Author name: Paul Patrick

ireland’s-alchemy-battles-e-waste-by-giving-apple-products-a-new-life

Ireland’s Alchemy battles e-waste by giving Apple products a new life

Corporates and innovation, Investors and funding, Next Featured, Startups and technology, Sustainability / /

Many of us have become accustomed to getting the newest, flashiest versions of our favourite gadgets, leaving yesterday’s tech destined for the dustbin. In 2022, the global economy produced 50 million tonnes of e-waste — equivalent to the weight of 5,000 Eiffel towers. 

This take-make-waste habit is unsustainable, and research shows, increasingly unpopular. The second-hand goods market is growing 20 times faster than retail as a whole and is expected to be worth €120bn by 2025. 

“Buying refurbished goods has got a huge tailwind at the moment,” James Murdock, Alchemy’s CMO, tells TNW. “More and more people want to do things that are both good for the environment and good for their wallets.”

Founded in 2017, Alchemy is an Irish early-stage company that has developed a preparatory tech stack that streamlines the recovery, repair, and resale of used devices like phones and laptops. Three years ago, with a team of four employees and just $2.5mn in pre-seed funding, Alchemy pitched Apple and won their trade-in business. 

Apple’s trade-in programme allows you to hand in your used Apple device (or multiple) and get a discount on a new one, or store credit. 

Once receiving that brand new iPhone or Macbook most of us will never pay the old one much thought ever again. But what actually happens after trade-in? That’s where Alchemy comes in, and they claim to be the fastest-growing circular tech company you’ve (probably) never heard of. 

The long road to resell

Apple’s trade-in programme has been running for 10 years now. The company accepts used iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and even Android phones. 

After you trade in your device it will, in most parts of the world, be sent to one of Alchemy’s 60 warehouses located throughout Europe, Asia, and the US. 

“When you trade in an Apple device it’s Alchemy’s system that takes the title from the consumer, it’s us that has the second-hand dealer licence, it’s us that receives it and ensures that it’s data safe,” says Murdock.

The first thing Alchemy does is use specialised software to swiftly wipe all previous user data from the device and reset it to factory settings. Because Alchemy handles highly sensitive consumer data they have to be extremely rigorous. Apple audits the firm every six months. “It’s a pretty serious business as you’d imagine,” says Murdock.  

After that, they inspect and grade each device through an algorithm called Jupiter, which automatically runs a diagnostics test to determine any faults. At this point they begin repairs, but only if it makes economic sense. 

If it’s an old iPhone 8 that’s smashed to pieces, it will get recycled. Here it might end up in the claws of Daisy, Apple’s recycling robot. Daisy picks apart old devices and recovers materials for reuse. However, while Apple has improved its recycling rates in recent years, a lot of old devices still end up in landfill.

an image of Apple's recycling robot, Daisy
Daisy can disassemble up to 1.2 million phones each year. Credit: Apple

Alchemy works more on the refurb side of the supply chain. Less than 1% of the goods it handles go for recycling, it says. The remaining 99% will get refurbished at Alchemy’s own facilities located across the world. Its newest plant in Miami is capable of processing 60,000 devices a month. 

A key part of the company’stech stack is Apollo, a system that determines the right price for each device. The algorithm looks at past sales trends and makes predictions about future prices. The more Alchemy sells, the better the software becomes at pricing a device accurately. Nevertheless, getting the right price always involves some level of guesswork, says Murdock.   

Once the devices are refurbished and priced, some of the stock gets sold on Alchemy’s own marketplace Loop Mobile, which has its own website but also operates on big retailer sites like Amazon, Walmart, and Back Market. 

Alchemy claims to be the number one or two reseller of refurbished smartphones on those platforms — so they are shifting a lot of products. The rest is sold to some 1,600 second-hand resellers through Alchemy’s Callisto marketplace. 

The great thing about Apple products, says Murdock, is that they “hold their value better than any other tech brand.” Despite being a six-year-old phone, Alchemy still sells a whopping 15,000 iPhone 8’s every single day. 

For many, older generation phones still get the job done, and cost a heck of a lot less. “In the early 2000s the advances in technology between models was huge,” explains Murdock. “When a new Nokia 95 or HTC device came out it left the old model obsolete. But now, the tech curve has flattened somewhat, leaving older phones with decent residual value. As you can imagine, this has been a gamechanger for the refurb market.”

a picture of someone holding an iphone 8

Last year, Alchemy, which now has over 300 employees, made $442mn in revenue. It is targeting $700mn this year and wants to hit the $1bn mark in 2024. It has remarketed 3.7 million devices to date, which it says has avoided the emission of 280,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

This impressive growth is a testament to the surging demand for refurbished tech, especially considering it’s been largely organic — remember Alchemy has only ever raised $2.5mn in funding. 

Key to this success, says Murdock, is generating trust by making the buying of a used product as close to buying a new one as possible. Part of this trust-building is being fully transparent about the condition of the devices, as well as offering a full one-year warranty. “We make trade-in a value-added experience which is (partly) why Apple partnered with us,” he adds. 

Circular tech  

Apple products made up almost half of the global second-hand smartphone market in 2022, becoming the fastest-growing brand in the used and refurbished sectors globally.   

While the tech giant doesn’t directly make a profit from the secondary market, the more of its products enter people’s hands the bigger its market share. This benefits Apple’s services market which includes app installations, licensing revenue, and iCloud subscriptions — all of which are directly tied to the size of Apple’s user base.  

Apple isn’t the only big tech company helping customers get the most from their old tech. Google launched ChromeOS Flex last year, an operating system that can turn any old device into a “sleek new Chromebook,” while Nokia has a subscription service that encourages users to hold on to their phones for longer.

All these initiatives adapt to shifting consumer demand for more sustainable and affordable products. They are also a win-win: businesses attract more customers, cut material costs, and comply with ever-stricter environmental regulations, while customers get good tech at a good price, and tread lighter on the Earth in the process. 

Ireland’s Alchemy battles e-waste by giving Apple products a new life Read More »

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Angel and seed funding remain insulated from startup market volatility: Report

Ecosystems, Investors and funding, Startups and technology / /

Angel and seed funding in Europe are remarkably resilient to the startup market downturn, according to new research by Pitchbook.

In the first half of 2021, both median deal values and valuations in these stages exhibited positive trends. The biggest increase was in median angel deal values, which were up 28.8% compared with 2022. The median angel valuation, meanwhile, was up 10.2%, while the median seed-stage valuation was flat.

These figures illustrate the insulated nature of early-stage funding. Angel and seed rounds are typically more removed from public markets, as businesses at those stages are further away from maturity and exit. Because the returns tend to be long-term, investors in these rounds are less dependent on temporary market frailties. 

Public funding programs have also helped. The growth of angel and seed stages in the UK, Ireland, France, and Benelux was partly credited to government initiatives, such as SEIS and the FCPI.

Pitchbook expects angel and seed valuations to remain relatively insulated from near-term market volatility. In later rounds, however, the signs are less encouraging.

At the venture-growth stage, times are particularly tough. In the first half of 2023, median venture-growth valuations and deal value paced at 18.5% and 16.7% below their full-year medians from 2022, respectively. 

One factor behind this decline is the role of nontraditional investors, such as investment banks, private equity firms, and pension funds.

In previous years, these investors boosted competition, round sizes, and valuations at the venture-growth businesses, which often have similar operations to large public companies. But in H1 2023, deal value with nontraditional investor participation dropped from €27.8bn to €18.7bn.

That may reflect attentions shifting to early-stage funding. The proportion of deals with nontraditional participation has stayed at around 38% since 2021 — which suggests they’re focusing on smaller, earlier rounds where deal value is lower.

Despite the early-stage resilience, the broader funding landscape remains immensely challenging.

Down rounds, for instance, have become far more common. In Q2, 26.2% of company valuations were lower than in the previous funding round. A notable example is Turkey’s Getir, which was hit by a 42.4% decrease in valuation in Q2 2023. 

Unicorn activity, meanwhile, has been constrained. There are currently 134 privately-held startups in Europe valued at least €1bn, but only five have emerged since the end of 2022 — a rate markedly lower than in the previous two years. To mitigate this decline, Pitchbook recommends more support from government funds for venture-growth companies.

Exit valuations have also plunged. The median valuation fell from €33.9mn in the first quarter of the year to €17.3mn in Q2.  Macroeconomic factors — namely interest rates — are driving the dip.

Pitchbook expects further corrections to be lumpier with a lag to public equities, which means it’s too early to assume that the declines have reached the bottom. As a result, stakeholders will need patience and extended runways to manage the industry’s loss of liquidity and capital.

Angel and seed funding remain insulated from startup market volatility: Report Read More »

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Following Single-player Successes, Polyarc Announces First PvP Game ‘Glassbreakers – Champions of Moss’

glassbreakers, glassbreakers champions of moss, moss pvp, News, polyarc, quill pvp, VR Game / /

Following a tease earlier this year, Polyarc Games has announced its first PvP game, Glassbreakers – Champions of Moss, based on its acclaimed single player adventure games Moss (2019) and Moss: Book II (2022).

Moss and Moss: Book II exemplify third-person VR adventure games, giving the player control of a mouse named Quill which travels through the fantastical world of Moss. Uniquely to third-person VR, the player isn’t just the person behind a screen, but actually exists within the game and can interact with Quill and the environment to solve puzzles and aid in combat.

Alongside great design, art, and polish, the successful execution of this concept is what has kept Moss among the 20 best rated Quest games for years now. We went behind-the-scenes of Moss: Book II last year to learn more about what made the game shine.

Now developer Polyarc Games plans to translate the concept into a standalone PvP title, Glassbreakers – Champions of Moss, the studio’s first departure from single-player VR games.

Details on Glassbreakers is light as the studio is saving a broader reveal for an August 29th showcase at 9AM PT (your timezone here), but ostensibly the game will continue to focus on controlling small third-person characters, with some level of direct player interaction. A teaser image shows a few characters we already know from the games alongside some seemingly new faces that are likely to be part of the game’s roster for players to control.

We’ll be interested to see if the studio can amp up the game’s relatively simple combat to create a truly competitive game, and what direct interactions players will be able to have between themselves and their character, or maybe even themselves and the opposing player.

While a launch date for Glassbreakers hasn’t been announced, a holiday 2023 release date looks likely. While the game has been confirmed for Quest so far, there’s a good chance Glassbreakers will also make it to PSVR 2 and PC VR just like its predecessors.

Following Single-player Successes, Polyarc Announces First PvP Game ‘Glassbreakers – Champions of Moss’ Read More »

german-chancellor-says-push-for-renewables-will-revive-economy

German chancellor says push for renewables will revive economy

Europe, Government and policy, Sustainability / /

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he believes forthcoming green tech investments will benefit the country’s stagnated economy as a whole.

In a ‘summer interview’ with public broadcaster ZDF, the chancellor stated that the government has “moved at an incredible pace” when it comes to shifting legislation around hydrogen production and other renewable energy sources. 

Indeed, in June this year, Germany overtook China as the second most attractive country for investing in renewables (the US ranks first). The country has set a target for renewable sources to make up as much as 80% of its energy mix by 2030 (currently at 46%). This is nearly double the provisional target of the EU as a whole (42.5%, aiming for 45%, set in March 2023). 

High energy costs along with a shortage of skilled labour have been major culprits in slowing down the German economy over the past year. In a push for independence from Russian oil and gas, the government also temporarily backtracked on its promise to phase out coal as an energy source. However, the intention still stands to shut down all coal production by 2038 (earlier for certain states), and to reach climate neutrality by 2045. 

To that effect, Germany has set up the Climate and Transformation Fund, worth €177.5bn. However, €47.6bn is set aside to help those struggling due to higher energy prices, and a further €20bn has been reallocated toward attracting international semiconductor manufacturers.  

The government has thus far used that cash to lure companies such as Intel, TSMC, and Infineon to build chip plants in Germany, and in particular in what is being dubbed “Silicon Saxony.” Meanwhile, Scholz stated in the interview that these companies have not chosen Germany due to the generous state subsidies, but rather “as an economic location.” 

Germany’s green hydrogen strategy

A big chunk of the fund (approx. €56.3bn) will go to the climate-friendly renovation of buildings, a sector currently holding Germany back when it comes to efforts in energy efficiency. The government has also allocated €19.9bn toward the decarbonisation of industry and the implementation of the Green Hydrogen Strategy. 

The aim of the strategy is to have 30GW of electrolyser capacity in Germany by the end of the decade and to make the country ​​a leading supplier of hydrogen technologies. It also foresees the construction of an initial “core” hydrogen network to enter operation by 2032. 

Scholz’s coalition government adopted the updated strategy to accelerate the domestic hydrogen market in July this year. Energy industry association BDEW welcomed the update. However, it said it lacked a clear alignment between funding mechanisms, general framework conditions, and market design.

“Energy companies are willing to invest in a hydrogen economy, but they need a clear framework, both at national and European level,” BDEW head Kerstin Andrae told Clean Energy Wire last month.

Meanwhile, climate NGOs are sceptical as the strategy says that state subsidies could potentially go to blue hydrogen (produced from fossil fuels but using carbon capture) projects. 

Despite the updated strategy, Germany will need to import 70% of its hydrogen demand if it is to succeed in reaching climate neutrality by 2045. With green hydrogen currently accounting for about 1% of global supply, the question is who is going to produce it.

German chancellor says push for renewables will revive economy Read More »

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Einstein, Newton could have been wrong about gravity, Gaia telescope data reveals

Deep tech, Startups and technology / /

A groundbreaking study, based on observations from the European Space Agency’s billion-pixel Gaia space telescope, has revealed a “gravitational anomaly” that challenges our fundamental understanding of the universe. The anomaly occurs when loosely orbiting stars, known as wide binaries, seem to move in ways that defy standard models of gravity established by Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton.  

Astronomer Kyu-Hyun Chae from Sejong University in South Korea made the discovery while studying binary star systems, which refer to two stars that orbit each other. At accelerations of lower than 0.1 nanometres per second squared, the orbit of the two stars deviated from Newton’s universal law of gravitation and Einstein’s general relativity. 

The discovery puts into question the existence of ‘dark matter’ which was often used to explain such anomalies. “Testing gravity with wide binaries is interesting because dark matter can play no role in their internal dynamics,” Chae said.

Professor Chae theorised that a model known as Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) could explain why these previous theoretical frameworks were unable to explain the stars’ movements. MOND was first conceptualised by Israeli physicist Mordehai Milgrom, who proposed a modification to the laws of gravity at low accelerations to explain observed irregularities in galactic rotation without the need for dark matter.

“Chae’s finding is a result of a very involved analysis of cutting-edge data, which, as far as I can judge, he has performed very meticulously and carefully,” said Milgrom, from the Weizmann Institute in Israel. “But for such a far-reaching finding – and it is indeed very far-reaching – we require confirmation by independent analyses, preferably with better future data.

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“If this anomaly is confirmed as a breakdown of Newtonian dynamics, and especially if it indeed agrees with the most straightforward predictions of MOND, it will have enormous implications for astrophysics, cosmology, and for fundamental physics at large,” he added.

Professor Chae commented on the implications, asserting that potential systemic errors were rigorously examined and the results appeared to be genuine. He anticipates that the results will undergo further scrutiny and refinement as more data becomes available.

Nevertheless, these findings could have a profound effect on our conception of the universe. “Because the standard cosmology is based on general relativity, cosmology needs a major revision now,” Chae said. “I think we are now entering an extremely exciting period of time.”

Einstein, Newton could have been wrong about gravity, Gaia telescope data reveals Read More »

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Composition co-written by AI performed by choir and published as sheet music

Artificial Intelligence, Corporates and innovation, Creativity, Deep tech, Next Featured / /

Ed Newton-Rex, a creative AI pioneer and VP Audio at Stability AI, says that he’s become the first author to publish a piece of classical music that uses generative AI. The musician and entrepreneur wrote his “I stand in the library,” a piece for the choir and piano, to a poem produced by OpenAI‘s generative AI model GPT3.

Written back in 2022, the 15-minute composition has been premiered at the Live from London online classical music festival, performed by a choral group VOCES8. The full version of the performance is available (behind paywall) on the festival’s website, but here’s an exclusive preview to give you a general idea: