CLIMATE TECH TODAY

In this week's email:

• How the L.A. Cleantech Incubator is battling inequality in climate tech financing

• Rheaply raises $20M to scale software that helps large companies reuse resources and reduce waste

• Quick bursts: Why we need a more robust support system for climate tech entrepreneurship

• In case it's helpful: TechCrunch is hosting a Climate event this week, and there's an online only option! Read below to sign up. I'll be online! Hope to see you there too. :)

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes, 2 seconds

L.A. CLEANTECH INCUBATOR LAUNCHES FUND TO COMBAT INEQUALITY IN CLIMATE TECH START-UP FINANCING

The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) announced the launch of the LACI Cleantech Debt Fund. The fund will make investments - in the form of loans - in early-stage cleantech founders that belong to underrepresented groups. The $6M fund will help combat the historical inequality of access to financing for female, Black, and Brown founders in the cleantech space.

There are two important qualities of the loans:

1. The funds will not require the founder's personal collateral or credit score.

2. The loans will be non-dilutive. Taking on a loan will not require the founder to give up any ownership in their company. While this is true of other loans, it's important to highlight that this alternative to equity financing (where investors get ownership in exchange for their investments) can be more friendly for founders who need working capital to fund growth.

FUNDING ALERT!!

Rheaply

Circular Economy start-up Rheaply raises $20M to grow its platform that helps large companies and governments manage reusable resources. Rheaply's software tracks resources such as office equipment, construction materials, and inventory in order to find opportunities to reuse the items in other areas. Rheaply's software then allows the user to calculate the environmental impact of the re-allocations. 

When it comes to climate tech I know I can get caught up in the new gadget that's going to save energy or is biodegradable. It's easy to overlook how some of the most significant impacts can come from simply slowing down production of new goods, sharing and reusing resources. I'll be rooting for Rheaply as they empower large organizations to take stock of their current resources and find ways to reuse and reallocate...reducing environmental impact and saving money! 

I do wonder if companies can use software they already license for similar use cases? Something like SAP perhaps? If you know the answer, respond and let me know! Otherwise we'll have to do some further investigation... stay tuned. 

SolarSquare

On the other side of the world, Mumbai-based start-up SolarSquare raised $4M! The company is India's fastest growing consumer solar brand. They currently operate in 5 cities and will use the funding to expand further.

SolarSquare is aiming to make the transition to Solar as seamless as possible. They take a holistic approach, including ensuring their materials are highly durable, simplifying the installation process, as well as providing zero-interest financing. 

QUICK BURSTS

• Pivoting green: Should all start-ups pivot green? Israeli non-profit Start-up Nation Central is helping, rewarding and encouraging companies to pivot to focus on climate change.

• Rallying Cry: "In short, we cannot wait for a few rare tech companies to save us," writes Oliver B. Libby of H/L Ventures. He's right! Traditional Silicon Valley "unicorns" are not going to single-handedly solve climate change. Even if a lot of us have outsourced the solution to them. It's going to take all of us! Climate change affects everyone, and everyone can participate in climate tech - investors, consumers, academics, technologists, artists...just to name a few.

• Thought-provoking: Illai Gescheit, a partner at Siemens Energy Ventures makes the case for a more open, global, and robust ecosystem to support entrepreneurs fighting climate change.

IN CASE IT'S HELPFUL

TechCrunch is hosting a dedicated event for discussions and networking opportunities on Climate Change. Speakers will include Bill Gates, former EPA administrator Carol Browner, Impossible Foods founder Pat Brown, Berkeley Lab’s Director of Climate & Ecosystem Sciences, William Collins, and Lime CEO Wayne Ting. The event will be in-person in Berkeley on June 14. An online follow-up will take place on June 16. You can register and see the agenda for either here.

Reply and let me know what you thought of this week's edition!

Thanks for reading! See you next week!