Startups Will Save Us: Climate action everywhere.

✌️ G’DAY

We’re halfway through COP27—our annual reminder that the solutions to the climate crisis already exist, it’s only the persistent lack of political will holding us back. 🙄

This year, the pressure’s on international leaders to do right thing by providing critical financial support to frontline communities, especially those in the global South who continue to bear the brunt of the climate breakdown. Let’s see if COP27 delivers. 👀

In the meantime, young people are driving transformational change in the fight for climate justice and mobilising in droves. ✊ Last month, we were honoured to host two superstars of the global climate movement—Uganda’s Vanessa Nakate and Australia’s Clover Hogan—at a special event in London.

Thanks to our friends at Rebel Book Club and x+why for a truly inspirational meetup!

📅 WANT MORE AWESOME CLIMATE STARTUP EVENTS? 🔥

🇬🇧 23 November: Raaise x Seedrs climate startups + investors panel (online).

🇬🇧 23 November: London Climate Connection (3 talks, 100 people, all climate).

🇬🇧 12 December: Startups Will Save Us x Allgood Collective at AllBirds (limited tickets).

🥁 THIS WEEK: A WEATHER SERVICE FOR THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY ⛅️

Currently is a “bottom up”, climate-informed weather service that delivers timely and accurate weather information to frontline communities in a language and format that works for them. In the words of founder Eric Holthaus—Twitter’s “weather guy”, founder of the climate activist newsletter The Phoenix and author of The Future Earth—Currently exists not only to amplify the voices of people on the frontlines, but to act as an early warning system for climate disaster and an advocate for fundamental systemic change in all aspects of society.

Eric believes that the climate crisis is inextricably linked to inequality, racism, and extractive capitalist expansion—none of which are compatible with a habitable planet. Currently’s twin aims are to help keep people safe while at the same time illuminating possible paths toward a liberated, habitable and joyful future for people and the planet. But that’s not all!

As someone who built their career on Twitter, Eric watched in horror as a certain billionaire applied his “scorched earth” policy to the platform. Twitter already had a serious problem with trolling, disinformation and climate denial, and it seemed to be getting less safe by the minute (firing the entire human rights team in one day didn’t help).

So… Eric got to work. For the last few weeks, and with the help of several hundred volunteers (including a number of ex-Twitter engineers), he’s been frantically building an alternative online community centred in joy, justice and action, free from harassment and bigotry. Things are moving quickly—27,000+ people signed up for Project Mushroom in a matter of days and the beta is already out for testing.

💸 If you’d like to get behind this groundbreaking new community platform, support the Project Mushroom Kickstarter campaign.

🎧 You can also catch Eric chatting about Currently on the latest episode of Startups Will Save Us 👇

🌍 IN OTHER NEWS:

Brazil’s back, baby! 🇧🇷 President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has vowed to begin undoing the environmental destruction seen under his far-right predecessor and immediately start working towards zero deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. Phew! The lungs of the Earth are breathing out a huge sigh of relief. 😮‍💨

📚 WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO:

This climate stuff can be hard. If you’re anything like us, you could use some good tips on how to manage this emotional rollercoaster, so be sure to check out the Matter of Degrees episode on Climate Feels. It’s amazing. 💚

👀 SNEAK PEEK:

Next time: A sneak peek at what we’re building here at Raaise HQ. Stay tuned… 😉

👷‍♀️ BUILDING SOMETHING AMAZING OR WANT IN ON THE NEXT BIG THING?

If you're an aspiring climate startup founder, or if you're a budding or seasoned impact investor looking for the next big opportunity, take a moment to sign up. It's simple, free, with no commitments and takes <1 minute. 👇