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: 13 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.

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#1: Blue Energy

Description: Blue Energy is a modular nuclear power plant developer.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? Blue Energy recently raised $45M in venture capital funding. The actual nuclear reactor only accounts for ~7% of the total cost of a nuclear power plant. Blue Energy’s mission is to address the other ~93% of the costs by providing a modular, low-cost solution.

#2: Gropyus

Description: Gropyus is a startup company that designs and builds sustainable, modular apartment buildings that are affordable and customizable.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? Gropyus recently raised a $110M round of venture capital funding. Gropyus has a mission to provide timber-hybrid buildings delivered to the job site as a finished product. This technology allows reduced costs and cuts the construction time by up to 50%. As an environmentally friendly technology, Gropyus aims to become the new standard of apartment buildings.

#3: Major League Table Tennis

Description: Major League Table Tennis is a professional table tennis league based in America.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? Major League Table Tennis recently raised $5.5M in venture capital funding. This is the first and only professional table tennis league in the United States. There are currently 8 teams across the states playing in the first season.

#4: Airloom Energy

Description: Airloom Energy designs wind turbines that are smaller, more efficient, and easier to install than traditional turbines.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? Airloom Energy recently raised a round of $14M in venture capital funding. Airloom Energy is engineering the next generation of wind turbines. These turbines have better physics (better conversion of wind energy to mechanical energy), scalable areas without massive structures, a long lifespan, and higher energy density per square mile. These provide a significantly better solution than existing wind turbines, potentially ushering in the next generation of wind energy.

#5: Voltfang

Description: Voltfang is creating battery storage systems by repurposing used electric vehicle batteries.

Why Is This Company Interesting?? Voltfang recently raised a $8.8M round of venture capital funding. Up until now, there has been a lack of efficient methods for recycling electric vehicle batteries. Voltfang is beginning to create a circular economy using reconditioned and new batteries to reduce the import of non-sustainability-produced rare raw materials. As batteries begin to age, having systems in place to recycle them will be critical to supporting our renewable energy transition.

Axios: Nuclear Powers AI’s Renaissance

This article is fantastic, I would recommend a read. Here’s an excerpt:

Department of Energy: DOE Announces Intent to Fund $20M to Improve the Recycling of Wind Energy Technologies

The United States Department of Energy announced the planned funding of $20M to develop technology solutions that will improve the recyclability of wind energy materials. This will help increase the sustainability of wind energy materials and bolster the domestic supply chain. By emphasizing sustainable and recyclable materials in renewable energy, many climate issues can be resolved over time.

USDA: Biden-Harris Administration Bringing Back Clean Nuclear Energy to the Midwest

The Biden-Harris administration, through the DOE and the USDA, announced more than $2.8B to support reliable, affordable, and clean power across the Midwest. As a part of this, $1.3B will be designated towards the widespread deployment of advanced nuclear technology. These efforts will support a more prosperous future for rural communities by accelerating the transition to clean energy.

New York Times: In a First, a Gas Utility Is Sued Over Global Warming Deception

Oregon officials have added NW Natural as a defendant in their $50B lawsuit against fossil fuels companies over their contribution to climate change. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants had known about the risks of global warming since the 1950s and covered up the information. We’ll have to see if these claims stick in court, but it does signal how some responsibility for climate change is beginning to be put on companies that significantly contributed to detrimental effects historically.

WSJ: ULA Launches Vulcan Rocket, Pushing to Begin National-Security Flights

United Launch Alliance, the rocket company owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin completed a flight with its new vehicle. The goal of the company is to carry payloads and other types of objects for national security means. This continues the expansion of space commercialization by private-public partnerships.

MSN: Seattle approves $20.76 minimum wage in 2025; will be the highest in the U.S.

Seattle already has one of the highest minimum wages in the country which has helped bolster the local economy and attract workers. This increase is good for workers but presents a challenge for small businesses still recovering from the pandemic and the recent economic slowdown. Many believe this increase will help Seattle continue to attract some of the best workers in the country.

Pitchbook: More startups are exiting at a loss than at any point since 2009

The majorly closed IPO window has led to venture capital firms exiting at lower valuations. Since 2022, 70% of VC-backed exits were valued at less than the capital investors put in. In venture capital, it’s customary that less than 10% of investments produce a 10x+ return, yet this stifled exit market has led to increased losses. Trends seem to be switching to a more positive direction as of late, but we have yet to see meaningful impacts from these trends.

There is a Japanese legend that says,

“If you get on the wrong train, get off at the nearest station, the longer it takes you to get off, the more expensive the return trip will be.”

In life, I would apply this concept to the idea of forming and keeping habits—specifically bad habits. If you’re beginning to start a bad habit (you get on the wrong train), it’s best to stop the habit ASAP (get off at the nearest station). If you don’t end the habit soon, the more difficult it will be to end it later on (the more expensive the return trip will be).

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.