From the Editor’s Desk
What does the Presidential election mean for the future of cleantech?
Harris: Last month, we interviewed former Biden economic advisor Joelle Gamble, who has also been advising the Harris campaign. While Harris has her own vision, when it comes to climate and energy, we can expect strong continuity with the Biden Administration on key issues like renewables, electric vehicles, and innovation.
Trump: A Trump win, on the other hand, would mean big shifts in energy policy. Many cleantech founders have reached out to us for help with contingency planning. There is, of course, a lot of uncertainty. But we can make some educated guesses. Today, we’re releasing a new episode of Political Capital, Trump & Cleantech, with Michael Catanzaro, who led energy policy in the Trump White House and is advising the Trump transition on personnel and policy. Here are four take-aways:
- Focus on Fossil Fuels: Trump has clearly signaled that he will prioritize fossil fuels over renewables. Among other steps, a Trump Administration would likely accelerate leasing for oil and natural gas production on federal lands and speed up the permitting for natural gas pipelines.
- The Inflation Reduction Act has Staying Power, Probably: The IRA now benefits from some support among Republicans in the House whose districts are directly benefitting from clean energy investments. A full repeal of the IRA is unlikely. However, much of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 is set to expire at the end of 2025, which will force a Congressional debate on tax policy; in that context, some IRA tax provisions could be in jeopardy. A Trump Administration could also slow ongoing IRA implementation, e.g., the pace at which grants are made.
- Push Back on Electric Vehicles: Trump has attacked the Biden Administration’s approach to EVs. A Trump Administration could substantially weaken policies that are driving EV adoption, especially the special waiver authority that enables California to set its own stricter auto emission standards, which have a significant impact on national markets. However, Trump has also been vocal in his support for the auto industry, which is itself signaling a long-term commitment to EVs, which may make Trump slightly more cautious in rolling back some Biden policies.
- Mixed Bag on Renewables & Nuclear: A second Trump Administration would likely slow the deployment of offshore wind. In his first term, Trump also opposed solar development but has been largely silent on the subject this campaign season. However, Trump would likely sustain the Biden Administration’s tariffs on solar panel imports. These tariffs raise costs for solar deployment. Trump’s approach to nuclear seems roughly consistent with Biden, that is, modest support.
Market Momentum
Path Robotics raised a $100 million Series D from Matter Venture Partners and Drive Capital to build AI and computer vision tech for the automated welding sector. They’re also expanding a contract manufacturing business called Path Foundry focused on helping US manufacturers onshore their automated welding operations.
Read more here.
Alchemy, a developer of in-house pharmacy programs for clinics with large HIV and hepatitis C patient populations, raised $31 million in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz joined by Magic Johnson, Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners, Banc of California, Twine Ventures, Springbank, and AlleyCorp. The company's co-founders previously were with Truepill, a digital pharmacy startup that sold for $525M. Read more here.
ForceMetrics raised $22 million from Stand Together Ventures, GovTech Fund, George Lucas, and Flybridge Capital. They integrate data from CAD (Dispatch), RMS (Police Reports), and social service to help police officers make more informed decisions in the field. Founders are former FBI agents. Read more here.
Scope3 raised $25 million from GV, Aperiam Ventures, Craft Ventures, Room40 Ventures, and Venrock to analyze the carbon emissions of advertising campaigns. They can report by country, by campaign, even by channel (web, app, connected TVs, etc.). Founder Bryan O’Kelley previously sold AppNexus to AT&T for ~$1.6B. Read more here.
Blue Energy raised a $45 million Series A from Engine Ventures, At One Ventures, Propeller Ventures, Angular Ventures, and Tamarack Global to build modular, mass-producible nuclear power plans that operate submerged in bodies of water. They’ve also secured an LOI for their first power plant from a data center provider. Read more here.
Anduril won a $250 million contract with the DOD for 500 units of their Roadrunner reusable drone interceptors plus their Pulsar electronic warfare system. While the US scales up its offensive drone capacity with the Replicator program, Anduril’s progress here shows how defensive tools are picking up traction as well. Read more here.
Talk Around Town
Our founding partner, Nate, recently had an op-ed in the NYT on the FTC, “Little Tech”, and the state of competition in tech markets today. Read it here.
Engine Ventures released a report on the key opportunities for investors and founders in the clean energy transition. They lay out three checkpoints: 1) adapting to supply-constraints driven by compute and outdated infrastructure, 2) adopting high-capacity technologies in power generation/storage/transmission, and 3) abundance driven by low energy prices and mass electrification. Read the full report here.
Bessemer Ventures released their annual State of Health Tech report. Notably, one of their predictions is that big data analytics and AI are going to be increasingly adopted by Medicare and Medicaid as those programs deploy value-based care models. Read the report here.
New Additions to the Commonweal Team
We added to our advisory board Neil Chatterjee, who served as Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee from 2018 to 2020.
