The humanitarian side of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has often been the topic of dark dystopian thrillers and has sparked concern in real-life about replacing human workforces, but there is a growing case for AI tackling some of the world's most challenging societal issues. 

Throughout the covid-19 pandemic, AI has been valuable in information sharing. Data is shared in real-time with practitioners such as doctors, scientists, and research labs worldwide. 

However, AI's usage goes far beyond healthcare. The McKinsey Global Institute collected 160 AI social-impact use cases to analyze. The findings suggest that existing AI applications could help tackle all 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), potentially helping hundreds of millions of people affected by climate change. For example, AI is being used to increase access to safe information about aid requirements and available resources in Ukraine.

On Dealroom.co, we've mapped 130+ European companies using AI for social good. The startups are grouped into the Sustainable Development Goal they aim to tackle. Click the button below to explore our curated landscape and discover startups innovating and leading the water tech sector. 👇

In other news

😷 European wave of Omicron sub-variant BA.2 foreshadows US surge.  The World Health Organization’s regional chief warned this week that much of Europe is in the grip of a fresh covid-19 surge after “brutally” sweeping away restrictions. North America is likely to be hit by a similar sharp rise in infections within weeks - Financial Times

🧊 Satellite data shows entire Conger ice shelf has collapsed in Antarctica. An ice shelf about the size of Rome has completely collapsed in East Antarctica within days of record high temperatures, according to satellite data. - The Guardian

🌙 NASA Plans to Give SpaceX Some Company on the Moon. NASA will seek bids for future lunar landing spacecraft from companies other than SpaceX, which won the first contract to return American astronauts to the moon. - New York Times

Latest impact deals:

The largest this week:

🇮🇪 Irish company Mainstream Renewable Power raised €575M in Late VC. The investment was made by Mitsui & Co., Ltd., who will take a long-term active role in the growth of the company. 

🇩🇪 German electrolyser maker Sunfire has raised €86M as part of a Series D funding round. The funding round was led by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Blue Earth Capital. 

🇺🇸 San Francisco–based home electrification startup Span has raised $90M in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Fifth Wall and Wellington Management.

🇫🇷 French climate tech startup Kayrros has secured €40M to help companies and policymakers achieve sustainability goals. Participants in the round include the French government, acting through French Tech Souveraineté.

Other promising impact deals:

🇳🇱 Amsterdam-based off-street parking platform ParkBee has raised €30M in Growth Equity VC from Koolen Industries.

🇺🇸 Beep, a Lake Nona, Florida-based provider of multi-passenger, electric, autonomous mobility solutions, has raised $25M in Series A funding. The round was led by ABS Capital. 

🇫🇷 France-based food safety and quality scale-up Novolyze has announced that it has raised $15Min a Series A financing round. The Series A funding round was led by Wave Equity Partners. 

🇺🇸 SparkMeter, a Washington-based provider of grid management services, equipment, and software solutions, has secured $10M in Early VC funding. The round was led by Accurant International with participation from existing investors. 

🇫🇮 Finnish EdTech startup Funzi has raised €3M to support the global trend towards lifelong learning. The round was led by Finnish and European institutional investors.

Read up on all the latest impact deals in Dealroom.co

Job opportunities

🇳🇱 At Dealroom.co we are hiring across all departments for 12 roles including: Business Analyst, Client Success Manager, and Product Owner.

Discover 27,000+ job openings at impact startups (login for full results)

Tip of the week

On the Startups & Scaleups tab you can filter for startups founded by founders with a specific degree, such as a MBA. Currently, we identify 223 impact startups whose founder has an MBA. 

Dive in

📈 9,000+ impact startups and 13,300+ funding rounds on

https://impact.dealroom.co

♻️ Sort by the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals: https://impact.dealroom.co/curated/taxonomy/sdgs

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Røskva Richardt

Impact Tech Specialist
Dealroom.co

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