Top tech startup news stories you need to know this Wednesday, September 26

Good morning! Here are some of the top tech startup news stories for today, Wednesday, September 26.

Bill Gates-led $1 billion energy fund is expanding its portfolio of startups fighting climate change. Bill Gates has added a geothermal startup to his clean energy fund’s first bets, according to a story first reported by Vox. The $1 billion Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund is also pouring money into geothermal, grid storage, biofuels and more. Breakthrough Energy Ventures was created Breakthrough Energy Coalition, an investor-led fund, to build the new, cutting-edge companies that will deliver on that promise. The goal of Breakthrough Energy is to make sure that everyone on the planet can enjoy a good standard of living, including basic electricity, healthy food, comfortable buildings, and convenient transportation, without contributing to climate change. Among the first batch of startups are: QuantumScape, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Pivot Bio, CarbonCure, Fervo Energy, DMC Biotechnologies, and  Zero Mass Water.

Google And Goldman Sachs back bitcoin startup for small businesses, Veem. Veem, an enterprise payments startup that uses bitcoin to directly connect customers’ bank accounts with suppliers and customers, has raised strategic investment of $24 million Series B to accelerate its exponential growth. The round was led by banking giant Goldman Sachs, with participation from GV (formally Google Ventures), Kleiner Perkins, Silicon Valley Bank, Trend Forward Capital, and Pantera Capital. This brings the total amount raised to $69.3 million. Veem makes it very easy to send and request money worldwide. Veem was founded in 2014 by Marwan Forzley and Aldo Carrascoso. Before founding Veem, CEO Marwan Forzely worked at Western Union before he later sold his last company to Western Union to help the money transfer giant directly connect to customer bank accounts.

Crypto payments startup Bitwala raises €4 million in new funding. Blockchain startup Bitwala has raised €4 million in new funding to continue development of its product line, including a bid to launch what it calls “the world’s first fully regulated blockchain bank account” starting later this year. The round was led by VC firms Earlybird and Coparion. The company claimed to have a waiting list of 30,000 potential users since launch back in August. The startup aims to empower people to exchange value like they exchange ideas. Globally, instantly & at lowest possible cost.

London-based blockchain genomics startup blockchain launches a service to let you monetize your DNA. Genomes.io is on a mission to protect and ;let you make money with your DNA. According to the information on its website, Genomes’ allows people to have complete confidence in the security of their personal genome from the moment the data comes off our machines. It offers low cost, high quality genomic sequencing and security. The company aims to sequence 1 billion people’s genome and power new insights by empowering the owners to control access to their genome. Users can grant selective, controlled, auditable access in exchange for financial reward (GENE tokens) or to ask questions of their data as the field of genomics discovers more about our genetic code.

IIoT startup Falkonry launches channel partner program with machine learning tech. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) startup Falkonry, a startup operating in the industrial Internet of Things space, is making its first public move to sway channel partners and industrial partners to use its predictive analytics tools  that doesn’t require data science expertise. Falkonry’s operational machine learning system empowers operations team to improve throughput, uptime, yield, and quality without the need for data scientists. Falkonry was founded in 2013 by former C3 IoT executive Nikunj Mehta, the company already provides its operational machine learning system to roughly 15 customers, which includes Global 2000 companies, according to Sanket Amberkar, Falkonry’s senior vice president of marketing.

Former Victoria Secret executive raises $85 million for cannabis startup, Green Growth Brands. Peter Horvath, the retail industry veteran who has held top positions at Victoria’s Secret, American Eagle Outfitters and Bath & Body Works announced his cannabis company Green Growth Brands, has raised $85 million in private funds. Horvath originally hoped to raise $55 million but ended up raising more due to investor interest in products infused with CBD — the non-psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that can be used to treat pain but doesn’t get users high.