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“She made me realize just how precious wild places are.” - Craig Foster, My Octopus Teacher
TLDR;
Read on for more details.
Climate & Cities Year after year, the International Energy Agency appeared to be captured by fossil fuel interests as their solar adoption forecasts were laughably wrong. But the latest IEA roadmap to net zero in 2050 is as clear and inspiring as it is beautiful (if you love animated data visualizations). As GHG reduction pathways come into focus, along with potential risks, potential cheat codes like carbon pricing and carbon offsets have growing appeal.
Carbon pricing always seems to be just around the corner, but there is a strong case for giving up on an economy-wide carbon pricing regime. At the same time, offsets have been gaining momentum. Effectively paying someone else to take climate action is very appealing, especially in industries waiting on technologies to get out of R&D or pilot phases. To avoid fraud, waste, and abuse, we’re going to need more auditing, regulatory, and enforcement frameworks.
Startup Themes “BEV (Battery Electric Vehicles) had a huge year in Europe. No wonder so many hundreds of billions are being invested in this sector. They reached almost 15% of the e-bike volumes and 10% of electric micromobility” (Horace Dediu). This is a useful reminder that customers are hard to predict, especially when trying to pick winners from GHG pathway projections. We’ve found the best tech has a way of enabling things that start off looking like toys but eventually compete with incumbents. The winner simply unlocks better experiences.
Rachel Maddow took time out to explain the massive importance of Ford’s electric F-150 (and, yes, some of us pre-ordered). Rachel is a self-professed car person and noted that the electric F-150 isn’t just better for emissions, it’s simply a better truck. When measured against its dino-juice consuming models, the electric model is going to outperform in all the ways you’d want a truck to perform, from towing to additional bonuses like being a complete backup power generator for your home. Sadly, success for Ford, Tesla, GM, and other major EV truck makers likely means some horror stories for recent EV SPACs like Lordstown and Canoo, and will likely further cool SPAC interest.
SPAC interest may be waning, but there are other dynamics that are transforming startup fundraising. Secondary markets offer some similar liquidity benefits to SPACs while allowing startups to better prepare their teams for life as a public company. In particular, secondary programs can boost the value of employee stock option plans by more quickly translating them into cash compensation. This is important when considering that one of the main reasons to raise funds in the first place is to hire more talent. Changes to the funding landscape have led to an always raising and never raising phenomenon over the past few months, but also the first signs of wishing for a return to the old order.
Opportunities In a further sign of shifting fundraising, now there are opportunities for founders to be pitched by investors! Urban Us will join two dozen leading funds including Initialized, Bloomberg Beta, Kleiner Perkins, GGV, Lightspeed, and Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six to present our team, portfolio, investing thesis, and value-add for 20 minutes, before taking 10 minutes of Q&A from founders. RSVP at Meet Our Fund.
There have never been more ways to work with teams reimagining climate and cities. At this writing, there are 472 open job opportunities within 70 Urban Us companies. Location is no longer an excuse – 22% are remote! Blueprint Power is looking for an Energy Markets Manager and, unsurprisingly, Bowery is looking for recruiters. Climate Robotics has an open spot for a Head of Hardware and Cove Tool is adding a Director of Sustainability. Toggle is hiring a software engineer for construction robotics. Resonant Link is in need of an Embedded Systems Engineer.
UU Portfolio News We’re excited to see Bowery Farming get the resources they need to build out more resilient food supply chains while also having a shot at reducing GHGs. Founder and CEO, Irving Fain, shared a note on where they’re headed and how they plan to get there. And here’s our original intro to the Urban Us Network from 2015, speculating about what we hoped Irving and his team might achieve.
Thrilling’s growth has accelerated as they help more people discover vintage clothing and sneak in the GHG reductions from reuse. Like electric trucks, Thrilling is growing because Shilla and her team have created an experience that’s better for customers and vintage stores. Here’s more on Thrilling’s series A raise. Kibbo completed a successful campaign with Republic, onboarding new members and giving existing members an opportunity to invest. We’re huge fans of enabling customers to also own parts of the business and Kibbo is one step closer to building fun and resilient communities that can access places that can no longer be permanently settled.
Urban Us & URBAN-X Summit In partnership with Canary Media, we’re hosting three sessions next week, on June 1, 2, and 3. We’ll cover some of the most pressing topics around climate, the built environment, and building stronger communities. Eight companies and three experts will focus on energy and the grid, the built environment and real estate, transportation and mobility, and public safety. It’s also a chance to meet eight Urban Us portfolio companies that are just starting on their seed raises:
Hope to see you next week. Please RSVP here.
Edited by: Shaun With support from Shilpi, Liz, Stonly, Mark, Zeev, and Anthony
How did we create this update? The content comes from our slack channels where we review contributions from people like you. So you can wait for this newsletter or join us on Slack. You can find our previous updates here.
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