Dealflow | September 2, 2022

Deal spotlight: Impact upgrades

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, September 2 – When the pandemic hit, concerns about single-use waste went out the window as people stocked up on disposable face masks, disinfecting wipes, and plastic bottles of hand sanitizer. The pandemic’s plastic waste may total more than eight million tons, much of it from hospitals.

Mexico-based MEDU is among the many startups seizing the opportunity to give established systems an impact upgrade. The company raised $4 million to get healthcare facilities using its surgical gowns, head coverings and other wearables that can be used up to 50 times and then recycled, saving hospitals money, says MEDU’s Tamara Chayo

This week, Denmark-based Blue World raised $37.2 million from Breakthrough Energy Ventures Europe and others to develop methanol-based fuel for the shipping industry. Its fuel cells can be retrofitted into existing shipping vessels. They also contain a CO2 capture mechanism that allows them to recycle the gas into more fuel.

In Nigeria, fintech venture AjoMoney raised a pre-seed round to digitize traditional, offline savings circles in African communities.