💸 Vol 149: €500+ Million Fresh Funds Announced

Hi there

This week 4 VCs announced fresh funding across Europe and Africa:

• Vireo Ventures - €50 million Electrification Fund I

• Una Terra - additional €50 million for circular economy growth fund

• Acumen and KawiSafi Ventures - second KawiSafi fund with $90 million

• Claret Capital Partners - second close of its Fund IV at over €350 million

Meanwhile we caught up with 14 DeepTech VCs to get their take on the ‘rising stars’ who are reinventing industry and re-engineering the very systems that power the global economy with novel, science-based solutions.

Here’s who to watch (and why), according to SOSV, DCVC, Voyager Ventures, Streetlife Ventures, Pachamama Ventures, Atlantic Labs, Buoyant Ventures, Extantia, Pangaea Ventures, Planet A Ventures, Climentum Capital, Deep Science Ventures and Circulate Capital.

In this week’s edition:

🧱 Ucaneo is building its first-of-a-kind electrochemical Direct Air Capture demonstration plant in Berlin.
💰 Deep Fission raised $30 million to advance its first reactor project targeted for 2026.
🧬 AMSilk secured €52 million in funding to scale industrial production of its silk-based protein materials.

Digest x Climate

📊 Why Geothermal is not new. Scalable, profitable geothermal is, however.

🗽 Join the Planetary Embassy with Swissnex at Climate Week NYC from September 23–25 at Mabou Mines for talks, installations, and screenings. And get a full run down of NYCW events here.

🍄 The global call for fungi disruptors is now live. Enter the Future is Fungi Award.

🎟️ Head this way to lock in your HackSummit pass and join us in NYC this December.

AgriFood x Climate

🚜 US startup Nitricity secured $50 million Series B funding in a round co-led by World Fund and Khosla Ventures, with support from Chipotle’s Cultivate Next, Change Forces, Susquehanna Sustainable Investments, Energy Impact Partners, and Fine Structure Ventures. It produces organic nitrogen fertiliser from air, water, renewable energy, and upcycled almond shells, and will use the funds to open a new plant in Delhi, California.

🧬 UK Research and Innovation awarded £27 million across 31 biotech projects, including funding for Lancaster University’s mobile carbon flux tracking platform to measure carbon movement on UK farms.

💡 Iceland’s ORF Genetics raised €5 million from existing and new shareholders to scale production of its specialised proteins, made via its barley-based molecular farming platform for the cultivated meat industry.

🤝 Tetra Pak has partnered with Swan Neck Bio to integrate its DIRINOC™ starter culture technology into Tetra Pak’s New Food ecosystem, providing fermentation companies with a “turnkey, low-risk solution” to scale biomass and precision fermentation-derived food products.

Carbon x Climate

🏭 Ucaneo is building its first-of-a-kind electrochemical Direct Air Capture demonstration plant in Berlin, with an initial capacity of ~150 tCO₂ per year from 2026, and which will serve as a hub to scale future DAC plants and foster collaboration across science, industry, policy, and community.

🌫️ Norma achieved what it says is a world first by capturing CO₂ directly from the air using Supercapacitive Direct Air Capture technology, demonstrating a working bench-scale system built in under a month that promises more efficient, scalable, and cost-effective carbon removal.

🇰🇪 Kenyan DAC startup Octavia Carbon closed a kiloton-scale carbon dioxide removal deal facilitated by Carbonfuture, marking its entry into the “kiloton club” of large-scale, compliance-grade carbon removal projects.

Chemicals x Climate

🧬 Cascade Bio secured $6 million, including a $2.8 million seed round led by Endurance28 with Stray Dog Capital, 1Flourish, Range Ventures, 10VC, and Amplify, plus $3.2 million in NSF funding. It will use the funds to scale its enzyme-stabilising technology that enables cost-effective, cell-free biomanufacturing as a sustainable alternative to petrochemicals.

🧪 Singapore-based biotech startup Greenitio raised $1.5 million in a seed funding round led by SGInnovate with participation from Better Bite Ventures, Silverstrand Capital, and existing backers, to scale its mushroom-based chitosan biopolymer platform for cosmetics and specialty chemicals.

🦠 Dutch biotech Mevaldi B.V. secured funding from High-Tech Gründerfonds and ICIG Ventures to scale its technology for producing green chemicals such as its bio-based 3MPD.

Construction x Climate

🧱 Tasmanian sustainable building materials startup X-Hemp raised $3.4 million seed funding, including a final $1 million from strategic partner Danehill Group, to scale production of its hempcrete concrete alternative.

Energy x Climate

💥 Deep Fission, a nuclear startup developing underground small modular reactors, has gone public via a reverse merger with Surfside Acquisition Inc., raising $30 million to advance its first reactor project targeted for 2026.

⚡️ Fusion energy startup Proxima Fusion, based in Munich, extended its Series A by €15 million, bringing total funding to €200 million. The round saw backing from CDP Venture Capital, the European Innovation Council Fund, and Brevan Howard Macro Venture Fund, and Proxima Fusion will use the funds to advance its stellarator-based fusion power technology.

🔌 Netherlands-based LeydenJar raised €13 million in equity financing led by Extantia and Invest-NL, alongside €10 million in customer funding from a US consumer electronics company, to scale production of its 100% pure silicon anodes that boost lithium-ion battery capacity by 50%, enabling lighter, faster-charging, and more energy-dense batteries for applications from wearables to EVs and electric aviation.

💡 Nuclearn, a US-based AI startup for the nuclear power sector, raised $10.5 million Series A funding in a round led by Blue Bear Capital with participation from AZ-VC, Nucleation Capital, and SJF Ventures, to expand its AI tools already used in over 65 reactors worldwide.

🌞 Plural raised an oversubscribed $7.13 million seed funding round led by Paradigm, with participation from Volt Capital, Maven11, and Neoclassic Capital, to expand its platform that turns assets like solar, storage, and data centers into programmable investment products powering the future grid.

🔋 UK-based MOPO secured a £5 million investment from Norway’s Norfund to expand its rentable battery system that delivers affordable, sustainable energy across multiple African nations.

☀️ Dutch energy software startup Zympler raised €1.5 million in a seed funding round led by Arches Capital with participation from ROM Utrecht Region, the Province of Utrecht, and the European Regional Development Fund, to expand its platform for optimising and connecting energy systems like solar, batteries, and EV charging.

🔢 Renewcast, based in Italy, secured a €1 million SAFE investment from 2C Ventures Fund I to accelerate global expansion of its renewable energy forecasting platform and prepare for a Series A in 2026.

Funds x Climate

💭 Explained: What is a D-SAFE and how does it work?

💶 German early-stage VC firm Vireo Ventures closed its €50 million Electrification Fund I, backed by Encevo, Verbund X, EnBW New Ventures, the European Investment Fund, NRW.Bank, and over 80 industry experts, to invest in startups driving Europe’s electrification and energy independence.

💷 UK-based Claret Capital Partners announced a second close of its Fund IV at over €350 million, with commitments from Banca March, EIF, ISIF, KfW Capital, Wachstumsfonds Deutschland, and others, to back European SMEs across technology, life sciences, and climate tech.

🌍 Acumen and KawiSafi Ventures launched the second KawiSafi fund with $90 million approved, aimed at accelerating clean energy entrepreneurship across Africa.

⭕️ Zurich-based circular economy growth fund Una Terra secured an additional €50 million, with backing from Italy’s CDP VC Green Transition Fund,the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Deutsche Nachhaltigkeit, and family offices, to scale solutions reducing plastic waste and emissions.

Materials x Climate

🧬 AMSilk, a German biotech materials company, secured €52 million in funding. The round was led by ATHOS with participation from MIG Capital and Novo Holdings, and it will use the funds to scale industrial production of its silk-based protein materials.

🔬 British frontier AI startup CuspAI, raised over €85 million in a Series A funding round co-led by NEA and Temasek, with backing from NVentures, Samsung Ventures, Hyundai Motor Group, Basis Set Ventures, FJ Labs, Giant Ventures, LocalGlobe, Northzone, Prosus Ventures, Tiferes Ventures, Touring Capital, and several prominent angel investors, to scale its platform for rapid materials discovery.

⛏️ Photara Inc. raised an $8 million seed funding round led by Voyager Ventures and Kibo Invest, with backing from Ahren Innovation Capital, WovenEarth Ventures, Prelude Ventures, and Breakthrough Energy Fellows, to scale its metallisation technology that reduces solar panels’ silver use by 85% while boosting efficiency.

🔍 Up close: Noriware’s seaweed-based film on a live top seal machine.

Mobility x Climate

🛵 British electric motorcycle maker Maeving secured £11 million Series A funding. The round was backed by Elbow Beach, Venrex, Future Planet Capital, angel investors, and a £3 million facility from HSBC UK, and it will use the funds to accelerate its US expansion and R&D.

🚚 Wayla, a Milan-based mobility startup and Italy’s first urban van pooling service, surpassed its €1 million crowdfunding goal on Mamacrowd in under 30 hours, to fund fleet expansion, tech development, and B2B growth. 

Water x Climate

💦 Read the Open Letter to the CEOs and leaders of the AI era on why the opportunity is water.

Music x Climate

If album covers prioritised sustainable mobility

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Editorial by Laura, Curation by Nicola