Climate

India’s Offgrid raises $15M to make lithium optional for battery storage

Climate /

Lithium has become the default choice for battery-powered systems, but its limitations — from volatile supply chains to short lifespans — are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Offgrid Energy Labs, a deep-tech startup based in India, wants to make lithium less central, especially when it comes to battery storage. The seven-year-old startup, incubated at IIT […]

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Terraton wants to be the McDonald’s of biochar

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If there’s one thing McDonald’s has done for the world, it’s made starting a burger restaurant relatively straightforward. Franchisees buy into the system, and in return they get equipment, marketing, and even an operating manual. Terraton wants to bring that same model to biochar, a technology that turns agricultural waste into a carbon dioxide-sequestering fertilizer.

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Hyundai is working with a startup on plant-based leather that smells like the real thing

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Confession time: My household owns two cars, one with leather and one with “leather.” The former feels amazing, the latter … well, let’s just say it’s not fooling anyone. Based on the samples currently sitting on my desk, leather alternatives don’t have to feel so artificial or be so harsh on the environment.  Most fake

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How one AI startup is helping rice farmers battle climate change

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Fixing climate change is no small task — just ask carbon removal developers like Mitti Labs. The New York-based startup has developed technology to measure how much methane is released by rice paddies and uses it to train hundreds of thousands of farmers in climate-friendly practices. It’s the sort of high-touch endeavor that venture capitalists

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Frontier buys $31M worth of antacids for the ocean

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Frontier, the carbon removal clearinghouse founded by Google, Strip, Shopify, and others, announced today that it is buying 115,208 metric tons of carbon removal credits from geoengineering startup Planetary in a deal worth $31.2 million.  Where most Frontier deals to date have bought carbon from startups specializing in direct air capture, enhanced weathering, or bioenergy

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Yottar wants to help energy users find capacity on the electrical grid

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From AI to EVs, the world’s demand for power is soaring, and the electrical grid is feeling the squeeze.  Enter Yottar, a startup that maps electrical grid capacity to help companies figure out where they can plug in new data centers, EV charging stations, and other power-hungry equipment. “The electrification super cycle is colliding with

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Ecosia has offered to take ‘stewardship’ of Chrome. And it’s not a bad idea.

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“It’s not absurd, right?” Christian Kroll, CEO of Berlin-based non-profit search engine Ecosia, says of his company’s unsolicited request to be granted a 10-year “stewardship” of Google’s Chrome browser, instead of forcing Google to sell it to a competitor. His idea is most definitely absurd, but also clever. On Thursday, Ecosia announced it had sent

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Group14 lands $463M from SK, Porsche, and others to make silicon anodes for EVs

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Battery materials startup Group14 announced Wednesday it has closed a $463 million funding round to expand its manufacturing footprint, a sign that investors remain confident in the future of electric vehicles. The startup manufactures silicon anode materials, which significantly boost the storage capacity of lithium-ion batteries. Group14 currently operates three factories, two in the U.S.

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Final call: Disrupt 2025 ticket savings end tonight

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TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 marks 20 years of shaping the startup world — and tonight’s your last chance to save up to $675 on your ticket. From October 27–29, Disrupt returns to Moscone West in San Francisco. Join 10,000+ tech innovators, founders, VCs, and ecosystem builders for three days of high-impact programming, networking, and startup energy.

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