hydrogen sulfide.
The recent sargassum surges are forcing folks to find creative ways to get rid of it, and already, possible applications run the gamut. Researchers and entrepreneurs aim to turn it into syrup, bricks and even jet fuel. As for Carbonwave, the Boston- and Puerto Rico–based startup is using it in fertilizer, cosmetics and even faux leather.
Backed by ESG-themed investment firms Natixis and Viridios Capital, as well as ocean-focused VC Katapult, Carbonwave says the new cash will help it scale production of its seaweed-based emulsifier for cosmetics. The startup said in a statement that it “has already sold half a ton” of its emulsifier, which it created as an alternative to petroleum-based ingredients. The company also claimed that its sargassum fertilizer “reduces the need of” climate change-driving nitrogen fertilizer.
CEO Geoff Chapin said Carbonwave makes these products through a “proprietary extraction process,” which involves pressing the seaweed and removing the arsenic. The process yields a liquid fertilizer, while the leftover pulp forms the basis for the emulsifier and fake leather. The way Chapin tells it, the company uses “almost every part of the seaweed to make these products.”
Carbonwave is part of a wave of startups vying to turn algae into environmentally friendlier products. For starters, there’s H&M-backed Algiknit (now Keel Labs), which creates textiles; a slew of bioplastics companies, including Loliware and ULUU; and a firm called Umaro, which makes sea-bacon. Seaweed startups often focus on commercializing kelp in one way or another, but a few (like Carbonwave and Seaweed Generation) focus on sargassum.
“We need to put it to good use before it creates more ecological and climate harm,” Carbonwave told TechCrunch.
The startup added that it may up its $5 million Series A with additional funding later on. It has secured at least $12 million to date.
Startup says the seaweed blobbing toward Florida has a silver lining by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
Green Li-ion says its battery recycling machines are the “size of a small house,” so it’s no wonder the Singapore-based startup needed to top up on funds. It’d only raised about $15 million ahead of its latest cash infusion.
This week, Green Li-ion announced a $20.5 million “pre-Series B” round led by climate-tech investor TRIREC. The startup said other investors, including SOSV and Equinor Ventures (the VC arm of the Norway-owned fossil fuel giant), also chipped in.
The deal boosts Green Li-ion’s post-money valuation to $187 million after just three years, chief executive Leon Farrant told TechCrunch. The startup’s logo is (you guessed it!) a green lion.
The new cash will help the startup scale production of its recycling tech, which the firm says can process “100% of all used lithium batteries” and pop out precursor cathode active material that’ll eventually go into fresh lithium-ion batteries.
Lithium is in high demand and mining the metal wreaks havoc on the environment, making recycling tech a crucial tool in lowering the footprint of things like electric cars and storage for renewable energy.
Image Credits: Green Li-ion
Green Li-ion doesn’t recycle batteries itself; it licenses its tech to battery makers and recyclers, including Aleon and TES (which is owned by SK, the South Korea-based fossil fuel giant). Green Li-ion aims to crank out 50 recycling units per year via two factories — one in Houston, Texas and another in Singapore.
As for that “pre-Series B,” Farrant said the startup has split its Series B into two parts, which encompasses the raise announced this week and another in about nine months. “Due to our relatively low levels of fund raising to date,” the founder added, the startup “needed to draw a line in the sand and establish a valuation increase for the larger portion of the raise.”
Rawr? Green Li-ion recharges with $20.5M to scale its recycling tech by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
Elemental Excelerator, a nonprofit investor in climate-tech startups including BlocPower and ChargerHelp, says it’s “doubling down” in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank‘s collapse.
Elemental intends to pump $43 million more into climate-tech startups — $13 million of which will be set aside for its twelfth accelerator program, beginning in October. The investor hasn’t secured all of the money yet; it is “in the process of raising the funds,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch.
In a nod to both the VC slowdown and the run on SVB, Elemental said it intends for the cash to “fill funding gaps” and “accelerate climate solutions with deep community impact.” Climate tech evaded the funding drought of 2022, but the fall of SVB seems to have rattled the sector, given the bank’s longtime work with climate tech startups.
Elemental’s interests are about as broad as climate tech itself — spanning electric vehicles, energy storage, recycling tech, cement decarbonization, seaweed cultivation and composting.
The firm’s funding target represents a step up from prior years. In 2022, it put up $8 million for 17 climate startups, offering them between $300,000 and $600,000 apiece. This time around, Elemental wants to pump between $350,000 and $1 million into up to 20 ventures.
As for the remaining $30 million, Elemental chief executive Dawn Lippert told TechCrunch that the nonprofit will “invest an additional $30 million in catalytic project funding for three to six scale-up projects.” The firm said the startup-run projects must show they’ll have “deep impact,” which it defines as “demonstrable” greenhouse gas cuts and “significant positive community impact.”
Elemental takes equity in exchange for its investments. Lippert told TechCrunch that the nonprofit “invests any upside from these investments into supporting future entrepreneurs.” The non-profit says it has raised $57M to date.
Corrected on March 20 to reflect that Elemental has raised a total of $57M to date.
Elemental aims to pump $43M into climate startups with ‘deep community impact’ by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
Tesla is opening up Powerwall home battery sales, nearly two years after limiting them because its supply was “too low.”
Tesla announced its backup battery tech long ago, in 2015, explicitly intending for the product to work in tandem with solar panels. Yet up until 2021, the automaker also allowed folks to buy the big batteries separately. Eventually, Elon Musk clarified that supply issues were to blame for the restrictions, and the executive teased in 2022 that “ordering a Powerwall by itself should be possible” by the end of the year.
Some months apparently behind schedule, this is now happening — with caveats.
Tesla said this week that it’s now selling Powerwalls separately “in select US markets.” The company hasn’t put out an official list of these markets (as far as we can tell), but Tesla’s website offers a way for prospective shoppers to check if they live in an approved spot.
For example: I typed in my Los Angeles address, and Tesla’s site responded: “We’re assessing where to service next. Reserve your Powerwall to help us expand into your area.” However, the standalone device is available in other areas, such as Austin, Texas.
Tesla relocated to Austin in 2021. A year later, it launched an invite-only electric plan in parts of the state where retail choice is available, including Houston and Dallas. As we wrote in December, the plan is called Tesla Electric and it’s exclusively available to Powerwall users.
Tesla recently told investors that it intends to expand its electric plan to other markets, but the company hasn’t said where it will go next.
You might wonder, “Why would someone buy a Powerwall without solar panels? The stand-alone device could appeal to folks who aren’t in an ideal spot for sun, or for those who don’t want to pay for solar and a home battery all at once. As we observed at CES 2023, lots of companies seem to believe that demand for backup batteries and generators is on the rise — and surely extreme weather events linked to climate change could be driving interest.
Tesla has a home battery to sell you, with or without solar by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
Like all of its peers in the tech industry, Microsoft has a carbon pollution problem.
The software giant’s emissions are on the rise, in spite of a pledge from the company to be carbon negative by 2030. This ticking clock explains Microsoft’s latest deal to address its environmental toll: It’s turning to Running Tide to offset some of its emissions via the ocean.
Running Tide, which also works with Stripe and Shopify, aims to use this money to lock away massive quantities of carbon dioxide. Running Tide has said it will do this through efforts such as growing a whole lot of kelp on biodegradable buoys, intending for the algae to eventually sink to the ocean floor. The startup has a white paper on its work, but if you’re looking for just a tad more detail, here is what business development head Jordan Breighner told TechCrunch today:
“We combine wood and alkaline minerals to form a small carbon buoy that we can seed with algae seed and deploy deep into the open ocean,” said Breighner. “The buoy floats, the alkaline minerals dissolve, reducing ocean acidification and removing carbon through a process called ocean alkalinity enhancement. The algae grows rapidly, absorbing CO2. After less than three months the buoy and the algae and the embodied fast carbon sink to the bottom of the ocean, and if they sink below 1,000 meters the carbon is gone for roughly 1,000 years.”
“However, not all buoys are seeded,” Breighner added. “That is based on ocean conditions that are optimal for algae growth.”
On the whole, the carbon removal business is still early in its development. It has not yet proved it can lastingly draw down carbon at the scale it eventually aspires to reach. Some scientists also worry that fully developed, venture-backed sequestration schemes, such as gigantic kelp farms, could unintentionally harm ocean ecosystems, MIT Technology Review reported last year.
So far, Breighner said that Running Tide has “only removed less than 1,000 tons of carbon in test and research deployments.” The startup intends to remove up to 12,000 tons over two years for Microsoft alone.
The deal is valued in the single-digit millions, Running Tide said. A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on the price.
Microsoft’s most recent sustainability report showed a 21.5% increase in emissions from 2020 to 2021. The software giant attributed this to scope 3 emissions, which it said were linked to data center development and more customers using its products more often. In other words, Microsoft grew its cloud and gaming businesses, and its net emissions rose in tandem. The company aims to be carbon negative in the next seven or so years, and its plan to get there hinges on carbon removal.
Microsoft bets on algae to mitigate its growing carbon footprint by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
Honda bailed on the Clarity — its only hydrogen-powered car in the U.S. — but the automaker hasn’t quit on fuel cells.
That’s the message Honda sent with a peculiar announcement today: It’s putting some old Clarity fuel cells back to work, combining them into a backup power system for its data center just south of Los Angeles.
This is just a “proof of concept,” Honda told TechCrunch, but it aims to commercialize the tech and sees potential applications beyond helping data centers keep the lights on.
The used fuel cell systems in Honda’s backup-power demonstration once powered leased Clarities (via an electrochemical reaction that combines hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity). Honda retired these used fuel cells for transport, but they apparently still work well enough to drive its server farm in case of a power failure. Previously, Honda relied on diesel for backup power at the facility. (Honda said it uses this particular data center to “securely maintain and access its proprietary data,” because “automotive design is data intensive.”)
It’s nice to hear that Honda found a use for its old fuel cells, but crucially, this demonstration isn’t as environmentally friendly as it could be. The company told TechCrunch that it isn’t exclusively using green hydrogen in the pilot, which means at least some of it was generated via fossil fuels.
This is the trouble with using hydrogen to generate electricity: Fuel cells do so while spitting out only water and heat as exhaust, but they’re still indirectly pollutive if that hydrogen comes from dirty sources (as most hydrogen fuel does). Correcting this demands a whole lot more green hydrogen production, on top of whatever infrastructure is needed to deliver the hydrogen. This is why some automakers don’t believe in the future of hydrogen-powered cars; they argue it’s simply too much work to go that route.
But! Honda still believes in hydrogen-powered cars. In fact, this demonstration is also kind of an ad for Honda’s next-generation fuel cells, which the company developed with General Motors.
As Honda tells it, the next-gen fuel cell systems will power its upcoming hydrogen-powered vehicle, which is “based on the Honda CR-V” and is due in 2024.
Honda also plans to use these new fuel cell systems for backup power as it scales the tech. That means this effort won’t be as circular, if at all, when it’s commercialized. Yet, on the upside, Honda said it intends to exclusively use green hydrogen when it commercializes the backup-power units.
Beyond data centers, Honda added that it’s considering other applications, including “peak shaving.” This means Honda thinks industrial customers could use its generators at peak times, when electricity is priciest and grids are strained.
Honda said it aims to develop its proof of concept into a “new business model.” Yet, the pilot is also a convenient way for the company to talk up its new fuel cells. As battery-electric cars permeate the U.S. market, Honda has an interest in keeping hydrogen in headlines.
Honda’s aging hydrogen fuel cells get new life in data center by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
Air Company, a startup that turns carbon dioxide into perfume, vodka, hand sanitizer and aviation fuel, is now on the U.S. Defense Department’s payroll, so to speak.
The JetBlue and Toyota-backed company struck an up-to $65 million deal to help the Air Force capture CO2 and turn it into “sustainable” aviation fuel on base.
Air Company said the carbon will initially come from industrial fermentation facilities — which is how the startup makes fuel at its “pilot plant” in Brooklyn, New York. But the company also has its hands in direct air capture, which is “part of the technology that Air Company would be building out on site,” a spokesperson for the firm said.
The goal is not for Air Company to supply fuel but to provide the Air Force with tech to make the fuel itself. The company described producing fuel on bases as “harm reduction,” saying it prevents “fuel transportation as a target for explosives.”
“The contract is tiered out over the next several years,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch. Air Company aims to work with the Air Force to produce “tens of hundreds of gallons,” and later “tens of thousands of gallons,” of jet fuel. As one astute TechCrunch reader commented below, “tens of hundreds” is also known as “thousands.”
The Department of Defense is a notorious carbon polluter, though it is cagey about how much fuel it burns. Researchers at England’s Lancaster University estimate the DoD emits “more climate-changing gases than most medium-sized countries.” The same researchers argue that “action on climate change demands shuttering vast sections of the military machine.”
Sustainable aviation fuel can come from lots of things; possible feedstocks include household waste, a variety of crops, and used cooking oil. The source of the fuel, as well as how it’s produced and transported, determines whether it’s actually as sustainable as the name suggests.
Asked about its environmental impact, Air Company told TechCrunch that it exclusively uses renewable electricity to produce its fuel today, which it called “completely carbon neutral when burned.”
This story was updated on March 1, 2023 with additional details on Air Company’s deal.
Startup inks $65M deal to help Air Force make ‘sustainable’ jet fuel on bases by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
No matter how you slice it, buildings are serious climate change drivers. Every component of the so-called built environment — from off-site materials production and construction to electricity and maintenance — comes at a steep environmental cost. The sector is responsible for nearly 40% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions globally, according to the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental group.
In the coming decades, the built environment’s carbon footprint is poised to grow with the sector itself, making it both a critical and lucrative target for climate-focused startups. This is the backdrop for Plantd, which raised a $10 million Series A to replace panels that are nearly ubiquitous in single- and multi-family homes.
Plantd aims to supplant materials such as oriented strand board, or OSB, which is an engineered panel made of wood strips and adhesives. You may not know them by name, but you’ve likely seen them before — in floors, roofs, furniture, and so on. The industry calls OSB a sustainable plywood alternative, because the wood strips don’t need to come from old-growth forests. Still, Plantd thinks it can do better with its own panels, which are made from a “proprietary blend of perennial grasses that grow exceptionally fast.”
Reached by TechCrunch, the startup declined to disclose the names of the woody grasses. But judging by an image on the startup’s website, they look kind of like bamboo.
“Unlike trees used for engineered wood products which are harvested after growing for 10–12 years, our biomass regrows and is harvested every year from the same acreage,” said co-founder and CEO Josh Dorfman. “This enables Plantd to capture vastly more atmospheric carbon faster than trees can and do so using less land.”
Insurance-focused investor American Family Ventures led Plantd’s Series A, while IDEA Fund Partners also chipped in on the round. Earlier investors in the startup include Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and Palmetto solar CEO Chris Kemper, said Plantd.
The startup told TechCrunch that it raised its $10 million Series A at a $65 million postmoney valuation.
Plantd said its panels are stronger than traditional panels and will deliver serious environmental upsides, but the startup has not yet proven its claims at scale (hence the Series A). Dorfman told TechCrunch that Plantd is currently producing prototypes and is “not yet in the market.”
Pass the grass: How Plantd aims to decarbonize new buildings by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
“That doesn’t look safe.”
The statement would follow me for days. Every time I mentioned I was test driving Arcimoto’s Fun Utility Vehicle — an open-air, all-electric three-wheeler — a friend or co-worker would pipe up to state, what to them, seemed like the obvious.
After all, most cars have four wheels, not three. They also tend to have doors and airbags too.
Arcimoto’s FUV (or Fooove as I chose to pronounce it) has something most of those fully enclosed sedans and subcompacts do not: It’s a thrill to drive without feeling like a deathtrap.
Legally speaking, the FUV is a motorcycle. I think of it more as an electric go-kart that hits 75 mph on the highway. If you’re like my colleague Brian Heater, however, your first thought might be “Flintmobile.” Another colleague wondered if it was more like an ATV. While yet another friend later said the FUV reminded them of a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe.
Whatever you conclude on first blush, one thing’s for sure: If you want to drive something that everyone will hastily form an opinion of, then oh boy is this the car for you.
A quick, 10-minute walkthrough and lap around the block was apparently all the training I needed before an Arcimoto staffer sent me off on my own in the FUV.
I picked it up at GoCar Tours Las Vegas, and really that’s the rub. The FUV could be a neat little neighborhood cruiser, but in a town like Vegas, this three-wheeler screams touristic excursion. Arcimoto may as well’ve built it for soaking in the spectacle of the Strip, but I’d like to think the little guy also introduced some flavor of its own to the otherwise SUV-dominated roads.
Driving down the Strip in the Arcimoto FUV
The FUV features heated seats and handlebars to compensate for the wind chill. There’s also a steel panoramic roof (that GoCar filled in with ads), a hand and foot break (the former is regenerative), Bluetooth speakers and a projected 102-mile range in the city.
I adjusted to the handlebar throttle (and missing steering wheel) quicker than I expected. At a traffic signal, I queued a few songs I felt comfortable subjecting passersby to, sank deeper into the front seat and rode around like I had real errands to do.
I’m a habitual, smug pedestrian and don’t own a car, but as I pulled into a pharmacy parking lot and tugged my tote bag out of the trunk (a small, lockable “cargo box”), I thought: “Hey, three wheels are better than none.” I was riding high on Pixies‘ Doolittle album and the novelty of it all, cruising down virtually empty roads shortly before CES attendees and cabs would clog Sin City’s arteries.
The FUV is tiny, but it can’t exactly weave around traffic like a conventional motorcycle. Still, there were moments I deeply appreciated its small stature, and steered around stretches of cars that were taking up half the lane waiting to turn.
Another shot of Arcimoto’s FUV on the Strip
Plus, I could park just about anywhere. It takes up so little space that reserving an entire parking spot for the FUV seems almost wasteful.
Riding around with a passenger in the back was also a joy. You may not believe it, but the roof does a nice job of reflecting sound, so I could easily chat with my colleague Natalie Christman while she filmed from the rear seat.
Having someone along with you also means you’re bound to spot more reactions from pedestrians. In our case, they ranged from blank stares and upward nods to outright yelling. It isn’t easy to hear what someone’s shouting from the sidewalk across ultra-wide streets, but I made out some variations of, “what’s that!?” and “Is that new?!” (It isn’t. The FUV debuted in 2019.)
Parking the FUV with plenty of room to spare
My stay in Vegas was exceedingly wet, as rare storms dumped buckets on the city. I considered this a challenge for both myself and the FUV. I agreed to endure a couple days of chilled knuckles and wet pants, so long as the goofy little vehicle did not slip ‘n slide us beneath a hulking pickup. It didn’t!
The rain wasn’t too challenging. Sometimes my hands went a bit numb despite the heated grips. (If I owned a FUV, I would just keep a pair of gloves in the back.) Occasionally, I dodged puddles. It was a small hassle to brush rainwater off the seat and the roof mostly did its job.
In a sprinkle, I sipped an iced latte and jotted down notes on how cold I felt. Why am I this way?
Other FUV downsides included the extra-heavy steering. It really made me work to get around turns from a full stop, handling almost like a car without power steering. I was told when I picked it up that the latest iteration of the FUV addresses this and steers lighter.
After a while, the attention got old, too. I’m an introverted trans lady, so I’m not here for the stares that accompany a visually loud vehicle. I don’t see this as a deal breaker, though — just an observation. I also love very goofy cars, so this is more of a personal contradiction than anything else.
The FUV is certainly goofy. However, in normally dry locales like Las Vegas or say, Los Angeles, it struck me as, dare I say, practical. I would prefer a teeny city car with doors and windows, and there are three-wheelers on the market that offer just that, including Electra Meccanica’s SOLO.
With room for a passenger (unlike the SOLO) and an overall breezy driving experience on a single charge, I still think Arcimoto’s FUV is less silly than it initially lets on.
The name makes it seem like a car best left for tourists; I’d happily ride it around my neighborhood for light errands. It seemed sturdy and dependable in the three and a half days I spent with it, and riding on three wheels seemed just as natural to me as four. (Side note: I did take it on the highway, reaching around 60 mph, and that was a bit too thrilling for my taste.)
There are plenty of reasons to opt for an extra-small vehicle, especially if you live in a dense area. For one, smaller vehicles require fewer materials and smaller batteries, which at least in theory should translate to lower emissions. Smaller vehicles are also less likely to kill pedestrians.
If you have any safety concerns, you can check out what Arcimoto has to say about that here. A spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch that the FUV’s “steel upper frame meets the FMVSS 216a Roof Crush Resistance standard.”
The car also includes a crash-sensor that disconnects the battery on impact and “dual 3-point safety seatbelts.” That means you have to buckle up twice when you get in.
If you want to try the FUV out for yourself, you may want to hurry. After laying off dozens of staffers, Eugene, Oregon-based Arcimoto alerted investors in January that it was running out of cash.
“We have halted our production of vehicles and will require substantial additional funding to resume production,” the automaker said.
Without fresh funds, Arcimoto warned at the time that it “will be required to cease our operations and/or seek bankruptcy protection.” The startup’s market cap sat around $13.5 million when this story was published, a far cry from its $1 billion-plus high two years ago.
The FUV starts at $17,900 before subsidies, but the price creeps above $25,000 with upgrades like fancier seats, half doors, a rear cargo box and cup holders. Arcimoto also sells used FUVs; on its site, the company has one listed for $16,800.
If you know something about Arcimoto, reach out to this reporter via email or Twitter DM.
[gallery ids="2483830,2483831,2483829,2483832,2483834"]The Arcimoto Fun Utility Vehicle is a blast (that might not last) by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
After sparking California’s second-largest wildfire ever, and dozens more in recent years, it’s no secret that Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) — one of the nation’s largest utilities — is interested in alternatives to aboveground transmission lines.
One option touted by PG&E is to bury thousands of miles of power lines in “high fire-threat areas.” That effort is underway, and it will cost billions and take a decade or more to complete, per the utility’s projections. Yet, another piece of the puzzle may be microgrids.
BoxPower, a startup working on such tech, says its mini power stations can do a better job of delivering reliable, low-carbon energy to folks who live “on the edges of distribution lines.”
Neither route will scrub away PG&E’s horrid environmental track record, but as climate change drives more extreme heat waves, solar-powered microgrids could help remote communities keep the lights on even when the macrogrid goes down, while eliminating some dangerous power lines in the process. That’s the idea, and it’s why Grass Valley, California–based BoxPower raised a $5 million Series A round from Swell Energy backer Aligned Climate Capital.
“By placing the Microgrid within ~250ft of the customer, BoxPower eliminates all overhead power lines,” BoxPower co-founder and CEO Angelo Campus said in a statement to TechCrunch. Featuring solar arrays, big batteries and backup propane generators, the power generated by the startup ultimately reaches rural residents “via low-voltage underground wires,” said Campus.
Along with utilities, BoxPower says it has also worked on residential, commercial, and agricultural projects, which are typically “islanded” or not connected to the main grid. In all, the startup says it currently operates more than 35 microgrids across California, Puerto Rico, Alaska and Hawaii.
“BoxPower is on track to deploy an additional 25–30 micro grid systems this year,” Campus added.
BoxPower wants to cut emissions, wildfire risk by taking power off the main grid by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
Highlighting the plastic industry’s infamous track record on recycling, London-based Recycleye says it raised $17 million in new funding led by “deep tech” investor DCVC.
The startup claims its recycling-picking robots can identify materials “at an unrivaled 60 frames per second” and sort them more accurately than humans can. Ultimately, the startup says its tech cuts the “cost of sorting materials.” TechCrunch has reached out to the company for information on its projected cost savings.
Based in Palo Alto, DCVC says its mission is to “multiply the benefits of capitalism for everyone while reducing its costs.” Climate tech is one of its focuses, and one lens through which we can see capitalism’s environmental toll. In the case of plastics, the oil industry has long preached the virtues of plastic recycling, while doubting its economic viability, in order to sell more virgin plastic.
Every stage of plastic production disrupts the climate and natural world, from “the extraction and transport of the fossil fuels that are the primary feedstocks for plastic, to refining and manufacturing, to waste management, to the plastic that enters the environment,” the Center for International Environmental Law wrote in 2019.
Plastic pollution — a major climate change driver — is rising, too. That is due in part to shortfalls in “waste management and recycling,” OECD, an intergovernmental body, said last year. The group concluded that someone needs to “create a separate and well-functioning market for recycled plastics.”
The trouble is: Sorting, melting and ultimately reusing most plastic — which you can only recycle a couple of times — is way costlier than buying virgin plastic. Much of the time, we simply don’t do it. Most plastic (about 91%, per OECD) is not recycled and single-use plastic production is at an all-time high.
By focusing on speeding up scanning, identifying and sorting used materials, Recycleye is one among many companies that are attempting to fix part of this broken system with AI. Citing OECD’s report, Recycleye said, “Changing this wasteful and environmentally damaging dynamic, seen across a range of materials, presents a tremendous business opportunity.”
Recycleye says its machine learning and scanning tech “is twice as fast as the industry standard and means that each item is seen on average 30 times as it passes along the conveyor belt, with double the chance of being accurately identified before picking.” We’ve reached out to the company for more context on these figures.
Several other investors chipped in on Recycleye’s new Series A funding round, including London-based early-stage investor Playfair Capital.
Recycleye grabs $17M, calling plastic crisis a ‘tremendous business opportunity’ by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
Rebellyous, a startup that’s striving to build “a better chicken,” has raised at least $20 million in fresh funding, TechCrunch has learned.
Based in Seattle, the venture-backed company calls its production tech the “most advanced plant-based meat manufacturing system on the planet.”
Rebellyous aims to raise as much as $30.7 million in total, according to a public regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The report names previously announced backers YB Choi of Cercano Management, angel investor Owen Gunden and Mike Miller of Liquid 2 Ventures among its directors. The filing indicates that at least 55 undisclosed investors chipped in on the latest round, but as usual the SEC disclosure leaves us wanting more.
Reached for comment on the fundraise, Rebellyous chief of staff Tina Meredith declined to share details on the startup’s plan for the money. Still, the company’s website lays out efforts to build “the next-gen meat machine,” dubbed Mock Two. Rebellyous calls its tech an alternative to factory farming, which it bluntly and justifiably describes as “fucking disgusting.”
The filing comes as some of the most prominent names in faux meat struggle to realize their overarching vision of disrupting big meat (which is more popular than ever in the U.S., per somewhat dated reports).
Impossible Foods could soon lay off 20% of its staff, according to a January 30 Bloomberg report. Likewise, Beyond Meat announced it would lay off 19% of its staff in October amid reportedly weak sales. For early-stage startups such as Rebellyous, all eyes will be on profitability, differentiation and, as always, cost.
Plant-based Rebellyous is raising millions to ‘rethink the nugget’ by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
The folks behind Nebia — the techy shower-head startup backed by Apple CEO Tim Cook and a host of other big names — have sold to Mark Cuban’s Brondell, which makes bidets, air purifiers and the like.
The Nebia name and water-saving nozzles will live on following the deal, co-founders Philip Winter and Gabriel Parisi-Amon said in a call with TechCrunch. Despite my nudging, the pair declined to say what Brondell paid to scoop up the brand, which launched on Kickstarter eons ago (in 2015). If you know the terms of the deal, wouldn’t it be cool if you hit me up?
Along with Cook and a bevy of early Kickstarter supporters, Nebia raised money from former Google boss Eric Schmidt’s family office, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, Fitbit co-founder James Park, Y-Combinator, Stanford — need I go on?
Nebia stood out when it launched with pricey nozzles that blasted users with a fine, hurricanic mist, while conserving up to 70% of the water a typical shower head sprays out in the process, the startup claimed. This proved polarizing; Nebia’s exuberant storm won over yours truly, but divided a newsroom with its unconventional take on a beloved ritual. Over the years, Nebia dialed things down to win over more customers, whittling its projected water savings to around 50% in the process.
During its time as an independent company, Nebia estimated its customers conserved more “500 million gallons of water,” as well as the “equivalent of over 27 million kWh (27 GWh) of energy.” The firm said the energy savings were “roughly equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 2,700 American homes.” Winter told TechCrunch that Nebia’s products, including those it made with Moen, have reached more than 100,000 homes.
“I’m working right now on future products [at Brondell],” said Parisi-Amon — “ones that are directly related to what we’ve made before, and ones that are like completely different, but can still apply the materials that we’ve worked on and the analysis that we’ve worked on.”
Winter and the rest of Nebia’s 15-person team also joined Brondell, the co-founders said.
Both executives emphasized that they’re still committed to helping folks conserve water — a critical task as climate change drives droughts.
“That is why we started and that is why I, at the time, left Apple,” said Parisi-Amon. “I wanted to use my mechanical engineering degree to make a product that literally anyone could swap in for what they had, and was better for the environment,” added Parisi-Amon. “And that work is not done.”
Winter said as much as our call wound down earlier this week. “As the population grows, and we use more water per capita, and we have more frequent episodes of drought and more acute droughts, the equation is not a very positive one,” said Winter. “We have to figure out ways to use water more effectively.”
Mark Cuban’s bidet brand buys shower startup that wooed Tim Cook by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
The growth keeps coming for Tesla’s energy storage business.
On Wednesday, the automaker said its home and utility-scale battery deployments reached 6.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) during its fiscal 2022, calling it “by far the highest level of deployments we have achieved.” That’s up from about 4 GWh in 2021.
For context, the average American home consumes 10,632 kilowatt hours — just over 0.01 GWh — per year, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
In the fourth quarter alone, Tesla said energy storage deployments reached 2.5 GWh — up from 2.1 GWh in Q3. Tesla’s energy storage business includes its Powerwall home batteries and its much larger Megapacks.
Tesla also updated investors on its solar business, saying deployments totaled 348 megawatts in 2022. In the final quarter of the year, the automaker’s solar deployments fell just short of recent highs, hitting 100 MW in Q4.
The disclosures cap a supremely wobbly fiscal 2022 for Tesla.
In July, the automaker’s solar energy arm announced its “strongest” quarter in four years, with 106 megawatts deployed in Q2. Tesla said something similar about its energy storage business in Q3, declaring in October that it recorded “by far the highest level [of growth it has] ever achieved,” with home and utility-scale battery deployments rocketing 62% year over year. Tesla also dipped its toes in the Texas retail electricity market with an invite-only plan called Tesla Electric.
Yet, Tesla reportedly put solar roof installations on ice during this timeframe, and one of its Megapack batteries caught fire at a California power storage site in September, state utility PG&E said. Tesla also missed some Wall Street analysts’ expectations in recent quarters — falling short on revenue in Q3 and deliveries in Q3 and Q4. Earlier on Wednesday, Tesla’s stock price was trading at a two-year low.
Tesla’s energy storage arm caps 2022 with ‘highest level’ of deployments ever by Harri Weber originally published on TechCrunch
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