Electric vehicles are charging up demand

In 2021, 13% of all passenger vehicles sold were Electric Vehicles (EVs). According to Bloomberg, countries Norway (97%), Sweden (60%), Netherlands (51%) and Denmark (49%) have reached high sales penetrations as of 4Q 2021, demonstrating mass-market demand for cleaner vehicles.

While the passenger vehicles are flying off the shelves, sales of zero-emission trucks are still low, putting commercial vehicle decarbonization far behind the progress made in passenger vehicles. Commercial vehicles like heavy-duty trucks are essential as they are responsible for 25% of global road emissions, despite only representing 1% of total fleet vehicles.

As a result, companies like Nikola and Electric Last Mile Solutions are now focusing efforts on developing EV trucks to be used commercially. 

Venture capital funding into EV companies has slowed considerably in the first 5 months of 2022, from $5.9B in the second half of 2021 to $1.6B in 2022. While VC funding, in general, is slowing compared to last year, the EV space is experiencing a faster decline than the overall climate tech space.

VC Funding going into electric vehicle companies per 6 months:

In other news

🌎  G7 countries commit to working towards coal phase-out. The G7 group of nations has committed to working towards phasing out unabated coal power, but has not fixed a date for doing so. In a ministerial-level joint communiqué, the countries pledged to decarbonise their power sectors by 2035. - Reuters

⛽ Europe plans for risk that Russia cuts gas supply this year. EU’s energy commissioner Kadri Simson has said that Europe is developing contingency plans in case of a complete breakdown in Russian gas imports, with any country at risk of being cut off by Moscow. - Financial Times

⚡ China’s slumping economy to cut coal use even as output swells. China’s demand for thermal coal is “likely to keep falling through the rest of the first half” of 2022 as Covid-19 control policies “continue to mire the economy in a deep slump.” - Bloomberg

Latest impact deals:

The largest this week:

🇺🇸 California-based onsite power generation provider Mainspring Energy has secured $150M in a Series E funding round. Global growth equity investor Lightrock led the round. 

🇺🇸 Regrow, a US-based startup using technology to enable regenerative agriculture practices has raised $38M in funding. The Series B round was led by Galvanize Climate Solutions. 

🇬🇧 UK-based NatureMetrics, a DNA-based biodiversity monitoring company, has secured €12M to bring nature data to the boardroom. The investment was led by urban sustainability-focused VC fund 2150. 

🇺🇸 Friday Health Plans, a Denver-based health insurance holding company, has signed an agreement for $70M of equity investment led by Leadenhall Capital Partners. 

Other promising impact deals:

🇺🇸 California-based food tech startup Joywell Foods, which is developing a sweet alternative protein, has secured $25M in Series B funding in a round led by Piva Capital. 

🇬🇧 Greyparrot, a London, UK-based AI-powered waste management software company, raised $11M in Series A funding in a round led by Una Terra. 

🇩🇪 Berlin-based Inne has raised $10M in a Series A round. The health tech startup produces a saliva biosensor mini-lab that women can use to track progesterone levels within their bodies. 

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

Job opportunities

🇩🇪 Solar power company Sunvigo, is hiring for a Head of Sales and Product Owner in Germany, and 32 other roles.

🇵🇹 Health startup SWORD Health is hiring a Channel Sales Manager and a Product Innovation Specialist in the United States, and 39 other roles.

 🇳🇱 At dealroom.co we are hiring an Sr. AI Engineer, Account Executive and 10 other roles. 

Discover 26,000+ job openings at impact startups (login for full results)

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Røskva Richardt

Impact Specialist
Dealroom.co

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