Grid Catalyst’s Post

There's a saying in VC that you're only as good as your first investments (or maybe I made that up...). Either way, it's been almost 3 years since we invested in our very first Sustainability companies here at gener8tor through our inaugural Sustainability Accelerator. To stress test that maxim, let's see where they are at: 🚗 itselectric electric (urban EV charging w/ Tiya Gordon & Nathan L. King) started 2024 as a World Economic Forum Top Innovator at Davos, was awarded a $1.5M Federal grant from the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation for a national curbside charging toolkit, raised a $6.5M Seed round, secured contracts with major U.S. municipalities (led by the City of Boston) and most recently was awarded grant funding from The Earthshot Prize for their urban sustainability innovation. 🍄 Mycocycle, Inc. (mushrooms that eat trash w/ Joanne Rodriguez, LEED AP, FitWel Amb, CDT) has secured commercial agreements that moved its operations to a 7-day production schedule. After closing an oversubscribed seed extension earlier this year, the company is forecasting 4X growth in 2025 to supply its low-carbon, bio-based additives into expanded markets, including automotive and CPG opportunities. ⚡ Blip Energy (drop-in distributed energy resource w/ Sophia Wennstedt & Chance Cobb) recently ran its first utility pilot with Minnesota Power through Grid Catalyst (shout out to Nina Axelson) and is setting up its second pilot with Brooklyn Navy Yard. It's currently in Morgan Stanley's Inclusive Ventures Lab program and was awarded a $1.1M grant from @U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) earlier this year. 🌾 Carbon Yield (helping farmers transition to regen ag w/ Claire Pluard & Sam Schiller) has activated more than $7.5M to catalyze regenerative agriculture across the Midwest while helping food brands like Unilever, Danone, and Barry Callebaut Group decarbonize their value chain. 🌞 SolarSteam Inc. (renewable industrial heat w/ Apostol Radev) hit major milestones this month alone: commissioning their second paid pilot, signing a $5M FOAK, securing a newly issued patent, and locking in Levelized Capital as their $4M Seed 2 lead (raising now 👀 ). I couldn't be prouder of the work these companies have accomplished over the last 3 years. They're not just building successful businesses - they're accelerating the clean transition and blazing a trail for all to come. #climateTech #sustainability #startups #cleantech #innovation