🏅 Vol 161: Nobel Prize for Climate

Hi there

Building on this week’s momentum of an incredible HackSummit NYC (our favourite way to end the year), we’re excited to let you in on our first BIG announcement of 2026:

Save the date: HackSummit returns to Lausanne on 22-23 April.

This year marks our 5th Anniversary, and we’re celebrating with our most ambitious edition yet. Here’s what to expect:

• Retreat for Founders and Investors

• 1 Day focused on Industrial Renaissance

• 1 Day dedicated to Food Sovereignty

• Pilot Day for Startups x SME’s

Join us for the full experience, or pick and mix what suits you best, there’s something for everyone.

Head this way to see what’s planned and book your ticket.

+ Here’s a quick reminder of what we got up to in Lausanne earlier this year…

In this week’s edition:

⛏️ Extantia tracks 50+ startups working across the copper supply chain
💰 FoodLabs closed its third fund with €105 million to invest in early-stage European foodtech startups.
🐦‍⬛ Spoor raised €8 million Series A funding for its AI-powered computer vision to track and identify birds around wind farms.

The Digest

⛏️ Interesting: 50+ startups working across the copper supply chain, by Extantia.

📈 What’s up? The US energy storage sector has surpassed its decade-old goal by deploying 40+ GW of grid-connected batteries - nearly half of all new renewable capacity this year - driven by rapid expansion in states like California, Texas and Arizona.

🏅 Ecosia pledged €1 million to help establish the world’s first Climate Nobel Prize, urging the Nobel Committee to evolve its tradition by creating an award that gives climate innovators global recognition, influence, and momentum equal to other Nobel laureates.

AgriFood x Climate

​​🇸🇪 Swedish startup Melt&Marble raised $8.5 million Series A funding from Industrifonden, the European Innovation Council Fund, Beiersdorf, Valio, Chalmers Ventures, and Catalyze Capital to scale production and commercialise its precision-fermented designer fats, starting with personal care applications next year.

🚀 Australia’s All G has formed a joint venture with France’s Armor Protéines and raised A$10 million ($6.6 million) to accelerate commercialisation of its precision-fermented bovine and human lactoferrin.

🌾 Paris-based ReSoil secured €4 million from Banque des Territoires, InvESS Île-de-France Amorçage, and Generali Impact Investment to scale regenerative agriculture projects across France and expand its digital carbon-management platform supporting farmers’ agroecological transition.

🤝Pow.Bio has partnered with Bühler Group to launch an integrated continuous precision-fermentation platform that accelerates biomanufacturing scale-up, cuts production costs, and boosts performance, designed to offer companies a faster, more efficient alternative to traditional fed-batch systems.

Biodiversity x Climate

🐦‍⬛ Spoor, an Oslo-based startup using AI-powered computer vision to track and identify birds around wind farms, raised €8 million Series A funding to help industries reduce wildlife impacts and comply with tightening environmental regulations.

🌡️ Researchers from the University of Ottawa have created detailed 3D temperature models of the Earth beneath Greenland and northeastern Canada, revealing major thermal variations linked to the region’s tectonic history and significantly improving predictions of how Greenland’s ice sheet will respond to climate change and impact future sea-level rise.

Energy x Climate

🇸🇪 Stockholm-based Elvy secured €500 million from Scayl and a banking partner to scale its subscription-based home energy packages, which covers solar panels, heat pumps, and battery systems, with the aim of making clean energy adoption affordable and hassle-free for up to 15,000 new customers.

🏭 Enhanced geothermal startup Fervo Energy raised $462 million, in a round led by B Capital with participation from major investors including Google, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, CPP Investments and others, to complete its 500-MW Cape Station plant in Utah.

☀️ Overview Energy emerged from stealth with $20 million in funding and a plan to deploy geosynchronous-orbit solar arrays that beam power to Earth via infrared lasers, designed to enable solar farms to supply near-continuous energy.

🌊 Scottish tidal energy innovator Orbital Marine Power raised £7 million from investors including PXN Ventures and Scottish Enterprise to accelerate international commercial projects and scale its technology for delivering predictable, renewable power from tidal streams.

🪫 Berlin-based FION Energy secured €1.4 million pre-seed funding from HTGF, Norrsken Evolve and angel investors to scale its AI-powered, turnkey industrial battery storage platform that lowers electricity costs by up to 50% and makes energy use more predictable and competitive for high-consumption manufacturers.

🔋 University of Cambridge spinout Kodiaq Technologies raised £850,000 from a group of angel investors to advance pilot projects for its metal-free, organic-electrolyte energy storage technology, designed to boost flow-battery performance while reducing costs and reliance on critical metals.

⚛️ Good read: Dr. Rita Baranwal shares how to separate hype from reality in nuclear microreactors.

📦 Good watch: Your own power station in a box.

Funds x Climate

💰 Berlin-based VC FoodLabs closed its third fund with €105 million to invest in early-stage European foodtech startups across agriculture, food security and health, backed by a mix of family offices, institutional funds and strategic investors including Bitburger Holding, Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, Red Bull, and Nestlé.

🎓 European VC firm U2V announced the first closing of its €60 million Fund I to invest in up to 25 pre-Seed and Seed DeepTech startups from leading European universities, with a focus on AI computing, IndustrialTech and CleanTech.

💸Paris-based nonprofit makesense closed the first €15 million of its makesense seed II pre-seed fund, to invest €200k–€500k in early-stage circular-economy and socially inclusive startups across Europe.

🚀 Barclays Eagle Labs and Sustainable Ventures have launched a new climate tech accelerator offering UK startups commercial and technical support, learning resources and up to $250,000 in Google Cloud credits to help scale sustainability-focused technologies and accelerate the UK’s net-zero transition.

Materials x Climate

📊 IFCO’s latest ESG report shows how they are committing to transparency, responsible growth and sustainability across the food chain.

💇‍♀️ London-based beauty tech startup yuv raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by Nineyards Equity to scale its AI-powered, refillable smart hair colour lab system for salons and freelancers, supporting UK expansion and a planned US launch in 2026.

🏭 Watercycle Technologies opened Europe’s first commercial direct lithium extraction plant, scaling its proprietary DLEC™ technology to continually produce hundreds of kilograms of UK-sourced lithium carbonate and marking a major step toward domestic and European lithium supply targets for 2035.

🇺🇦 Ukrainian startup Recycle has launched an app-based platform that pays households and businesses for properly sorted recyclable waste, streamlining sales to certified recycling companies.

Mobility x Climate

✈️ Topsoe has been selected to conduct a FEED study using its 120MW SOEC electrolyzer technology for Carbon Neutral Fuels’ planned UK plant, which aims to produce 25,000 tons of e-SAF annually from 2031 and cut lifecycle emissions by 89% compared to fossil jet fuel.

Water x Climate

🐟 Researchers at the University of Bonn have created a fish-inspired washing machine filter that mimics the gill arch system to remove over 99% of microplastics from wastewater without clogging.

Cash Flow x Climate

Calculating end of your P&L at your startup.

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Editorial by Laura, Curation by Nicola