Welcome to Summer

Welcome to summer! We’re looking forward to beaches, barbecues, and a safe return to summer festivities. 

But recent record-breaking heat waves have kept many folks indoors across the West. Unfortunately, climate change means that we can expect more of these heat waves unless we cut back on carbon emissions. In this month’s newsletter we’ll be highlighting a few organizations from our portfolio working to tackle climate change and make the world safer — and more enjoyable — for all of us. 

On a more positive note, the U.S. is approaching a milestone in the pandemic: 150 million Americans fully vaccinated. During the height of the pandemic, community leaders took steps to help their communities fight the virus and prevent its spread. We’re proud to share the story of one such leader below. 

We’re inspired by these folks and we hope you are too!

Matt's Advice to Founders from Activate

Matt Rogers is a builder at heart: He was one of the engineers on the original iPhone, he helped build the first learning thermostat for Next, and, of course, he’s one of the founders of Incite. But he knows that the path to success is a winding one:

“Be resilient in the face of failure. Lots of things will go wrong, especially when you’re trying to solve hard problems worth solving. Lots of people will tell you ‘no’ because they may not understand what is possible. You must have the perseverance and focus to carry on.”

READ more advice from Matt ...

Earth Goals: Removing 1B tons of CO2 by 2035
Heirloom

President Joe Biden has promised a zero-emission electricity sector by 2035. Our friends at Heirloom have also set themselves a goal for 2035: to remove 1B tons of CO2 from the air, by using their technology that enhances the earth’s natural ability to absorb carbon.

Tech company Stripe has given Heirloom a vote of confidence. It announced that it’s planning on purchasing 250 tons of carbon removal from the company at $2,054 per ton.

READ more about Heirloom’s plans at the MIT Technology Review...

She Made the Tough Calls During the Pandemic, and Saved Lives
Lina Hidalgo

Lina Hidalgo serves as the chief administrative official of Harris County, the largest county in Texas and the third largest county in the U.S. When elected in 2018 at the age of 27, she became the first woman and first Latino to hold the position of county judge. Her duties include overseeing a budget of almost $5 billion, which affects nearly 5 million people. Talk about impressive.

That’s not all. Her leadership during the pandemic has earned her a John F. Kennedy New Frontiers Award, which honors Americans under the age of 40 who are changing their communities through their dedication to public service. Past recipients include Stacy Abrahams and the March for Our Lives organization.

President Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg said Hidalgo “brought change and progress, boldly leading through the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing important health measures before they were popular, or even acceptable.”

WATCH the announcement award and Hidalgo’s acceptance speech…

Powering the Green Energy Revolution
Antora Energy

One of the challenges for the green energy revolution is building affordable, reliable energy storage. Antora has an innovative solution. It uses carbon blocks, heated to over 1,500 degrees Celsius, from which energy can be retrieved and transformed into electricity. What’s more, the start-up’s technology has demonstrated world-record efficiency.

LEARN about how Antora’s technology works in this article from technology association IEEE...

A Step Closer to Carbon Capture
Carbon Engineering

Plants and trees help the Earth by extracting carbon dioxide from the air. Carbon Engineering does the same thing with Direct Air Capture technology -- except faster and with a smaller land footprint. The company is in the process of jointly engineering what will be the world’s largest Direct Air Capture facility in the Permian Basin, which is in Texas and New Mexico. 

Now the company’s announced it’s designing a proposed plant for Europe. 

READ about Carbon Engineering’s plans in Business in Vancouver magazine...