Technology
Climate VCs are cautiously optimistic about a second Trump term – here’s why

President-elect Donald Trump made no secret during his campaign that he didn’t consider the US should take an aggressive stance on climate change. From leading chants of “drill, baby, drill” to regularly criticizing all the pieces from wind turbines to electric vehicles, he seems able to solid a shadow over the climate tech sector for the subsequent 4 years.
Or will he do it?
As with a lot of Trump’s positions, it’s difficult to find out his exact position on climate change and the technologies that mitigate or adapt to it. Moreover, a number of the policies he proposes could have broad advantages for climate technology, even in the event that they support oil and gas.
“If you deregulate and drill, baby, drill, you can get more natural gas and oil. You can also get heat such as geothermal energy. Geological hydrogen can potentially be obtained,” Leonardo Banchik, chief investment officer at Voyager Ventures, told TechCrunch.
Banchik and other climate tech investors are cautiously optimistic that policy changes being considered by the second Trump administration won’t be broadly harmful to climate tech.
“Much of the climate technology wave started during the Trump administration,” Banchik said. “Regardless of which administration is in power, these technologies will continue to fall down the cost curve.”
Sophie Bakalar, partner at Collab Fund, agreed and added that she would not be surprised if this second Trump administration also inspired more entrepreneurs to start out businesses on this sector. “The climate does not operate on a four-year cycle, these are very long-term trends and problems,” she added.
Much of investor optimism stems from lessons learned from the cleantech cycle that collapsed greater than a decade ago. Many firms then expanded too quickly, constructing huge factories and provide chains before demand fully materialized. They have also change into overly depending on government subsidies, whether in the shape of grants, loan guarantees, or otherwise.
“We don’t spend money on firms that depend on federal grants or really daring corporate ESG mandates. We only spend money on firms that provide their customers with tangible value, whatever the climate,” Bakalar said.
Joshua Posamentier, managing partner at Congruent Ventures, agrees. “We’re not investing in anything that we think will require subsidies forever to get any unit economics.”
Clear skies not all over the place
Still, some businesses will struggle. Several investors told TechCrunch that anything that relies on tax breaks for consumers might be vulnerable. Some expect wind energy and related industries to feel the impact, given Trump’s aversion to renewable energy sources. One investor predicted that the Environmental Protection Agency could also expect budget cuts.
The lack of federal support could push some firms that were near the brink over the sting. “It will be a distillation, a thinning of the herd,” Posamentier said. “I think they were probably close to death.”
Startups that survive can profit from transparency with potential customers, said Shaun Abrahamson, managing partner at Third Sphere. “Really the hardest thing, at least over the last four years, has been the disconnect between what (companies) say publicly or what they feel they need to say and what happens when you ultimately meet the CFO. You will get a cleaner signal.”
A less climate-friendly administration could also hurt climate VCs themselves. Bakalar said that while we’ll likely see climate startups change their messaging and branding to avoid being related to the sector if it falls out of favor, enterprise firms cannot really do this, and climate-focused VCs may even see less interest in LPs over the course of next years next 4 years.
Silver linings
However, there are many sectors that may profit. Anything related to drilling, as Banchik mentioned earlier, including geothermal and geological hydrogen, will likely run counter to policies favoring oil and gas extraction. Both Posamentier and Banchik said energy grid startups will likely profit from the proposed permitting changes.
Power generation firms could also profit. Growing investments in artificial intelligence have forced firms to quickly expand their infrastructure. The breakneck pace of labor has strained utilities and independent power producers to the purpose that by 2027, almost half of all recent AI data centers may lack sufficient capability.
Banchik said beneficiaries are prone to include nuclear startups constructing small modular reactors (SMRs) and geothermal energy firms. SMR startups Kairos and X-Energy are already riding the AI wave, having signed deals with Google and Amazon, respectively. Geothermal startups are also in the sport, with Fervo Energy partnering with Google and Sage Geosystems partnering with Meta to power its data centers.
Both technologies have a potential ally in Chris Wright, whom Trump selected as his energy secretary. Wright sits on the board of Oklo, an SMR startup, and his company Liberty Energy has invested in Fervo.
“He deals with oil and gas all day long, but he’s a smart guy,” said Posamentier, who frolicked with Wright in the sphere. There, Wright explained to Posamentier that he was electrifying his company’s fracking equipment since it was a higher technology. “He’s a guy who gets pilloried for being anticlimactic. It is neither anti- nor pro-climate. And he said, “Take care of economics.”
Investors and their portfolio firms may have to attend and see which predictions actually come true under the brand new administration and which of them don’t.
“The only constant is change and instability over the next four years,” Posamentier said.
Technology
Uber customers can now earn Delta Skylile from rides or deliveries

Members of Delta Skys within the United States can now start earning points after they go along with Uber or order via Uber Eats as a part of the recently announced exclusive partnership between each corporations.
The reference to Delta was designed to further adapt the large riding at airports, which was historically a lucrative segment for Uber. The riding company also announced on Tuesday plans to expand the brand new product to the airport at a reasonable price to Atlanta at successful launch in New York.
The game at Uber airport appears at a time when market uncertainty, lower consumer trust and increased borders control lead many Americans to Reverse expenditure on travel This 12 months.
Perhaps such uncertainty signifies that now, greater than ever, customers given prices must find ways to play the system. Uber customers who joined the waiting list will have the option to attach their accounts from Tuesday and everybody else can start Thursday.
Here’s how Uber users with memberships of Delta Skyles can accumulate miles after connecting their accounts:
- Uber Je: 1 mile per dollar spent on orders over USD 40.
- Airport rides: 1 mile per dollar spent on Uberx rides on the airports.
- Premium rides: 2 miles for dollar spent on Uber Comfort or Uber Black.
- Uber Reserve: 3 miles for a dollar spent on Ubers reserved prematurely.
Uberr, riders cannot arrange miles by booking on the airport, but Uber spokesman said that the shopper would get skymes from a journey, which supplies the best prize.
In addition to the flexibility to get miles, Uber and Delta, they integrate in other ways. Customers who buy a flight using the Fly Delta application will have the option to cope with Uber reserve reservation in order that they can reserve a ride to the airport airport. And this 12 months, Skymile members who log in to Wi -Ifi during their flights will receive a 30% discount on reserving Uber for pickup after they land.
(Tagstotransate) delta
Technology
Palantir Exec defends work in the company’s immigration supervision

One of the founders of the Y startup accelerator Y Combinator offered this weekend the Palantir Data Analytical Company that doesn’t describe the controversial analytical company, running the company’s director to supply a broad defense of Palantir’s work.
Then it appeared forward federal applications He showed that American immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) – the task of conducting the aggressive strategy of the deportation of the Trump administration – pays Palantir $ 30 million for creating What does this call the immigration system operating systemSo immigration to assist ICE resolve who to direct to the deportation, and likewise offer “real -time visibility” in self -complacency.
Y founding father of Combinator Paul Graham divided the headlines about the Palantir contract on the subject of XWriting: “It is now a very exciting time in technology. If you are a first -rate programmer, there is a huge number of other places where you can work, and not in a company building infrastructure of a police state.”
In response, the global business head of Palantir Ted Mabrey wrote that “he is looking forward to the next set of employees who decided to submit a request to Palantir after reading your post.”
Mabrey didn’t discuss the details of the current work of Palantir with ice, but said that the company began cooperation with the Internal Security Department (in accordance with which ICE works) “in an immediate response to the assassination of agent Jaime Zapata by Zetas in an effort called Fallen Hero surgery. “
“When people live because of what you built and others were not alive, because what you built was not good enough yet, you develop a completely different view on the meaning of your work,” said Mabrey.
He also compared Graham’s criticism with protests on the Google Maven project in 2018, which ultimately prompted the company to stop the work of drone photos for the army. (Google then signaled that he again became more open to defense works.)
Mabrey called everyone interested in working for Palantir to read the latest book CEO Alexander Karp “The Technological Republic”, which claims that the software industry must rebuild its relationship with the government. (The company was Recruitment at university campus With signs declaring that “the moment of counting arrived west”)
“We employ believers,” Mabrey continued. “Not in the sense of the homogeneity of religion, but in the internal ability to imagine in something greater than you
Graham then Pressed Mabrey “To publicly commit himself on behalf of Palantir, so as not to build things that help the government violate the US constitution,” although he confirmed in one other post that such a commitment “would not have legal force.”
“However, I hope that if (they make a commitment) and a Palantir’s employee is one day asked to do something illegal, he will say” I didn’t join for it “and refused,” wrote Graham.
Mabrey in turn compared Graham’s query In order for “or” you promise to stop beating a trick in court, but he added that the company “has made so many ways from Sunday”, ranging from the commitment to “3,500 thoughtful people who polish only because they believe that they make the world a better place every day because they see their first hand.”
(Tagstotransate) palantir
Technology
Congress has questions about 23andme bankruptcy

3 The leaders of the Energy and Trade Committee said that they’re investigating how 23ndme’s bankruptcy can affect customer data.
Representatives of Brett Guthrie, Gus Biliakis and Gary Palmer (all Republicans) He sent a letter On Thursday, Joe Selsavage, Joe Selsavage, ask a variety of questions about how 23andme will serve customer data if the corporate is sold.
The letter also says that some customers have reported problems with deleting their data from the 23ndme website, and notes that corporations directly for consumption, reminiscent of 23andme, are generally not protected by the Act on the portability and accountability of medical insurance (Hipaa).
“Considering the lack of HIPAA protection, a patchwork of state regulations covering genetic privacy and uncertainty related to customer information in the case of transmitting the sale of company or clients data, we are afraid that this best -confidential information is threatened with a player,” representatives write.
23andme, which has decided to violate data For $ 30 million last 12 months, he applied for bankruptcy in Chapter 11 in March, and the co -founder and general director Anne Wojciki said he was resigning from the corporate’s private bidder.
(Tagstotransate) 23andme
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