Participated · Series A · Mar 2022

Clean Crop Technologies develops the EPA-approved Clean Current system, a dry, fully electric, residue-free cold-plasma seed decontamination device that treats 25–50+ lbs. of seed per hour. The system combines electricity and food-grade gases (air) to inactivate a broad spectrum of contaminants without chemical or water additives, aiming to stop crop loss at the source and avoid chemical run-off. Clean Crop has signed $3.4 million in purchase orders from customers that represent 39% of the global vegetable seed market. The company is based in Holyoke, Massachusetts and has operated in the Pioneer Valley since 2019. With recent recognition from Fast Company and TIME, Clean Crop is scaling capacity and hiring to meet demand, including a workforce-development partnership with Springfield Technical Community College. The company plans to use new funds to engage additional contract manufacturing partners and expand on-site capacity, team size, and revenue at its seed tolling facility. Clean Corp Technologies, based in Holyoke, MA, has developed high-voltage catalyst technology that uses electricity to decarbonize how food is grown and kept safe and fresh. Its core technology is aimed at boosting yields, improving food safety, and reducing food waste across a broad range of categories including nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, meats, and seafood. Led by CEO Dan White and COO Daniel Cavanaugh, the company plans to continue scaling and commercializing the technology across the supply chain. Clean Corp raised $6M in a Series A to support those scaling and commercialization efforts. The round included both prior and new investors, reflecting continued investor interest in the technology. As part of the investment, Dan Fitzgerald of ReGen Ventures will join the company's board of directors. Clean Crop Technologies is a Northampton, Mass.-based agtech company that develops High Voltage Atmospheric Cold Plasma (HVACP) systems to reduce food waste and crop loss. The company is co-founded by Dan White and Dan Cavanaugh, who have a combined 25+ years of experience in agricultural supply chains. Clean Crop is building a proprietary ionized air generator designed to be energy efficient and to optimize treatment effect in processing environments. It intends to use the recently raised funds to accelerate development of its technology and expand technical and product development capacity on the team. Field tests are scheduled to begin in the U.S. later this year, with the company targeting commercial deployments in emerging markets and the U.S. starting in 2021. The company closed a $2.75M seed round to support these near-term development and deployment milestones.

Led · Seed · Oct 2021

Tynt Technologies is a window technology company based in Boulder, CO that develops dynamic window systems. The company describes its core product as the first-ever blackout dynamic ultra-energy-efficient window. The article emphasizes product innovation combining blackout capability with ultra energy efficiency. Tynt entered 2024 on the heels of a year of significant growth. In 2023 the company closed a $7.1 million Seed II round led by KOMPAS. No revenue, user metrics, or other financial details were disclosed in the article. Tynt Technologies develops dynamic windows designed to optimize home comfort by controlling daylight and privacy while maintaining neutral color and improving energy savings. The company’s technology emphasizes complete privacy and energy performance. It was co-founded by CU Boulder Professor Mike McGehee and former Halio Chief Engineer Ameen K. Saafir, with co-founders Dr. Michael Strand and Dr. Tyler Hernandez. John Dwyer joined as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer, and Taylor Aviles joined from Halio corporate marketing on the founding team. Tynt plans to use the new funding to expand operations and accelerate product development. The company also added Dr. Johanna Wolfson of Prime Impact Fund to its board as part of the financing.

Participated · Series B · Oct 2021

Via Separations develops modular filtration process solutions that electrify chemical separations, claiming reductions in energy needed for separations by up to 90 percent. Its technology has proven commercial performance in the pulp and paper sector, and the company plans to accelerate deployment into the refining and chemical industries. Via’s solutions aim to lower energy use, improve uptime and strengthen operational resilience while reducing emissions. The company is led by CEO Shreya Dave and recently raised $36M in new funding from a group including Climate Investment, Aramco Ventures and Marathon Petroleum Corporation, alongside existing investors.

Led · Seed · Mar 2021

Noon Energy commercializes a carbon-oxygen battery that adapts chemistry used in NASA’s MOXIE instrument to store electricity at grid scale. The system is a reversible solid oxide electrolyzer/fuel cell that cycles CO2, oxygen, CO and solid carbon to charge and discharge. Noon’s design uses fewer critical minerals than comparable lithium-ion systems and stores solid carbon in removable tanks that can be trucked to provide backup power. The company has a working prototype and is targeting large-scale applications to bridge wind and solar intermittency. Noon projects its battery cost could fall to well below $20 per kWh and aims for efficiency comparable to lithium-ion and roughly double hydrogen fuel-cell-based batteries. The company plans to use new funding to expand the team, build demo-scale systems, and deliver its first customer system in about two years. Noon Energy has developed an ultra-low-cost battery that stores energy using only carbon and oxygen, targeting long-duration (100+ hour) stationary storage. Its storage media cost well below $1 per kWh capacity and the company says the chemistry provides roughly double the round-trip energy efficiency of hydrogen. Noon claims its system can deliver about 10x lower storage cost than lithium-ion at long durations and about double the full-system energy density of lithium-ion. The technology is positioned for grid-scale and smaller applications to make intermittent solar and wind dispatchable 24/7 and to increase site and grid resilience. Noon also highlights potential vehicle use cases, including longer-range electric ships and trucks. The team has technical roots at Columbia University and the Technical University of Denmark, and the founder has worked on NASA's MOXIE CO2-to-oxygen electrolysis device.

Led · Series A · Oct 2020

Leading Edge Equipment Technologies builds drop-in manufacturing equipment that produces kerfless, single-crystal silicon wafers using its patented Floating Silicon Method™. The technology produces wafers through ribbons, reducing the production process to a single step while consuming less energy and creating almost no waste. Leading Edge says the approach can cut wafer costs by 50 percent, increase commercial solar panel power by up to 7 percent, and reduce manufacturing emissions by over 50 percent. The company has secured a 31,000 square foot facility, doubled its team, and hired CEO Rick Schwerdtfeger in 2020 to lead commercialization. With new funding, the company plans to prepare for commercial pilots in 2021 and to rapidly commercialize its manufacturing tool.