October was another exciting month for our Labeled Solutions community. With over 700 solutions, we will soon reach the 1000 Solutions Challenge, launched by Bertrand Piccard in 2018. This community of efficient clean technologies sends a strong signal to world leaders, businesses and citizens that now is the time to take action on climate change. Our labeled solutions community provides compelling evidence that clean alternatives to polluting industries exist and are affordable, so there is no excuse to continue with “business as usual.”
Flagged solutions continue to grow, raise capital, form strategic partnerships and build bridges into new markets, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and advocate for a transition to a clean and efficient economy.
Ynsect’s $224M round to disrupt fish farming
Ynsect, a startup that builds vertical hitech bug farms, has closed a $224 million funding round ($139 million in debt and $65 million in equity). The startup is targeting the growing fish farming industry, which requires a lot of protein that comes mainly from… other fish. “Worldwide, there are about 44 million tons of fish feed per year fed to farmed fish,” notes Ÿnsect investor Yves Sisteron. Ÿnsect hopes to change that by producing healthy and sustainable insect protein for fish and, one day, humans. The capital will be invested in the construction of the world’s largest insect farm in Amiens, France.
Hydraloop goes global in Matt Damon’s Netflix documentary
Brave Blue Water: Racing to Solve our water crisis advocates for sustainable solutions to global water and sanitation problems and features Hydraloop ‘s award-winning water recycling system. “Our mission is to empower people and organizations to save water and energy. Each house and building can easily recycle its own water. Sharing this message on Netflix will help many people reuse their water and contribute to change,” says Sabine Stuiver, CMO and co-founder of Hydraloop. Watch the documentary with Liam Neeson and Matt Damon on Netflix.
OffgridSun runs equity crowdfunding campaign to bring energy access to 1 billion people
OffgridSun provides solar energy solutions for off-grid communities. Having reached 360,000 people, it now aims to provide affordable solar power to 1 billion people in low-income regions. Providing off-grid communities with sustainable energy has a huge impact, directly replacing highly polluting and often dangerous lighting solutions such as gasoline lamps and torches. Offgrid is raising equity via a crowdfunding campaign to finance its expansion in Africa.
CCm Technologies receives royal attention
The agricultural sector, particularly fertilizer production, is one of the world’s most significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to technologies like CCm, agriculture has the potential to sequester more carbon than it emits. CCm co-founders had the opportunity to show the Re-TV audience how they capture and store carbon dioxide, ammonia, nitrogen and other waste streams or convert them into valuable resources like fertilizer. Re-TV is an initiative launched by Prince Charles to showcase inspiring stories of innovation that will help create a circular bioeconomy.
Sunstyle opens a factory in France
Sunstyle International, a French manufacturer of solar roof tiles, has opened a new factory in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region with the goal of producing 1 GW of solar tiles by 2025. The factory was inaugurated with Bertrand Piccard, chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation, and Barbara Pompili, French Minister for the Ecological Transition, who announced a new incentive for BIPV (building integrated photovoltaic) projects.
MagicPallet raises €2.5 million for its pallet exchange platform
Montpellier-based startup MagicPallet is developing a pallet exchange platform for freight forwarders or for producers and retailers moving pallets from one location to another. The company has just raised €2.5 million to develop new functionality, deploy its solution to a larger number of customers across Europe and strengthen its teams. In the last 20 months, 1.2 million pallets have been exchanged on the platform with this solution, which corresponds to 600,000 avoided kilometers.
MORE ABOUT (French)
Sollum raises CAD 3.15 million to support local fresh produce year-round
Sollum has received CAD 3.15 million in funding through Transition énergétique Québec’s (TEQ) Technoclimat program. In Canada, food autonomy is high on the agenda. As part of COVID-19, Sollum Technologies offers greenhouse growers a unique technology that supports the production of local and sustainable fresh produce year-round. TEQ funding will help Sollum test greenhouse production of peppers during the winter.
Lumi’in raises capital to disrupt public lighting sector
Lumi’in aims to become the world leader in solar public lighting with its easy-to-install, networked lighting solution. The funds will be used for international expansion and the development of the sales team, beyond the initial market entries in North America and West Africa.
Written by
Sarah Badoux