The Saturday Morning Newsletter #3

Hello!

Welcome to The Saturday Morning Newsletter, a concise and casual digest of current events, optimistic news stories, and other interesting tidbits to round out your week. The concept is simple: 12 articles, essays, companies, ideas, podcasts, videos, or thoughts that caught my attention this week for their potential to significantly impact our future.

I want this to be a collaborative effort, so if you see examples of things that truly impact our future, let me know here. I’ll give you credit for sharing them.

Let’s get started.

#1: Demex

Description: Demex is a climate and weather insurance provider, including a wider variety of climate events than traditional insurance offerings.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Demex raised a round of $10M in venture capital funding this week. Demex’s approach to non-catastrophic weather risk management uses customer data to quantify risks and provide insurance for events becoming more and more common as climate change trends continue. I believe this field will continue to expand over time as climate change issues increase in frequency and impact.

#2: Puraffinity

Description: Puraffinity is a startup creating absorbent materials designed to remove PFAS from water.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Puraffinity raised a round of $22M in venture capital funding this week. A lofty goal, Puraffinity aims to provide over 1B+ people with PFAS free water by 2030. Their technology uses a specifically designed absorbent material which removes a large variety of PFAS species. PFAS, a group of synthetic chemicals used since the 1950s, are known as “forever chemicals” and are incredibly difficult to break down. By creating technology to eliminate them from water sources, Puraffinity is solving a global, decades-long problem.

#3: Vind AI

Description: Vind AI is a wind project design startup providing an innovative software solution that is easily accessible to developers of wind projects.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Vind AI raised a round of $3M in venture capital funding this week. Their platform offers tools for screening and design so users can compare park layout, turbine type, electrical systems, foundations, and mooring setups. This continues the trend of renewable-energy-focused software startups providing innovative solutions to designers and developers.

#4: Calyxia

Description: Calyxia is a startup focused on removing microplastics from all parts of the environment.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Calyxia raised a round of $35M in venture capital funding this week. The mass issue of microplastics has run a little under the radar over the last couple of years, yet it’s a humongous issue that needs to be solved. It’s estimated that microplastics are everywhere (in the environment, in food and water, in the body, etc.). It’s still unclear what the environmental and health impacts of microplastics could be, but it is clear that solutions need to be posed, starting with Calyxia.

Electrek: EV Sales Have Not Fallen, Cooled, Slowed, or Slumped

If you’ve read the news in the last year, you would think that EV sales have fallen. Yet that’s the complete opposite of what actually is happening. Over the last year, sales of battery EVs have continued to grow, yet the YoY growth rates are lower than in years past. After years of doubling EV market share, this continued exponential curve would be impossible to sustain, so these lower growth rates were expected.

American Affairs Journal: Who Killed Nuclear Energy and How to Revive It

The United States has taken a large initiative to decarbonize our electricity system. Yet, nuclear energy has not been a part of this solution. “Instead, the American nuclear industry is moribund and has suffered public disdain for decades.” There is potential for a revival in interest in the option of nuclear energy in the United States. Since this article was published in 2022, the nuclear energy revival has not since been experienced.

New York Times: Up to 44% of the United States is at Risk of a Landslide

According to new data, almost 44% of the United States could experience a landslide. People can input their address to figure out their potential susceptibility. I would encourage you to investigate this and understand the potential effects of a landslide on your residence, loved ones, and what actions must be taken to prevent and bounce back from a landslide.

Uncharted Territories: Can Solar Costs Keep Shrinking?

Solar energy has experienced one of the most impressive cost curves in history. Since 1975, the price of solar panels has been shrinking by around 12% per year. That decrease in price is mainly due to the increase in capacity produced (economies of scale & learning curves). Can we keep this cost decrease curve up? Some people think this can continue because there isn’t a reason we’ll stop installing more solar panels, so it seems as though this will continue to drive cost declines.

The Independent: Elon Musk Now Controls 2/3rds of All Active Satellites

Elon Musk now controls nearly two-thirds of all active satellites orbiting Earth via his Starlink program (operated by SpaceX). SpaceX has launched an average of 3 satellites per day since 2019 (over 6,500 in total). Is that industry concentration good? Does that bode well for the future of space commercialization, exploration, and development? Probably not, but we’ll see in the coming years what happens.

New York Times: The First Private Commercial Space Walk

Two astronauts conducted the first-ever commercial spacewalk, a collaboration between SpaceX and billionaire Jared Isaacman. NASA played almost no role in this walk, emphasizing how today’s success represents a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry.

New York Times: Layoffs Are Few. So Why Are Jobs Harder to Find?

Job growth has slowed and unemployment has increased, yet employers are mostly holding on to their existing workers. Overall, layoffs remain below their levels pre-pandemic. Applications for unemployment benefits have also been falling, signaling a stronger economy than most predicted.

Reddit: A Cool Guide to the End of Everything

For your browsing this week, here’s a casual guide to the end of everything. It’s intriguing to see what people think will happen to the world throughout the next hundred, thousand, or million years.

See you Wednesday for Brainwaves,

Drew Jackson

Twitter: @brainwavesdotme

Email: brainwaves.me@gmail.com

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this content are my own and do not represent the views of any of the companies I currently work for or have previously worked for. This content does not contain financial advice - it is for informational and educational purposes only. Investing contains risks and readers should conduct their own due diligence and/or consult a financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Any sponsorship or endorsements are noted and do not affect any editorial content produced.