Lowercarbon Capital

In the race to make soil carbon measurement easy, affordable and scalable, one company just pulled out ahead: Yard Stick PBC.  The top soil science journal, the notoriously rigorous Geoderma, just published Yard Stick’s data proving how well their tech works. This publication puts Yard Stick squarely in a category of one. But the news isn’t just great for Yard Stick. It’s great for farmers, ag, food brands, carbon removal companies, governments, and anyone else who needs to know precisely how much carbon is in their soil. It’s also great news for the planet. For those who missed the soil carbon memo, the world’s soil has the capacity to suck up all the planet-warming CO2 swirling around the atmosphere — three times over. Plus, managing soil carbon is essential for food security, supply chain resiliency, even national security. But you can’t manage what you can’t measure. Before Yard Stick, if you wanted to measure your soil carbon, you had two choices. Either dig up a clump of dirt and send it to a lab for analysis. Or use remote sensors, which have all kinds of limitations, not the least of which is they can’t see underground — you know, where most of the soil is. Yard Stick’s rapidly growing customer base — which includes the USDA and Organic Valley — has known for a while what the scientists at Geoderma just acknowledged with this publication. Yard Stick’s more accurate, cost-effective, scalable — sensors-in-the-ground — approach to soil carbon measurement is going to be tough to beat. https://lnkd.in/eAsBt_-B

Hey Boston founders! I'm co-hosting a dinner with Christina Chang and Chris Tolles to meet ambitious founders making real money tackling the toughest problems out there - all while building a better future for people and the planet. Got an idea? Already building? Looking for co-founders? Join us.

Every grid needs a fire alarm. Gridware delivers exactly that, with a ridiculously scalable approach to preventing wildfires sparked by aging electric utility infrastructure. We're incredibly proud to support their new raise as they fast-track their work keeping power lines — and every last one of us — safer.

At Stand, we’re working around the clock to help California homeowners mitigate property risks and secure the coverage they need, especially during these challenging times.

At the end of 2024, something big happened that probably slipped under most people's radar. Commonwealth Fusion Systems made the Fortune Future 50 list, a ranking of companies with the greatest potential for future growth and outsized investor returns. Think about that for a moment. Fusion sharing the spotlight with SaaS, AI, streaming, pharma, and other industries whose existence we simply take for granted. Fusion is no longer an if — it's a when. And when is now. https://lnkd.in/ectDdPX8

When Axios editor Dan Primack asked Lowercarbon's Chris Sacca to comment on the LA wildfires, Sacca did not mince words: "Someday, when the f**king activists get out of the way, and regulators and utilities are incentivized to permit and fund preventative work, then solutions that already exist today will save government and the private sector hundreds of billions of dollars while sparing millions of people, their families, their animals, their communities, and nature itself from the worst consequences of these inevitable fires."

The last few years in biotech have had us all asking, “Dude, where’s my industrial bioeconomy?” It may finally be here, thanks to Biosphere. They're zapping contamination with UV rays, slashing costs, and ditching the steel fortresses of yore. We’ve been stuck on penicillin-era steam sterilization for too long. Now, like the leap SpaceX gave us with reusable rockets or Nvidia’s H100 for the AI revolution, the electrification of the bioreactor can finally unlock biomanufacturing at a global scale and yield 10x more bang for each buck. The team at Lowercarbon Capital is thrilled to have led Biosphere's seed round and be among the earliest backers of the vision Brian Heligman and Arye Lipman brought to us before the first reactor ever ran. If you're interested in how they built it and how you can partner with them, read their announcement below / reach out to them on all the usual channels. https://lnkd.in/g-ymYsxj

Spent the day in Washington DC to speak at the inaugural How We Win summit, which convened 150+ Members of Congress, military leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors to discuss how we can scale the critical technologies needed to guarantee American security. Special thanks to James Barlia at STATION DC for hosting, and Matthew Moisan for moderating. The highlight of my day was meeting General Mark Milley, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Fascinating to pick the brain of America's former top soldier. AI and robotics are changing the game, for sure, and we ignore their importance in warfare at our own peril. Perhaps most interesting, he commissioned an Army War College study on the impact of climate change six years ago - of course it's a national security threat. Later in the day, I spoke on the Made in America Again panel and discussed the state of reindustrialization. A few points on how climate technologies are moving the ball forward: First, scaling up advanced manufacturing does not happen without access to cheap and abundant energy. It's necessary and fundamental. We have a whole portfolio of energy transition companies working on this front, but a few companies I'll tease include Crux (fintech that transforms how clean energy and manufacturing projects are financed in the US), Antora Energy (long duration energy storage electrifying industrial heat and power), and Zanskar Geothermal & Minerals, Inc. (AI-native geothermal energy developer using software and sensors to identify heat sources to tap). We also remain excited about fusion power - our portco Commonwealth Fusion Systems highlighted that opportunity on the energy panel! Second, new categories of advanced manufacturing companies *are* coming online. Two biomanufacturing companies I'll highlight include Solugen (using computationally engineered enzymes to produce specialty chemicals) and Biosphere (UV-sterilized bioreactors), and both have defense applications. On the commercial side, unspun™ (3D weaving technology that creates garments faster, cheaper, and with fewer threads) is reinventing an industry that hasn't seen innovation in decades. And of course, looking at a seed investment from my days before Lowercarbon Capital, you have to marvel at what Hadrian has accomplished with their automated factories delivering precision parts at 10X speed at 50% the cost - I believe they're now the fastest growing "contract manufacturer" in the country. There's more work to do. Let's go 2025. #tech #climatetech #reindustrialization #defense #nationalsecurity

Carbon registry Isometric has become the first to receive a formal endorsement from the three most prominent verification bodies in the carbon market space. https://bit.ly/3VQokHe

It’s happening. With Commonwealth Fusion Systems' announcement of the site of their first power plant, in Chesterfield County, Virginia, commercial fusion’s debut is around the corner. Commonwealth’s ARC, the world’s first grid-scale fusion power plant, will meet the firm power needs of some of Virginia’s largest commercial and industrial sites. Data center operators are already breathing easier. Take a beat to let this news sink in. Safe, sustainable, near-limitless clean power is almost here. Power plants whose fuel comes from mere seawater and rock will create the same reactions that power stars like our sun. With an energy density the likes of which we’ve never seen on Earth, one gram of fusion fuel has the power output of 8 tons of oil — with no greenhouse gas emissions. Obviously, this news is a BFD — not just for Commonwealth Fusion Systems and the larger fusion ecosystem, but for the planet and its 8 billion passengers — and we’re beyond thrilled to share it.  https://lnkd.in/g_9mivc8