💫 10 Women-Founded Startups to Follow in 2025
Vol 111
This newsletter aims to separate the signal from the noise for investment in all things sustainable transportation: Electrification, mode shift, active and public transit, and mobility aggregation, across both people and goods movement.
🌱STARTUP WATCH: Sustainable mobility startups (pre-seed or seed) to keep an eye on
Cervo AI (New York, USA): Software to help 3PLs automate workflows with AI automation
Coul St (Pennsylvania, USA): Curbside EV charging network
Headlight (Netherlands): Fleet management software
Iron Robotics (Michigan, USA): Humanoid robotics for manufacturing and goods delivery (among other use cases)
Peke Labs (Massachusetts, USA): Wearable, gesture-based control system (think wayfinding assistance while riding a bike, among many other use cases)
Wattlab (Netherlands): Embedded solar to decarbonize inland barges
Wayla (Italy): Vanpooling network
💰FUNDING: Capital raises from startups previously featured in Startup Watch
Buupaas (Vol 25) raised funding from Yango Ventures (amount undisclosed)
Zeem Solutions (Vol 25) secured a $5.1M grant from the Northwest Seaport Alliance
Ionic Mineral Technologies (Vol 50) raised a $29M Series B round (investors undisclosed)
DejaBlue (Vol 57) raised an $8.4M Seed Round from redalpine, Zeno Ventures, and Bpifrance
SunTrain (Vol 74) announced initial backers for its Series A, including the University of Washington endowment and Collins Electric Company
Clippership (Vol 95) raised a $4.6M Seed Round from Fifty Years and Founders Factory
Cariqa (Vol 102) raised a 4M EUR Seed Round from Anthemis, Contrarian Ventures, and others
What do Uruguay, El Salvador, Tunisia, Qatar, Estonia, and the Philippines have in common? Subscribers to this newsletter!
📰QUICK HITS: Notable news from the last two weeks
👩🏽⚖️Government, Policies & Cities
🇩🇪 Berlin is inching closer to banning cars in its downtown. Look for a referendum on the topic in 2026.
🗽 New York City’s congestion pricing has reached the six-month mark. It has met or exceeded its metrics, but its future is far from certain.
🚄 California is fighting back against President Trump’s plan to defund its high-speed rail program. This will be an uphill battle for California.
🇺🇸 President Trump signed his One Big Beautiful Bill, creating massive headwinds for everything from EVs and commuter benefits to CAFE fuel efficiency programs. It’s hard to find a silver lining here.
🤔 The US Dept of Defense is becoming the biggest shareholder in MP Materials, the only operating rare earth mine and processing facility in the US. For more on the geopolitics of batteries, see the Deep Dive “The Next Cold War is Already Here.”
🔬Markets & Research
🇨🇳 Consultancy AlixPartners predicts that only 15 EV brands will be viable in China by 2030. That’s about 100 brands or so that won’t make it.
🇬🇧 Research from the UK shows that car dependency leads to loneliness, particularly in rural areas. It comes down to choice as well as more social forms of transportation.
🏭 Corporates & Later Stage
🔁 Chinese battery giant CATL is bringing its battery swap solution to Europe. Don’t bet against CATL.
📲 Xiaomi, one of China’s leading tech companies, now appears to be a successful car company as well. Apple spent $10B to become a car company and then aborted mission before launching.
🙈 Tesla’s bad news continues, as CEO Elon Musk struggles to stem the decline, with the Austin robotaxi launch underwhelming and new data showing brand perception dropping in the US among Democrats and Republicans. That’s not stopping Musk from starting a third political party.
🦊 Foxconn may save a Nissan factory in Japan from closure. For more, see the Deep Dive on Foxconn.
👩🏭 Steel giant ArcelorMittal has dropped plans to make green steel in Germany, turning down over one billion euros of aid. This adds more headwinds to the hydrogen story, which is one of the pathways to producing green steel.
🚙 VW increased its stake in Rivian just as the EV maker announced a drop in deliveries due to tariffs. Both partners seem to need each other more than ever.
🚛 Volvo Group has now delivered 5,000 electric heavy-duty trucks. Tesla has yet to reach 200 semis delivered.
📦 Walmart has begun opening “dark stores” to get closer to customers. Scaling last-mile delivery fundamentally means putting warehouses closer to where people live.
🥡 Doordash stock is up over 100% in the last year, with its market cap exceeding $100B. Lyft, meanwhile, has a market cap of about $7B.
What do Zoox, Honda, Lyft, Boeing, Japan Railways, DHL, and SNCF have in common? Subscribers to this newsletter.
🐣 Startups & Early Stage
BATX Energy (Startup Watch Vol 34) announced a battery recycling partnership with Vietnam’s VinFast. VinFast’s future is far from certain, but battery recycling is an imperative for India’s economic future.
⛴️ Photon Marine (Startup Watch Vol 24) secured access to CARB funding for its electric boat. California is setting the standard for maritime decarbonization, but look to New York/New Jersey and Washington to step up their game.
🏕️ Grounded RV (Startup Watch Vol 52) debuted its first electric RV. The vehicle leverages the GM Brightdrop electric van.
🚲 The micromobility startup Also, which spun out of Rivian, just raised $200M and reached a $1B valuation. If Lime, Bird, VanMoof, and Rad Power Bikes were the big bets of micromobility 1.0, Also might be one of the big bets of micromobility 2.0.
🇺🇸 Florida-based autonomy startup Beep claims to have launched the first autonomous public transit system in the US. While Waymo prioritizes individual riders, Beep’s system is a shared shuttle van.
What do 49 out of the 50 US States have in common? Subscribers to this newsletter. (Get with the program North Dakota!)
DEEP DIVE: 10 Women-Founded Sustainable Mobility Startups to Follow: 2025 Edition
In the summer of 2022, in cooperation with Sarah Barnes from Along for the Ride this newsletter documented 10 Women-Founded Sustainable Mobility Startups to Follow. It’s now become a summer tradition, with the editions in 2023 and 2024 adding another 10 startups to the mix each year.
Despite the innumerable headwinds of the last year, whether economic, financial, or social, those 30 startups continue to demonstrate their exceptional prowess. Highlights over the past year for the list alumni include funding rounds, customer traction, and technology deployment milestones.
Now, we’re proud to present the 2025 edition: 10 new, exceptional women-founded or co-founded startups tackling climate change in real, tangible ways across the mobility, energy, and logistics ecosystem..
1. Dioxycle
Who: Dr. Sarah Lamaison (Co-Founder & CEO) and Dr. David Wakerley (Co-Founder & CTO)
What: A deep-tech startup converting industrial CO₂ into ethylene via an electrolyzer
When & Where: Founded in Paris in 2021; closed a $17 million Series A in July 2023 and began prototype operations by 2022–2023
Why: Ethylene is a major feedstock for plastics, textiles, and packaging, helping supply chains reduce CO₂ and avoid fossil fuels
2. Arxax
Who: Elham Hassanzadeh (Co-Founder & CEO), Carlo Mallone (Co-Founder & CTO), and Giuseppe Costanza (Co-Founder & CPO)
What: Deploying intelligent electric and hydrogen refueling hubs for road freight, combo hardware + AI-driven demand forecasting
When & Where: Based in Europe; recently raised €1 million to expand across Europe
Why: Offers scalable infrastructure for decarbonizing heavy-duty logistics
3. Navier
Who: Dr. Sampriti Bhattacharyya (Co-Founder & CEO) and Reo Baird (Co-Founder & former CTO)
What: Produces fully-electric hydrofoil vessels
When & Where: Launched in the SF Bay Area; pilot launched in March 2024 with Stripe waterfront shuttle program
Why: Hydrofoils lift 90% of the hull out of the water. Navier boats achieve 10× fuel efficiency vs. conventional vessels.
4. Mardeca
Who: Gabriela Joelsas Timerman (Founder & CEO)
What: Energy-efficiency retrofits for maritime vessels
When & Where: Founded in July 2024; operating in Europe
Why: Helps shipping companies optimize alternative retrofit options to save fuel and cut emissions
5. E‑lixr
Who: Nathalie Paiva (Co-Founder & CXO) and Sam Payrovi (Co-Founder & CEO)
What: All-electric water taxi and marine ride-hailing service
When & Where: Pilot launched on Miami’s Biscayne Bay in Sep–Dec 2024
Why it Matters: Accelerating zero-emission urban mobility on waterways
6. Bidirectional Energy
Who: Frances Bell (Co-Founder & CEO) and Angela Zhang (Co-Founder & former CEO)
What: Smart bidirectional EV chargers enabling grid support
When & Where: Began recruiting EV owners for V2G program in April 2025; partnered with Wallbox/CA Energy Commission
Why: Allows EV owners to earn from vehicle storage while strengthening grid resilience
7. Dacora Motors
Who: Kristie D'Ambrosio-Correll (Co-Founder & CEO) & Eric D’Ambrosio-Correll (Co-Founder and CTO)
What: Ultra-luxury EV brand; revealed $500K+ bespoke model
When & Where: America-based; official launch and media coverage in June 2025
Why: First woman-founded US-based luxury EV automaker since the 1920s
8. Serenity Power
Who: Aleisha Reese Cerny (Co-Founder & CEO) and Yvonne Liu (Co-Founder & COO)
What: Solid oxide fuel cell systems for portable and remote power
When & Where: University of Toronto spinout started in 2023
Why: Offers cleaner alternatives to diesel generators in remote and harsh environments
9. Rune Aero
Who: Nadine Auda (Co-Founder & CEO)
What: Autonomous hydrogen-electric cargo aircraft
When & Where: Based in Georgia; just secured a NASA SBIR Phase 2 contract.
Why: Aviation needs a breakthrough to decarbonize
10. Gelectric
Who: Efil Bengisu Saygi (Co-Founder & CEO) and Rıza Özdülger (Co-Founder & CTO)
What: IoT to improve energy efficiency in maritime applications
When & Where: Netherlands-based; deployed on multiple vessels
Why: Shipping’s energy footprint is enormous