Fourth Power
Building thermal energy storage technology to buffer the grid, as variable electricity sources replace polluting ones
First Investment: 2022
Plastic’s durability, strength, flexibility, and light weight make it essential to modern life. It’s not going away. But creating virgin plastic from fossil fuels generates massive greenhouse gas emissions, and less than 10 percent of plastic is recycled. Samsara’s carbon-neutral depolymerization process uses enzymes to break down complex plastics such as PET and polyester into monomers that can be used to re-manufacture virgin-grade plastics. And the company is searching for new enzymes that can break down any type of plastic, including plastic textiles, soft plastics, and mixed plastics.
