$8.1 billion reasons why climate tech is hot

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Arturo Pardo, Lucila Sarquis & Paula Echeverria
May 07, 2024

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The Met Gala has just wrapped up, and the internet is buzzing with memes! In today’s Startup Club, we're diving into several hot topics 🔥:

🕶️ Climate Tech Startups are having an excellent $ea$on—here's why.
🕶️ The Startup IPO Market is quieter this year. Will 2025 be its comeback?
🕶️ Hong Kong: Now a top choice for global crypto firms.
🕶️ Data-Driven VCs: Discover the leading venture capitalists in Europe.

Don't miss our upcoming events! 📅

 Scroll down to explore more! 👇🏼

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Six bullets of updates

  1. 🔢 Data is increasingly dictating the investment decisions of venture capital firms, according to a report by Data-Driven VC.

  2. ₿ Hong Kong is becoming a preferred refuge for global crypto firms due to its clear regulations and supportive policies

  3. 🤖 Despite the rise of AI tools, Quora continues to see record numbers of users.  

  4. 🏁 Emily Knight, President of The Engine Accelerator: startups should seek "patient resources and patient capital".

  5. 🤝 OpenAI and Stack Overflow are partnering to improve AI models and programming-related tasks.

  6. 🏳️‍🌈 #Apps Archer, Match Group's dating app for gay, bi, and queer men, has scored over 685k downloads since its US debut last year.

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It’s the best season for climate startups

The first quarter of 2024 brought a record of $8.1B raised for climate technology startups, as a PitchBook report indicates. Compared to the previous quarter, the increase in value is 400%. Prominent investors such as Climate Capital, Lowercarbon Capital, and SOSV have led the charge despite deals decreasing by 20% since the fourth quarter of 2023.

In this field, there is a preference for operations in the climate technology sector focused on materials such as green steel, green hydrogen, or battery materials. The increase in investment in the industry may indicate a trend where nine-figure fundraises become the norm, with success stories like battery recycler Ascend Elements and Swedish startup H2 Green Steel.

With the world needing to invest $230 trillion over the next 25 years to achieve net-zero carbon emissions, the climate technology space will play a significant role. However, early-stage companies still face considerable challenges in securing funding in what has been termed the "valley of death" in startup circles.

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Startup Events and Deadlines

  1. Today! | How to close a Funding Round (it’s not just the pitch deck) | May 7 | Webinar

  2. Crash Course in Financial Modeling | May 13 | Webinar

  3.  Special Benefit for Startup Club Subscribers | SaaStock: USA | Conference | May 13-15 | Austin, TX

  4. Beloved Tech Brands: San Francisco | May 15 | San Francisco

  5. Financial Modeling Course | May 20 - 24 | Bootcamp

  6. Propel24 | May 21 | Conference

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Invest before this company becomes a household name

What if you had the opportunity to invest in the biggest electronics products before they launched into big box retail, would you?

Ring changed doorbells and Nest changed thermostats. Early investors in these companies earned massive returns, but the opportunity to invest was limited to a select, wealthy few. Not anymore. RYSE has just launched in 100+ Best Buy stores, and you're in luck — you can still invest at only $1.50/share before their name becomes known nationwide.

They have patented the only mass market shade automation device, and their exclusive deal with Best Buy resembles that which led Ring and Nest to their billion-dollar buyouts.

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These companies just raised money

  1. 💰 ICONIQ Growth has successfully raised $5.75B for its seventh flagship fund, substantially exceeding its Fund VI target of $3.75B.

  2. 🇪🇪 Estonian mobility startup Bolt has secured a $236M credit facility in preparation for its planned public listing next year.

  3. 🥋 Aikido, a company based in Belgium, secures a $17M Series A funding round for its straightforward security platform tailored for developers.

  4. 🌏 Danti's search engine for Earth data, driven by natural language processing, secures a significant boost with $5M.

  5. 🇨🇱 Chilean tech startup Reuse has bagged a $4.5M seed round led by Seaya Cathay Latam.

  6. 🧑‍🌾 Smartbreeder, an agtech company based in Brazil, secured $2.9M in funding from the EcoEnterprises Fund.

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Startup IPOs market is looking forward to 2025 

As 2024 progresses, caution prevails in the startup IPO market. Cases like those of Klaviyo and Instacart (trading below their IPO price) serve as a reminder of significant risk. Other factors adding to this uncertainty include interest rates and the state of the economy.

There might be a different atmosphere in 2025. Many experts predict that it won't be until then that the startup IPO market fully opens. By then, there's forecasted to be increased merger and acquisition activity, with a potential avenue of liquidity emerging. Given this outlook, top-tier venture capital funds are advising their portfolio companies that could potentially go public to wait until next year.