⚛️ Vol 166: Desktop-sized fusion

Hi there,

Climate tech is back in the funding game.

The first few weeks of 2026 have already delivered a mini-surge of 15 new climate and sustainability funds. While it’s not back to the frenzy years, it’s sharper, more selective, and more thesis-driven, with a clear pulse of cautious optimism running through the capital stack. 

Fresh vehicles are forming, mandates are tightening, and investors are gearing up for the next wave of deployable climate solutions.

The capital isn’t flooding, but it’s definitely flowing again.

In this week’s edition: 

⚛️ Avalanche Fusion plugs in $29M to fire up compact fusion reactors
♻️ Recupere Metals is turning scrap copper into high-performance wire
🎨 Sparxell lands €4.2M to replace toxic dyes with plant-powered colour tech

The Digest

👋 Here’s what happened at this week’s ClimateHack Nairobi Meetup. Join us next at a ClimateHack Meetup in Nairobi and Amsterdam.

🔎 5-point checklist to hire the right founding teams.

🇨🇭Join us. Become a ClimateHack Ambassador in Zurich to host local Meetups in the city and foster the ClimateTech community.

🛰️ Space4Good has been selected as an External Service Provider under the European FIERCE programme. European SMEs can apply for vouchers of up to €50k to work on assessing, testing or developing solutions using satellite Earth Observation

AgriFood x Climate

🐝 French regenerative agriculture startup UBEES raised €8 million Series A funding in a round co-led by Starquest and Capagro with participation from Newtree Impact. It will use the funds to further develop its technology-enabled beekeeping and pollination programmes, designed to improve crop yields and biodiversity.

​​🇧🇷 Brazil-focused agtech VC firm SP Ventures secured an $8 million commitment from the Soros Economic Development Fund for its AgVentures III Climate Investment Fund, with which it will back Global South agtech startups developing climate-resilient, regenerative and low-emissions agricultural technologies and inclusive rural financial systems.

🥩 US cultivated meat startup Evergreen Connect (formerly Omeat) secured $6 million from investors including S2G Investments, BOLD Capital Partners and Good Startup to support the commercial launch of its blended beef products in the US and Singapore.

♻️ Amsterdam-based Proba, which turns fertiliser-related emission reductions into certified Scope 3 results for agri-food supply chains, raised €1.25 million from existing backers including Future Food Fund, Yield Lab Europe and Value Factory Ventures to expand into the US and Brazil.

Carbon x Climate

🇮🇳 India’s Varaha raised $20 million Series B funding in a round led by WestBridge Capital with participation from RTP Global and Omnivore. It will use the funds to scale low-cost carbon removal projects across the Global South, including regenerative agriculture, biochar and enhanced rock weathering, and expand into new Asian markets.

🇪🇺 The European Commission has adopted its first voluntary EU standards to certify permanent carbon removal projects, designed to create clear rules for measurement and permanence, enable project certification, and support investment while reducing greenwashing risk.

Energy x Climate

🔋 US residential battery and virtual power plant startup Lunar Energy raised a $130 million Series C led by Activate Capital and a $102 million Series D led by B Capital and Prelude Ventures to scale home battery manufacturing and expand grid-supporting stationary storage systems.

☀️ Alight secured a £34 million financing facility from SEB to build and operate over 50 MW of behind-the-meter solar projects for UK commercial and industrial customers under long-term PPAs.

⚛️ Compact nuclear fusion startup Avalanche Fusion raised an additional $29 million in a funding round led by RA Capital Management with backing from Toyota Ventures, Founders Fund and Lowercarbon Capital to further develop its desktop-sized high-voltage fusion reactors. See the infrastructure up close.

🇨🇭 Swiss startup enshift secured €18.5 million Series A funding in a round led by Swiss Solar Group. It delivers integrated energy transition solutions, and will use the funds to scale across Europe amid new Swiss and EU energy regulations driving demand. 

💻 New York-based data center optimisation startup Lucend raised $3.3 million seed funding, in a round led by Remarkable Ventures Climate with investors including Mitsubishi Electric Innovation Fund, New Climate Ventures, Avesta, Stepchange and 4impact Capital, to scale software that uses existing sensor data to cut energy, water use and operating costs without new hardware.

🪨 Vema Hydrogen has signed a deal to supply California data centers using underground hydrogen produced from iron-rich rock formations, aiming to deliver low-cost, low-carbon hydrogen for industrial and power applications.

🥵 New York-based HVAC startup Gradient launched its Nexus software platform to network and manage its window-mounted heat pumps across multifamily buildings, helping landlords retrofit older properties with low-cost electric heating and cooling while reducing energy use and easing grid demand.

Funds x Climate

🇪🇸 Spain-based VC firm Mundi Ventures completed a €750 million first close for its deeptech and climate-focused Kembara Fund I, backed by a €350 million European Investment Fund commitment, to invest in European Series B and C scaleups with large tickets and blended equity and non-dilutive financing to bridge the growth capital gap.

💰 Slate Venture Capital secured €132 million at the first close of its inaugural growth fund, backed by investors including the European Investment Fund, Bpifrance, FNVI and BNP Paribas to invest in European B2B companies scaling energy transition, low-carbon industrial and circular economy technologies.

🇩🇰 Denmark’s BioInnovation Institute secured up to €25 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to launch its “Upscalator” initiative supporting early-stage European biosolutions startups with facilities, expertise and capital to accelerate their market readiness and green transition impact.

🇩🇪 Munich-based deeptech investor Vanagon Ventures closed its first fund with €20 million in private capital to back pre-seed and seed-stage European B2B deeptech startups in sectors such as manufacturing, materials, AI and natural capital.

💶 Eurazeo launched a €500 million target Future Industries Fund to invest €10-30 million tickets in late-stage and early-growth European climate and industrial tech companies, focusing on capital-intensive sectors such as energy, buildings, infrastructure and resource supply chains.

🇦🇺 The Australian government has finalised the design of a A$5 billion Net Zero Fund that will lend to heavy industry on highly concessional terms to help firms decarbonise and adopt clean technologies.

Materials x Climate

🤖 Germany’s R3 Robotics raised €20 million in combined Series A funding and grants from investors including HG Ventures, Suma Capital and the EIC Fund to scale its AI and computer-vision-driven robotic systems for automated disassembly of EV batteries and other electrified vehicle components.

📝 London-based AI materials design startup Polaron raised $8 million seed funding in a round led by Racine², with participation from Speedinvest and Futurepresent, to expand its AI platform that predicts and optimises advanced material performance from microscopy data across sectors such as EV batteries and manufacturing. 

♻️ Biomaterials startup Dionymer, based in France, secured €7 million in a seed funding round led by UI Investissement, with participation from BNP Paribas Développement, Bpifrance, NACO and existing backers including AFI Ventures, IRDI Capital Investissement, AQUITI Gestion and ResiliAnce.io, to scale industrial production and commercial deployment of its biodegradable PHA polymers made from biowaste.

🇫🇷 French copper recycling startup Recupere Metals raised a €5 million seed round from investors including SISTAFUND, Norrsken Evolve, Endgame Capital, Ring Capital, Triple Impact Ventures, Ventures Together, Earth Venture Capital and Sake Bosch to scale its mechanical upgrading technology that turns scrap copper into high-conductivity wire without smelting or virgin metal.

🎨 Cambridge University spin-out Sparxell secured €4.2 million in pre-Series A funding led by SWEN Capital Partners with participation from Alpha Star Capital and Cambridge Enterprise. It will use the funds to scale manufacturing and commercialise its plant-based, biodegradable structural colour technology as a replacement for toxic synthetic dyes and pigments.

🧖‍♀️ US-based Savor, which makes agriculture-free fats from captured carbon and green hydrogen, launched a beauty and personal care division with low-emissions lipid ingredients to replace palm and other tropical oils in cosmetics and skincare products.

🔥 Good Read: Jonathan Healy at Cathay Innovation says that mining is hot for a reason.

Mobility x Climate

🚙 German startup Additive Drives raised over €25 million from Nordic Alpha Partners and existing investor AM Ventures to scale global production and deployment of its 3D-printed, lightweight, magnet-free electric motors aimed at cutting energy consumption and accelerating electrification across the industrial and mobility sectors.

🛻 A driverless shuttle trial will launch in Kirkwall, Orkney, led by Urban Foresight using autonomous Auto-Pod vehicles from UK company Aurrigo, to study the feasibility and emissions benefits of zero-emission self-driving transport for rural communities.

Water x Climate

🌊 Seattle-based ocean data startup Apeiron Labs raised $9.5 million Series A funding in a round led by Dyne Ventures, RA Capital Management Planetary Health and S2G Investments. It will use the funds to scale low-cost autonomous underwater vehicles that repeatedly sample subsurface ocean conditions and deliver far cheaper, persistent data for defence, fisheries and climate uses.

🍇 Heard on the grape vine: Nestlé is set to sell its $5.8B Global Water Business.

 🤠 Cabriolet x Climate

🪴 How to have your own garden in a public space:

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Editorial and curation by Nicola