ImpactAlpha, October 26 — Venture capital investors poured $16 billion into climate tech startups in the first half of 2021. They’re padding the total ahead of next week’s COP26 global climate summit.
Watertown, Mass.-based Via Separations. raised $38 million to electrify and decarbonize high-emission industrial processes. The MIT spin-off replaces fossil fuel energy to separate chemicals, pulp, and petrochemicals. Texas-based NGP ETP led the Series B round, with 2040 Foundation and existing investors including Prime Impact Fund, Safar Partners, and The Engine.
Energy transition
Enpal, a German residential rooftop solar startup, secured a $172 million Series C investment from SoftBank Vision Fund 2… San Francisco-based AutoGrid Systems scored $85 million to provide virtual power plants for renewable project developers and energy-as-a-service companies… RCF Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, is looking to raise up to $200 million to invest in assets “across the critical minerals value chain that are poised to benefit from the global energy transition.”
Hydrogen fuel
Germany’s Sunfire uses electrolyzers for producing green hydrogen to decarbonize industrial companies. The company raised $125 million in a Series D round backed by Carbon Direct Capital and Lightrock.
H3 Dynamics, part of the wave of startups aiming to green the aviation industry, raised $26 million Series B funding (for context, see “Singapore’s H3 Dynamics closes $26 million for hydrogen-powered air cargo and logistics”).
