🍃 Clean tech is back

PLUS: The startup using food to preserve food. August 24, 2021 [The Hustle] [The Hustle]( Would you rather get paid by time or by task? Most office jobs today pay employees for a set number of hours per week. But a growing percentage of the workforce is pivoting to task-based compensation. We’re working on a story about this and would love to hear your thoughts. Please [fill out our 2-minute survey here](. Today’s rundown: - Clean tech: US climate tech funding could reach $60B this year - Food waste: The $2B startup using food to preserve food - Meet HTeaO: A drive-through chain that only sells iced tea Let’s do it. The big idea [Earth on fire]( The $60B clean tech comeback Remember Al Gore’s documentary on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth”? It was released in 2006, coinciding with a period of rising interest in climate change and huge funding into clean tech. According to [The Economist](, VCs put $25B into the industry between 2006 and 2011... … but lost more than half of that investment While this experience left scar tissue for many investors, the industry is booming again. From 2013 to 2020, climate tech investing outpaced all startup funding by 5x. This year alone, US climate tech funding may reach $60B, up significantly from $36B in 2020, per The Economist. Public market success stories are bringing investors back - Tesla, the EV maker, went public in 2010 at a $1.7B valuation (now worth $700B) - Beyond Meat, which produces faux meat, went public in 2019 at a $1.5B valuation (now worth ~$8B) More broadly, the S&P Global Clean Energy Index has averaged annual returns of 40%+ over the past 3 years (2x the benchmark S&P 500 index). Recognizing the urgency of the climate situation… … clean tech investing now has significant support from: - US government: The Department of Energy partnered with Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Catalyst on a $1.5B initiative - EU government: The European Commision has also partnered with Gates to spend $1B building large-scale clean tech “demonstration projects” - Family offices: Uber-rich families are chipping in 10% of climate tech venture capital (2x the rate 10 years ago) - Wall Street: JPMorgan Chase -- America’s biggest bank -- says it will “commit $2.5T to sustainable investing over 10 years” - Big Tech: Microsoft ($1B) and Amazon ($2B) each have 9-figure climate tech funds While money is important, increased cooperation between private and public players makes tackling climate change a bit more convenient and more likely to succeed. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=The+%2460B+clean+tech+comeback%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F08242021-clean-tech%3Futm_campaign%3DClean%2Btech%26utm_content%3D08242021-clean-tech%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( SNIPPETS NEW! Introducing our new and improved [Snippets](. You can now get extra snippets on your favorite topics. Follow the button below to get started. (It takes less than 30 seconds!) Memorabilia maven: The MLB [struck]( a deal with Fanatics, giving them exclusive access to produce baseball cards. One less player in Big Tech health: According to a leaked memo, Google plans to [dismantle]( its health division. Pumpkin spice is back: According to a survey from Morning Consult, 25% of adults [consider]( late August to be the perfect time for the seasonal flavor. Price hikes: Microsoft hit a record high ($2.3T) following an announcement it was raising prices on Office 365 subscriptions. $MSFT is up [+37%]( this year! Vaccine mandates: CVS pharmacists will have to be [fully vaccinated]( by November 30 while Chevron will require employees who travel abroad to be vaxxed. Join the 92,035 others who are now enjoying extra, personalized snippets. Click the button👇 to choose your favorite topics and see your list grow in tomorrow’s email. [Personalize Your Snippets]( food tech [Apeel fruits and vegetables]( The anti-food waste startup now valued at $2B Avocados go bad so quickly that they’ve become a [meme](, but 1 company is using a special coating to change that. [Apeel Sciences]( is a California-based startup founded in 2012 through a [grant]( from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It just raised $250m in Series E, bringing its valuation to $2B, [per]( TechCrunch. Founder James Rogers [says]( Apeel uses “food to preserve food” in the hopes of reducing food waste -- which the USDA [estimates]( affects 30%-40% of food in the US. But what is this coating? It’s an invisible, odorless, tasteless “peel” made from ingredients already found in peels, pulp, and seeds. Produce can be sprayed, brushed, or dipped in it. The peel: - Seals in moisture - Keeps oxygen out - Helps food last [2x]( longer Since 2019 Apeel has saved 42m pieces of produce from going to waste, conserving ~4.7B liters of water. The new funding will help Apeel expand its supply and retail networks. Currently, Apeel distributes produce through 40 retail partners, including Kroger, which [announced]( it would sell Apeel avocados nationally in 2019. Sounds pretty... Apeeling. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=The+anti-food+waste+startup+now+valued+at+%242B%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F08242021-apeel%3Futm_campaign%3DClean%2Btech%26utm_content%3D08242021-apeel%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Fast Food (and Beverage) [HTeaO drinks]( Meet the iced tea drive-through chain taking over Texas In 2009, Justin Howe noticed an increase in sales at his parents’ restaurant, [Buns Over Texas](, after adding multiple iced tea flavors to the menu. Shortly after this realization, he [opened]( Texas Tea in Amarillo -- a joint that solely sells high-quality iced teas. Business is booming After growing to 3 locations by 2018, he changed the names to HTeaO and decided to pursue a franchise model with the brand. He ended up licensing 22 franchise locations within the first 30 days -- and the growth has only escalated from there. As it stands, HTeaO counts: - 32 existing locations - 37 stores in the construction phase - 150 stores in development And now Howe’s crazy idea has competition Tea2Go TeaN’ergy is another iced tea drive-through chain from Texas, with scattered locations and plans to open more across the state. If you want to check out HTeaO for yourself, your best bet is still West Texas (though the company has expanded in-state and has a handful of out-of-state locations). You also may want to check the menu in advance to [prepare]( for the 500 flavor combinations to choose from. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Meet+the+iced+tea+drive-through+chain+taking+over+Texas%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F08242021-HTeaO%3Futm_campaign%3DClean%2Btech%26utm_content%3D08242021-HTeaO%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( AROUND THE WEB 💃 Haha: Hydraulic press videos were already in, but comedian Smac McCreanor takes them to another level. Via interpretive dance, she [imitates]( items getting completely obliterated. 😮 Whoa: Swedish band Rymdreglage spent 9 years making a trippy 8-bit Lego stop-motion animation [video]( that pays tribute to classic video games. 🏊‍♂️ On this day: In 1875, Captain Matthew Webb became the [1st person]( to swim across the English Channel without help. 🗣 How to: NPR has [5 tips]( to help give your co-workers great feedback. 🔭 That’s cool: [This]( is what it looks like if you fix your telescope on Jupiter for 6 straight hours. 🚇 Good job: Boston public transit enthusiast Maya Jonas-Silver [says]( she broke the world record for the fastest trip to every Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway station. It took her 7 hours, 4 minutes, and 29 seconds. JPEG of the day [rocks] Yep, 7-figure rocks (Source: EtherRock) The NFT craze enters the latest chapter. JPEGs of carton rocks called EtherRock are selling for millions. Per [CNBC](, these crypto collectibles were created in 2017. As recently as 2 weeks ago, the minimum price for one of these rocks was $97k. Yesterday, the new minimum price for an EtherRock is above $1m. SHARE THE HUSTLE [Hustle Cons Greatest Hits ebook]( Over the years, we’ve learned… secrets. The business secrets, tips, and tricks that have helped founders go from zero to millions -- and even billions -- of dollars. Want to see ‘em? Just refer 3 more friends to The Hustle and we’ll send you our curated set of interviews with founders from brands like Zola, AWAY, Vungle, Bonobos, and more. Here’s a message you can use to share with your friends: Hey! Do you read The Hustle? It’s the best daily business newsletter out there -- only takes 5 minutes to read and you’ll sound like the smartest person in the room. Sign up here, it’s free: [ P.S. You can always check your referral count [here](. [Share The Hustle →]( How did you like today’s email? 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