Hi, climate leaders 👋 

Welcome back to another issue of The Climate Scout! Now that NYC Climate Week is behind us, did anyone come across any innovative startups out there? Reply to this email and let me know!

Today at a glance:

• Introducing Radical

• Detailing their business model, tech, traction and team

• Why do we need this now?

• What is the climate impact?

• How you can help them!

-  Angelica 💜

Featured Startup: Radical

Today’s climate startup feature is Radical. Radical makes high-altitude solar-powered aircraft. Radical’s aircraft fly at 70,000 feet, autonomously navigating in the stratosphere. They can be used to provide cell service, collect multi-spectral imagery, or to carry weather and climate sensors. Their aircraft offers an inexpensive, zero-emissions way to connect and observe earth like never before.

Radical Fast Facts

Headquarters

Seattle, WA

Technology

Radical has developed a solar-powered aircraft that can fly continuously for up to a year without needing to land. This opens up new possibilities for services like constant connectivity and observation, which are currently not available with existing technologies but are greatly needed. For instance, when it comes to monitoring wildfires, satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) cannot provide real-time video to emergency response teams. Helicopters and crewed aircraft are expensive to operate and can only stay in operation for a few hours. Drones, on the other hand, can only fly for a short time and cannot give a complete overview of a fire. In such situations, Radical's solar aircraft can stay in the air above a forest for a long time, detect fires early, and provide real-time, high-resolution video to first responders. And all of this is possible using only the power of the sun, from the moment of launch until recovery!

Business Model

Radical offers its platform as a service to users. They offer a platform for broadband connectivity, multi-spectral imaging, and custom payload offerings.

Traction

• Backed by Y Combinator 

Founders

Radical's co-founders, James and Cyriel, both have Masters degrees in aerospace engineering, and spent six years working together on Amazon's delivery drone project, Prime Air. Between them, they have deep technical expertise in novel autonomous vehicle development.

Why Now?

Radical's solar-aircraft combines New Space and robotics/drone technology. The stratosphere is a part of the earth's atmosphere that hasn't been explored much, but recent advancements in solar and battery technology have made it possible to create an aircraft for this area. Satellites have been moving to lower orbits for better results, and now we have the opportunity to have an aircraft that can fly in the stratosphere. This aircraft offers many advantages, but it is a challenging task to develop a stable one. Radical's team has expertise in aircraft development and has used innovative techniques to create an aircraft that can fly for long durations at an altitude of 20km.

Climate Impact

Climate researchers are in need of improved tools for applications such as high-resolution emissions mapping or measuring atmospheric gas compositions. Radical’s platform offers a way to conduct prolonged studies over target regions of interest.

Additionally, a number of frontline climate challenges require real-time monitoring and data collection. Radical’s platform is perfectly suited to supporting wildland fire suppression efforts or monitoring fishing quotas.

All with zero-emissions, from launch to recovery!

Support Radical

• Investors - Radical is raising a Seed round and looking to chat with investors

• Advisors - Radical would love to hear from people who are interested in their technology!

• Potential Customers

• Anyone open to connecting with them!

Cool Tools

• #OpenDoorClimate - Find climate professionals that are willing to chat

• Net Zero Insights - Market Intelligence on Climate Tech Startups

• Moonarch - Meet investors for your startup for free

• Remote Climate Jobs - Get remote jobs delivered to your inbox every Wednesday

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