Check Out This Week's Venture Capital Investment Summary Spanning Early & Growth-Stage US Based Environmental Technology & Enterprise Software Startups!

Every Monday, the team here at Bearhug Recruiting aggregates, researches, and publishes a recap of the prior week's fundraising activity within the early and growth-stage Environmental Technology & Enterprise Software startup ecosystem.

This research not only allows us to keep our finger on the pulse of the markets we serve, but also benefits others who, like us, enjoy analyzing the latest trends that signal investor confidence AND startup growth within what we believe are the most exciting and impactful segments!

We also hope the people and companies we feature enjoy both a virtual fist bump from the team at Bearhug, plus benefit from some additional free market exposure to amplify their mission. Make sure you reach out to any that are interesting/relevant that you might be able to help!

Here’s this week’s startup funding recap:

1. Kinetic, led by Nikhil Naikal, raised $21 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Menlo Ventures (Shawn Carolan), with participation from returning investors Lux Capital, Construct Capital, and Haystack Ventures, as well as new investors Allstate Strategic Ventures and Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures. Based in Santa Ana, CA, Kinetic delivers digital maintenance and servicing for modern vehicles, including EVs, AVs, and PHEVs, through its network of service centers. The company's certified technicians employ Kinetic’s proprietary AI, computer vision, and robotics to perform digital repairs. This funding will enable Kinetic to accelerate its business growth and continue to attract top technology and engineering talent. Kinetic operates service hubs in strategic locations and plans further expansion to meet the growing demand for advanced vehicle maintenance. [Link] #Automotive Tech #Artificial Intelligence #Robotics Engineering #Advanced Manufacturing #Environmental Tech #Sustainability

2. M2X Energy, led by Josh Browne, raised $40 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Conifer Infrastructure Partners (Nick Stork), with participation from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Eni Next, Add Ventures by SCG, and Autodesk Foundation. Located in Rockledge, FL, M2X Energy is at the forefront of developing modular, transportable gas-to-liquids systems that convert methane into low-carbon methanol. This technology involves a non-catalytic, partial-oxidation engine reformer and an integrated methanol synthesis loop, allowing M2X to address methane emissions effectively. The company plans to use this new funding to accelerate the manufacturing and deployment of its commercial fleet of methanol production systems. M2X has successfully de-risked its technology through multiple field deployments and is expanding its manufacturing capabilities to meet the increasing demand for sustainable methanol solutions, with plans to begin commercial deliveries by early 2025. [Link] #Environmental Technology #New Energy #Sustainability #CleanTech

3. Aether Fuels, led by Conor Madigan, has raised a $34 million Series A funding round. The round was led by AP Ventures (Kevin Eggers), with participation from Chevron Technology Ventures, CDP Venture Capital, and Zeon Ventures. Aether Fuels is advancing a transformative technology, Aether Aurora™, which optimizes the Fischer-Tropsch process to convert waste carbon feedstocks into sustainable fuels for the aviation and ocean shipping industries. This funding will accelerate the scale-up and deployment of its technology to meet growing global demand for low-carbon alternatives. [Link] #CleanTech #New Energy #Environmental Technology #Sustainability

4. Foray Bioscience, led by Dr. Ashley Beckwith, has raised a $3 million Seed funding round. The round was led by ReGen Ventures (Parker Hughes), with participation from The Engine Ventures, Susquehanna Sustainable Investments, Understorey Ventures, and Superorganism. Based in Cambridge, MA, Foray Bioscience is advancing plant-based biomanufacturing to protect and restore natural ecosystems. The company's technology utilizes plant cells grown outside of the plant to produce a variety of goods, enhancing efficiency in producing everything from molecules to materials and seeds. This funding will support the expansion of its predictive plant cell culture platform, foster product development partnerships, and grow its Boston-based team. [Link] #Biotechnology #Sustainability #Environmental Technology #Innovative Chemistry #Advanced Materials

5. Inventive, led by Erik Kuld, has raised a $6.5 million Seed funding round. The round was led by Wing VC (Chris Zeoli), with participation from Tokyo Black and a group of angel investors, including founders and former Google and Meta executives. Based in San Francisco, CA, Inventive is enhancing SaaS products with embedded AI, providing an AI Analyst agent that assists non-technical users in generating custom reports and analytics directly within software applications. This conversational AI system interacts in natural language, allowing users to derive actionable insights from their data. The funding will be used to further develop its platform and expand its suite of tools for embedded AI experiences. [Link] #Artificial Intelligence #Conversational AI #SaaS #Data Analytics Platform

6. EvolutionaryScale, led by Alexander Rives, has raised a $142 million Seed funding round. The round was led by Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, and Lux Capital (Josh Wolfe), with participation from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and NVentures, NVIDIA’s venture capital arm, along with several angel investors. Based in NYC, EvolutionaryScale is at the forefront of applying artificial intelligence to biology, developing ESM3, a large language model tailored for life sciences. This model family, available in multiple sizes and accessible through the company’s API, is designed for generating novel proteins and other biological systems. ESM3-open, part of this family, is openly available on GitHub under a non-commercial license, embodying the company's commitment to responsible development. This funding will enable further expansion of their operations and development efforts. [Link] #Artificial Intelligence #Biotechnology #Protein Engineering #Life Sciences #Sustainability #Environmental Technology

7. Etched, led by Gavin Uberti, has raised a $120 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Primary Venture Partners (Brian Schechter, Tobias Citron) and Positive Sum Ventures (Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Sam Cates), with participation from Hummingbird, Fundomo, Fontinalis, Lightscape, Earthshot, Two Sigma, Oceans Venture, Skybox Data Centers, and angel investors including Peter Thiel and Amjad Masad. Based in Cupertino, CA, Etched is pioneering advancements in AI hardware with Sohu, a transformer-specialized ASIC designed to support intensive transformer model inference. Sohu excels in processing tasks for major AI models like Llama and Stable Diffusion 3, providing robust support for current and future AI developments. This funding will bolster Etched's operations and accelerate the development of its transformative technology. [Link] #Artificial Intelligence #Machine Learning #AI Hardware #Data Infrastructure

8. Travertine, led by Laura Lammers, has raised an $8.5 million funding round. The round was co-led by Holcim MAQER Ventures (Jason Mühleck), with participation from the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, Clean Energy Ventures (Daniel Goldman), and Bidra Innovation Ventures. Based in Boulder, CO, Travertine specializes in carbon-negative, zero-waste critical element extraction technologies for the mining and fertilizer industries. Their platform converts industrial sulfate waste and atmospheric CO2 into valuable industrial chemicals and building materials, effectively sequestering CO2 and addressing environmental challenges in these sectors. The funding will support the expansion of operations and development efforts, particularly towards scaling up for a commercial demonstration plant. [Link] #Environmental Technology #Sustainability #CleanTech #Recycling Tech

9. Arrow, led by Roshan Patel, has raised a $110 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Gradient Ventures (Darian Shirazi). Based in NYC, Arrow is a healthcare technology company enhancing operational efficiency and improving patient outcomes. It provides tools for real-time claims acceleration and predictive analytics, improving payment speed and accuracy for healthcare providers and health plans. This technology aims to reduce the over $300 billion annual losses due to inefficiencies in medical billing. Arrow's solutions are designed to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of healthcare services, contributing to a reduction in fraud, waste, and abuse. [Link] #Healthcare #Fraud Detection #Predictive Analytics #Claims Software

10. Rainforest, led by Joshua Silver, has raised a $20 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Matrix Partners (Matt Brown), with participation from Accel, Infinity Ventures, BoxGroup, The Fintech Fund, Tech Square Ventures, and Ardent Venture Partners. Rainforest is a payment provider that helps software platforms build and optimize embedded financial services, offering a customized risk model for each platform, creating vertical-specific merchant scoring and precise fraud monitoring. [Link] #FinTech #Artificial Intelligence #Fraud Detection #Payments Software #Data Analytics Platform

11. Samsara Eco, led by Paul Riley, has raised a $65 million Series A+ funding round. The round was led by Temasek and Main Sequence (Mike Zimmerman, Phil Morle), with participation from Wollemi Capital, lululemon, Hitachi Ventures, Titanium Ventures, and DCVC. Samsara Eco is an enviro-tech innovator focused on ending plastic waste through enzymatic recycling technology. The funds will help scale its recycling capabilities globally, build new commercial facilities, and expand its team of experts. [Link] (Note: This is an Australian based company which is typically outside the scope of Bearhug’s practice. However the tech is just too exciting so we had to feature them!) #Environmental Technology #Sustainability #CleanTech #Recycling Tech #Circular Economy #Advanced Manufacturing #Industrial Automation #Plastic Waste Management

12. Orby AI, led by Bella Liu, has raised a $30 million Series A funding round. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates (Vanessa Larco), Wing VC (Sara Choi), and WndrCo (Sujay Jaswa), with additional participation from Pear VC. Orby AI delivers an enterprise automation platform that leverages generative AI to automate complex business workflows at scale, including data entry, document processing, and validation of complex forms, invoices, expenses, and contracts. The funds will be used to accelerate the development and commercialization of their AI process automation platform. [Link] #Artificial Intelligence #Generative AI #Enterprise Automation #Business Intelligence Tools #Data Analytics Platform #Document Management #Data Transformation

13. Hoodie Analytics, led by Wes Shepherd, has raised a $5 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Measure 8 Partners (Boris Jordan, Robert Sciarrone) with participation from Entourage Effect Capital and Satori Investors. Early investors also included Greenlight Investors and OlsonUbben via Tony Olson, with continued participation from insiders such as Arcview Ventures Seed Fund, Arcview Collective Fund, Greenlight Investors, and Tech Nexus. Hoodie Analytics provides a cannabis market insights and product data management platform, tracking daily market movements to deliver critical factors for building winning brands. The funds will be used to accelerate the market expansion of their newly launched platform. [Link] #Cannabis Tech #Market Analytics #Product Data Management #Data Transformation #Data Analytics Platform

14. Feon Energy, led by Wenxiao Huang, has raised a $6.1 million Seed funding round. The round was led by Fine Structure Ventures (Jennifer Uhrig), with participation from Eight Roads, Foothill Ventures, MassVentures, EPS Ventures, and Valkyrie Fund. Feon Energy offers a platform approach to create new electrolyte molecules and formulations for battery chemistries like lithium-metal and cobalt-free ultra-high-voltage lithium-ions. Their non-flammable liquid electrolyte solutions enable batteries with higher energy density, improved safety, lower cost, and supply chain resilience. The funds will be used to expand their R&D team, scale up their high-throughput molecular discovery platform, and accelerate commercial engagement with battery and automotive players. [Link] #Energy Tech #Battery Tech #New Energy #Clean Energy #Sustainability #Environmental Technology #Advanced Materials #Battery Manufacturing #CleanTech

15. Clearstory, led by Cameron Page, has raised a $16 million Series B funding round. The round was led by Prudence (Jordan Viniar), with participation from Industry Ventures and existing investors including Jackson Square Ventures, Building Ventures, GS Futures, and Cloud Apps Capital Partners. Clearstory empowers the construction business processes with its change order communication tool, helping general contractors reduce risk, specialty contractors get paid faster, and teams make financial decisions through access to real-time data in one centralized location. The funds will be used to scale their platform and bring on talent to drive growth and innovation. [Link] #ConTech #Construction Software #Change Order Software #Data Integration Platform

16. KarmaCheck, led by Eric Ly, has raised a $45 million Series B funding round. The round was led by Parameter Ventures (Douglas Romanoff), with participation from PruVen Capital, Velvet Sea Ventures, GC1 Ventures, and NextView Ventures. KarmaCheck provides technology-based solutions for background checks, credentialing, and compliance, empowering staffing administrators with automated dashboards and built-in API integrations to applicant tracking systems. The funds will be used to accelerate the development of its proprietary technology platform, scale its service levels to more customers and candidates, and expand into new industry verticals. [Link] #Artificial Intelligence #HRTech #Compliance Software #Business Intelligence Tools

*Note: The companies we feature in our weekly recap are a very small subset of a much larger batch, carefully chosen based on our team's assessment of how each company aligns with our GTM search practice. It’s worth noting that most startups raise funding rounds privately, often long before the news is announced publicly!