Cropsy Technologies, the New Zealand-based agritech startup, is proud to announce the successful completion of its second funding round, raising an impressive $1.7 million in an extended and over-subscribed capital raise. This achievement marks a significant milestone for the company and positions it for global expansion, thanks to the backing of prominent U.S. investor Seraph Group.
The trailblazing company is poised to reshape the future of fruit growing with its ground-breaking crop monitoring technology. Their cutting-edge solution combines automated, continuous, and GPS-tracked high-definition image capture with AI-enabled software.
Each Cropsy scanner analyses over 30,000 vines per day in real-time, integrating with growers existing tractors to seamlessly profile critical aspects of a vineyard – leaves, shoots, fruits, canes, and trunks – with no extra labour. Sunlight, shadows, and reflections are no match for Cropsy’s scanner, ensuring accurate details like colours and textures are preserved, regardless of the time of day or weather conditions.
Cropsy’s transformative technology is currently crafted specifically for vineyards, providing a multitude of benefits with no additional effort from the grower; localising disease presence in its earliest stages, tracking missing and dead vines, analysing pruning status, counting buds, inflorescences, and bunches for yield estimation – all on a per-vine level, tracking each plant down to the centimetre. The focus on global enterprise winegrowers means the team has a deep understanding of problems and challenges at scale, keeping them ahead of the competition.Cropsy's capital raise not only received continued support from existing investors such as Angel Investors Marlborough, NZGCP, Icehouse Ventures, and K1W1 but also attracted its first U.S. investor, Seraph Group – a milestone for the company.
Seraph Group, founded in 2003 in San Francisco and Atlanta, is an American venture capital firm known for its unique network of 370+ accomplished investors who support entrepreneurs. Seraph Group’s Founder and CEO, Tuff Yen, expressed his enthusiasm for Cropsy, stating, “they apply their technology to enhance the bottom line for growers in viticulture using machine vision and intelligent software, leading the way to a new era of improved productivity while reducing costs. We invested because this is the way of the future, and the founding team exhibits the commitment to see this through.”
The round was so successful that it extended beyond its original oversubscription limit, from $1.5 million to $1.7 million, to accommodate the interests of new investors, even amid global capital market uncertainties.
Lead investor, Tracy Atkin, of Angel Investors Marlborough says it has been an extremely tough year for start-ups raising in a post-pandemic and recessionary environment. “For Cropsy to not only reach their target but exceed it is a testament to their team and technology. It is a fantastic achievement and one I was proud to support as lead investor for their second round on behalf of Angel Investors Marlborough.”
“2023 has shaped up to be a momentous year for us,” says CEO Ali Alomari. “We’ve reached our first international customers in the U.S. and France, and the support of Seraph Group aligns perfectly with our attention on the U.S. as a key market.” Earlier in 2022, Ali mentioned that Cropsy’s internal milestone is to scan 10 million vines by the end of 2023. “We’ve passed 6 million new vines right now, and at this rate, we’ll reach our target of 10 million new vines by the end of this year.”
With 30 scanners deployed, and more in the pipeline, Cropsy is set on a clear path forward. COO Leila Deljkovic emphasised the company’s focus is all on expanding geographies and scaling the technology. New Zealand is a character-building place to grow deep tech companies like Cropsy. “We’re extremely efficient simply because of where we’re based. It’s a distinct advantage.”
Founded by four young engineers fresh out of university in 2019, Ali (26), Leila (26), Rory (26), Winston (24), Cropsy Technologies has grown to ten full-time staff and is actively recruiting brilliant talent who thrive on solving challenging problems in hardware, big data, AI, and computer vision with a multi-disciplinary engineering team.
“Working at Cropsy has provided some of the most challenging yet interesting problems I have gotten to work on. Being on the bleeding edge of technology allows us to push the envelope, and keep our skills top-notch,” says Cropsy’s senior software engineer Cedric Bournville. Source: https://www.scoop.co.nz/
Commercialisation of biographite planned in Europe and the US as CarbonScape announces USD18m investment.
New Zealand-based battery material innovator CarbonScape to commercialise production of biographite in Europe and the US, enabling cleaner lithium-ion batteries for EVs and grid-scale energy storage.
Graphite is up to 50% of the weight of a lithium-ion battery, yet expected global demand far outstrips supply, with a forecast deficit of 777,000 tonnes per annum by 2030.
Biographite, produced from forestry and timber industry by-products, is a sustainable alternative for battery supply chains currently dependent on petroleum-based or mined graphite.
Biographite, produced locally, provides security of supply for European and US based battery manufacturers in the face of increasing supply chain instability, while also on-shoring production of a critical material to meet rapidly growing demand.
Investment round led by Stora Enso Oyj, joined by Amperex Technology Ltd (ATL) and other partners, bringing expertise from all sides of the supply chain to accelerate growth and speed to market.
19 September, London, CarbonScape, the first-to-market producer of biographite - a carbon-negative alternative to the critical material for lithium-ion batteries - today announces new investment of USD 18m led by Stora Enso, and joined by ATL and other strategic partners. The investment will support the commercialisation of biographite, and further plans to establish production in Europe and the US.
Biographite will provide a much-needed alternative for EV and grid-scale battery supply chains, by sustainably creating a critical raw material that currently depends on costly and high-emission production processes. CarbonScape’s patented process is the result of seven years of development and testing and uses timber and forestry industry by-products, such as wood chips. It is a sustainable alternative to synthetic (petroleum based) and natural (mined) graphite, the raw material which fills the largest portion of a lithium-ion battery. The result is a cleaner, competitive and more secure raw material for the global market.
Graphite deficit threatens global battery market growth
Graphite makes up to 50 per cent of the weight of a lithium-ion battery and, as a result, is an essential element in the shift to clean energy and transport, with over half of global demand for graphite now coming from the battery sector. Graphite production is also one of the largest CO2 emitters in the battery raw materials supply chain and represents a significant proportion of the cost of a battery. Adding to the problem, today’s battery supply chains are long and complicated, with petroleum-based and mined materials crossing the globe from source, through processing to battery assembly, to reach end consumers.
With countries increasingly competing for raw materials, securing supplies of graphite is key to ramping up production of EVs and renewable energy systems - as reflected in the recent EU Critical Raw Materials Act and US Final Critical Materials List. Recent analysis predicts a global supply deficit of 777,000 tonnes by 2030, with EV sales alone due to more than triple by this date.
Ivan Williams, CEO of CarbonScape, said:
“CarbonScape’s biographite enables the establishment of localised battery supply chains from the ground up. If we are to truly move away from fossil carbon and power our economies through mass electrification, we urgently need sustainable alternatives like biographite to scale quickly.” “This investment represents a strong statement of support for sustainable sourcing of battery materials for global decarbonisation. With these partnerships, CarbonScape is another step closer to bringing biographite to market on a commercial scale.”
“CarbonScape’s biographite enables the establishment of localised battery supply chains from the ground up. If we are to truly move away from fossil carbon and power our economies through mass electrification, we urgently need sustainable alternatives like biographite to scale quickly.”
“This investment represents a strong statement of support for sustainable sourcing of battery materials for global decarbonisation. With these partnerships, CarbonScape is another step closer to bringing biographite to market on a commercial scale.”
A carbon negative solution to scale domestic battery production
Biographite has a carbon negative footprint, saving up to 30 tonnes of CO2 emissions per tonne of material compared to synthetic or mined graphite. Using biographite will enable battery manufacturers to cut the carbon footprint of each battery by almost a third (30 per cent), potentially reducing sector emissions by more than 86 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030.
To meet the demand for batteries with synthetic graphite would require more than tripling existing production capacity, using fossil fuel feedstocks and high-emission processes. To use mined graphite would require almost 100 new mines, each taking around 10 years or more to come online and costing hundreds of millions of dollars, with enormous social and environmental costs.
By contrast, using less than five per cent of the forestry industry by-products generated annually in Europe and North America, CarbonScape’s cleaner, faster process could produce enough biographite to meet half the total global projected graphite demand for EV and grid-scale batteries by 2030.
Crucially, biographite production can be localised to EV and battery manufacturing hubs, vertically-integrating domestic and regional supply chains. This reduces geopolitical risk as countries compete for minerals and as mineral producers seek a greater share of the value, as seen recently in Chile, which plans to nationalise the lithium industry, and in Indonesia, which has banned exports of nickel ore in an attempt to build domestic industry.
Commercialising biographite production
The new investment will support CarbonScape to scale the business and further develop plans for production facilities in Europe and the US. The strategic partnerships with investors Stora Enso, a leading provider of renewable products in biomaterials, packaging, and wooden construction and one of the largest private forest owners in the world; and ATL, a global lithium-ion battery innovator, will bring expertise from all sides of the supply chain, significantly accelerating the company’s growth and biographite’s speed to market.
Juuso Konttinen, Senior Vice President, Biomaterials Growth Businesses at Stora Enso, said:
“Partnering with CarbonScape marks another step on our journey to serve the fast-growing battery market with sustainable, local materials made from trees. With this partnership, we are exploring a sustainable alternative for critical battery materials, creating a positive impact on society.”
Joe Kit Chu Lam, ATL Executive Vice President, said:
“As a premier global innovative technology corporation, our central vision is to contribute to the green energy revolution for the future.” “Demand for low cost and low emission solutions is increasing and it is our objective to ensure we remain a leader in the market by adopting innovative solutions. Our partnership with CarbonScape allows us to continue to create the technology of the future and brings us one step closer to a net zero economy.”
“As a premier global innovative technology corporation, our central vision is to contribute to the green energy revolution for the future.”
“Demand for low cost and low emission solutions is increasing and it is our objective to ensure we remain a leader in the market by adopting innovative solutions. Our partnership with CarbonScape allows us to continue to create the technology of the future and brings us one step closer to a net zero economy.”
New Zealand-based deep tech biomaterials company CarbonScape began development of biographite in 2016, with an aim to replace fossil carbons with a sustainable alternative. Its pilot facility in Marlborough produces biographite for customer testing and validation, while providing the necessary scale-up data for global commercialisation.
About Stora Enso
Part of the global bioeconomy, Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable products in packaging, biomaterials and wooden construction, and one of the largest private forest owners in the world. It believes that everything that is made from fossil-based materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow. Stora Enso has approximately 21,000 employees and sales in 2022 were EUR 11.7 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Oy (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm AB (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY).
About ATL
Amperex Technology Limited (ATL) is a global lithium-ion battery producer and innovator. Headquartered in Hong Kong, it provides high quality rechargeable lithium-ion battery cells, packs and system integration solutions, providing services and products across the consumer electronics industry. It is committed to innovating to power our lives.
Source: https://www.carbonscape.com/
Meanwhile, on the U.S. west coast, Delta’s nonstop, daily flight from LAX to Auckland, New Zealand, which begins Oct. 28, 2023, will extend to year-round service, operating daily from November to March and three times weekly from April to October. Delta will also increase service from LAX to Sydney, Australia, to twice-daily beginning this December. Source: https://news.delta.com/
As part of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) initiative led by the United States of America, 14 Indo-Pacific partners have agreed on a joint approach to regional supply chains.
Substantial conclusion of the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement was announced on 27 May 2023, and the text subsequently went through a legal verification process. Once signed, the IPEF Parties can complete the approval procedures necessary for ratification and entry into force of the Agreement.
IPEF is a novel type of initiative that will provide new channels of collaboration amongst regional countries. Members of IPEF are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States of America, and Vietnam. Together the 14 represent 40% of world GDP.
Under the Supply Chain Agreement IPEF partners undertake to:
The text of the Agreement is available to read and download here [PDF, 318 KB]
Source: www.mfat.govt.nz
AgriZeroNZ, a joint venture of major New Zealand agribusiness companies and the government, is the lead investor in a US start-up developing probiotics and natural enzymes that reduces methane while improving cow health.
The JV has invested $4.1 million (NZD) into Hoofprint Biome, in Raleigh, North Carolina, in its pre-seed funding round (total USD$3.75M) to support development of its probiotic into animal trial proof-of-concept stage.
Good Growth Capital and Ponderosa Ventures (member of Galvanize Climate Solutions) have also invested in the round.
Wayne McNee executive director of AgriZeroNZ, says the investment allows the JV to be involved from an early stage and drive development towards a solution for New Zealand farmers.
“Hoofprint is developing novel technology with potential to be a real breakthrough to help meet our country’s climate goals. We’re really pleased to be backing Hoofprint as the lead investor, and secure this opportunity for New Zealand farmers so they can be at the forefront of its future success,” Wayne McNee said.
Hoofprint Biome, a spin-out of NC State University, was founded by Dr. Kathryn Polkoff and Dr. Scott Collins. As two biotech entrepreneurs with backgrounds in animal agriculture, they saw the unique potential for microbiome engineering to benefit ruminant agriculture and tackle the climate crisis.
The pair had discovered enzymes that naturally reduce rumen methane emissions, and delivery of these patent-pending enzymes with probiotics will result in long-lasting efficacy.
Ingested as a supplement in a small dose, the Hoofprint probiotic aims to reduce enteric methane emissions by over 80 per cent while simultaneously increasing milk and meat yield by over 5 per cent.
Dr Polkoff, co-founder and CEO, said they are excited to develop the solution for Kiwi farmers.
“We’re bringing next-gen probiotics to ruminant agriculture in our mission to cut methane emissions while improving animal health and profitability. This investment offers a unique opportunity for Hoofprint to partner with New Zealand farmers, who have been leaders in sustainable agriculture, and to tackle the climate crisis together,” Dr Polkoff said.
AgriZeroNZ was established in February to accelerate the development of tools and technology to help farmers rapidly reduce their emissions, while maintaining farm productivity and profitability, to support New Zealand’s climate goals and meet increasing demands from global customers.
“New Zealand farmers are the most efficient in the world but the importance of reducing agricultural emissions cannot be understated and technology like this needs to be part of the solution.,” McNee said.
“We’re looking all over the world for opportunities that will work on New Zealand farms, we’re moving fast to reflect the mandate for urgent action from our shareholders, and we’re taking calculated risks to significantly accelerate efforts made by Kiwi farmers to date.”
McNee says the investment aligns with the JV’s ambition to ensure all farmers in Aotearoa have equitable access to affordable, effective solutions to reduce emissions, with a goal of supporting a 30% reduction by 2030 and enabling development and adoption of solutions to drive towards ‘near zero’ by 2040.
“Farmers will need at least two or three proven tools and technologies in widespread use by 2030 to meet this goal so that’s what we’re working to deliver.
“We’ve been tasked with making some bold investment decisions to support the continued success of New Zealand agriculture. The Hoofprint probiotic is in early stages but if development continues to progress we look forward to supporting it through New Zealand’s regulatory process and getting it into farmers’ hands,” he said.
This is AgriZeroNZ’s fourth investment since being established in February. The JV continues to welcome interest from potential new shareholders and strategic partners, to extend the reach of the JV and grow the fund. The JV expects to confirm further investments soon.
www.agrizero.nz
Future Food Aotearoa (FFA) – a founders movement driving advancement in the New Zealand and Pacific Rim foodtech ecosystem – has announced a milestone partnership with San Francisco-based innovation platform MISTA.
Developed by Givaudan, the world’s largest company in the flavour and fragrance industries, the platform supports start-ups – including those in the food tech industry – to optimise ideas, products, people, and investments. The aim of FFA’s global node partnership with MISTA is to help Aotearoa NZ foodtech founders grow beyond their domestic market. Discussing the state of investment and innovation in the NZ plant-based sector, FFA Executive Director Katy Bluett said that they are seeing growing support from government, industry, and angel investors for early stage founders with a good value proposition.
Bluett added that there is an emerging group of alt protein companies across NZ with both B2C and B2B business models, ranging from grocery focused plant-based butters, to microalgae-derived protein ingredients, to molecular-farmed protein and precision-fermented dairy ingredients. “Future Food Aotearoa is working hard to share and grow awareness of these companies, who often struggle to build the same level of profile as our large food industry giants. Where we see a gap is in the support for scaling companies, both in terms of experience, funding and facilities,” Bluett told Future Alternative.
Bluett also spoke about the reasoning behind targeting MISTA for cooperation.
“San Francisco resonated for a number of reasons. We then did due diligence with MISTA and felt their values and vision resonated strongly with Future Food Aotearoa and so we explored the relationship further. We are excited about where this partnership will lead in the coming year,” Bluett said. Regarding the cooperation’s anticipated benefits to NZ food tech startups, FFA is optimistic about the results of enabling NZ foodtech start-ups to engage with other international founders and companies in MISTA’s network. “The benefit of meeting people in person and having experienced heads to bounce ideas off will be invaluable, especially as NZ companies get back out into the world having been contained here over the pandemic. And of course access to technical expertise and the pilot facilities will be super valuable,” Alex Worker, FFA Chair and Country Manager for NZ and South Pacific, Impossible Foods, told Future Alternative.
Additional members of the FFA Steering Committee also shared their hopes for the MISTA partnership. “We’re excited to be exploring how to scale our unique IP and microalgae technology from Aotearoa New Zealand for global nutrition needs,” said Toby Lane, CEO and co-founder of NewFish, a biotechnology nutrition company utilising microalgae.
“Ārepa has a world-class portfolio of delicious technology with global ambitions. We are building for scale,” said Angus Brown, co-founder of plant-based nutrition brand, Ārepa.
“I see an opportunity for New Zealand businesses to be purpose-driven and to have a positive impact on people and on the environment,” said Florence Van Dyke, co-founder of Chia Sisters.
Source: https://futurealternative.com.au/
Rocket Lab, a global leader in launch services and space systems, today announced it has signed a double-launch deal with NASA to deliver the Agency’s climate change research-focused mission, PREFIRE, to low Earth orbit in 2024.
The two dedicated missions on Electron will deploy one small satellite each to a 525km circular orbit from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand from May 2024. The PREFIRE mission has specific LTAN (Local Time of the Ascending Node) requirements and a need for the second satellite to be deployed to space shortly after the first, which is made possible by Electron’s unique ability to deploy dedicated small satellite missions on highly responsive timelines. The launches will be the 7th and 8th missions Rocket Lab has launched for NASA since 2018.
NASA's PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission will help close a gap in understanding of how much of Earth’s heat is lost to space, especially from the Arctic and Antarctica. Analysis of PREFIRE’s measurements will inform climate and ice models, providing better projections of how a warming world will affect sea ice loss, ice sheet melt, and sea level rise. Improving climate models can ultimately help to provide more accurate projections on the impacts of storm severity and frequency, as well as coastal erosion and flooding. PREFIRE consists of two, 6U CubeSats with a baseline mission length of 10 months.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck, said: “Missions like these are core to the whole reason why Rocket Lab was founded in the first place – to open up access to space to improve life on Earth – and climate change is a hugely urgent cause for us all. It’s a privilege to be able to support this important mission and an honor to be a continued trusted launch provider for small satellite missions with big impact.”
The PREFIRE mission was awarded to Rocket Lab through NASA’s Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) program, a $300 million dollar five-year contracting vehicle for placing NASA’s science and technology payloads on U.S. commercial launchers.
PREFIRE joins a long list of NASA missions awarded to Rocket Lab, including the CAPSTONE mission to the Moon on Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle and Lunar Photon satellite bus, the back-to-back launches in May 2023 of the TROPICS satellites for NASA’s hurricane monitoring mission, and the NASA Starling mission launched last month on Rocket Lab’s most recent Electron recovery launch.
The 2023 AmCham - DHL Express Success & Innovation Gala Awards event was staged tonight at the Pullman Hotel.
This was the twenty fourth year of the staging of these awards and yet again attendees learned about a group of exceptional New Zealand companies successfully growing trade, investment, education and tourism, links with the USA.
The trade and investment relationships between the US and New Zealand have never been better. Two-way trade in goods grew by 18.75% in 2023 and has grown over twice the GDP rate over the last 10 years.
The Supreme winner, Auror Ltd is a crime intelligence platform that is focused on building safer communities alongside retailers looking to reduce crime, loss, and harm in their stores. More than 80 per cent of retailers in New Zealand use the platform and Auror saves NZ Police 200,000 hours a year in investigations. From “chasing ghosts” to seeing a 270% increase in recovered loss, Walmart has experienced firsthand the advantages of empowering its team with actionable intelligence in the face of retail crime. Since partnering with Auror, the US retailer has completely changed its approach to how it deals with crime in its stores, with meaningful results. Mark Foy, Managing Director, New Zealand & Pacific Islands, DHL Express the awards lead sponsor, said "We are proud to have supported yet another remarkable AmCham Awards evening, where it is great to acknowledge Kiwi companies who are realizing success in the USA. Auror Ltd epitomises the Kiwi success story, reflecting the entrepreneurial and innovative businesses that are experiencing on-going growth trading with the U.S.A. We congratulate them and all other winners tonight on their success”
The evenings keynote speaker with Joe Letteri, ONZM, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor of Wētā FX and five times Oscar winner who gave the audience an insight into the how some of the special effects for Avatar: The Way of Water were achieved.
The winners were:
Exporter of the Year to the USA – Innovation- New Zealand Mint LtdMinters of legal tender collectible coins, gold bullion and medallions for more than five decades. Exporter of the Year to the USA - Technology- Fingermark LtdThe company is dedicated to developing advanced AI and computer vision technology solutions for leading QSR’s globally.
Exporter of the Year to the USA - High Growth - Auror LtdThe platform for retailers focused on improving safety, productivity, and profitability. Auror is used by leading Loss Prevention teams both business and police.
Bilateral Connections with the USA - Norris Echetebu Law US Law Experts, with a special focus on American Business, Immigration & US Visa Law.
Investor of the Year to or from the USA- Ric Kayne & Jim Rohrstaff for their investment in Te Arai LinksA world class golf destination boasting two pure links golf courses designed by Tom Doak and the other by Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw.
Contribution to Tourism with the USA- Active Adventures & Austin AdventuresThe company specialises in small group adventure trips, off the beaten path, with a personal touch. Offices in Queenstown & Montana.
Contribution to Sustainability- Goodnature Ltd A team of ecologists, scientists, designers, and developers, revolutionizing the way the world kills rats, mice, and other invasive species, so nature can thrive.
Supreme winner - Auror Ltd Palmerston North City Councilreceived a Highly Commended certificate for their contribution to bilateral connections with the USA. The Hotel Britomartreceived a Highly Commended certificate for their contribution to sustainability. Crombie Lockwood NZ Ltd won the 2022 AmCham Supporter of the Year award.
At the dinner four of our longstanding members were presented with their 25-year membership plaques:
Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Pfizer New Zealand Wendy Pye Publishing Zespri International In addition to AmCham’s lead awards sponsor DHL-Express and our airline partner, United Airlines, the awards are also supported by ANZ Bank, Ironside McDonald Intellectual Property, Lockheed Martin NZ, SweeneyVesty, media partner The Business, wine supporter Constellation Brands and event manager DDEvents.
CH4 Global will meet growing global demand for enteric methane mitigation solutions in animal agriculture.
HENDERSON, Nev., Aug. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CH4 Global, Inc., a climate tech company on the path to radically reducing GHG emissions in animal agriculture, today announced it has raised US$29 million in Series B funding. The company will use the funds to build and validate the CH4 Global EcoPark™, an aquaculture and production facility that will make CH4 Global's signature product, Methane Tamer™, at scale.
This round, led by DCVC, DCVC Bio, and Cleveland Avenue – with participation from other investors with a strong interest in climate change – brings the total raised to date to nearly US$47 million. It also underscores market demand for safe, viable solutions to vastly reduce enteric methane from ruminant livestock.
When added to cattle feed, Methane Tamer—which uses a red seaweed (Asparagopsis)—reduces the animals' methane emissions by up to 90% while also reducing the feed energy lost to methane emissions. With the development of its CH4 Global EcoPark, the company is poised for expansion in key markets and with key partners throughout all six inhabitable continents.
This is a key development in the fight against climate change. The 1.5 billion cows on the planet produce more than 150 million tons of methane annually -- the largest single source of methane globally. At more than 12 billion tons CO2-e per year (at an average of 100 kg methane/cow), this is a larger GHG output than from the US, the EU, and India combined. Moreover, the UN cites methane as over 80 times more impactful than CO2 on global warming over the next 20 years.
"We are receiving massive interest from governments, food producers and farmers of all sizes, fueling our sense of urgency that we must act now to avoid a climate tipping point. The pressure is on with new regulations and the desire to produce at a measurably lower impact. What we've developed at CH4 Global is what we call a CH4 Global EcoPark, which enables low-cost growth and processing of Asparagopsis," said Steve Meller, PhD, co-founder and CEO, CH4 Global. "We are formulating our unique feed supplement products, Methane Tamer, to meet the specific needs of each cattle market segment, starting with feedlot operations, beef and dairy, as well as for grazing dairies. Eventually, we will also formulate for remote and generally unattended cattle around the world."
"CH4 Global's secret sauce is its product, plain and simple: the feed additive it has expertly formulated stands apart from other seaweed-based offerings," said John Hamer PhD, Managing Partner at DCVC Bio and a member of the CH4 Global board of directors. "DCVC Bio is thrilled to back Steve and his exceptional team: they are ready to scale up a critical solution to climate change."
"CH4 is exactly the kind of deep tech company the world urgently needs," said Zachary Bogue, DCVC Co-founder and Managing Partner. "Their natural and proprietary solution to the vexing global problem of methane from cattle can have a material environmental impact quickly and at scale."
As part of this funding round, Cleveland Avenue, LLC will join the CH4 Global Board of Directors. "We are excited about the opportunity that CH4 Global represents in addressing the major global problem of methane gas emissions. Cleveland Avenue looks forward to supporting CH4 Global's world-class team in this endeavor," said Randall Lewis, Managing Partner at Cleveland Avenue, LLC.
Over 150 countries have signed the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce methane emissions by 30%. This followed the IPCC's May 2021 report that stated that "methane is the single biggest lever for climate change impact in the next 25 years." According to the IPCC, methane emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030 relative to projected levels in order to put the world on a path consistent with the Paris Agreement 1.5˚C target.
About DCVC and DCVC Bio (https://www.dcvc.com)
DCVC backs entrepreneurs using deep tech to solve problems and multiply the benefits of capitalism for everyone while reducing its cost. DCVC Bio invests in early-stage life science companies driven by deep-tech approaches.
About Cleveland Avenue (https://www.clevelandavenue.com)
Founded by Don Thompson, the former President & CEO of McDonald's Corporation, Cleveland Avenue is a Chicago-based venture capital firm that invests in lifestyle consumer brands and technology companies that positively disrupt large and growing markets. To learn more, visit www.clevelandavenue.com.
About CH4 Global (https://www.ch4global.com)
CH4 Global, founded in 2018, is on an urgent mission to bend the climate curve, through collaboration with strategic partners worldwide. Led by a world-class team of senior business builders, scientists and entrepreneurs, the company delivers market-disruptive products that enable the food industry value chain to radically reduce GHG emissions. The company's first innovation, Methane Tamer™ feed additives for feedlot cattle, harnesses the power of Asparagopsis seaweed to reduce enteric methane emissions by up to 90%. CH4 Global is headquartered in Henderson, NV, with current subsidiaries in Australia and New Zealand. Learn more about CH4 Global and our recent news.
SOURCE CH4 Global, Inc.
An Auckland clinician who has created a prototype that connects microvascular arteries effectively is preparing to enter the United States market.
Clinician and bioengineer Dr Nandoun Abeysekera is the founder and CEO of Avasa. The company has produced an arterial coupler, a small device that simplifies microvascular surgery, providing a better standard of clinical care.
After collecting further data on performance of their device, Avasa intends to apply for approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to enter the United States market in 2025, but the startup will continue to be based in New Zealand.
“New Zealand’s the base, it’s where everything began – there are many compelling reasons to stay, which range from a supportive ecosystem, people and relationships with word-class clinicians,” Abeysekera says.
The device – an implant – connects tiny arteries, doing away with time-consuming and risky hand sewing of arteries. The device is a coupler, in principle similar to the ones that connect a garden hose to a pipe, except the vessels are no more than 5mm in diameter.
It can take up to 45 minutes to sew two arteries together and failure rates are up to five per cent.
With the coupler, the time to connect the arteries is reduced to five minutes, meaning there is less time where patients can be at risk of something going wrong – and, of course, more time for surgeons to do more operations.
While Abeysekera has seen couplers being used by plastic surgeons for connecting veins, this is the first time one has been designed specifically for arteries.
“There are no clinically effective devices for arteries,” he says. “There’s a device for veins which has really transformed care in reconstructive surgery – but it does not work for arteries as arteries are thicker and stiffer.”
Abeysekera, who has worked in both medicine and engineering, says there was an obvious clinical need for an arterial device, but no solution existed. His arterial coupling is the solution.
“I felt compelled to solve this problem, and I felt I was particularly skilled and suited to step out of the clinical space and develop a solution.”
Abeysekera came up with the idea while working as a plastic surgeon. After discussing it with plastic surgeon Jon Mathie at Middlemore Hospital, who supported the idea, he stepped back from clinical practice to start Avasa. Mathie is a world-class plastic surgeon and clinical advisor to Avasa; he studied medicine at Stanford University, then trained as a plastic surgeon at Harvard.
“It was a Sunday morning at the hospital. Jon Mathie was on call, and I discussed the idea of taking a hiatus from clinical practice to develop this idea, and he simply said, ‘Yeah, do it’. The next day I handed in my resignation at the hospital and worked out my notice period. It just felt right.”
That was in 2018. Avasa was founded with pre-seed funding to get it off the ground, through the University of Auckland inventors fund and operationalised with $1 million venture capital funding through Bridgewest Ventures, part of Callaghan Innovation’s Technology Incubation Scheme. By the end of 2018, Avasa had won the new ventures category in an entrepreneurship programme, the University of Auckland’s Velocity competition. To date, Avasa has raised nearly $3 million in venture capital funding.
Avasa has also been named a finalist for this year’s KiwiNet Breakthrough Innovator Award, which celebrates heroes in research commercialisation. The winner will be announced at the awards celebration on 28 September.
Abeysekera says running a startup is a huge learning experience. He has a staff of two, with a further two contracted as engineers, and is in the process of recruiting a quality manager.
“My background was in engineering and medicine; I had no exposure to entrepreneurship. When I set out to develop this product, what I cared about most was the impact it would make. I had to see this product translate into the clinical environment.
“Entrepreneurship is the vehicle for that. It is the process for how you go on to make that impact. The challenge was learning that process, having not been exposed to it before.”
Abeysekera has been able to work on his startup in a capital-efficient way, saying it was easier to go about the process of developing a solution to connect arteries having worked in the industry.
“I enjoyed some very good luck at the start that enabled me to pursue this particular idea – I understood the physiology of vascular healing and the functional requirements for an arterial coupler, I had first-hand experience of the challenges that surgeons face in the operative environment, I had a background in engineering,” he said.
“I had incredible friends and mentors, and I had the generous support of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute – all of this enabled me to develop a functioning prototype without too much capital.”
Were he to start Avasa over again, Abeysekera says he would raise more capital earlier, bring on more stakeholders into the design process and start looking through the intellectual property landscape earlier for inspiration.
But his advice for new entrepreneurs? “Don’t think too much. Just start. There’s no shortcut to experience, you just have to do it.”
Story by Dave Crampton Source: https://nzentrepreneur.co.nz/
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