Climate-tech startups keep on thriving

Hi all!

Even with the decrease in VC funding in 2022, climate-tech startups raised more in the first six months of this year than they did in the first half of 2021.

The sector saw $18.6 billion invested across 500 VC deals in the first half of this year, which is up 16% from H1 2021.

Check out local promising cleantech startups at the CleanTech Open Showcase and Awards Celebration on September 29th.

Register here (and yes, we'll be there, just like every year).

The State of Manufacturing

The Manufacturing PMI Index registered at 52.8% in July. While inventories are still generally low across suppliers and customers, they did improve by ~ 4 points.

Pricing saw its biggest change from June to July with -18.5%. While most industries still report price increases, the level of increases appears to be slowing down.

The new U.S. forced-labor law targeting China is prompting businesses to look deep into their supply chains to show they aren’t tainted by forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which went into effect last month, gives U.S. Customs and Border Protection the power to block importing goods with ties to Xinjiang, the home region of China’s Uyghur minority group because those goods are presumed to be made with forced labor.

EPE Components Update on Semiconductor Supply Situation

Steep consumer demand reductions in PCs, mobile phones, and consumer electronics are slowly, positively impacting inventories and order backlogs.

The semiconductor shortage situation will remain severe, likely through the later parts of 2023, as general semiconductor forecasts stay in growth mode and the industries continue to experience many disruptions and delays in adding additional capacity.

The Greater Boston startups brought in around $939 million in VC funding in July. Manufacturing startups were number one this month (yay!), bringing in $421 million, followed by biotech with $294 million and software companies with $146 million.

Following the national trend, Massachusetts companies are also dealing with VC funding declines, a 30% decrease in the first half of 2022 compared to last year.

MassChallenge has invited 250 startups to participate in the 2022 US early-stage program.

The cohort represents 42 industries ranging from medical devices to IOT to poverty alleviation. Check the full list of startups here.

i-lab’s Summer Venture Program run by Harvard Innovation Labs will be held in person this summer for the first time since 2019. Read more about it here.

A tiny robot is living with penguins in Antarctica. The robot named ECHO belongs to the Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution but is currently living with an Emperor penguin colony. That's some serious environmental stress testing.

A Boston startup is training offshore wind workers in virtual reality. VinciVR is the first to replace hands-on training elements for simulations of ports and wind turbines.

Boston Materials announced that it is partnering with Textron Systems to deploy Z-axis Fiber technology in thermal protection systems (TPS) for next-gen spacecraft and re-entry vehicles. Kudos Anvesh & Michael, for building a great company.

Helios will be one of the Top Ten Finalists to participate at the Stadia Ventures Fall 2022 Finalists Pitch Day by Big Ten Conference. Congrats Bill!

Nodar has been awarded two additional U.S. patents for their multi-camera 3D vision technology for autonomous vehicles.

In our July survey, we asked about which factors are crucial on the road to recovery for your company.

The results showed that the increase in the overall market demand is the number one factor, followed by access to talent and funding for innovation.

The current fundraising environment is keeping startup founders and CEOs up at night, and we'd like to know:

There's a "Museum of Failure" in Sweden showing 150+ failed products. This exhibit features some of the most spectacular commercial flops – proving that innovation requires risk-taking and failure. AtLeastTheyTried (Source: Atlas Obscura)

Your next job interview could be with a robot. A growing number of companies are using chatbots and AI-led video interviews to assess job candidates. PrepareYourFacialExpressions (Source: Axios)

Pick a place, then go back in time. ‘Point in history’ is a map that highlights the boundaries associated with your given location. CheckYourAncestors (Source: Hans Hack)

Sign up HERE