PLANET.TECH 🐂

Opening Remarks

This week, I’ve been thinking about the growing narrative that venture capital won’t matter in the next decade. I think that thesis misses what’s actually changing.

The amount of capital required to build a meaningful business is falling. Founders can do more with less than ever before. But that doesn’t mean capital stops mattering. It means founders have more leverage in choosing where it comes from.

The best VCs were never just capital providers anyway. Capital may become less scarce, but great partners won't.

Now, onto this week’s feature:

-Brett

Bulletpitch’s publication covers the hottest early-stage startups before being picked up by larger media outlets. If that’s you, apply here.

Setting the Scene

• Believe it or not, one of the biggest contributors to global warming isn't cars, planes, or factories: it’s cow burps.

• Every day, the world's 1.5 billion cattle release massive amounts of methane into the atmosphere.

• Yet no one has figured out how to reduce those emissions while making farmers more money.

• This week’s company turns cow burps into renewable fuel revenue for dairy farmers while helping them keep their cows healthier and more productive.

In a Sentence

PLANET.TECH is building the operating system for cattle by turning methane emissions into renewable fuel revenue and using real-time health intelligence to help farmers protect their herds.

• Operating System: A non-invasive wearable that continuously monitors a cow's health and captures methane emissions.

• Methane Revenue: The system captures methane from cow burps, converts it into renewable fuel products, and helps farmers monetize emissions through fuel and environmental credit markets.

• Health Intelligence: Detects health issues early using real-time biometric data, helping farmers keep cows healthier and more productive.

The Basics

• Industry: Climate Tech, AgTech, Renewable Energy

• Headquarters: Austin, TX

• Year Founded: 2024

• Employee Count: 4 full-time, 4 part-time

• Amount Raised: $500K

• Business Model: Revenue share model on methane sales and environmental credit revenue

• Early Traction: 46 letters of interest from California dairy farmers, 7 patents filed, MOU with a $500M energy developer, awarded a Texas state grant

Event Board

• Bulletpitch Cannes Lions Lunch, France: On June 23rd during Cannes Lions, we’ll be hosting an intimate omakase lunch experience on a private terrace in Cannes. This will be a highly curated, invite-only gathering of top creators, founders, and executives. Reply to this email if interested in attending.

Weekly Feature Continued

Due Diligence

WHAT WE LIKE

• Market Opportunity: PLANET.TECH sits at the intersection of the livestock ($1T), agricultural methane reduction ($3B), and renewable natural gas ($15B) markets, creating an opportunity to build a category-defining platform across more than 1.5 billion cattle while serving both farmers and energy buyers.

• Aligned Incentives: Rather than asking farmers to adopt a climate solution out of goodwill, PLANET.TECH helps them make more money through healthier herds and a new revenue stream from methane emissions.

• Unique Wedge: The company's novel biometric monitoring provides a differentiated way to detect illness before symptoms become visible, creating immediate value for farmers while establishing a foundation for a much larger data platform.

POTENTIAL RISKS

• Commercial Scale: PLANET.TECH has demonstrated methane capture in controlled environments, but has yet to prove the technology can consistently perform in real-world farm conditions at commercial scale.

• Market Dependence: A meaningful portion of PLANET.TECH's value proposition relies on renewable fuel and environmental credit markets, which could be impacted by changes in regulation, incentives, or commodity pricing.

• Farmer Adoption: Even with a compelling ROI, PLANET.TECH must convince farmers to adopt new hardware and workflows, where ease of use, reliability, and animal comfort will be critical to long-term adoption.

Founder Profile

• Griffin Cherry, CEO: Previously electrical installer @ Boeing, solar consultant at JK Renewables.

• Rex Hearn, CTO: Previously Co-Founder and CTO of MORE Technologies (acquired by Sphero).

• Nicholas Huang, VP Engineering: Previously mechanical engineer @ Formosa Plastics Corporation.

Comps

• ZELP: Cattle wearable focused on reducing livestock methane through smart mask technology; oxidizes the methane rather than monetizing captured gas.

• Rumin8: Feed additive startup focused on reducing methane production rather than capturing it for sale.

• Vanguard Renewables: Farm-based anaerobic digestion platform focused on manure and organic waste natural gas capture rather than methane from cow burps.

Cast Your Vote

Last Week Today

• The Results Are In: Tahcar, a logistics operating system that automates vehicle transport, payments, and documentation for car dealerships, was heavily favored in last week’s poll.

• Subscriber Feedback: “They're optimizing an outdated system and the product feels incredibly sticky for dealerships.”