💡 Vol 175: The importance of entelechy

Hi there,

Europe’s industrial renaissance took centre stage at HackSummit’s climate-focused day this Wednesday, and what a day it was.

Europe has a chance to lean into its strengths: deep engineering talent, advanced manufacturing heritage, and a growing appetite for long-term, infrastructure-scale innovation. And, as Beau-Anne Chilla, partner at FORWARD.one, put it: energy itself is fast becoming a form of currency, reshaping how we think about value creation in the climate economy.

There were startups galore, spanning advanced materials, greenhouse tech, biosecurity and beyond, showcasing a future that’s cleaner, more resilient, and built to last.

And we all learned a new word from Stefano Bernardi, General Partner at Unruly Capital: entelechy.

In this week’s edition: 

⚡️ The startup using century-old grid tech
⚛️ Blue Energy scored $380M for modular nuclear power plants
💎 The focus on critical minerals and why they're, well, critical

The Digest

🌊 Pacific island nations including Tuvalu, Fiji and Vanuatu have jointly launched the “Tassiriki Call for a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific”, a landmark regional declaration advocating for a global Fossil Fuel Treaty and a rapid, coordinated phase-out of coal, oil and gas.

🤖 US-based Sygaldry raised $139 million across seed and Series A rounds, led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Initialized Capital with participation from Earth Venture Capital and others, to develop quantum-accelerated AI servers that improve the speed and energy efficiency of AI workloads.

AgriFood x Climate

💶 Planetary, based in Switzerland, raised $28 million in a funding round led by Radikal Capital and Oetker Ventures with participation from Royal Cosun, Arc Investors, Green Generation Fund, AgriFoodTech Venture Alliance, Astanor Ventures and XAnge. It will use the funds to build and license its industrial fermentation platform that converts agricultural byproducts into mycoprotein and other ingredients. 

🐜 French agtech Agriodor secured €15 million Series A funding in a round led by the Environmental and Solidarity Revolution Fund, with participation from Région Sud Investissement, CAAP Création, Capagro, CapHorn and SWEN Capital Partners. It will use the funds to scale its scent-based crop protection technology that uses natural plant-emitted odours to influence insect behaviour.

🇨🇭 Swiss biotech Cosaic raised $6 million in a seed extension round led by DSM-Firmenich Ventures, with participation from Kickfund, a Swiss family office, Navus Ventures and Zürcher Kantonalbank, to scale its yeast fermentation-derived emulsifier that replaces multiple additives in food.

🇨🇦 Toronto-based AuX Labs closed $4 million in a round led by NYA Ventures and Nàdarra Ventures, with participation from Verdex Capital, Builders VC, Bluestein Ventures and Congruent Ventures, to scale production of animal-free cheese using precision-fermented casein.

Biodiversity x Climate

🌊 Ocean technology startup Ulysses raised $46 million in combined seed and Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Booz Allen Ventures and Harpoon Ventures, to develop autonomous underwater and surface vehicles that support ocean restoration, infrastructure and defence applications.

Energy x Climate

⚛️ US-based nuclear startup Blue Energy raised $380 million to build modular nuclear power plants manufactured in shipyards, with the funding aimed at scaling construction of its reactor-agnostic systems to deliver faster, lower-cost clean energy for industrial and data centre demand. 

🇬🇧 UK startup Rivan raised €28.7 million in a funding round led by Platinum Equity with participation from Planet A Ventures and Zero Carbon Capital to scale its modular production plants which produce low-cost synthetic fuels from captured CO₂ and renewable electricity.

⚡️ Ayr Energy, based in the US, secured $25 million from investors including Energy Impact Partners. It will use the funds to support the manufacture of modular iron-core transformers using century-old grid technology.

🚚 Paris-based Decade Energy raised €22 million from Eiffel Investment Group and SET Ventures, with participation from Ananda Impact Ventures and Contrarian Ventures, to scale its integrated depot power solutions, which combine storage, charging, solar and software for electric truck fleets.

🔥 Exergy3, a spinout from the University of Edinburgh, raised £10 million seed funding from undisclosed investors to scale its ultra-high temperature thermal energy storage systems that convert surplus renewable electricity into industrial heat.

🇫🇮 TheStorage, based in Finland, secured €3.6 million in a seed round led by Voima Ventures with participation from Superhero Capital, 2C Ventures, and Momentum, to scale its sand-based thermal energy storage technology that helps industrial companies decarbonise heat processes.

☀️ Berlin-based VREY raised €3.3 million from Rubio Impact Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds, and Kopa Ventures to epand its software platform that enables landlords to generate and distribute rooftop solar power to tenants in multi-family buildings.

🗺️ Plume raised €3.3 million in a funding round led by AENU, with participation from Y Combinator, Kima Ventures, Raise Phiture, Better Angle and Collab Fund, to help renewable energy developers accelerate site selection and permitting using geospatial AI.

🇺🇸 US-based NOC Energy secured $2.7 million seed funding in a round led by 360 Capital, with participation from SOSV and Desai VC, to develop hybrid industrial heating systems that combine electric and fossil fuel heat for cement and glass plants.

😎 Swiss startup LightSeeds secured €162,000 from Venture Kick to further develop and roll out its ultra-light, glass-free vertical solar systems that turn unused infrastructure surfaces into energy assets.

⚛️ US-based nuclear startup X-Energy has filed to raise up to $800 million in an IPO to scale its small modular reactor and nuclear fuel technology, with proceeds expected to support commercialisation and deployment of its clean energy systems.

🔌 Merino Energy, a San Francisco-based startup founded by a former Apple AirPods engineer, is developing a simplified, plug-in heat pump system that combines indoor and outdoor components into one unit to cut installation time and costs, aiming to make home electrification more accessible and scalable.

✅ Kinetic 7 has developed a breakthrough “hydrogen-on-demand” system that generates hydrogen from aluminium and water for use in fuel cells, aiming to provide a safer, transportable alternative to compressed hydrogen.

🤝🏼 California-based fusion energy startup Inertia is partnering with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to commercialise laser-based inertial confinement fusion technology that compresses fuel pellets to generate clean energy, with the aim of building grid-scale fusion power plants. 

Funds x Climate

💶 Eka Ventures closed a $107 million Fund II, backed by investors including the British Business Bank, Better Society Capital, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation and The Health Foundation, to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage startups focused on health, wellbeing and sustainability.

🇩🇰 Copenhagen-based VC firm Unconventional Ventures announced the second close of its Fund II with backing from investors including Wire Group, Investinor, FÆRCH OG DØTRE and Merete Lundbye Møller, to continue investing in underrepresented founders building scalable, impact-driven companies.

🇬🇧 The UK government launched a £50 million fund to accelerate the deployment of AI, robotics and nature-based agri-tech solutions, with the investment aimed at turning up to 12 innovations into practical on-farm tools that boost productivity while reducing labour, energy and fertiliser use.

Materials x Climate

🇸🇪 Swedish low-carbon steel startup Stegra secured a €1.4 billion rescue funding package led by the Wallenberg Investments consortium with backing from investors including Temasek and IMAS Foundation, to complete construction of its hydrogen-based steel plant in northern Sweden. 

🇨🇦 Canada’s pH7 Technologies closed an oversubscribed Series B of around $32 million, led by Fine Structure Ventures with participation from BHP Ventures, Energy & Environment Investment, Siteground, Gaingels, Calm Venture and existing investors including TDK Ventures, Pangaea Ventures and BASF Venture Capital. It will use the funds to scale its electrochemical technology that extracts critical minerals from low-grade ores and waste, with the aim of deploying the system across global mining operations. 

🔋 Altilium secured £18.5 million in grant funding from the UK government’s DRIVE35 Scale-Up Fund to scale its EV battery recycling technology, with the funds set to build its ACT3 facility in Plymouth and accelerate domestic recovery of critical battery materials.

♻️ Australian battery recycling startup Renewable Metals raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, with participation from Neglected Climate Opportunities, European Metal Recycling, Investible and Climate Tech Partners, to scale its hydrometallurgical process that recovers critical minerals from lithium-ion batteries.

🪵 Croatia-based Fasal Bio raised €7 million from BlackPeak Capital to scale its wood-based renewable composite platform designed to replace conventional plastics.

🇬🇧 Naturbeads, based in the UK, secured €4.1 million from the European Structural Fund to scale its biodegradable cellulose microbeads that replace plastic microbeads, with the investment used to support its new production plant in Italy.

🇺🇸 US startup Radify raised just under $3 million from Overture, Founders Inc., Mana Ventures and Acequia Capital to develop compact plasma reactors that convert metal oxides into pure metals for rare earth supply chains, with the aim of reducing reliance on Chinese supply.

🪸 Uluu, based in Australia, secured $2.1 million in grant funding from the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Program to scale its seaweed-based biodegradable materials.

🧱 Netherlands-based MAECONOMY raised €1.5 million from LUMO Labs and LIOF to build a platform that turns building materials into auditable, tradable circular assets using digital material passports and financial infrastructure.

🔮 Then v Now

The things we’d never have believed just a few years ago…

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Editorial and curation by Nicola