Startup radar: Europe's climate-tech startups to watch - PitchBook News & Analysis
Startup radar: Europe's climate-tech startups to watch | PitchBook
Climate Tech
Startup radar: Europe's climate-tech startups to watch March 3, 2023
Climate tech stood out as one of the few sectors to attract record levels of venture capital investment in Europe last year.
VCs pumped €6.9 billion (about $7.3 billion) into the sector across 250 deals, according to PitchBook data. So far in 2023, there have been 28 rounds worth a total of €261.6 million.
"While general venture capital markets are currently suffering, the picture for climate tech is more nuanced," Jamie Vollbracht, founding partner of Kiko Ventures, said. "In fact, the market has bifurcated: light-green areas like climate fintech are suffering, but fundamental climate technologies like home energy, hydrogen or carbon capture continue to attract investment as the urgency to tackle climate change increases."
We asked five VCs active in European climate tech to share two startups—one in their portfolio, one not—that they expect to excel this year.
Jamie Vollbracht
Founding partner, Kiko Ventures (London)
"The company will this year complete a milestone plant testing program at Drax, Western Europe's biggest power plant and the UK's largest single source of renewable electricity by output. Scaling C-Capture's technology at Drax would enable this huge power plant to become the world's first negative emissions power station in the 2020s."
"Kraftblock will be a game changer when it comes to making the transition away from fossil fuel reliance and toward renewable energy a reality, something which has become increasingly urgent since the start of the Russia/Ukraine conflict."
Nina Cardelus
Growth investor, Lightrock (London)
"The combination of Aerones' robotic efficiencies and ability to bundle different complementary services via the same platform has helped drive commercial efficiencies for both original equipment manufacturers and customers, who already represent 50% of the world's wind power capacity."
"Through this platform, Resourcify can increase the total amount of client waste that is recycled, decrease the overall cost of waste per tonne, reduce administrative costs and provide a boost to recycling-related revenue."
Jessica Burley
Investor, Planet A (Berlin)
"With current macroconditions indicating a potential recession, and increased regulation requiring zero-emission deliveries, Hived's offering is an attractive option for customers. Additionally, with their dense coverage, Hived is perfectly positioned to meet the growing demand for sustainability across various industries by enabling the circular movement of goods."
"Given this industry contributes to 5% to 6% of global emissions and is under immense regulatory pressure to reduce this, CarbonRe's service is critical. Unlike most other innovations in the space, CarbonRe is able to immediately scale, as it has already proven, requires no significant changes to the plant or operations and offers cost improvements from day one."
Ferdinando Sigona
Partner, LocalGlobe (London)
"European electricity markets are being harmonized as well, paving the way for innovation at meaningful scale."
Heidi Lindvall
General partner, Pale Blue Dot (Malmö, Sweden)
Featured image by lookslikephoto.com/Shutterstock
VCs pumped €6.9 billion (about $7.3 billion) into the sector across 250 deals, according to PitchBook data. So far in 2023, there have been 28 rounds worth a total of €261.6 million.
"While general venture capital markets are currently suffering, the picture for climate tech is more nuanced," Jamie Vollbracht, founding partner of Kiko Ventures, said. "In fact, the market has bifurcated: light-green areas like climate fintech are suffering, but fundamental climate technologies like home energy, hydrogen or carbon capture continue to attract investment as the urgency to tackle climate change increases."
We asked five VCs active in European climate tech to share two startups—one in their portfolio, one not—that they expect to excel this year.
Jamie Vollbracht
Founding partner, Kiko Ventures (London)
C-Capture (UK)"University of Leeds spinout
C-Capture has found a cheaper, more environmentally [friendly] and less energy intensive way of capturing CO2 emissions from hard to abate industries, such as cement and glass manufacturing.
"The company will this year complete a milestone plant testing program at Drax, Western Europe's biggest power plant and the UK's largest single source of renewable electricity by output. Scaling C-Capture's technology at Drax would enable this huge power plant to become the world's first negative emissions power station in the 2020s."
Kraftblock (Germany)"Fueled by its goal of decarbonizing industrial processes and making renewable energy generation more reliable,
Kraftblock has developed a scalable and modular novel thermal energy storage system. It consists of around 85% upcycled materials and can store up to 1.2 megawatt-hours thermal energy at temperatures of up to 1,300 degrees Celsius, ideal for heat-to-heat and electricity-to-heat use cases.
"Kraftblock will be a game changer when it comes to making the transition away from fossil fuel reliance and toward renewable energy a reality, something which has become increasingly urgent since the start of the Russia/Ukraine conflict."
Nina Cardelus
Growth investor, Lightrock (London)
Aerones (Latvia)"
Aerones is the world leader in robot-enabled wind turbine maintenance and repair. Their solutions are up to six times faster, 40% more efficient and much safer than conventional solutions, which involve the use of certified rope access technicians who are slower, in short supply and unable to operate in poor weather conditions.
"The combination of Aerones' robotic efficiencies and ability to bundle different complementary services via the same platform has helped drive commercial efficiencies for both original equipment manufacturers and customers, who already represent 50% of the world's wind power capacity."
Resourcify (Germany)"
Resourcify is an all-in-one waste management and recycling platform. The company provides waste generators with complete control and transparency over their waste management processes. Its intelligent platform connects companies with local recyclers and also facilitates the management of waste-related accounting, reporting and compliance requirements.
"Through this platform, Resourcify can increase the total amount of client waste that is recycled, decrease the overall cost of waste per tonne, reduce administrative costs and provide a boost to recycling-related revenue."
Jessica Burley
Investor, Planet A (Berlin)
Hived (UK)"I expect
Hived to excel this year due to their innovative approach to mass-market parcel delivery. Their zero-emission delivery service offers a more efficient, cheaper and higher quality option compared to other players in the market.
"With current macroconditions indicating a potential recession, and increased regulation requiring zero-emission deliveries, Hived's offering is an attractive option for customers. Additionally, with their dense coverage, Hived is perfectly positioned to meet the growing demand for sustainability across various industries by enabling the circular movement of goods."
CarbonRe (UK)"
CarbonRe has a strong outlook this year due to their unique and quickly implementable solution for reducing carbon emissions in the cement industry. Their deep learning AI allows cement plants to save up to 10% of fuel inputs, resulting in significant emissions and overall cost reductions for the plant.
"Given this industry contributes to 5% to 6% of global emissions and is under immense regulatory pressure to reduce this, CarbonRe's service is critical. Unlike most other innovations in the space, CarbonRe is able to immediately scale, as it has already proven, requires no significant changes to the plant or operations and offers cost improvements from day one."
Ferdinando Sigona
Partner, LocalGlobe (London)
Shellworks (UK)"We are excited about
Shellworks expanding their supply capacity to respond to increasing demand for their plastic-alternative packaging materials from beauty and skincare companies, following their successful collaboration with Haeckels. Tracking consumer sentiment, brands are getting more creative with piloting new materials, and Shellworks' blend of biochemistry with design as well as their fast iterative cycles make it a great partner for climate-conscious brands."
Enode (Norway)"We think
Enode's energy API proposition is poised to benefit from a flurry of new data-driven energy startups coming to market. As everything gets electrified and more renewables come online, management of the grid will become more challenging than it is today. Data will be key to aggregate and manage supply and demand, respond to shocks and maintain margins.
"European electricity markets are being harmonized as well, paving the way for innovation at meaningful scale."
Heidi Lindvall
General partner, Pale Blue Dot (Malmö, Sweden)
Climate X (UK)"
Climate X is a global climate risk data platform allowing organizations to quantify their climate risk on an asset level. The London-based company is currently onboarding larger banks and real estate owners and due to increased awareness and along with regulatory pressure we expect significant growth in 2023."
Glowb (UK)"Glowb is a residential solar company helping everyone in the UK transition to clean, smart energy. Solar is not new, but high energy prices and concerns around dependency on external energy sources has made the time right for this sector to accelerate faster than before. Glowb has a promising full-stack approach and I think we will see this become more mainstream in 2023."
Featured image by lookslikephoto.com/Shutterstock
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