Greentown Labs’ 200+ startups are reinventing how our world operates—from how we power our homes, to how we manufacture our goods, to how we shape the built environment. Every one of their successes moves us a step closer to a decarbonized, resilient future.
That’s why each year, we celebrate some of our members’ most impressive accomplishments as they develop, deploy, and commercialize their climatetech solutions. In 2024, Greentown startups unveiled the most productive enhanced geothermal system in history, made plans to install low-carbon cement in a major offshore wind project, created a new version of the tomato, and so much more.
Here’s just a sampling of their biggest wins this year!
Changing How We Power Our World
- Fervo Energy, which is working to deliver next-generation, carbon-free geothermal energy, raised $244M—including from Greentown partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries—and then another $255M; had a pilot selected by the Biden-Harris Administration as one of three projects to receive up to $60M in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to scale enhanced geothermal systems; announced 320MW of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with utility Southern California Edison; and achieved record-breaking commercial flow rates at its Cape Station project’s first well test—making it the most productive enhanced geothermal system in history.
- American Battery Technology Company completed construction of its battery-grade lithium-hydroxide pilot plant in Nevada and began commissioning. It also received one $150M grant and another $144M grant contract from the DOE to build its second commercial-scale lithium-ion-battery recycling facility, which will process about 100,000 metric tons of battery materials annually.
- Form Energy, developer of long-duration iron-air battery systems, raised a $405M Series F from investors including Greentown partner GE Vernova and received an award negotiation of up to $150M from the DOE to help fund a new manufacturing line at Form Energy’s factory in West Virginia.
- Dandelion Energy raised a $40M Series C led by Google Ventures that will support the home geothermal company’s nationwide expansion of what it says is the world’s most efficient geothermal heat pump, which it developed and tested in Greentown’s prototyping lab.
- Element Resources signed a surface lease agreement with Greentown partner Rio Tinto at Rio Tinto’s Borax mine site in Boron, CA for the development of a green-hydrogen production facility powered by a dedicated off-grid-solar electric-generation facility. Element Resources also announced it would produce more than 20,000 tons of green hydrogen annually in Lancaster, CA.
- Kanin Energy signed a power purchase agreement for a first-of-its-kind partnership with Tallgrass, the University of Dayton, and the AES Corporation to deliver a sustainable waste-heat-to-power project that offsets the university’s consumption and reduces its carbon footprint.
- Raptor Maps, a startup building AI software to increase solar farm power production, signed an agreement with Greentown partner ENGIE to digitize and maintain ENGIE’s global solar asset base with its software. Raptor Maps also raised a $35M Series C.
Redesigning How We Make Everything
- Sublime Systems deployed its low-carbon cement in its first commercial construction project, Boston’s largest net-zero-carbon office building that’s leased by Greentown partner Amazon; announced a sale of 2,000 tons of cement to Vineyard Offshore, the parent company of Greentown partner Vineyard Wind; signed an MOU with Microsoft; and brought in new investments from the DOE and Greentown partner Holcim.
- Nth Cycle began operations at its state-of-the-art refining facility in Fairfield, OH, marking the United States’s first production of nickel and cobalt mixed hydroxide precipitate—critical metals for the energy transition—from scrap.
- Hertha Metals—a startup reducing the steelmaking process’s emissions by 95 percent—took home the top prize of $100,000 at the DOE’s 2024 Summer Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC) Startup Pitch Competition.
- Allium Engineering, whose innovative manufacturing method introduces a thin shell of stainless steel to existing building materials, such as steel rebar, cut the ribbon on its advanced manufacturing facility in Billerica, MA.
Reinventing Buildings, Old and New
- Reframe Systems hosted a ribbon cutting for its first customer project—a two-bedroom, all-electric, net-zero, Passive House accessory dwelling unit that was built using robotic technology.
- Stepwise, a startup working to make home electrification effortless and affordable, announced the launch of its EV Tap product, a device that intelligently manages an EV charger’s power draw and eliminates the need for expensive electric panel upgrades.
Shifting How We Produce and Dispose of Food
- Phytoform Labs unveiled a new tomato variety optimized for vertical farms that’s one-sixth the size of a traditional tomato plant and yields five times the amount of produce. It also announced its CRE.AI.TIVE AI platform, which can “rapidly evolve sequences of plant DNA to activate traits such as drought and pest resistance.”
- Moonshot Compost surpassed 1 million pounds of food waste diverted from landfill in its composting project with Rice University.
Reimagining the Way We Move
- Haffner Energy signed an agreement with IðunnH2 to integrate its biomass-to-clean-fuels tech in the 65,000 metric tons/year electro-sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF) facility under development by IðunnH2.
- SWTCH Energy, which provides EV charging and energy-management solutions for high-density urban settings, raised a $27.2M Series B to bring EV chargers to apartment and condo buildings.
Creating Resilient Communities
- QuantAQ, which develops durable, low-cost, professional-grade air-quality monitoring sensors, announced it would use sensor data to help create Northeastern University’s iSUPER—one of the world’s most comprehensive air-quality-monitoring networks; deploy a network of air-quality monitors in Bedford, MA, in an initiative funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and deploy more than 50 of its air-quality sensors in Madison, WI.
- Ebb Carbon signed a marine-CO2-removal deal with Microsoft that commissions the removal of 350,000 tonnes of CO2 over 10 years.
Want to help Greentown startups achieve even more in 2025 and beyond? Here are some ways to engage with and support our members:
- Investors: get connected with our world-changing entrepreneurs.
- Corporates: explore partnering with Greentown and our startups.
- Industry experts: mentor a startup.
- Job seekers: work at one of our startups—there’s a place for you, no matter your background or skill set.
- Other climate champions: donate to support Greentown’s mission of bolstering climatetech startups and attend an upcoming event to engage with our member companies and the climatetech ecosystem.