🌈 Vol 133: Infrared Mapping of the Urban Heat Island Effect

Hi There,

Today Serena, Nature4Climate and Nature Tech Collective released a Nature Tech VC funding report with 2024 key trends and figures.

Tracking that Nature Tech VC funding reached $2.1 billion in 2024, far outpacing 2023 (+16%) and marking a definitive turning point for the sector.

Unlike past surges, this growth appears sustained and structural as the market is twice the size of its 2019 level.

Tl;DR: Nature Tech is no longer an emerging trend — it is a mature and investable asset class.

In this week’s edition:
🤖 40 Climate Deep Tech Robotics Startups
👋 13 Next HackSummit Speakers Revealed
🔍 €200 million to back science and climate tech

The Digest

📈 What’s up? Coca-Cola’s plastic use is projected to rise 40% from 2018 levels by 2030, surpassing 9.1 billion pounds.

🤖 Exclusive: 40 ways to harness robotics in Climate Deep Tech.

🇩🇪 New: AENU released its Berlin Climate Tech Market Map.

🏆 Meet the 36 Semi Finalists of the FoodTech World Cup working in Food for Health

📝 Dear startup world, VC is broken… Do you agree?

🌉 Opinion: Bridge rounds using SAFEs or Convertible Notes are almost always a waste of money. Here’s why.

💡 Need scientific, IP, regulatory, or financial support to take your planetary health biotech venture to the next level? Biotope by VIB offers access to leading industry, science, and investment experts, top-tier facilities, and a €250K cash investment. Apply by April 6th.

AgriFood x Climate

🥩 Israeli cultivated meat startup Aleph Farms raised $29 million—with an additional $10–15 million expected soon—to scale production and launch its first whole-cut product using a more efficient, lower-cost process.

🥓 Ecovative secured $11 million to scale production of its mycelium-based MyBacon, expand into foodservice, and accelerate development of whole-cut mycelium products using its proprietary AirMycelium technology.

💸 Israeli startup Brevel raised an additional $5 million in a seed extension round—bringing the total to $25 million—to advance its microalgae-based ingredient production for alternative proteins.

🌱 Dutch company Grassa secured €3.6 million to scale its technology for extracting sustainable, soy-alternative protein from grass while also reducing methane and nitrogen emissions in dairy farming.

🔬 Munich-based Differential Bio emerged from stealth with €2 million in pre-seed funding to launch its Virtual Scale-up Platform, which uses AI, lab automation, and microbiology to accelerate and reduce the cost of scaling biomanufacturing processes.

Carbon x Climate

🪨 Eion secured a $33 million offtake deal with Frontier to remove nearly 79,000 tons of CO2 via enhanced rock weathering on US farmland using its patented olivine-based process and soil fingerprinting technology.

♨️ UK startup Caldera secured £10 million from German industrial giant GEA to scale its low-carbon heating technology, which stores renewable electricity as heat to help decarbonise industrial processes.

🏭 Belgian startup ARK Capture Solution raised over €2.2 million pre-seed funding to further develop its patented hybrid technology for capturing CO2 from industrial flue gases.

🌾 Carbon sequestration startup CinSOIL secured pre-seed funding to scale its AI- and satellite-powered solution for soil carbon insetting, helping businesses address Scope 3 emissions through verifiable, nature-based strategies aligned with evolving sustainability regulations.

✍️ Terradot signed a deal with Microsoft to remove 12,000 tonnes of CO₂ via Enhanced Rock Weathering between 2026 and 2029, using the funding to launch the most comprehensive scientific monitoring ever at a commercial ERW site, starting in Brazil.

🗺️ Take a look: 500 carbon removal startups, mapped.

Chemicals x Climate

🎨 Living Ink raised $3 million to scale production of its renewable, carbon-negative Algae Black pigment—an eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuel-derived carbon black—and expand its technology to process diverse biomass waste feedstocks from sectors like food, fermentation, and algae cultivation.

Energy x Climate

💥 Fusion energy startup Marvel Fusion extended its Series B round by €50 million—bringing the total to €113 million—to advance its transition toward industrial deployment, including building a $150 million laser facility and developing a fusion power plant in partnership with Siemens Energy.

🔥 Netherlands-based Gradyent raised €28 million Series B funding to scale its AI-powered digital twin platform, which helps optimise complex heating and cooling grids by integrating real-time data for smarter, more efficient energy management.

⚡️ Hydrogen startup Fourier closed its Series A funding round with $18.5 million to scale its compact, modular electrolyser system—built like server racks with multiple AI-optimised “blades”—to produce clean hydrogen more efficiently and affordably for commercial use.

🌍 Soldera secured €2.5 million to expand its AI-powered platform that automates the trading and management of renewable energy Guarantees of Origin in Europe, helping to reduce administrative burdens and boost revenue for renewable energy producers.

🍃 Lugano-based Gaia Turbine raised €1.15 million to accelerate development and scaling of its high-efficiency plug-and-play hydroelectric micro and mini-turbines, following the successful launch of its first pilot project in late 2024.

🇿🇼 Zimbabwean startup NeedEnergy raised $1.1 million to scale its AI-powered virtual power plant platform, which aggregates and optimises decentralised energy sources to improve efficiency and access across Africa.

🇳🇱 Dutch startup Avoxt secured over €1 million to accelerate the development and scaling of its membrane-free electrolyser technology, designed to make hydrogen production more efficient, safe, and affordable.

🧂 Terrestrial Energy, a US startup developing integral molten salt small modular reactors, has merged with a SPAC to go public on Nasdaq under the symbol IMSR, expecting to raise $280 million to target energy and industrial heat markets.

🔌 Commonwealth Fusion Systems has installed the cryostat base of its SPARC fusion reactor in Massachusetts, marking the start of tokamak assembly and a key milestone toward its goal of generating more power than it consumes by 2027.

☀️ Lion NZ has installed one of New Zealand’s largest rooftop solar arrays at its East Tamaki brewery, generating 14.4% of the site’s electricity as part of its commitment to decarbonisation.

🏥 Controversial: Most people don't want a nuclear reactor in their backyard, but what about underneath the local hospital?

ESG x Climate

🇫🇷 Paris-based sustainable fintech startup WeeFin raised €25 million to expand its ESG data management platform, with the aim of supporting over 40 financial institutions managing €6.9 trillion in assets.

Funds x Climate

💶 French VC Daphni raised €200 million to invest in early-stage European startups in science and climate tech sectors such as life sciences, biology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics, with plans to back 40 companies driving sustainability and the climate transition.

💷 London-based Elbow Beach launched and announced the first close of its €95.5 million Climate Impact Fund 2, with which it will invest in early-stage UK startups focused on automation and AI, carbon capture, electrification, and low-carbon materials that drive industrial efficiency and climate impact.

💰 The British Business Bank has committed £16.7 million to Revaia’s second fund, supporting high-growth tech scaleups across Europe and the UK with a focus on sustainable innovation in sectors like energy, AI, and cybersecurity.

Materials x Climate

🏠 Impressive: Infrared footage captures the Urban Heat Island Effect in action.

🛠️ Marseille-based GravitHy, a low-carbon iron producer for the green steel sector, raised €60 million from new and existing investors to accelerate project development and secure key contracts.

🏭 Fairmat secured €51.5 million Series B funding to scale its advanced carbon composite recycling technology and smart factories, aiming to meet rising demand for sustainable, high-performance materials while closing the loop on industrial waste.

🎨 French startup Ecoat raised over €21 million to scale its eco-designed, bio-based paint binders that aim to reduce emissions in the coatings industry, as it expands production, accelerates R&D, and enters the US and Asian markets.

🇨🇭 Bloom Biorenewables secured CHF 13 million Series A funding to scale its unique technology that breaks down plant waste into valuable, sustainable materials, helping replace fossil-based ingredients in everyday products.

🪵 Finnish startup Fiberdom secured €3.5 million to scale its patented, 100% plastic-free wood fibre material, aiming to replace single-use plastics with durable, compostable alternatives like its already commercialised single-use cutlery.

🥗 NEXTEK and COVERIS are joining forces to develop a UK-based demonstration plant using COtooCLEAN technology to recycle post-consumer polyolefin films into food-grade materials.

🧼 Colgate-Palmolive has partnered with NoPalm Ingredients to develop a sustainable soap bar using a fermentation-derived palm oil alternative made from food waste.

Vacation x Climate

2030 holiday selfie?

Fundraising x Climate

What a funding round actually looks like.

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Editorial by Laura, Curation by Nicola