Playground Global
Assembly Line
Element Zero Raises US$10M Seed Funding Led by Playground Global
Element Zero, a green materials platform company, announced today that it has raised US$10 million in seed funding led by Playground Global. The company has developed a novel approach to cost-effectively convert metal ores, such as iron, nickel, and other future-facing materials, to pure metals with zero carbon emissions. The low energy consumption and the ability to operate using intermittent renewable energy underpins the company’s capability to reduce carbon emissions on a global scale. Element Zero will use the funding to grow R&D, engineering, and project development teams and scale the development of a pilot iron plant. Peter Barrett, Co-Founder and General Partner at Playground Global, has joined the company’s board of directors.
Boxbot Raises $12M Series A Led by Playground Global
Boxbot, the vertical automation solution that sorts and stores packages for last-mile carriers, announced today a $12 million Series A round, led by Playground Global. Maersk Growth (the venture arm of A.P. Moller), Toyota Ventures, Pear Ventures, and Artiman Ventures also participated in the round, which brings the company’s total funding to $29.5 million. The funds will be used to accelerate the company’s mission of enabling carriers to provide more efficient delivery experiences and bolster the team’s engineering and business operations. Playground Global Venture Partner Richard Peretz, former CFO at UPS, will join the company’s board of directors.
Boxbot transforms conveyors into intelligent, three-dimensional package handling systems. The platform can store, sort, and sequence size-agnostic, high throughput payloads while requiring a minimal physical footprint. Storage density is maximized by dynamically adapting the space required for each payload in real time. The system is designed for flexibility and can be easily installed in both new or existing facilities.