☕ Cash catalyst

NanoGraf's DOE boost.

October 09, 2024 It's Wednesday. Join IT Brew in New York (or via livestream) on October 31 for an exclusive half-day cybersecurity event. Hear from top experts in quantum computing, AI, and cloud security from companies like IBM, CrashPlan, Red Cell, and many more as they share the latest strategies for tackling the modern threat landscape. Grab your discounted ticket now! In today's edition: How new federal funding is boosting one battery materials startup into the EV market Ford tackles 'next frontier' of decarbonization: the supply chain Mozilla wants to start a conversation about who controls AI —Jordyn Grzelewski, Patrick Kulp, Annie Saunders FUTURE OF TRAVEL Fresh funds Simonskafar/Getty Images The headwinds hitting the electric vehicle market may make it all the more difficult for startups in the sector to weather what's known as the "death valley curve," or the rocky period when a company has invested heavily in bringing a product to market but has yet to see any returns. For startups focusing on battery technologies, a new influx of federal funding may help alleviate some of the pain. Last month, the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $3 billion in grants to support the domestic battery industry. The funding comes from a program in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and is a piece of the $16 billion in investments in battery manufacturing and recycling the 2022 law made available through the DOE's Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains. The latest funding round will support 25 projects in 14 states that "will retrofit, expand, and build new domestic facilities for battery-grade processed critical minerals, battery components, battery manufacturing, and recycling," per DOE. The awards are a piece of the Biden administration's efforts to bolster domestic manufacturing in the clean-energy sector as part of its climate agenda. Among the recipients is Chicago-based startup NanoGraf, which won $60 million to support construction of a $175 million battery-material manufacturing facility in Flint, Michigan. The company touted the planned factory as one of the biggest silicon anode battery material plants in the world. Tech Brew caught up with NanoGraf CEO Francis Wang about what the DOE grant will enable the company to do, its ambitions to enter the EV market, and why he believes the more than decade-old company has managed to avoid the death valley. Keep reading here.—JG From The Crew Get better at Excel Discover Miss Excel's secret hacks to unleash the full power of Microsoft Excel. This free workshop will share hidden tricks for optimizing your spreadsheets with data cleaning + analysis to save you hours each week. The best news: If you can't attend live, you'll also get access to a 48-hour replay when you register. Register today for this FREE live workshop and save hours each week. FUTURE OF TRAVEL Net zero Nathan Howard/Getty Images The future of transportation is electric. Despite some recent bumps in the road, that much is clear to Bob Holycross, Ford's chief sustainability officer and a company veteran of more than 30 years. Electrifying its global vehicle portfolio will play a key role in helping Ford achieve its goal of being carbon neutral across its vehicles, operations, and supply chain by 2050. With progress well underway in the first two areas, Holycross is focused on what he calls the "next big frontier": decarbonizing the company's supplier base. "We're into this phase of the journey where more of our electric vehicles are getting out there. We've done a lot of work on water, air, waste, and energy," Holycross told Tech Brew during an interview at Ford's headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. Keep reading here.—JG AI Let's talk it out Eugene Mymrin/Getty Images OpenAI this month closed its latest eye-popping funding round—one of the largest ever private investments—at the same time as it reportedly further drifted from its nonprofit roots to full for-profit status. To the Mozilla Foundation, OpenAI's for-profit evolution is an example of how tech giants and big-money investors can overtake civic-minded mission statements and profit structures in the fast-paced AI arms race. It's part of the reason the nonprofit org is pushing a new vision for something it calls "Public AI," a sphere of initiatives that would give more AI access to nonprofits, government entities, and companies with socially beneficial goals to complement the current commercial space. Mozilla outlined this new strategy pillar in a report released last month, and it will frame many of the org's initiatives and advocacy conversations going forward, according to Nik Marda, technical lead for AI governance at Mozilla. "We've been looking at the AI space over the last few years, and seeing both this increased consolidation and closed-ness in the AI ecosystem, and at the same time, this nascent, emerging trend of what we call public AI initiatives, things like governments starting to help increase access to AI resources, and these nonprofit AI labs starting to build open-source AI components," Marda told Tech Brew. "And so we see that emerging ecosystem as a basis for creating a meaningful public counterpoint to the private AI ecosystem." Keep reading here.—PK Together With Cisco Cybersecurity in 2024 and beyond. Did you know that 54% of companies have experienced a cybersecurity incident in the past year? Yep—the truth is that in this era of AI, hyperconnectivity, and distributed work, the threat landscape is complicated and diverse. That's why Cisco has outlined recommendations designed to up your cybersecurity game. Read them here. BITS AND BYTES Stat: 26%. That's how much the "reported burnout rate" dropped after University of Iowa Health Care rolled out a five-week pilot program that uses AI to document patient visits, Healthcare Brew reported. Quote: "It's exciting to be at the forefront of an industry where we're going to use AI to make fundamental benefit to patients…I've been investing in a lot of these companies, but to be part of that team that drives this home, and to be able to tell my children [about it], this is impactful and meaningful."—Zach Jonasson, the CFO and CBO of Absci, to CFO Brew on a biotech firm using AI to develop cancer-treating drugs Read: The EV culture wars aren't what they seem (The Atlantic) JOBS When's the last time you landed a job by applying cold? We've partnered with CollabWORK, the first community-powered hiring platform, to bring you curated jobs from companies looking to connect with Tech Brew readers—apply below! Senior Director, Mobile Software Engineering at a mobile and software development organization (in person) Senior Tech Manager / Product Owner at an undisclosed organization (in person) Product Innovation Manager at an undisclosed organization (in person) SHARE THE BREW Share Tech Brew with your coworkers, acquire free Brew swag, and then make new friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We're saying we'll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. Your referral count: 0 Click to Share Or copy & paste your referral link to others: emergingtechbrew.com/r/?kid=b3968dba Written by Jordyn Grzelewski, Patrick Kulp, and Annie Saunders Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.   Guide → What is AI?   Guide → What is 5G? 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