The Saturday Morning Newsletter #78
Unicorns and Soonicorns, Optimizing Waste Cleanup, and $70M+ for Sustainable Aviation Fuel
This Week I’m Tracking: 14 developments across the sectors shaping our future
Reading Time: 5 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.
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Let’s dive in.
#1: Alva Energy
Description: Alva Energy is a nuclear energy company.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Alva Energy recently raised $33M in venture capital funding. Alva is developing an attractive nuclear energy product. Their reactors cost $1B for 200-300 MWe capacity and can be deployed in less than two years (an astonishing feat in the world of nuclear). This isn’t anything super revolutionary on its own; it’s the combination of all these factors that sets Alva apart.
#2: LanzaJet
Description: LanzaJet is a sustainable aviation fuel maker.
Why Is This Company Interesting? LanzaJet recently raised $47M in venture capital funding. LanzaJet uses low-carbon ethanol to produce a more sustainable jet fuel. Their solution is compatible with existing aircraft and infrastructure, facilitating an easy transition.
#3: Metafuels
Description: Metafuels is a sustainable aviation fuel startup.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Metafuels recently raised $24M in venture capital funding. Seems like this is the week for sustainable aviation fuel capital raises as Metafuel inks another major deal. They’ve developed a proprietary areobrew using a proprietary technology to convert green methanol into sustainable aviation fuel.
#4: PolyGone Systems
Description: PolyGone Systems is a microplastic monitoring and removal startup.
Why Is This Company Interesting? PolyGone recently raised $4M in venture capital funding. PolyGone is developing a system to remove sub-1mm microplastics from the ocean. Microplastics often contain harmful chemicals, so their removal is paramount. Some experts argue that they could be the greatest health hazard facing the next generation. This goes beyond traditional filtration, capturing particles as small as microns.
#5: Hauler Hero
Description: Hauler Hero is a platform to optimize waste and recycling hauling.
Why Is This Company Interesting? Hauler Hero recently raised $16M in venture capital funding. Hauler Hero is developing a software platform purpose-built for the waste and recycling industries. These industries consistently face logistical challenges as more routes and demand are forecast. The platform automates many back-office tasks, enabling people to spend more time on the job of collecting.
Global Energy Monitor: 2025 Wind and Solar - The G7 Gap
Despite holding around half of the world’s wealth, the G7 countries accounted for only 11% of global wind and solar capacity additions in 2025. The majority of growth is in emerging and developing economies as they leapfrog to next-gen electricity generation technology. Global wind and solar capacity grew 11% in 2025.
The New York Times: New AI Datacenters Could Elevate Your Power Bill
As AI data centers continue to pop up left and right, legislators are beginning to push bills requiring them to build their fair share of the energy grid without relying on or burdening existing infrastructure. I think these companies have known this would be the outcome for a while since they’ve invested heavily in energy providers.
The New York Times: EPA Lawsuit
Following the EPA reversal of its “endangerment finding,” a foundation for climate change action in the U.S., environmental groups have sued. These groups argue that the rollback is illegal under a previous Supreme Court decision. Experts estimate this will end up at the Supreme Court again, which is much more conservative than when it originally ruled on this topic.
The New York Times: NASA Completes Artemis II Launchpad Test
This week, NASA successfully completed a rehearsal of the Artemis II launch. The goal of this mission is to send astronauts around the Moon’s orbit for the first time in more than 50 years. They’re now targeting March 6 as the earliest launch attempt.
The Wall Street Journal: Bezos vs. Musk, The Battle for the Moon
The two space-focused billionaires are now fully set on their race to the moon. This is shaping up to be the 21st-century space race, a spectacle that could capture the eyes of the entire globe. Many are speculating that Musk’s recent change in priorities is due to the anticipated IPO later this year.
The New York Times: The Era of Soonicorns
Over the last decade, private unicorns (valued at $1B+) have started popping up all over the place, with over 1,000 now. Recently, new categories of decacorns ($10B+) and hectocorns ($100B+) have expanded. Now, there’s a new category of “soonicorns”, companies worth $500M-$999M that are going to be unicorns very soon. There’s never been more soonicorns in history (2,000+). 2026 is estimated to be a good year for many of these companies to achieve unicorn status and more.
Pitchbook: Series A Funding Difficulty Increases
Series A funding dynamics have dramatically changed over the last decade. Surprisingly, the stake acquired by investors in a Series A round (median ~25%) hasn’t changed much. However, the average size of rounds has rapidly increased from $10M to now $30M. As such, funds have been increasingly raising more and more money to pursue these larger rounds, a losing game over time.
The New York Times: The Price of Nature
3 new books showcase various economists’ views on nature:
It’s on You by Nick Chater and George Loewenstein
Blood and Treasure by Duncan Weldon
On Natural Capital by Partha Dasgupta
Econews: Exceptional Solar Panel Performance
Just in case you needed a bit of positive news this week, solar panels apparently last longer than previously expected.
When selling solar panels, manufacturers usually promise performance for 25-30 years. A new study found that most panels older than this produced more than 80% of their original power after 30 years.
Why does this matter?
Firstly, there’s less waste from solar panels as they last longer.
Secondly, and maybe more importantly, it spreads the investment cost over a longer period, making it more economical for more people to make the transition.
That’s a wrap on this week’s roundup.
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Drew Jackson
Founder & Writer
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Next Deep Dive: The Strategic Case for a Circular Economy - March 4th, 2026
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