Lowercarbon Capital
Canvas Category Consultancy : Company : Venture Capital
Lowercarbon Capital backs kickass companies that make real money slashing CO2 emissions, sucking carbon out of the sky, and buying us time to unf**k the planet.
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Matter Intelligence Emerges from Stealth with $12 Million Seed Funding to Revolutionize Remote Sensing and Global Perception
Matter Intelligence, a California-based remote sensing startup, has emerged from stealth, unveiling its plans to launch space sensors capable of capturing never-before-seen data about all matter on Earth, from surface to atmosphere. Matter specializes in advancing sensor infrastructure that captures incredibly detailed, beyond-visible data of both natural and artificial materials – creating the most comprehensive “extreme resolution” Earth observation dataset ever compiled. This data will power industries and helps AI models better understand and predict real-world events like never before. The startup has secured $12 million in seed funding led by Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from Toyota Ventures, Pear, Mark Cuban, and E2MC. The funding will accelerate the development of Matter’s sensing infrastructure.
Matter Intelligence’s sensors use hyperspectral imaging, a method that captures thousands of narrow spectral bands of light to distinguish unique material properties. This allows Matter to detect and classify objects and materials that are invisible to traditional optical, radar, or multispectral sensors. Matter’s sensors, designed for deployment on satellites, drones, and aircraft, will offer the world’s first sub-meter hyperspectral and thermal satellite capability.
The startup’s first satellite, EARTH-1, will create the first global encyclopedia of Earth’s material composition, imaging the entire globe with more than 500 times the information density of existing sensors. Matter’s sensors redefine remote sensing with unprecedented precision. Unlike traditional hyperspectral technology, which often falls short of user needs for detail and material differentiation, Matter captures composition, temperature, and structure with a new standard of quality. Traditional systems can’t deliver the resolution and quality needed for actionable data, but Matter provides images that are orders of magnitude more information dense than hyperspectral systems – with science-grade quality and sub-meter resolution. Matter’s data accelerates geospatial computer vision, unlocking mass adoption of Earth observation and enabling powerful predictive capabilities and resilience.
EARTH-1 will be Matter’s first satellite and provide the world’s first sub-meter hyperspectral and thermal imaging capability. Matter will soon announce EARTH-1’s launch date. EARTH-1 will map and monitor Earth’s materials in real time, from mineral composition and vegetation health to atmospheric conditions. With this satellite, Matter is building the first global encyclopedia of Earth’s material composition – capturing the most detailed, multi-dimensional data across the planet.
Airloom Energy Announces $13.75M Financing to Accelerate Development of Pilot in Wyoming
Airloom Energy, the company unlocking the next generation and full potential of wind power, has secured $7.5 million in financing led by Lowercarbon Capital with participation from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, WYVC, Crosscut Ventures, WovenEarth Ventures, Adiuvans, and the Kutnick Family Office to support its vision of revolutionizing wind energy generation. The company also secured $5 million in Energy Matching Funds from the State of Wyoming and a $1.25M non-dilutive contract from the U.S. Department of Defense.
The new funding will support the development of a pilot in Wyoming to prove out power production and system efficiency, while demonstrating that Airloom can build wind for one-third the cost of conventional horizontal-axis turbines. The company will break ground on the project in the summer of 2025.
Just as Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs) continue to grow in size and complexity, continued cost reductions are hindered by interest rates and supply chain issues. Airloom takes a fundamentally different approach with its simple, mass-manufacturable design that enables higher energy density and a smaller visual footprint without the massive infrastructure that conventional turbines require.
Lilac Solutions Announces $145 Million Series C to Scale Lithium Supply for the Electric Vehicle Era
Lilac Solutions, a leader in lithium extraction technology, announced the close of its Series C with $145 million of proceeds. This bring Lilac’s total capital raised to $315 million. The financing was led by Mercuria, Lowercarbon Capital, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, with participation from all major shareholders including T. Rowe Price Association, Inc., Engine Ventures, Aventurine, Presidio Ventures (a Sumitomo Corporation Group Company), and BMW i Ventures amongst others, and Lilac welcomes Mitsubishi Corporation and The Nature Conservancy as new investors. The new capital will be used to support Lilac’s ambitious growth plans as the Company ramps up manufacturing capacity of its propriety ion-exchange (IX) material and commercial deployment at projects around the world.
Sublime Systems Secures $40 Million Series A to Electrify and Scale Decarbonized Cement Production
Sublime Systems, a developer of technology to produce decarbonized cement, today announced that it has closed a $40 million Series A funding round, led by climate-tech focused fund Lowercarbon Capital with participation from existing investors including The Engine, Energy Impact Partners and others. Siam Cement Group, the largest cement producer in Southeast Asia, is also joining as a strategic investor. The company will use the new capital to ramp up production at its pilot plant, build its team, conduct product testing, and advance offtake commitments from new customers and partners.
Solugen raises over $200 million Series D to reimagine the chemistry of everyday life
Solugen is reimagining the chemistry of everyday life with enzymes found in nature. We make chemicals better, faster, cheaper, and without fossil fuels from right here in Houston, Texas. Whether you care about the climate, local competitiveness, or just plain old profits, we have good news: it’s working!
Our first Bioforge has been operating for a year and Solugen is running a nearly nine figure business with high margins selling commodity and specialty chemicals. We have established ourselves with top tier customers for our existing solutions and fortune 100 technology partners to build a robust pipeline of future molecules that will help us achieve our goal of 10 mil tons of CO2 removed from the atmosphere.
Last year we raised over $300m to fund our first Bioforge. Now, we’ve raised over $200m, which increases our valuation above $2b. This capital allows us to break ground on our next Bioforge and start working on 3, 4 and 5, both in the US and abroad. We will significantly grow and advance our new molecule pipeline to enable an even wider range of carbon negative and low carbon solutions for our customers and for end consumers.
Zanskar Announces $12M Series A Funding for Geothermal Discovery Tech
Zanskar, a geothermal exploration and technology company, announced the closing of a $12 million Series A financing. Zanskar has positioned itself as the leading AI company for geothermal discovery, using its proprietary platform to identify and de-risk new geothermal energy resources. The financing was co-led by USV and Lowercarbon, with participation from new and existing investors, including Munich Re Ventures, Safar Partners, Grantham Environmental Trust, and First Star Ventures. Zanskar will deploy the funds to advance its mission, which is to make geothermal power the cheapest form of widely-deployable, firm, carbon-free power generation on the planet, by advancing new partnerships with geothermal developers and accelerating technology development. The company is currently hiring for a number of high-impact roles.