Top Climate Startups to Watch (and Work for) in 2023

Watershed

The enterprise climate platform.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2019

Funding

$84 million

Valuation

$1 billion

Traction

Watershed’s customers, including BlackRock, Shopify, Stripe, DoorDash, Spotify, Okta, and Airbnb, manage more than 20 million tonnes of CO2e per year (4x the carbon footprint of San Francisco) through the platform.

In February 2022, Watershed acquired VitalMetrics, the world’s most comprehensive multi-regional greenhouse gas emission database.

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Carbon Engineering

Direct air capture of CO2.

Headquarters

Squamish, British Columbia, Canada

Industry

Climate

Founded

2009

Funding

$110.4 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

In 2022, construction began on the 1PointFive, Carbon Engineering’s US partner commercial facility, which will use Carbon Engineering technology and is expected to capture 500,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

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Patch

The platform scaling unified climate action.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2020

Funding

$81.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Patch reports 400+ customers, up from 100 in September 2022, and 160+ climate projects that the company partners with to drive impact.

Patch customers include Credit Suisse, Bain & Company, Deloitte, Plaid, EasyPost, and Farfetch.

Between September 2021 and September 2022, Patch reported 5x customer growth and now has 100+ corporate customers.

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Commons

Climate solution tools.

Headquarters

Oakland, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2019

Funding

$13.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

In 2022, the Commons community lowered its collective emissions by 20%, and the average user saved $200 monthly.

As of May 2023, Commons is available in Canada and the United States.

In 2022, Commons was featured as the App of the Day by Apple.

Commons was named one of the TIME100 Most Influential Companies of 2022.

As of May 2023, Commons has rated 4.7/5 stars from 275 ratings on the Apple App Store.

Commons started with initial grants from MIT and Harvard.

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Remora

Carbon capture for semi-trucks.

Headquarters

Wixom, Michigan

Industry

Climate, Mobility & Transportation, Hardware

Founded

2020

Funding

$5.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of May 2023, Remora claims its technology captures 80% of semi-truck CO2 emissions directly from the tailpipe and a 3.5-year payback from CO2 revenue.

Remora’s bolt-on technology has passed 26,000 hours worth of tests.

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Last Energy

A nuclear energy solution.

Headquarters

Washington, District of Columbia

Industry

Energy, Climate

Founded

2020

Funding

$21 million+

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of March 2023, Last Energy signed four deals to build 34 reactors worth $18.9 billion in Europe.

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Evergrow

Renewable energy tax credits.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Climate, Fintech

Founded

2021

Funding

$14 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of April 2023, Evergrow has $150 million worth of clean energy projects on its platform.

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Musa

Discover a new future for your waste.

Headquarters

São Paulo, Brazil

Industry

Climate

Founded

2020

Funding

Undisclosed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Musa has 550+ clients, a 25% wrong segmentation rate, +18156 tons of waste recollected and reused, and +15224 tons of CO2 spared from our environment.

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Lemon Energia

Cheaper electrical bills.

Headquarters

São Paulo, Brazil

Industry

Climate

Founded

2019

Funding

$14.6 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2022, Lemon Energia has 3,000+ customers and has helped customers save R$4.3 million collectively.

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Kettle

Balancing risk in a changing climate.

Headquarters

Pembroke, Bermuda

Industry

Climate, Insurance

Founded

2020

Funding

$29.7 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Kettle analyzes 7 billion lines of data, 300 million satellite images, and 47 live data feeds to accurately price risk in climate-affected regions.

As of June 2023, Kettle reports 89% accuracy, 22% more accurate than industry standards predicted through its technology.

As of November 2021, Kettle runs 500 billion simulations to predict outcomes, significantly more than the industry standard of 10,000 to 100,000 simulations that insurance companies traditionally do.

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Quilt

Next-generation heating and cooling.

Headquarters

Redwood City, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2022

Funding

$9 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Quilt claims its technology will result in 30% lower energy bills than central heating and cooling systems.

As of June 2023, Quilt is working on developing its product for an anticipated launch in 2024.

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Dendra Systems

Ecosystem management platform.

Headquarters

Oxford, England, United Kingdom

Industry

Climate, Drones

Founded

2014

Funding

$15.7 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

Dendra Systems’ customers include Iluka Resources, Core Lithium, Glencore, MACH Energy, Mineral Resources, and Atlas and BHP.

As of September 2020, Dendra Systems can plant 120 seeds a minute per drone.

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Tomorrow Farms

Irresistible food and beverage brands.

Headquarters

New York, New York

Industry

Climate, Food & Beverage

Founded

2021

Funding

$10.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

In April 2023, Tomorrow Farms’ first brand, Bored Cow, a new kind of milk alternative, is launching in Sprouts Farmers Market across the US.

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Holy Grail

We capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and permanently store it in pyramids.

Headquarters

Mountain View, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2019

Funding

$3 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Holy Grail claims its technology can scale to 100 billion tonnes of CO2 captured and permanently stored yearly.

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Safi

Trade recyclables the smart way.

Headquarters

London, England, United Kingdom

Industry

Climate, Marketplace

Founded

2021

Funding

$5.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

Trading partners on the platform include Pro Environmental, Veolia, UPM, Pearce Recycling, and Siakandaris Group.

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Enode

A single API for hundreds of energy devices.

Headquarters

Oslo, Norway

Industry

Climate

Founded

2020

Funding

$17.2 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Enode’s API connects to 45+ OEMs brands and 300+ energy devices.

As of June 2023, Enode’s API reaches 60+ million energy customers, manages 100GWh+ through the Enode platform, and saves customers 25% when using Enode’s smart charging.

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Noya

Deploying Direct Air Capture technology to remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2020

Funding

$12.2 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

Noya customers include Shopify, Watershed, and Piva Capital.

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Linear Labs

The most efficient motor system.

Headquarters

Fort Worth, Texas

Industry

Climate

Founded

2014

Funding

$30 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Linear Labs claims its motor system is 30% better in efficiency and 2x torque when compared to leading motor systems in the class.

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Pledge

Sustainability for freight and logistics.

Headquarters

London, England, United Kingdom

Industry

Climate, Supply Chain & Logistics

Founded

2021

Funding

$14.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

Pledge customers include Ligentia, Raft, Zencargo, WCAworld, and BIFA.

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SolarSquare

India-based residential solar panel company.

Headquarters

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Industry

Climate

Founded

2015

Funding

~$15.8 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, SolarSquare reports 7,000 customers, up from 5,000 in November 2022, made up of homeowners and businesses.

As of June 2023, SolarSquare claims it helps customers save a minimum of Rs. 2000 (equivalent to $24.40) monthly on their electricity bill.

As of June 2023, SolarSquare is the third-largest residential solar company in India.

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UNDO

Rocks that boost crops and trap carbon.

Headquarters

London, England, United Kingdom

Industry

Climate

Founded

2020

Funding

9.6 million euros

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, UNDO claims its enhanced weathering technique can potentially remove 4 gigatons of CO2 emissions annually.

In April 2023, UNDO became Microsoft’s first enhanced rock weathering supplier.

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Zanskar

Pinpointing the world’s most prolific geothermal systems.

Headquarters

Salt Lake City, Utah

Industry

Climate

Founded

2018

Funding

$12 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Zanskar claims it is 5x better at identifying key subsurface geothermal characteristics, which results in a 50-66% capex reduction for project developers.

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Entocycle

The insect technology company.

Headquarters

London, England, United Kingdom

Industry

Climate

Founded

2016

Funding

$16 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Entocycle claims its insect technology can potentially avoid 8 gigatons of CO2 emissions by 2050.

As of October 2021, Entocycle’s research facility produces 0.5 tonnes of larvae a month, and its new facility is expected to produce 2,200 tonnes a year, which projects out to 5.5 million euros annually.

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Renaissance Fusion

The earth's most efficient, steady, and stable fusion reactors.

Headquarters

Grenoble, France

Industry

Climate, Fusion

Founded

2019

Funding

$16.4 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Renaissance Fusion claims it can manufacture its high-temperature superconducting magnets 7x faster than conventional magnets.

As of June 2023, Renaissance Fusion claims its superconducting magnets result in a 4x increase in the magnetic field and reduces the plasma volume by 256x.

As of January 2023, Renaissance Fusion is on track to ship a small nuclear fusion reactor with a 1 GW capacity in the 2030s.

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Loam

Fungus eats carbon and pays farmers.

Headquarters

Orange, New South Wales, Australia

Industry

Climate, Biotech

Founded

2018

Funding

$150 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Loam claims its biotechnology can potentially remove up to 8.5 gigatons of CO2 annually.

As of February 2023, Loam has sown 6,000 individual trial plots across 29 locations in 2 countries. Data from the trial plots indicate that the farmers could increase carbon units per hectare by 3x-6x, up from 0-2x, via other land management practices.

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Heirloom

Leveraging the natural power of limestone to remove 1 billion tons of C02 by 2035 using the world’s most cost-effective Direct Air Capture technology.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2020

Funding

$54.3 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Heirloom claims its carbon removal credits will cost less than $100 per ton of CO2 by 2035.

As of June 2023, Heirloom claims its facilities can remove 50 tons of CO2 per square meter.

Heirloom customers include Stripe, Microsoft, Klarna, Shopify, Milkywire, Wise, Carbon Direct, Sourceful, and Verdane.

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Verdox

Electric carbon removal.

Headquarters

Boston, Massachusetts

Industry

Climate

Founded

2019

Funding

$100.3 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

Verdox claims its technology is 10x more energy efficient than conventional carbon capture.

In April 2022, Verdox won the $1 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition.

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Nitricity

Electrified climate-smart fertilizer.

Headquarters

Stanford, California

Industry

Climate, Agtech

Founded

2018

Funding

$27 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Nitricity claims its technology can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 81%.

In the Summer of 2020, Nitricity conducted a tomato study that demonstrated a .47 partial-factor productivity compared to the control of nitrate-based fertilizers, which got a .20 partial-factor productivity.

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Living Carbon

Rebalancing the planet’s carbon cycle using the power of plants.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2019

Funding

$36 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Living Carbon claims its photosynthesis enhancement trait shortens the path to profitability for timberland by 2-5 years, resulting in a 50% increase in revenue over a 20-year timeline.

As of June 2023, Living Carbon claims photosynthesis enhancement trait helps trees accumulate up to 53% more biomass than control seedlings. More biomass means more carbon capture.

As of January 2023, Living Carbon claims its trees eat up 27% more CO2 than regular trees.

Stripe, Watershed, and Patch recommend clients to Living Carbon for high-quality carbon removal credit projects.

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Uncommon

Forging a healthier future of food.

Headquarters

Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

Industry

Food & Beverage, Climate, Biotech

Founded

2018

Funding

$33.6 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Uncommon claims its technology can produce 80% less CO2 emissions per pound of pork.

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Formo

Animal-free dairy products.

Headquarters

Berlin, Germany

Industry

Food & Beverage, Climate, Biotech

Founded

2018

Funding

$54.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Formo claims its process avoids 9 tons of CO2 per ton of cheese.

In a study conducted with the University of Bath, Formo concluded that 78% of consumers are likely or definitely likely to buy animal-free dairy cheese when it's available from a sample of 5,000 people.

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Pachama

Invest in high-quality carbon credits.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Climate, Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Founded

2018

Funding

$79.3 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Pachama has already protected 2.6 million football fields worth of forests through offsetting emissions on its platform.

As of May 2022, Pachama has 800 customers, including Shopify, Flexport, Salesforce, Workday, Microsoft, Netflix, Airbnb, SoftBank, Glovo, Athletic Greens, Autodesk, Mercado Libre, Vuori, and Shopify.

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Epoch

Plastic-eating enzymes.

Headquarters

London, England, United Kingdom

Industry

Climate, Biotech

Founded

2020

Funding

$16 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Epoch can sequence 100 trillion enzyme variants per hour.

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Electra

Steel from the sun.

Headquarters

Boulder, Colorado

Industry

Climate

Founded

2019

Funding

$113.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of October 2022, Electra claims its electrochemical process to refine iron ore to high-purity iron has lowered the process temperature from 1,600 (69% of steel is made at this temperature) to 60 degrees Celsius.

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Avalanche Energy

Handheld fusion reactors.

Headquarters

Seattle, Washington

Industry

Climate, Fusion

Founded

2021

Funding

$45 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Avalanche Energy claims its fusion reactors have 5 Kilowatt capacity.

In April 2023, Avalanche Energy achieved 200 kilovolts for its second prototype reactor, making it the highest known operating voltage for any fusion device.

In May 2022, Avalanche Energy won a Pentagon contract.

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Crusoe

Methane slashing compute clusters.

Headquarters

Denver, Colorado

Industry

Climate, Cryptocurrency

Founded

2018

Funding

$508 million

Valuation

$1.75 billion

Traction

As of June 2023, Crusoe claims its technology avoids 7x times the CO2 compared to an equivalent-sized solar system.

As of April 2022, Crusoe’s 86 Digital Flare Mitigation data centers have prevented ~2.5 billion cubic feet of flaring and achieved up to 99.89% elimination of methane emissions.

As of April 2022, Crusoe claims its deployed fleet of flare-eliminating data centers can reduce 650,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions per year.

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Zap Energy

Fusion power, no magnets required.

Headquarters

Seattle, Washington

Industry

Climate, Fusion

Founded

2017

Funding

$207.8 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Zap Energy claims its plasma is 100,000x denser and lasts several microseconds longer.

In May 2023, the US Department of Energy awarded Zap Energy $5 million in federal funding to continue the development of its pilot plant.

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Floodbase

Making parametric flood insurance possible.

Headquarters

Brooklyn, New York

Industry

Climate, Insurance

Founded

2021

Funding

$12 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Floodbase’s data has insured 30 million+ new people.

As of January 2023, Floodbase’s data is powered by 15 satellites, machine learning, and on-the-ground data.

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Zero Acre Farms

Cooking oil that’s better for you.

Headquarters

San Mateo, California

Industry

Food & Beverage, Climate

Founded

2020

Funding

$40.6 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Zero Acre Farms claims its cooking oil saves 222 sq. feet of land compared to olive oil.

As of June 2023, Zero Acre Farms has 16.6K Instagram followers, 5.5K Twitter followers, and 763 Facebook followers.

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Kula Bio

Sustainable nitrogen biofertilizer.

Headquarters

Natick, Massachusetts

Industry

Agtech, Climate

Founded

2018

Funding

$72.1 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Kula Bio claims farmers can replace 50% of their conventional or organic nitrogen without sacrificing yield.

As of June 2023, Kula Bio claims its solution can remove 0.6 tons of CO2 per ton of fertilizer.

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Mill

An all-inclusive food recycling service.

Headquarters

San Bruno, California

Industry

Climate, Food & Beverage, Hardware

Founded

2020

Funding

$100 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Mill claims a 24-hour or less compost conversion process.

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Charm Industrial

Carbon removal technology.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2018

Funding

$103.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Charm Industrial has removed 6,200 tons of carbon and has 140,000 tons of deals with JP Morgan Chase and Frontier.

Charm Industrial counts JP Morgan Chase, Frontier, Stripe, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta as customers.

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Mosa Meat

A food technology company.

Headquarters

Maastricht, Netherlands

Industry

Food & Beverage, Climate

Founded

2015

Funding

$96 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Mosa Meat claims its meat produces 96% fewer emissions than conventional beef.

In 2020, Mosa Meta reported an 88x cost reduction in their animal-free medium.

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Sublime Systems

Decarbonized cement.

Headquarters

Somerville, Massachusetts

Industry

Climate

Founded

2020

Funding

$40 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Sublime Systems claims it avoids one ton of CO2 per ton of cement produced.

As of February 2023, Sublime Systems can currently produce cement at a rate of 100 tons yearly.

As of February 2023, Sublime Systems plans to build a facility to produce up to 40,000 tonnes yearly.

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Running Tide

Ocean health company.

Headquarters

Portland, Maine

Industry

Climate

Founded

2017

Funding

$11.2 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

In March 2023, Running Tide signed a partnership with Microsoft to remove the equivalent of 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide (C02e) over the next two years on behalf of the technology company.

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Commonwealth Fusion Systems

The surest path to limitless, clean, fusion energy.

Headquarters

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Industry

Climate, Fusion

Founded

2018

Funding

$2 billion

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Commonwealth Fusion Systems has completed phase 1, Alcator C-Mod: Plasma Physics Basics, phase 2, HTS Magnets: Enabling Technology, and is in the process of completing phase 3, SPARC: Fusion Energy Demonstration.

In June 2023, Commonwealth Fusion Systems was awarded money from the US Department of Energy.

As of June 2023, Commonwealth Fusion Systems claims their magnets allow them to create 60x smaller, more affordable fusion reactors.

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Heart Aerospace

Electrifying regional air travel.

Headquarters

Gothenburg, Sweden

Industry

Aerospace, Hardware

Founded

2018

Funding

$40.2 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

In July 2021, Heart Aerospace received an order purchase for 200 of its inaugural ES-19 electric aircraft from United Airlines and Mesa Air Group.

As of July 2021, Heart Aerospace claims its ES-19 electric motor is 20x less expensive than an equivalent turboprop, and maintenance costs will be reduced by 100x.

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Antora Energy

Delivering zero-carbon industrial heat and power.

Headquarters

Sunnyvale, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2018

Funding

$51.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Antora Energy claims their solution is 90% cheaper than lithium-ion for >100 hours of storage.

As of June 2023, Antora Energy has not begun deployments to customers.

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Solugen

Reimagining the chemistry of everyday life.

Headquarters

Houston, Texas

Industry

Climate

Founded

2016

Funding

$642.2 million

Valuation

$2 billion+

Traction

As of June 2023, Solugen claims its specialty chemicals can avoid 6 tons of CO2 emissions per ton of hydrogen peroxide.

As of November 2022, Solugen’s Bioforge is running a nearly nine-figure business with high margins.

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Lilac Solutions

Clean, fast, cheap, lithium mining.

Headquarters

Oakland, California

Industry

Climate

Founded

2016

Funding

$223.6 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2023, Lilac Solutions claims its technology is 5,000x faster and recovers 2x more resources at a 50% lower cost.

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cove.tool

Sustainable building design.

Headquarters

Atlanta, Georgia

Industry

Climate

Founded

2017

Funding

$36.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2023, cove.tool claims it saves architects 500+ hours per project on average.

cove.tool customers include JLL, Skanska, Perkins Eastman, SmithGroup, Arup, IMEG Corp, and Southface.

As of December 2021, cove.tool has 25,000 projects being built with cove. tool’s software and 15,000 users across 30 countries.

In 2021, cove.tool offset 28.5 million tons of carbon.

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Impulse Labs

Next-generation home appliances.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Hardware, Climate

Founded

2021

Funding

$25 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2023, Impulse Labs is building its first product, an induction stove, and is actively taking sign-ups on its waitlist.

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Top Climate Startups to Watch (and Work for) in 2023

My Background

The Methodology

Watershed

Headquarters

Industry

Founded

Funding

Valuation

Traction

Carbon Engineering

Headquarters

Industry

Founded

Funding

Valuation

Traction

Patch

Headquarters

Industry

Founded

Funding

Valuation

Traction

Commons

Headquarters

Industry

Founded

Funding

Valuation

Traction

Remora

Headquarters

Industry

Founded

Funding

Valuation

Traction

Last Energy

Headquarters

Industry

Founded

Funding

Valuation

Traction

Evergrow

Headquarters

Industry

Founded

Funding

Valuation

Traction

Musa

Headquarters

Industry

Founded

Funding

Valuation

Traction

Lemon Energia

Headquarters

Industry

Founded

Funding

Valuation

Traction

Kettle

Headquarters

Industry

Founded

Funding

Valuation

Traction

Quilt

Headquarters

Industry

Founded

Funding

Valuation

Traction