Liquid immersion cooling, autonomous electric airplanes, and biofertilizers derived from insects fed on agriwaste: Recent Deals worth looking at 

Agriculture & Food 

Entosystem (2018) produces animal feed and biofertilizers from insects fed on agri-food waste streams. Entosystem currently has the capacity to divert and transform 90,000 tonnes of organic material from landfill through its current production facility in Drummondville, Canada.   

Entosystem’s October 2nd round raised $58M in Growth Equity from Idealist Capital, Fondaction, and Sanimax.    

This strategic investment aims to accelerate Entosystem’s growth by increasing existing production capacity. This will mainly be achieved through the development and construction of a second commercial plant as Entosystem scales to meet increasing demand.  

Energy & Power  

Submer (2015) develops a computing liquid immersion cooling solution for data centers. Their technology cools IT equipment in thermally conductive and dielectric liquid so that heat is captured across all components and can be easily reused.  

On October 3rd, Submer raised $55.5M in Growth Equity led by M&G Investments, alongside the participation of Mundi Ventures and existing investors Planet First Partners and Norrsken VC. M&G’s investment was made through M&G Catalyst.  

The round will be used to boost customer acquisition and further support clients in their infrastructure needs as Submer enters its next phase of growth. The company has plans to expand globally through increasing its presence in the U.S. and APAC markets.  

Materials & Chemicals 

Anaphite (2016) develops techniques to incorporate graphene into Li-ion batteries to improve battery life and charging times. The University of Bristol spin-out develops enhanced cathode powders that can be used to produce dry coated electrodes.  

Notpla raised $13.7M in Series A funding on September 27th co-led by World Fund and Maniv Energy Capital, with participation from EEI, Nesta, and Elbow Beach Capital.  

The funding will be used to scale up and expand their technology through commissioning a plant for composite cathode material production, as well as supporting new hires, expanding their technology portfolio, and R&D.  

Resources & Environmental Management 

Atlas Metrics (2021) develops an all-in-one platform for ESG metrics. Their platform streamlines and automates CSRD reporting, using AI to enable mid-sized companies and financial institutions to meet regulatory requirements through measuring and communicate their impact.  

On September 30th, Atlas Metrics raised $13.6M in Series A funding from MMC Ventures, Cherry Ventures, Redstone, and b2venture. Atlas’s partnership with DG Nexolution disperses its technology to up to 700 banks in the German cooperative network. 

The funding will support Atlas’ expansion into new markets, growing its team, and continue development into its ESG compliance and performance management offering. Atlas counts consultancies PwC Belgium and TK Moore among its customers.  

Transportation & Logistics 

Pyka (2017) develops autonomous electric airplanes with several applications, including crop spraying. Pyka’s Pelican Spray is the largest FAA-approved uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) for crop protection. Pelican Cargo, designed for long-range delivery, is the first large-scale autonomous electric cargo aircraft.  

Pyka’s Series B round raised $40M led by Obvious Ventures with the participation of Piva Capital, Prelude Ventures, Metaplanet, and Y Combinator on September 24th.  

The investment will support Pyka’s plans to boost production and commercialization as the company looks to expand. Pyka has deployed their aircraft across multiple continents and has operations in the U.S., Central America, and Brazil. 

Waste and Recycling  

Cyclic Materials (2021) provides a circular supply chain service platform facilitating the recycling of critical metals. Its technology transforms end-of-life products into valuable raw materials for the production of electric vehicles, wind turbines, and motors. 

PureCycle’s September 25th Series B round raised $53M led by ArcTern Ventures. New investors BDC Capital, Hitachi, Zero Infinity Partners, Climate Investment, and Microsoft participated in the round alongside existing investors Fifth Wall, BMW i Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, and Planetary Technologies. The round follows a grant for Natural Resources Canada that funds the operation of its commercial demonstration facility.  

Cyclic Materials will deploy this capital to accelerate its international growth, through building out its rare earth recycling infrastructure in the U.S. and Europe and growing its team to support its operations.