Driver-centric electric vehicle charging, an ocean data mapping platform, and bioreactors that use light to produce cultivated protein: discover the Recent Deals worth looking at.

Agriculture & Food 

Prolific Machines (2020) is a developer of a cell biomanufacturing platform that can bring down the costs of producing cultivated meat. Their bioreactors achieve this through leveraging and strategically applying light to genetic tools to more efficiently biomanufacture nutritional proteins.  

Prolific Machines raised $55M in Series B funding from Ki Tua Fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield Fund, SOSV, Shorewind Capital, Darco Capital, Conti Ventures, and In-Q-Tel. The round also includes convertible notes.  

With this investment, Prolific Machines will accelerate commercialization and customer acquisition. The company has already began engaging with commercial partners that remain undisclosed.  

Energy & Power  

Xcimer Energy Corporation (2021) provides inertial fusion technologies. The company makes use of excimer lasers to harvest and utilize neutrons released in nuclear fusion generation.  

On June 4th, Xcimer Energy Corporation raised $100M in Series A funding from Hedosophia, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Prelude Ventures, Emerson Collective, Gigascale Capital, and Starlight Ventures.   

The funding round will support commercialization of inertial confinement fusion power using Xcimer high power lasers at a new facility in Denver. Xcimer Energy Corporation aims to produce 10x higher laser efficiency at 30x lower costs than the National Ignition Facility. 

Materials & Chemicals 

Black Semiconductor (2019) is a provider of graphene solutions for the semiconductor and electronics industries. Their process focuses on utilizing graphene to enhance chip connectivity, integrating electronic photonic circuitry into their products.  

Black Semiconductor raised $273M on June 12th in a combination Equity and Government funding round. The majority of the funding was provided by the German government and North-Rhine Westphalia through state aid assigned by the EU Commission for large technology projects. The remaining portion of the round was raised by Porsche Ventures, Project A Ventures, Scania Growth Capital, Capnamic Ventures, TechVision Fonds, and NRW.BANK.  

The capital will be put towards research and development, expanding its team of engineers and accelerating business development. Additionally, the round will contribute to building a production facility in Aachen as a part of their larger efforts to eventually increase production in volume through working directly with large train manufacturers.  

Resources & Environmental Management 

Xocean (2017) is a developer of an ocean data collection and mapping platform. Their technology utilises a fleet of uncrewed surface vessels that can remain offshore for extended periods of time, allowing analysts to operate the vessels from onshore.  

Xocean’s Series B round on June 11th raised $32M from Venturewave Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, and Enterprise Ireland. As part of the oversubscribed investment, Xocean secured €20M in venture-debt funding from the European Investment Bank.  

The investment will be put towards furthering the company’s international growth and improving its product. The company currently has offices in the UK, Canada, Norway, Australia, and the U.S., in addition to its headquarters in Co Louth. It aims to build a team of around 500 employees by next month.   

Transportation & Logistics 

FLO (2016) is a provider and operator of an electric vehicle charging network. Their products are designed to be driver-centric and comply with the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program’s standards.  

On June 11th, FLO raised $136M in Growth Equity funding from Export Development Canada, CDPQ – Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, Investissement Quebec, Business Development Bank of Canada, Energy Impact Partners, and MacKinnon, Bennett & Co.    

The funding round will support the rollout of their ultra-fast chargers and residential chargers this year. Furthermore, the round will fund additional new charging solutions and the network expansion of FLO owned-and-operated stations at high-utilization sites across North America.  

Waste and Recycling  

SiTration (2022) is a developer of electrified extraction technology for the recovery of critical materials in the battery recycling process. The MIT spinout uses a patented porous silicon membrane technology that enables efficient materials recovery. Currently, SiTration is working to implement their platform in mining, metals refining, and lithium-ion battery recycling. 

SiTration raised $11.8M in Series A funding on May 6th from 2150, BHP Ventures, Extantia, Orion Industrial Ventures, Azolla Ventures, and E14 Fund. They have previously received grant funding from the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E and the National Science Foundation.  

The funding will be put towards scaling their technology and deploying pilot systems with commercial partners.