Land use in agriculture 

Half of the world's habitable land is currently used for agriculture. The continual expansion of land for agriculture is a leading driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss, 28,000 species are threatened by extinction on the IUCN Red List, and agriculture is listed as a threat for 24,000 of them. 

The most land-intensive agriculture is animal agriculture, which takes up 27% of the Earth's surface area, including the land used to graze animals and grow crops to feed them. In contrast, cropland used to feed and clothe humans take up just 7%. According to Our World in Data, It takes around 100 times as much land to produce a kilocalorie of beef or lamb versus plant-based alternatives.

One solution  switch our diets to be more plant-based. Another solution is modern farming practices like vertical farming, which, while relatively high on energy usage, saves on both land and water use.  Q1 of 2022 saw large rounds to vertical farming companies like Plenty and Plantlab, leading SDG 15, Life on Land, to its highest quarter on record. 

On Dealroom.co, you can view the latest list of impact startups that are working with the UN's SDG  goal #15, Life on Land. Discover and explore these 327  impact startups today.

In other news

🚗 Tesla cut from S&P 500 ESG Index. The electric carmaker Tesla Inc has been removed from the widely followed S&P 500 ESG Index because of company allegations of racial discrimination and crashes linked to its autopilot vehicles. Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded with harsh tweets, including that "ESG is a scam". - Reuters

🌍 China's PV sector eyes opportunities under the EU's new energy plan.

China and the European Union (EU) have "bright cooperation prospects" in the photovoltaic (PV) sector "despite certain differences", industry sources and experts say. - Global Times

🌱 Australia election: Anthony Albanese signals climate policy change. Anthony Albanese, who won Australia's election with the centre-left Labor Party, has pledged to deliver a "big shift in climate policy" and make the country a "renewable energy superpower". - BBC

Latest impact deals:

The largest this week:

🇩🇪 Zolar, a leading digital solar platform in Germany, has secured €100M in Series C funding. This financing round was led by the US investor Energy Impact Partners (EIP).

🇺🇸 Michigan-based Agtech startup Vestaron, which develops biological alternatives to chemical-based crop controls using peptides, has closed on an $82M Series C. 

🇮🇱 Optibus, a Tel Aviv-based startup, which has developed an end-to-end software platform for public transportation planning and operations, has closed $100M in Series D funding.

🇺🇸 New York-based Sustain.Life, a software platform that helps businesses measure, manage and report their carbon emissions and environmental impact, has raised $16M in seed funding.

Other promising impact deals:

🇵🇭 Coins.ph, the Philippines’ leading fiat and crypto wallet services provider, has completed a $30M Series C round led by Ribbit Capital.

🇨🇦 ChargeLab, a Toronto-based startup that builds software to operate and optimize electric vehicle charging equipment for fleets and commercial customers, has raised a $15M Series A round. The round was led by King River Capital.

🇮🇱 Imagindairy, an Israeli producer of animal-free milk proteins, has just secured $15M in seed. Target Global led the round. 

🇸🇬 Unravel Carbon, an enterprise software company that helps businesses decarbonize, has closed a $7.38M seed round. The round was led by Sequoia India’s Surge.

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

Job opportunities

🇳🇴 FREYR, the lithium ion battery facility, is hiring for a Data Analyst and Test Engineer in Norway, and 27 other roles.

🇸🇬 Alternative protein company Next Gen Foods is hiring an Expansion Manager based in Singapore and a Senior Marketing Manager in Germany, and 5 other roles.

 🇳🇱 At dealroom.co we are hiring a Research Analyst and 8 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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