• Princeton NuEnergy

  Participated · Series A · Jun 2024

  Princeton NuEnergy is an advanced manufacturing leader in lithium-ion battery direct recycling, founded out of Princeton University and led by CEO Dr. Chao Yan. Its patented low-temperature plasma-assisted separation process (LPAS™) produces battery-grade cathode and anode materials suitable for direct reintroduction into cell manufacturing. The company says the process operates at roughly half the cost and with a much lower environmental footprint than conventional methods. PNE closed a $30M Series A and intends to use the funds to support construction of its first standalone, full-scale direct battery recycling advanced manufacturing facility, to be announced later this month. To date the company has raised over $55M, including multiple U.S. Department of Energy grants totaling $18M and a $7.9M seed & angel round. Strategic and corporate backers include Samsung Venture Investment Corporation and Helium-3, alongside previous investors such as Honda Motor Co. Ltd., LKQ Corporation, SCG Group, Traxys Group, and Wistron Corporation. Princenton NuEnergy develops a patented low-temperature plasma-assisted separation process (LPAS™) to perform direct recycling of lithium-ion batteries. The LPAS process is designed to reduce costs, environmental waste, and carbon emissions and to enable higher critical-material recovery rates and superior material performance versus traditional recycling methods. The company is led by CEO Dr. Chao Yan and is based in Bordentown, New Jersey. PNE intends to use recent funding to support construction of an Advanced Black Mass and Cathode Manufacturing Center in the southeastern U.S. 'battery belt'. Financially, the firm completed a Seed round of $7M and has secured multiple U.S. Department of Energy grants totaling $18M for battery recycling research. Over the past six months it has raised $26.4M in Series A funding in total, including an additional $10.3M announced in May 2024. Princeton NuEnergy is a Bordentown, New Jersey–based clean‑tech company founded out of Princeton University that develops direct recycling technology for lithium‑ion batteries. Its patented low‑temperature plasma‑assisted separation process (LPAS™) produces battery‑grade cathode and anode materials suitable for direct reintroduction into cell manufacturing. The company reports recycling efficiency rates of over 95% and claims exceptional ESG performance at roughly half the cost and with a lower environmental footprint versus conventional methods. In 2022 PNE launched an end‑to‑end production‑scale lithium‑ion battery direct recycling line in the U.S. The company raised $16M in a Series A and intends to use the funds to construct a new recycling facility and procure equipment to increase processing capacity and support operations. PNE has also received multiple U.S. Department of Energy research grants (most recently $12M and $4.375M) and previously completed seed rounds totaling $7M. Princeton NuEnergy develops a patented Direct Battery Recycling technology that converts spent lithium‑ion batteries from electric vehicles and consumer electronics into high‑quality, high value‑added cathode active materials. The company says its process lowers operating costs while delivering sustainable energy and environmental solutions. Led by CEO Dr. Yan Chao, the team includes co‑founder and CTO Dr. Yang Xiaofang and technical advisors Prof. Yiguang Ju and Prof. Bruce E. Koel. Princeton NuEnergy was spun out from Princeton University in 2019 and is based in Bordentown, New Jersey. The company intends to use the newly raised funds to scale development and accelerate growth. No operating metrics (revenue/users) were disclosed in the article. Princeton NuEnergy of Bordentown, New Jersey is developing a novel lithium‑ion battery recycling process to directly recover and regenerate used battery materials. The company says its process is simpler, more cost‑effective, and more environmentally friendly than current industrial recycling methods. With the process, critical battery materials such as the cathode and anode can be recycled, restored, and reused in new batteries without breaking materials down into raw elements. Princeton NuEnergy completed Cleantech Open’s six‑month accelerator program of mentorship, business training, and investor and partner networking. The company won Cleantech Open’s 2021 U.S. National Grand Prize, which includes a $50,000 SAFE note plus consulting and legal support. CEO Chao Yan said the award will help execute a pilot production line in Q1 2022 and strengthen intellectual property, business strategy, and marketing.

• Rondo Energy

  Participated · Equity · Aug 2023

  Rondo Energy manufactures Rondo Heat Batteries (RHBs) that store intermittent wind and solar electricity as continuous, high-temperature heat and power for industrial processes. Its systems are designed for seamless integration with existing equipment to deliver high-pressure steam and power as a service, enabling “drop-in decarbonization” for industries that currently rely on fossil fuels. Rondo operates the world’s highest-temperature, highest-efficiency commercial energy storage system at Calgren Renewable Fuels in Pixley, California, and is expanding production capacity of its storage media with partner Siam Cement Group from 2 GWh/yr to 90 GWh/yr. The company is pursuing storage-as-a-service contracts and a large pipeline of global projects to replace industrial gas use with renewables. Recent project funding will support European deployments to deliver long-term low-cost clean energy under contracts with manufacturers and industrial parks. Rondo is headquartered in Alameda, California. Rondo Energy develops a heat battery that captures low‑cost renewable electricity and delivers high‑temperature, high‑efficiency energy storage to enable customers to power industrial operations with zero‑carbon energy. The company is led by CEO John O’Donnell and is headquartered in Alameda, California. In 2023 Rondo began operations of its first commercial unit, which lowered the carbon intensity of biofuel produced by Calgren Renewable Fuels. In partnership with Siam Cement Group (SCG) the company reported current Heat Battery production capacity of 2.4 GWh/year and plans to scale to 90 GWh/year. Financially, Rondo recently raised $60M and intends to use the funds to grow international operations and to develop and build storage projects around the world. Rondo Energy’s core product is the Rondo Heat Battery (RHB), which stores low-cost renewable electricity as high-temperature heat in brick and delivers dispatchable heat on demand at temperatures up to 1500°C. The technology is designed to decarbonize energy-intensive industrial processes and to eliminate Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions while reducing operating costs for large energy users. Rondo says its approach leverages proven steel-industry experience with large-scale brick heat storage and the falling costs of wind and solar to offer low-cost zero-carbon heat. The company plans to scale manufacturing capacity, originate customer projects, and develop services for heavy industry and energy producers, including Heat as a Service offerings. Rondo and its investors intend to deploy the technology at scale across sectors such as cement, chemicals, paper, and packaging. Recent funding—from Siam Cement Group alongside existing backers—will support earlier deployments and enable rapid production and wider commercial rollouts across Southeast Asia and worldwide. Rondo Energy develops a high-temperature thermal storage system—the Rondo Heat Battery—that stores renewable electricity as heat in engineered solid materials. Its system uses resistive heating to heat engineered "brick" materials and AI-powered controls to supervise charging and discharge, delivering superheated air that can be converted to steam or supplied directly to high-temperature industrial processes. Rondo says its storage operates at up to 1,200°C and claims roughly 98% round-trip efficiency, positioning the technology as cheaper and simpler than electrochemical batteries or hydrogen systems. Target customers include food processing, oil production, cement manufacturing, hydrogen generation and raw-material refining—sectors that consume large amounts of industrial heat. The company raised $22 million in a Series A to begin manufacturing and delivering customer systems later this year. Rondo frames its technology as a way to use excess midday renewable power to decarbonize industrial heat and highlights California as its home state and an important market for industrial gas consumption.

• Sublime Systems

  Participated · Series A · Jan 2023

  Sublime Systems has developed a proprietary ambient-temperature electrochemical process that replaces the traditional combustion-driven kiln to produce cement. The company says its process yields a superior cement that dramatically reduces carbon emissions and has a path to cost parity at scale with conventional Portland cement. Sublime is preparing a first commercial manufacturing plant in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Suffolk Technologies announced an investment in Sublime and Suffolk has pre-purchased capacity from that forthcoming plant. The partnership is presented as a means to accelerate adoption across the construction supply chain and validate Sublime’s technology. Sublime’s leadership emphasizes that bringing a new cement to market requires collaboration with builders and supply-chain partners. Sublime Systems commercializes a breakthrough, fully electrified electrochemical cement-making technology that avoids both mineral and fossil-fuel CO2 emissions by extracting reactive calcium and silicates at near-ambient temperature. The company produces ASTM C1157‑compliant Sublime Cement™, designed as a drop-in replacement for ordinary portland cement in concrete. Founded at MIT in 2020, Sublime operates a Somerville, MA pilot plant with a >250 TPY nameplate capacity and is developing a 30,000 TPY first commercial facility in Holyoke, MA expected as early as 2026. Sublime has raised over $200M from climate tech investors, global cement incumbents, and U.S. Department of Energy cooperative programs (ARPA‑E, IEDO, OCED). Its technology aims for cost and scale parity with conventional cement and to enable rapid global deployment. Partnerships with industry incumbents are positioned to accelerate scale‑up, manufacturing, logistics, and distribution of the technology. Sublime Systems has developed a proprietary electrolyzer process that makes cement at ambient temperature from abundant calcium sources, avoiding both fossil fuel use and CO2 release from limestone. The company says its product matches or exceeds Portland cement in strength, slump, and durability and is a drop‑in replacement for traditional cement. Sublime is the first company reported to produce cement without emissions from limestone or high‑temperature firing. The firm was spun out of MIT in 2020 and is based in Somerville, Mass. The new capital will be used to ramp up production at its pilot plant, expand the team, conduct product testing, and advance offtake commitments with customers and partners. The article cites a completed $40 million Series A as the company’s current financing milestone.

• DMC Biotechnologies

  Participated · Series B · Dec 2021

  DMC Biotechnologies makes bio-based chemical intermediates using microbial fermentation, with primary applications in home care and human nutrition. The company highlights a deep pipeline of predictable, scalable, cost-competitive products addressing sustainability challenges across industries including animal nutrition, human nutrition, personal and home care, and a broad range of chemical intermediates. Its proprietary technology simplifies biology and aims to make fermentation more predictable and efficient. DMC is based in Boulder, CO and Durham, NC. The company completed the first close of its Series B fundraising, raising $34M. DMC Biotechnologies develops a fermentation-based platform that uses enhanced microbial strains to produce a broad diversity of bio-based products. The company says its technology reduces biological complexity and accelerates development timelines versus historical approaches. DMC aims to enable low-cost, distributed manufacturing of both existing products and new-to-the-world products that require the precision of biology. Its platform is positioned to lower development cost and speed up bioprocess engineering. Financially, DMC has secured non-dilutive awards exceeding $1.8 million from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In July 2019 the company announced the first close of a Series A financing, providing additional capital to advance its platform. DMC Biotechnologies builds a low-cost, fermentation-based manufacturing platform that uses enhanced microbial fermentation to produce a broad diversity of bio-based products. The company has developed technology to reduce biological complexity and speed development by modifying the programming language for microbes, and it is pursuing patent-pending methods to overcome historical barriers in the sector. DMC positions itself as a capital-efficient, multi-product company that aims to improve food nutrition, enable distributed manufacturing, create new biology-enabled materials, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Financially, DMC announced a first close of $1.75M in equity financing led by Capricorn Venture Partners and has previously secured non-dilutive awards exceeding $1.2M from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The company noted a board appointment of Rob van der Meij, Investment Manager of the Capricorn Sustainable Chemistry Fund. DMC is referenced with locations in Boulder, CO, USA and Leuven, Belgium.

• Black Bear

  Participated · Equity · Sep 2018

  Black Bear is a Nederweert, the Netherlands–based cleantech company advancing a “Tire to Carbon Black” carbonization process that transforms end-of-life tires into recovered Carbon Black. The recovered Carbon Black is Cradle-to-Cradle™ certified and is already used by major clients including AkzoNobel. The company operates an industrial-scale prototype plant in partnership with tire recycler Kargro, located in Nederweert, capable of processing more than 1 million tires annually. Led by CEO Martijn Lopes Cardozo, Black Bear intends to use recent funds to scale up its technology, further develop the industrial-scale prototype plant and expand internationally. Financially, the company secured an additional €5m in funding and had previously raised €11m in a growth financing round from ING Sustainable Investments, 5square, Social Impact Ventures and SCG. Black Bear, founded in 2010 in the Netherlands, has developed a proprietary tires-to-Carbon Black carbonisation process to transform used tires into recovered Carbon Black. The company produces Cradle-to-Cradle Certified recovered Carbon Black intended for technical rubber goods, coatings, inks and tires, and says its product can compete with virgin Carbon Black on cost and quality. Black Bear describes its process as energy-generating and energy-efficient and highlights environmental impacts, including claims to reduce annual oil consumption by over 215 million barrels and CO2 savings comparable to thousands of hectares of forest. The latest €11 million growth funding will be used to refine the process and accelerate international rollout of the technology. Investors are presented as strategic partners who will support technology development and market expansion, and the company already counts large customers such as AkzoNobel. Management is led by CEO Martijn Lopes Cardozo and backed by a consortium of impact and industrial investors.

No current team members are available.