🫕 Wish you were here

Plus: Why a saw was used to recycle worn-out shoes

May 16, 2025

Hi There,

Today is no ordinary Friday for neither the Hack team nor 850 Climate Founders, Funders and Operators. We’re in full swing at the HackSummit here in Lausanne.

A few of highlights, include:

In this week’s edition:

🔥 OroraTech extended its Series B to €37 million to scale its AI-powered thermal satellite platform for real-time global wildfire detection and risk assessment.
⚡️ Optics11 secured €17 million to scale its fiber optic sensing solutions that protect Europe’s aging energy grids.
🪵 InventWood secured $15 million to launch production of Superwood—a fire-resistant, ultra-strong, steel-beating wood alternative.

AgriFood x Climate

Credit: Heura

🇪🇸 Spanish startup Heura Foods secured a €20 million loan from the European Investment Bank to expand beyond plant-based meat into new product categories, as it targets profitability by the end of this year.

🐟 Revo Foods launched a crowdfunding campaign on FunderNation—raising €1.2 million so far—to support the scaling of its 3D-printed, mycoprotein-based seafood alternatives and expand its reach in the plant-based protein market.

🇨🇦 The Canadian Food Innovation Network awarded nearly $50,000 to five student-led ventures through its NextGen Food Innovators program, supporting early-stage food technologies that tackle challenges like safety, waste, and sustainability in the country’s food sector.

🇹🇭 Bangkok-based Muu secured strategic investment from VCs and a Japanese food conglomerate to scale its precision-fermented, animal-free dairy proteins and accelerate market entry in Asia’s growing alt-protein sector.

🧫 Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have developed a stable pig fat cell line, dubbed FaTTy, that could revolutionise cultivated meat production by enabling scalable, non-GMO pork fat manufacturing—even for use in space.

Biodiversity x Climate

Credit: OroraTech

🔥 Munich-based wildfire intelligence startup OroraTech has extended its Series B to €37 million—bringing its total funding to nearly €100 million—to scale its AI-powered thermal satellite platform for real-time global wildfire detection and risk assessment.

  • If you’re at the HackSummit, good news you’ll hear from the Founder Viktor Gauk at the HackSummit today.

🦠 Fieldstone Bio, a startup spun out of MIT, raised $5 million to develop gene-edited microbes that act as living environmental sensors to map soil nutrients, contaminants, and landmines with unprecedented precision.

Carbon x Climate

Credit: Riverse

🇫🇷 French startup Riverse raised €5 million seed funding to scale its carbon credit platform focused on engineered climate solutions, aiming to deliver high-integrity, industry-relevant credits amid growing demand for transparency in the voluntary carbon market.

Construction x Climate

Credit: Kenoteq

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish cleantech firm Kenoteq has received UK certification for its low-carbon K-BRIQ—made from nearly 100% recycled construction waste—marking a major milestone in sustainable building as it begins commercial production to meet growing global demand for eco-friendly construction materials.

Energy x Climate

Credit: Realta Fusion

👍️ Realta Fusion raised $36 million to finalise the design of its Anvil prototype reactor, aiming to prove its magnetic mirror concept and move closer to affordable, scalable fusion power.

💰️ Swedish energy startup Elvy is attracting strong investor interest with at least $20 million in equity on the table, thanks to its all-in-one home energy service model offering solar, heat pumps, and batteries for a fixed monthly fee over 15 years.

💥 Amsterdam-based Optics11 has secured €17 million from SET Ventures, Forward.one, Join Capital and VCC to scale its fiber optic sensing solutions that protect Europe’s aging energy grids and vulnerable maritime infrastructure from growing threats.

🇬🇧 London-based Zendo raised £1.75 million pre-seed funding to develop an AI-powered Energy OS that helps data centres optimise their energy use and integrate renewables, aiming to decarbonise computing amid surging AI-driven power demand.

⚡️ Scandinavian Data Centers, based in Sweden, secured investment from Fastighets AB Balder to transform a WWII-era bunker into a 10 MW high-security, heat-recovering data centre in Eskilstuna.

🇦🇺 A collaboration between Australian universities and industry partners is developing the world’s first cost-effective concentrated solar thermal demonstrator using lightweight plastic mirrors, aiming to decarbonise industrial heat processes with affordable, high-temperature renewable energy.

🤝 Google is partnering with nuclear developer Elementl Power to explore building advanced nuclear reactors at three sites, aiming to secure at least 600 megawatts of clean energy per site to power its growing AI-driven data center operations.

👟 Why you shouldn’t ignore end of life for batteries (and why you’ll need a saw 🪚 if you want to attempt it yourself)

ESG x Climate

Credit Xoople

🔢 Spanish startup Xoople emerged from stealth with €115 million to advance its AI-driven Earth Intelligence platform, which delivers real-time, predictive insights from global surface data to support sustainability, resilience, and enterprise decision-making.

📈 UK proptech startup Martello secured £1.2 million seed funding to scale its AI-powered platform, which replaces outdated PDF reports with real-time, data-driven dashboards for assessing environmental and property risks in conveyancing

💻️ Green search engine Ecosia launched a new climate impact experience that lets its 20 million users track their daily contributions to global climate initiatives—expanding beyond tree planting to include renewable energy, climate tech, and regenerative agriculture.

Funds x Climate

Credit: Conception X

💸 UK nonprofit Conception X launched a £600,000 angel syndicate of leading scientists and engineers to fund and mentor early-stage deeptech startups founded by PhD students, expanding its mission to turn researchers into venture scientists across Europe.

Materials x Climate

Credit: InventWood

🪵 InventWood secured $15 million Series A funding to launch production of Superwood—a fire-resistant, ultra-strong, steel-beating wood alternative made by densifying and bonding cellulose in timber for use in sustainable building materials.

🇸🇪 Swedish startup Lignin Industries raised €3.9 million to accelerate the commercialisation of its bio-based thermoplastic Renol, a fossil-free plastic alternative made from lignin that integrates into existing manufacturing systems.

1️⃣ Why the #1 clothing retailer in France is in circularity.

Methane x Climate

💡 A new report by Changing Markets accuses major dairy companies of neglecting methane reduction, revealing that most lack clear targets, transparency, or credible plans despite the sector’s significant role in climate-heating emissions.

🐄 Queensland-based Bovotica raised $3.4 million seed funding to commercialise a microbiome-targeting feed supplement and oral drench that aim to cut cattle methane emissions by up to 50% while boosting meat and milk production efficiency.

Mobility x Climate

Credit: Be.EV

🔌 UK-based Be.EV secured a £20 million deal with Schroders Capital to install 200 ultra-rapid EV charging bays across 22 retail and leisure sites, supporting its community-focused strategy to meet surging demand for public charging.

🚘 Leuven-based Scoptvision raised €1 million to scale its smart charging software, which transforms any EV charger into a cloud-controlled, brand-agnostic smart device that optimises charging for cost, comfort, and grid stability.

🛞 General Motors unveiled a new lithium-manganese-rich battery chemistry that promises over 400 miles of EV range at lower cost by significantly reducing reliance on expensive and scarce minerals like cobalt and nickel.

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Editorial by Laura, Curation by Nicola