Erin Martell

Fun session with Silas Mähner 🔍🌎 Hopefully non controversial takes on how we think about adaptation and resilience Third Sphere. Also weighed in on thinking about engagement with Big Oil. Absolutely not possible to generalize here. TLDR on one end of the spectrum is Norway, generating substantial GDP from oil, but leading the way across multiple climate efforts, like EVs and heatpumps. On the other end are some state actors that have worked to undermine organizations like COP and sew broader chaos, very, very likely as a way to shift resources away from energy transition (likely very, very hard to spend on defense and green transition at the same time in the US and EU, for example).

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Two encouraging developments for Group14 Technologies and electrification efforts more broadly last week. 🔋⚡   Lightrock partnered with Group14, led by Rick (Eric) Luebbe, in 2022, recognising the groundbreaking nature of its SCC55™ material. Compared to conventional lithium-ion batteries, SCC55™ offers up to 50% more energy density and extremely fast charging. Moreover, it can seamlessly integrate into existing lithium-ion manufacturing lines without the need for retooling. 1) 100 battery manufacturing customers, representing over 95% of the world’s battery production for both electric vehicles and consumer electronics, have received their first shipments of SCC55™. This follows the establishment of the initial production factory in Woodinville, Washington, and a joint venture with SK Inc. in South Korea. 2) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Group14 up to $200 million to build a factory capable of producing 7,200 metric tons of silane, addressing a critical bottleneck in the US battery manufacturing industry. This grant will also create 300 new jobs for the factory’s construction and an additional 150 roles for commissioning, ramping up, and sustaining production. Group14 is scaling battery production to new heights and accelerating the electrification and sustainability of our society. Their BAM-1 factory in Woodinville has been operational since 2021, and the SCC55™ produced there is already in over two million smartphones. The new JV factory has an initial annual capacity of 2,000 tonnes of SCC55™, enough to power roughly 100,000 to 250,000 electric vehicles per year. Group14’s BAM-2 factory site in Moses Lake, Washington, is expected to add another 4,000 tonnes of capacity in 2025, bringing the combined annual capacity for SCC55™ material to over 30 gigawatt hours. Huge congratulations to the entire Group14 team on this milestone and award. I encourage you to follow Group14 and check out the links in the comments for additional details. #Group14 #Electrification #Sustainability

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Check out some of my latest research taking a deep dive into why Chicago continues to outperform across all asset classes

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Columbus Real Estate SHOCKED Me in 2023! Discover why Columbus, Ohio, is a top choice for real estate investment in 2023! This video analyzes new construction growth despite interest rate challenges and the decline in existing homes, making a compelling case for investing in Columbus's booming real estate market. ['#ColumbusRealEstate', '#OhioRealEstate', '#NewConstruction', '#RealEstateInvestment', '#InterestRates', '#HousingMarket', '#RealEstateTrends', '#InvestmentStrategy', '#MarketAnalysis', '#ColumbusOhio']

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Traverse City’s short-term rental market is thriving, with revenue up 38.8% in two years! 🌟 From cherry orchards to Lake Michigan views, it’s a prime spot for investors. Full analysis coming tomorrow, detailing regulations, amenities, and strategic property choices that can help boost revenue. 🍒 #ShortTermRentals #TraverseCity #RealEstate

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The new quarterly review is live! Each quarter, I dive into the latest trends and shifts in the venture capital market, covering both the broader macro perspective and the unique insights we’re seeing at Florida Funders. Check out my latest article to stay informed on what’s shaping the VC landscape and how we're navigating it at FF. Always eager to hear your thoughts – let’s keep the conversation going! #VentureCapital #FloridaFunders #MarketInsights

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🚀Super excited to announce Day Zero Ventures Investment in Zeno🚀 We're thrilled to back Zeno, a company set to revolutionize two-wheel transportation in emerging markets with their innovative electric motorcycle ecosystem. Why we're excited: Massive Untapped Market: • 600M petrol motorcycles globally, growing to 2B by 2040 • 60-80% are 100-200cc commuter motorcycles • No good electric options exist for this segment yet Perfect Product-Market Fit: • African bike taxi (boda boda) drivers cover enough miles annually to circle the globe • Switching to electric can reduce fuel costs by 50-75% Comprehensive Ecosystem Approach: • 100-200cc equivalent electric motorbike • Flexible multimodal charging: swapping, fast charging, home charging • Innovative battery-as-a-service subscription model Exceptional Team: • Michael Spencer (CEO): Ex-Tesla leadership, 15 years in East Africa • Rob Newberry (VP Software): Former Apple & Nest senior engineer • Swaroop Bhushan (VP Engineering): Powertrain expert from Lucid and Harley's LiveWire • Plus ex-engineers from Gogoro, Ola Electric, and Ather Zeno's vision goes beyond transportation. They aim to transform customers' relationship with energy, potentially powering homes, businesses, and supporting the grid in emerging markets. We're excited to partner with Zeno on this journey to electrify the world's fastest-growing vehicle segment. As emerging markets continue to develop and urbanize, Zeno is well-positioned to become a cornerstone of sustainable transportation infrastructure. Read why we invested in Zeno in the 1st comment! Alok Bishoyi Rahul Rajvanshi #CleanTech #ImpactInvesting #ElectricVehicles #EmergingMarkets

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Excited to join Energy Capital Ventures, Impact Science Ventures, Earth Foundry, and Chicago:Blend for a deep dive into climate venture capital investing opportunities and trends!  We'll discuss how to drive returns, tackle investment challenges, and support emerging and underrepresented fund managers. Don't miss out on this chance to network with local investors, LPs, and ecosystem supporters in the Chicago region. Looking forward to insightful panels and light refreshments! Join us on Monday, July 22nd at Portal Innovations (400 N Aberdeen Street) from 3:30 PM CT - 6 PM CT. Link in the comments to learn more.  #ClimateInvesting #VentureCapital #Sustainability #ChicagoTech"

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📢 Calling all pre-seed and seed founders in Chicago! I'll be at TechChicago next month, and I'm hoping to connect with founders! If you are currently building, or even just thinking of building a venture-backed company, I want to get to know you! ☕️ Building in Chicago? Leave a comment or shoot me a DM! I can offer coffee & office hours on fundraising, feedback on your current pitch deck, intros to other investors in my network, etc. etc. 👀 Know any pre-seed founders looking for investor office hours or just a connection to a founder community? Tag them below & I'll reach out 🙌 Not building yet, but it has always been a dream to be a founder? Send me a DM and we can chat about the decision & I can connect you with founders who have made the leap #venturecaptial #startups #chicago

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The 2024 NVCA Yearbook is out, and there are a few tidbits about the VC landscape 💴 ▪️More Places to Pitch: There's been a slight increase in investments made outside of Silicon Valley and other traditional tech hubs. Cities across the Midwest and South are seeing more VC activity, which could drive regional innovation. Not Seattle, though. Do better, PNW. ▪️Sluggish Fundraising, More Dry Powder: Although fundraising did not pick up steam in 2023, the amount of dry powder held by the industry ticked up slightly to $311 billion. It's out there, waiting to be deployed. ▪️The Old Normal: Corporate investors are still active-ish. CVC and family office investments were down but remain a significant minority of the deals and dollars committed in VC. ▪️Sustainable is Sizzling: ESG factors increasingly matter for deal-makers. More venture firms are making sustainability an investment focus area/criteria. Not-So-New Money: AI, biotech, and clean energy investing have been hot for a while. This isn’t breaking news, but it’s increasingly true. ▪️Risky and Safe: The current economic climate poses numerous challenges but also plenty of opportunities. Market volatility has made exiting more difficult but has also created attractive entry points for strong founders that could bear fruit later. All 91 pages of the 2024 NVCA Yearbook is below👇

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Smartsheet has entered a definitive agreement to be acquired by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners for $8.4 billion in an all-cash deal. Smartsheet shareholders will receive $56.50 per share, representing a 41% premium over the 90-day average share price. The transaction is expected to close by the end of January 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and shareholder agreement. After the deal, Smartsheet will become privately held, continuing operations under its brand. There is a 45-day "go-shop" period allowing alternative proposals. Here are a few thoughts: Blackstone and Vista bring extensive experience in tech, positioning Smartsheet for accelerated global expansion. High valuation shows continued private equity interest in software companies, especially those with strong SaaS models. As a private company, Smartsheet may gain flexibility for product innovation and restructuring without quarterly public market pressures. The 45-day "go-shop" could lead to other high-profile bidders, signaling competitive interest in enterprise work management solutions. This acquisition could drive consolidation in the collaborative work software market, setting a trend for future acquisitions. #privateequity #deals #dealflow

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This is the beginning of big corporates in industrial and foundational industries solving the data availability problem to leverage the power of generative AI

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Congratulations to Tom N. and his grid-tech startup, Piq Energy, on their inclusion in this great writeup from Russell S. and Virta Ventures on startups involved in planning + siting data centers - an enormous industry. A standout fact or two: -Power consumption for AI data centers is projected to 7x by 2030, per Goldman Sachs -The interconnection queue is currently ~5 years for renewables projects - we need rapid progress in grid planning if we don't want new data projects to add more fossil-powered electricity to the grid, reversing recent progress Piq has the potential to be a key tool in this fight, using AI to simulate the grid and complete interconnection (and other grid) analyses in hours that previously took weeks via manual consultant processes. It's great to see emerging major players in the space, like Cloverleaf Infrastructure (which just announced $300M in funding to build out renewables-powered data center campuses), choosing Piq to help them execute. Proud to be a longtime advisor to Piq and Tom (who paddleboarded to Alcatraz with me and John McDowell back in March!), and looking forward to seeing the impact Piq makes on global power buildout. Congrats Tom! https://lnkd.in/gXqNUxJf

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Q3 2024 Suburban Chicago Market Report Suffice it say, the suburban markets are feeling a lot of pain AKA a good time for Tenants and users. Make sure the landlord you are exploring is well capitalized and can deliver.

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