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Hardware companies dominate list of promising climate tech startups

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Hardware companies dominate a list of promising climate tech startups

What must occur for a startup to affect climate change?

The most promising candidates are inclined to be hardware startups which have spent years developing and proving their technologies, in keeping with a brand new report. Oh, and specializing in energy or raw materials helps.

This reportpublished by Congruent Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank, surveyed greater than 50 experts from academia, finance and the private sector to create the list, which was then narrowed right down to 50 North American companies divided into 4 categories: agriculture and food, energy, buildings and mobility, and manufacturing and materials.

The majority of the ultimate 50 are in manufacturing and materials (18), with energy startups not far behind (13). Agriculture and food were underrepresented, despite the undeniable fact that the sector accounts for a couple of third of carbon emissions, suggesting there’s still plenty of room on this space for brand new founders and investors. Almost all of the startups are focused on hardware, which contradicts the preference of most generalist VCs for software.

That promising climate tech startups are mostly hardware companies may not come as much of a surprise. Climate change is a real-world problem. Software can only change a lot about how people interact with the physical world; if hardware continues to depend on fossil fuels, software can only chip away at margins.

The average startup within the report is 7 years old and has raised $374 million. That last number is skewed by some particularly well-funded startups, comparable to Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Impossible food, Redwood Materials, They AND Terra Powereach of which has raised over $1 billion. The median company, nevertheless, is a bit different, having been founded six years ago and raised $114 million.

The split between the mean and median reflects the undeniable fact that most companies on the list fall on either side of the so-called Valley of Death of commercialization. Early-stage climate tech startups can reach proving that their technology works, but after they move on to commercialization, the fee of a first-of-a-kind facility is commonly much higher than many investors are willing to bear. In the Congruent/SVB report, 28% of companies raised lower than $50 million, while the identical share raised greater than $500 million. In other words, when companies make it across the valley, investors often reward them for it.

It’s also not surprising that the standard company on this list has been around for nearly a decade. Early-stage climate tech startups often must prove the science that supports them, a process that takes some time. Then, hardware can take years to construct and refine. The net result’s that climate tech startups can take longer to mature than traditional software startups.

For investors who don’t concentrate on climate, making long, expensive bets on dangerous hardware startups generally is a tough pill to swallow. But the potential payoff is important: McKinsey Partner recently noticed that the climate technology market is already price $1 trillion and is anticipated to double every decade. In the face of climate change, companies which can be most probably to scale back emissions can capture a major share of that market, and their investors can profit.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal is leaving PhonePe’s board

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Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has stepped down three-quarters from PhonePe’s board after making an identical move on the e-commerce giant.

Bengaluru-based PhonePe said it has appointed Manish Sabharwal, executive director at recruitment and human resources firm Teamlease, as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee.

Bansal played a key role in Flipkart’s acquisition of PhonePe in 2016 and has since served on the fintech’s board. The Walmart-backed startup, which operates India’s hottest mobile payment app, spun off from Flipkart in 2022 and was valued at $12 billion in funding rounds that raised about $850 million last 12 months.

Bansal still holds about 1% of PhonePe. Neither party explained why they were leaving the board.

“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Binny Bansal for being one of the first and staunchest supporters of PhonePe,” Sameer Nigam, co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, said in a press release. His lively involvement, strategic advice and private mentoring have profoundly enriched our discussions. We will miss Binny!”

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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The company is currently developing washing machines for humans

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Forget about cold baths. Washing machines for people may soon be a brand new solution.

According to at least one Japanese the oldest newspapersOsaka-based shower head maker Science has developed a cockpit-shaped device that fills with water when a bather sits on a seat in the center and measures an individual’s heart rate and other biological data using sensors to make sure the temperature is good. “It also projects images onto the inside of the transparent cover to make the person feel refreshed,” the power says.

The device, dubbed “Mirai Ningen Sentakuki” (the human washing machine of the longer term), may never go on sale. Indeed, for now the company’s plans are limited to the Osaka trade fair in April, where as much as eight people will have the option to experience a 15-minute “wash and dry” every day after first booking.

Apparently a version for home use is within the works.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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Zepto raises another $350 million amid retail upheaval in India

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Zepto, snagging $1 billion in 90 days, projects 150% annual growth

Zepto has secured $350 million in latest financing, its third round of financing in six months, because the Indian high-speed trading startup strengthens its position against competitors ahead of a planned public offering next yr.

Indian family offices, high-net-worth individuals and asset manager Motilal Oswal invested in the round, maintaining Zepto’s $5 billion valuation. Motilal co-founder Raamdeo Agrawal, family offices Mankind Pharma, RP-Sanjiv Goenka, Cello, Haldiram’s, Sekhsaria and Kalyan, in addition to stars Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar are amongst those backing the brand new enterprise, which is India’s largest fully national primary round.

The funding push comes as Zepto rushes so as to add Indian investors to its capitalization table, with foreign ownership now exceeding two-thirds. TechCrunch first reported on the brand new round’s deliberations last month. The Mumbai-based startup has raised over $1.35 billion since June.

Fast commerce sales – delivering groceries and other items to customers’ doors in 10 minutes – will exceed $6 billion this yr in India. Morgan Stanley predicts that this market shall be value $42 billion by 2030, accounting for 18.4% of total e-commerce and a pair of.5% of retail sales. These strong growth prospects have forced established players including Flipkart, Myntra and Nykaa to cut back delivery times as they lose touch with specialized delivery apps.

While high-speed commerce has not taken off in many of the world, the model seems to work particularly well in India, where unorganized retail stores are ever-present.

High-speed trading platforms are creating “parallel trading for consumers seeking convenience” in India, Morgan Stanley wrote in a note this month.

Zepto and its rivals – Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy-owned Instamart and Tata-owned BigBasket – currently operate on lower margins than traditional retail, and Morgan Stanley expects market leaders to realize contribution margins of 7-8% and adjusted EBITDA margins to greater than 5% by 2030. (Zepto currently spends about 35 million dollars monthly).

An investor presentation reviewed by TechCrunch shows that Zepto, which handles greater than 7 million total orders every day in greater than 17 cities, is heading in the right direction to realize annual sales of $2 billion. It anticipates 150% growth over the following 12 months, CEO Aadit Palicha told investors in August. The startup plans to go public in India next yr.

However, the rapid growth of high-speed trading has had a devastating impact on the mom-and-pop stores that dot hundreds of Indian cities, towns and villages.

According to the All India Federation of Consumer Products Distributors, about 200,000 local stores closed last yr, with 90,000 in major cities where high-speed trading is more prevalent.

The federation has warned that without regulatory intervention, more local shops shall be vulnerable to closure as fast trading platforms prioritize growth over sustainable practices.

Zepto said it has created job opportunities for tons of of hundreds of gig employees. “From day one, our vision has been to play a small role in nation building, create millions of jobs and offer better services to Indian consumers,” Palicha said in an announcement.

Regulatory challenges arise. Unless an e-commerce company is a majority shareholder of an Indian company or person, current regulations prevent it from operating on a listing model. Fast trading corporations don’t currently follow these rules.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
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