The Saturday Morning Newsletter #91

This Week I’m Tracking: 14 developments across the sectors shaping our future

Reading Time: 6 minutes of curated insights

Your weekly pulse check: The most important events in venture capital, energy, space, economics, intellectual property, philosophy, and more. I distill the most important developments across sectors I track, saving you hours of research while keeping you ahead of the curve.

New to these updates? They pair with our bi-weekly Brainwave analyses for comprehensive sector coverage. Wednesday’s deep dive explored the collaborative frontier - catch up here.

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Let’s dive in.

#1: Lunar Outpost

Description: Lunar Outpost is a developer of moon rovers.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Lunar Outpost recently raised $30M in venture capital funding. Lunar Outpost is developing the infrastructure necessary to inhabit other planets. Their lunar rover technology, combined with their launch capabilities, is close to enabling people to go to and roam around on the Moon and other planetary bodies. American innovation will continue to pave the way for the world to reach new heights.

#2: Meatly

Description: Meatly is a cultivated meat producer.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Meatly recently raised $10.4M in venture capital funding. Meatly is creating cultivated meat products geared for pet consumption. In the age where cultivated meat products are beginning to hit the mass market, why shouldn’t it also extend to pets? Their technology uses chicken cells to create meatless products without harming any animals.

#3: Cowboy Space

Description: Cowboy Space is an orbital infrastructure startup.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Cowboy Space recently raised $275M in venture capital funding. Cowboy Space is building the power grid in space to support AI. Earth’s grid isn’t set up to sustain the pace of AI development. Luckily, there is tons of capacity in space to support this exponential growth. Cowboy Space is betting this will be the future of energy and AI.

#4: Crew Carbon

Description: Crew Carbon is a developer of carbon dioxide removal solutions.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Crew Carbon recently raised $25M in venture capital funding. Crew Carbon provides wastewater treatment facilities with a process intensification solution that improves performance, lowers costs, and permanently removes greenhouse gases. Their solution replaces conventional alkalinity chemicals, providing a more efficient process and lower long-term costs for plants. Additionally, it reduces the risk of hazardous chemical exposure for operators.

#5: Star Catcher

Description: Star Catcher is a developer of a power grid in space.

Why Is This Company Interesting? Star Catcher recently raised $65M in venture capital funding. Like other players in this industry, they aim to create the first power grid in space, powered by solar energy. Their technology transmits solar energy directly to the satellite’s existing solar arrays (think mirrors). What’s special about Star Catcher is that they hold the world record for optical power beaming, which underpins their proprietary technology.

Reuters: Trump’s Crackdown on China-Linked Solar Firms Stalls U.S. Factory Boom

The Trump administration has cracked down on China-based solar panels, leading to some unfortunate byproducts. A few U.S.-based manufacturers with Chinese ties (however strong) are also facing backlash, as businesses are unsure whether they can continue doing business with them. This shift threatens more than 1/3rd of U.S.-based solar development.

The New York Times: EPA to End Some Limits on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water

The Trump administration announced that it will drop some limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water. These chemicals have been previously found to cause cancer and other serious health problems. The Biden administration enacted these policies; now, the Trump administration is rescinding protections on four of the substances and will continue to protect against two of them.

The New York Times: Scientists Tweaked the Global Warming Outlook

Researchers recently said the worst-case climate scenario used in science and policymaking over the last decade had become implausible and could be revised downward. In response, Trump falsely claimed that this was clear evidence that the international expert committee had been wrong, pushing the agenda that climate change is a hoax.

The Wall Street Journal: SpaceX Launches Starship Rocket

On Friday, SpaceX successfully launched its next-gen Starship rocket. A few minutes after the launch, the spacecraft separated from the booster. The booster ran into problems and eventually crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. The spacecraft lost one of its engines but managed to reach space and successfully deploy its payload. The craft came back down to Earth, exploding upon touchdown in the Indian Ocean.

Pitchbook: More than 1 in 5 Startup Acquisitions Include an Earnout Provision

This level of earnouts in M&A deals signals that buyers still have large power in the current market conditions. While overall conditions have improved since the recent downturn, earnouts continue to remain a more common feature in these deals. A major reason in the broader market is that many startups are still stuck with inflated valuations from the 2020 and 2021 market peaks, which makes earnouts more palatable to founders than a lower valuation.

Pitchbook: SpaceX IPO Filing

This week, SpaceX published its S-1 filing in preparation to go public. The company has grown tremendously in valuation, although many of the revenue and earnings figures do not track to the size of the IPO SpaceX hopes to have. The company raised more than $10B in funding over its lifetime, with many gearing up for a major liquidity event.

IP Watchdog: Maximizing AI Value Through Smarter IP Strategy

AI is developing at an incredible rate. Conversely, intellectual property law and policy aren’t evolving nearly as fast, leaving gaps in coverage. Additionally, AI innovation doesn’t fit neatly into the current IP model, which causes additional strain on entrepreneurs, policymakers, and general consumers. Asking critical questions about what we’re trying to protect, who controls the inputs, who owns the outputs, and what can be commercialized should be examined carefully as we develop IP frameworks to shore up these gaps.

Open Culture: The Most Influential Philosophers Explained in 26 Minutes

Who are the most influential philosophers of all time? That’s incredibly debatable, but this video breaks down and argues for who they think they are, including Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, René Descartes, John Locke, David Hume, Rousseau, Immanuel Kant, Hegel, Karl Marx, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein.

Company Spotlight: Quaise

On the surface, Quaise looks like any other geothermal energy company I write about here. When you look a bit more, there are a few things that set them apart in this sector.

To provide some background, Quaise Energy is a spinout of MIT, and they recently announced their next big project: Project Obsidian. Their goal is to create the world’s first commercial superhot geothermal power plant.

What is a superhot geothermal plant? They use gyrotron technology, which emits high-energy waves that vaporize rock, to drill deeper into the earth than other geothermal methods. Their goal is to drill down 10-12 miles into Earth’s core, producing 5-10x more power than traditional geothermal wells.

They’ve initially tested their technology, successfully drilling through 100 meters of granite. When deployed commercially in 2030, they will search for very hot rocks (300-500 Celsius) that provide the pressure and heat needed to produce supercritical water, enabling viable GW-level plants.

It’s super interesting to see how companies and people are innovating to drive growth and prosperity in legacy industries.

That's a wrap on this week’s roundup.

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Drew Jackson

Founder & Writer

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