Capturing CO2 emissions with Direct Air Capture 💨
What does stopping (or slowing) global warming really mean?
Using renewable energy? Being mindful of what you consume? Stopping CO2 emissions?
But even if we stop emitting CO2 and reach climate goals set by governments, there is already a huge issue of CO2 that is already in the atmosphere... and it won’t be gone overnight.
So what can we do about it?
There are a few carbon capture startups helping with this - one Swiss startup is showing promising results! More about this below. 💨
Here’s what we’ve put together for your weekly Spark reads:
Switchboard raises $25M in Series A round 💥
Launch SaaS products fast with Kinde 💻
Father builds exoskeleton for son to walk again 🦿
Capturing CO2 emissions with direct air capture 💨
Meet us next week at Revive Tech Asia Hong Kong 🇭🇰
💙 NEWS FROM OUR MATESSwitchboard raises $25M in Series A round 💥
Our mates at Switchboard announced their $25M Series A round 🎉 led by Icon Ventures with participation from Sequoia Capital, XYZ Venture Capital, and Spark Capital. Read about it on TechCrunch!
Switchboard was founded in June 2020, also in the midst of COVID. Why? Because Co-Founder and CEO Amir had trouble doing his guitar lessons online. They could hear and see each other, but not view music sheets to reference from, use an online metronome they could both see, etc.
Amir realized that the tools we used are purely communicational tools, rather than also collaborative. So, they built Switchboard to make remote collaboration easier - letting you set up Workspaces with all the pages, files and resources you need.
(+ give them feedback - it always helps!)
🤸 FUN PRODUCT WE LOVELaunch SaaS products fast with Kinde 💻
When you’re building a SaaS product, the last things you want to worry about are having to develop account authentication, user management tools, payment, etc.
That’s why products like Kinde was built to help you launch your SaaS faster, so you can focus on your core product 😉
Features:
User Authentication
Secure, passwordless logins. Let users sign up or log in with just one click. Multi-factor authentication with the security of email.
Seamless authentication for different devices
Stay on brand. Customize your sign up and log in windows to match your brand.
Safety protocols used: OAuth 2.0, TLS, CSRF, DKIM, DNSSEC, CSP
User Management
Give end-users full access to their account activity and everything they need to handle their workspace.
Get meaningful insights to help you grow with a complete picture of your key performance metrics like customer and revenue growth.
Easily set up who can see and make changes in your product via roles and permissions.
Shared cloud infrastructure built for any use case, retaining complete security throughout multi-tenanting.
Easy Integration
Use an SDK or API to swiftly integrate with your product.
Who it’s for: SaaS Teams, Developers
Price: FREE ⭐️ until you have 7500 monthly active users!
💭 TECH FOOD FOR THOUGHTFather builds exoskeleton for son to walk again 🦿
Oscar has a genetic neurological condition where his nerves don’t send enough signals to his legs. This disallowed him to stand on his own, walk, or even turn around.
One day he told his dad, Jean-Louis Constanza, “dad, you’re a robotic engineer. Why don’t you make a robot that would allow us to walk?”
Since, Jean-Louis founded Wandercraft that builds exoskeletons - with frames that support and also simulate body movement. They are now finding ways to make it a lot lighter and available for private individual purchasing (It’s currently €150K a piece)!
🌱 TECH FOR SUSTAINABILITYCapturing CO2 emissions with direct air capture 💨
The United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC) estimates that we need to remove up to 310 billion tons of CO2 by 2100 in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot.
That’s a LOT 🤯
Startups like Climeworks have been emerging to help with exactly this. They use technology called “direct air capture” (DAC), powered by renewable energy or energy-from-waste, to remove air, combine with underground storage so the CO2 emissions can no longer contribute to climate change.
💥 WHAT’S ON @ SPARKMATEMeet us next week at Revive Tech Asia Hong Kong 🇭🇰
Revive Tech Asia is a 2-day tech conference and exhibition that gathers the most influential minds within the industry to share the power of technology!
Our Co-Founder and CTO, Ghislain, will have a 20-minute talk and fireside chat on “The 5-Week Method To Building Products People Love” - showcasing how we prototype and build products faster, better and cheaper than others, so you can do the same.
It will be held on 24-25 August, at 9:30-5PM.
Tickets are free! If you’re around, come join us and meet the Hong Kong team 🇭🇰⚡️
Exciting things are happening every day ⚡️ Follow us on social media to stay tuned!