Happy Monday!
Kim and Sophie are back in the interview seat, with the first guest in a new video format (is CTVC the new TBPN?!)). Ex-CTO of Meta turned Gigascale Capital founder, Mike Schroepfer, came on to talk about the new fund he just raised. Check it out here and get the highlights below.
This was fun, so expect to see more videos! This is just the start. We'll keep pulling simple sound bites into the newsletter, but the full conversations live on YouTube. Got someone we should talk to? Hit reply and let us know.
In deals, $465m for fusion power in Washington state; $215m for electric mobility and battery-swapping in Dubai; and $100m for waterless direct-to-chip liquid cooling in California.
In other news, California's rollbacks, Spain's new capacity market, and a big week for fusion.
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Our Schrep pep talk
There are few folks in Silicon Valley better suited to chat AI x climate than Mike Schroepfer, former CTO of Meta, and longtime close friend of CTVC. Schrep, as most know him, just closed $250m for Gigascale Capital’s first institutional fund – so we figured no better time to kick off our Kim & Sophie video series!
Schrep shared not only the details on Gigascale’s new fund, but also what it’s actually like to build an OG data center at Meta, why he’s still calling it “climate” (tldr; don’t bend in the breeze), his hot takes on VCs, and much more. This was genuinely a treat. Get the full interview on YouTube here and some highlights below. You can also read the full, long version of the Q&A on our blog here.
Best story
"It builds real humility when you have to work in the real world, because everyone wants to think it's this really clever, gnarly intellectual problem. But the real world is a thousand annoying small things. Our first data center came online in Prineville, Oregon in 2011. We bought the land, designed the building, designed the largest fleet of servers in the building. We had next-generation free air cooling, no chillers.
“I showed up for an inspection before the building was done and there were wooden blocks on the loading dock. I asked what was up, and they said we'd graded it at the wrong angle so the truck couldn't unload. The thing you see in every Walmart in the world, we didn't get right in our brand new state-of-the-art data center. Imagine that, but a thousand a day – concrete didn't work, the chiller broke, the electrician didn't show up. It just builds a lot of humility. Get to the problems and grind through them."
And develop creative solutions, too: Meta started building data centers in tents. "You can put up a wedding tent in an afternoon or a couple of days. Building a building takes a year or two. When time to compute really matters, why am I spending all this time erecting steel when mostly I just need to stop rain hitting the servers, which a tent can do just fine."
On VCs
"There are tons of entrepreneurs watching this who are struggling to raise capital. As a former founder who got lots of nos on my Series A, I had someone fall asleep during my pitch. I remember exactly where it was, who it was, when it was. That was 26 years ago. It sucks to raise money and get nos. That's the bad news.
“The good news is I'm not trying to systematically solve this problem. I'm not trying to get every company funded. We're trying to pick outliers – the company that's gonna run the gauntlet when no one else could. Commonwealth Fusion Systems is building fusion, the most high-risk technical path but the most promising to deliver clean power to the grid. They've raised billions of dollars because they have an unbelievable team taking the most scientifically proven approach."
On 'climate' framing
"Climate tech has always been an awkward framing. We've talked about alt proteins, fusion, neodymium production, offshore data centers, and you're like, 'That's climate tech?' It's a weird framing, and I don't have a decidedly better one. We're a for-profit business. My 101 of business is we need to make stuff for cheaper than we sell it for, and there has to be lots of demand. Every business we go after is a good business where the buyer doesn't need to care about the environment, they buy it because it makes their life better. We just add one extra filter: if this thing wins, what happens to pollution, to resilience, to public health? If the answer is nothing, or something bad, it's not for us. I call it deep tech with a climate lens."
Advice for founders
"AI has made this the best time in the world to start a new company. The leverage you get from two people building a company now versus seven months ago is unbelievable. We have CEOs vibe coding firmware for their hardware companies.”
Most contrarian take
Are space-based data centers real? Schrep's take: "Super cool. I love space …And it's 100 times cheaper to put a ton of material on a floating platform in the ocean than to launch it into space. So if anyone thinks space-based data centers are a great idea, I have a different technology that starts with a 100X cost advantage. Even if I'm wrong by 10X, and then wrong by another 2X, I still have a 5X advantage."
Deals of the Week (6/1 – 6/7)
VC / Growth
⚡ Helion Energy, an Everett, WA-based fusion power plant developer, raised $465m in Growth funding from Thrive Capital, Alta Park Capital, Anti Fund, BoxGroup, Capricorn Investment Group, and other investors.
🛵 Spiro, a Dubai, UAE-based electric mobility and battery-swapping infrastructure provider, raised $215m in Series A funding from Equitane and Impact Fund Denmark.
🖥️ ZutaCore, a San Jose, CA-based provider of waterless direct-to-chip liquid cooling solutions, raised $100m in Series C funding from Carrier Ventures, Mitsubishi Electric, and Samsung Ventures.
🌿 InnovaFeed, a Paris, France-based insect-based protein feed developer, raised $59m in Series D funding from ADM, Creadev, FFC Capital, Qatar Investment Authority, Temasek, and other investors.
⚡ Fuse Energy, a London, England-based vertically integrated energy supplier and renewable energy developer, raised $29m in Series B funding from Collaborative Fund, The Twenty Minute VC (20VC), Balderton Capital, and Lowercarbon Capital.
🔋 encosa energy, a Munich, Germany-based C&I battery storage developer, raised $29m in Seed funding from Reályze Ventures, Bayern Kapital, Blume Ventures, First Momentum Ventures, and other investors.
⛏️ Atana Elements, a San Francisco, CA-based critical minerals explorer, raised $28m in Seed funding from Lowercarbon Capital, Borusan Ventures, Earthshot Ventures, Overture VC, Redwoods Climate Capital, and other investors.
⚡ Gigaton, a London, England-based industrial process optimization software provider, raised $26m in Series A funding from Plural, 2150, AlbionVC, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, Clean Growth Fund, and other investors.
⛏️ TerraAI, a Palo Alto, CA-based AI-powered subsurface modeling platform for critical minerals and energy exploration, raised $20m in Series A funding from Khosla Ventures and BHP Ventures.
♻️ Gr3n Recycling, a Lugano, Switzerland-based chemical plastics recycler, raised $18m in Series B funding from 360 Capital and VP Textile.
Project Finance / Debt
🔋 esVolta, a Newport Beach, CA-based utility-scale energy storage project developer, raised $250m in Debt funding from Nomura, Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI), Celtic Bank, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), Fiera Infrastructure, and other investors.
☀️ Svea Solar, a Bromma, Sweden-based renewable energy solutions provider, raised $215m in Debt funding from Arkéa Asset Management and Eiffel Investment Group.
⚡ Aukera Energy, a Brussels, Belgium-based renewable energy developer, raised $113m in PF Debt funding from ABN AMRO, Triodos Bank, I4B, SOCOFE, and Wallonie Entreprendre.
⚡ Ingetam Corporacion, a Zamudio, Spain-based developer of electrical energy conversion and renewable energy technologies, raised $87m in Debt funding from European Investment Bank (EIB).
☀️ R.Power, a Warsaw, Poland-based renewable energy and battery energy storage project developer, raised $74m in PF Debt funding from Erste Bank and Siemens Bank.
☀️ R.Power, a Warsaw, Poland-based renewable energy and battery energy storage project developer, raised $53m in PF Debt funding from Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
♻️ Resand, a Nuutajärvi, Finland-based industrial sand recycling developer, raised $29m in Debt funding from Norion Bank.
🛵 Simple Energy (India), a Bengaluru, India-based high-performance electric scooter manufacturer, raised $13m in Debt funding from Capitar Ventures and HDFC Bank.
Exits
♻️ Clean Earth, a King of Prussia, PA-based waste management solutions provider, was acquired by Veolia at an implied valuation of $3bn.
💧 Axius Water, a Pocasset, MA-based wastewater treatment solutions provider, was acquired by Oldcastle Infrastructure at an implied valuation of $700m.
Funds
💡 Gigascale Capital, a Palo Alto, CA-based early-stage venture capital firm focused on clean energy, grid infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and physical AI, closed $250m for its first institutional fund, Gigascale Capital Fund I, to back companies rebuilding the physical economy for climate impact.
This is a sample of deals available for Sightline clients. Can’t get enough deals?
Reading List
🏛 California retreats on climate goals, with CARB voted to give up to $4bn in free carbon allowances to oil refiners and other industrial players. It comes just days after New York delayed its own carbon-cutting plan and loosened greenhouse gas accounting rules. [Link]
The blue-state climate retreat is real, especially with rising energy and consumer prices. But with federal policy ambition dead and California/NY both softening, the next iteration of the WCI carbon market and any future state-level program will likely weaker constraints.
⚡ Google signed a first-of-its-kind "Bring Your Own Capacity" agreement with Voltus, aggregating 100MW of distributed energy resources into a VPP in PJM. [Link]
Paying for demand flexibility as accredited capacity could help sidestep the entire multi-year build-out timeline for data centers. Not too many details have been released yet, but Powerstack will bring you an insider's breakdown soon, so sign up here.
⚡ The EU approved Spain's €9bn capacity market for generation, demand response, and energy storage. [Link]
At €900M annually for 10 years, the capacity market will help the country boost its energy production during peak loads, cut consumer costs, and provide new revenue through energy storage. While the details are still being worked out, the EU approval is unlocking long-stalled investment decisions.
🌊 Bloomberg on the "super El Niño" risk and how Pacific warming reshapes global weather and food supply. [Link]
The agricultural commodity implications of another super El Niño are massive, rice, wheat, cocoa, coffee, palm oil all face heightened volatility. Combined with Strait of Hormuz oil disruption, food and energy security concerns are converging.
⚡ Pacific Fusion said its prototype pulser hit 440GW peak power in 80 nanoseconds, the highest ever for a single-step pulsed-power driver. The result unlocks another tranche of the company's $1bn+ Series A. Construction on the full demo system begins this summer. [Link]
Blockbuster fusion week with Pacific Fusion’s technical milestone and the biggest fusion raise of the year (which is saying something) for Helion. The Sam Altman-backed Helion closed $465m Series G to fund Orion, its first commercial plant. Still, companies are quietly pushing back their claims for hitting breakeven: The 2023 industry average target was less than three years, now it's nearly four.
💡 Heatmap shares insights into why we are so bad at predicting the future of energy, with a deep dive into how every forecast since 2008 has underestimated solar, wind, and gas, while overestimating coal. [Link]
🌋 A bipartisan geothermal permitting package passed the US House by voice vote, six bills bundled together, including a Bureau of Land Management ombudsman, 60-day permit deadlines, and required annual lease sales. [Link]
☢️ The global nuclear buildout keeps going. Russia's first VVER-TOI reactor (Kursk II-1) entered commercial operations after generating 2 billion kWh since grid connection on May 1. Korea broke ground on Shin Hanul Unit 4, another APR-1400. [Link, Link]
✈️ Germany launched a €2bn support package for hydrogen-based SAF, structured as a contract-for-difference designed to bridge the supply & demand price gap. It's the first project under the European eSAF Early Movers' Coalition and is meant to be a blueprint for followers. [Link]
💧 Hydrogen powers ahead, with Power to Hydrogen's AEM electrolyzers selected for SINTEF green hydrogen project in Norway, with binding contract delivery in Q4 2026. [Link]
👂 On the Rise w/ Marcius Extavour is a new podcast from former XPRIZE and Time Chief Scientist. Check out the newest episode with Tom Chi of At One Ventures, What Does E = mc² Have to Do With Climate Investing? [Link, link]
🏠 Elemental Impact launched the Data Center Innovation Initiative (DCII), with Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft each signing on as partners. [Link]
Opportunities & Events
📅 Activate Planetary Health Green Ticket 2026: Applications open until Jun 25 for early-stage hard-tech/bio companies working on carbon management, earth resources, climate resilience, food & ag, industrial biotech, or water. The winner gets a lab bench and core subscription for one year at MBC BioLabs in San Carlos, CA. Finalists pitch on Jul 14; winner announced at the Planetary Health Block Party on Jul 16.
📅 Corporate Offtake Driving Climate Innovation: On Jun 24 in London, Blue Earth and HSBC bring together corporates looking to commit to emerging climate technology projects. Hear from Sightline's Head of Research Julia Attwood and HSBC UK's Head of Climate Change Tim Lord, plus companies already putting offtake agreements into practice.
📅 Trellis Impact 26: From Jun 23-25 in San Francisco, Trellis Impact brings together 3,500+ leaders powering the future of sustainable business, from AI-enabled solutions to emerging technologies reshaping decarbonization, energy, circularity, and beyond. Get practical insights and hard-won examples of the technologies and strategies that are influencing sustainable business transformation. Get 20% off with our partner code: TI26SCP
Jobs
Software Engineer @Althea
Senior Manager / Director, Communications @Carbon Removal Canada
Head of Finance, Investor @Gigascale
Marketing Lead @Glimpse
Risk Management – Climate, Nature & Social (CN&S) Risk Associate @JPMorgan Chase
Finance & Ops AI Lead – Associate @Keyframe
Senior Associate – Infrastructure, Capital Projects & Climate Advisory @KPMG
📩 Feel free to send us deals, announcements, or anything else at hello@ctvc.co. Have a great week ahead!
