@Tata-JLR: The 53 most promising climate tech startups of 2023, Louis Fearn speaks to Business Insider

011h uses technology and timber to make buildings more sustainable

011h cofounder Lucas Carné
011h cofounder Lucas Carné.
011h

Recommended by: Marc Sabas, Ship2B Ventures 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2020

Headquarters: Barcelona, Spain 

Total raised: 35 million euros ($36.8 million)

What it does: 011h uses timber, sustainable design techniques, and software to build affordable and environmentally-friendly homes quickly. 

Why it’s poised to take off: The built environment accounts for 39% of annual carbon emissions, from the energy a building takes to operate to the emissions generated when producing the building materials. As a result, sustainable housing often comes at a higher price and this hinders scalability, Sabas said. It also makes the sector particularly hard to decarbonize.

“011h tackles the problem holistically by bringing together suppliers, builders, planners and developers in a single platform that integrates all components in building, reduces project management time and has the ability to measure end-to-end the embodied carbon in a new building,” the investor said. 

The company also has seasoned founders in Lucas Carné and Jose Manuel Villanueva, the previous cofounders of Privalia, a flash sales company they exited and one of Spain’s early success stories.

Aerones helps prolong the lifespan of wind turbines

Aerones cofounders Dainis Kruze, CEO, and Janis Putrams, CTO.
Aerones cofounders from left to right: Dainis Kruze, CEO, and Janis Putrams, CTO.
Aerones

Recommended by: Nick de la Forge, Planet A

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2015

Headquarters: Riga, Latvia 

Total raised: $37 million

What it does: Aerones has developed robots that clean, inspect, and repair wind turbines.

Why it’s poised to take off: The startup’s tech has a range of applications, from internal inspections to repairs and painting in harsh weather conditions. It also uses AI to power a predictive maintenance service, de la Forge noted.

However, the real lure for the investor is its potential to reduce downtime, improve the profitability of the wind power industry and extend the lifespan of infrastructure.

Agreena helps farmers get paid for switching to regenerative agriculture

Agreena cofounders Julie Koch, Simon Haldru, and Ida Boesen
Agreena cofounders from left to right: Julie Koch, Simon Haldru, and Ida Boesen.
Agreena

Recommended by: Jeremy Brown, Anthemis 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2016

Headquarters: Copenhagen, Denmark 

Total raised: 75 million euros 

What it does: Agreena has built a platform to help farmers access financing – be it through carbon credits or green bonds – for regenerative agriculture. It does this through monitoring and verification of regenerative agriculture’s environmental benefits, such as soil carbon storage.

Why it’s poised to take off:  “When we look at the role that agriculture will play in fighting the climate crisis, it’s substantial. Soils are a massive carbon sink, second only to the ocean in their carbon absorption power,” Brown said. 

Agreena has developed a platform that incentivizes farmers to increase the carbon potential in their land. “At scale, this will have a massive impact on taking carbon out of the atmosphere,” he said.

Aigen has built robots to weed farms

Aigen cofounders Rich Wurden and Kenny Lee
Aigen cofounders from left to right: Rich Wurden and Kenny Lee.
Peter Bohler

Recommended by: Sophie Bakalar, Collaborative Fund and Swati Mylavarapu, Incite 

Relationship to VC: Not a portfolio company for either investor

Founded: 2020

Headquarters: Kirkland, Washington, US

Total raised: $7 million

What it does: Aigen has developed a robotic fleet for agriculture. Its weeding robots use AI and are powered by solar and wind. 

Why it’s poised to take off: “Herbicide-resistant weeds are an acute and growing pain point for farmers, who also face pressure to reduce overall pesticide use,” Bakalar said. 

Bakalar is impressed with Aigen’s versatile design, which can be applied to a variety of farms she said, and that it’s tech is powered by renewable energy. 

Mylavarapu also likes the startup’s tech as well its potential. The investor noted that upcoming agriculture legislation in the US focuses on bringing rural communities into the green innovation wave. “This is a team and company to watch,” she said.

Agricarbon verifies how much carbon is stored in soil

Annie Leeson, Agricarbon CEO and cofounder
Annie Leeson, Agricarbon CEO and cofounder.
Agricarbon

Recommended by: Zoe Chambers, Frontline Ventures 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2018

Headquarters: Dundee, Scotland 

Total raised: £5.5 million ($6.7 million)

What it does: Agricarbon audits the amount of carbon stored in soils to increase confidence in soil carbon sequestration. The aim is to unlock finance for farmers switching to regenerative agriculture. 

Why it’s poised to take off: Soil has huge potential to sequester atmospheric CO2 and increased soil health can bring a bevy of other benefits such as crop resilience, flood resilience and biodiversity gains, Chambers said.

The investor is drawn in by the vision of Annie Leeson, Agricarbon’s cofounder and CEO, which aims to unlock “the huge opportunity” for agricultural CO2 removal by establishing the first trusted soil carbon quantification and certification service.

Ascend Elements recycles spent batteries to create parts for new batteries

Ascend Elements CEO Mike O’Kronley
Ascend Elements CEO Mike O’Kronley.
Ascend Elements

Recommended by: Louis Fearn, InMotion 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio

Founded: 2015

Headquarters: Devens, Massachusetts, US

Total raised: $1.5 billion

What it does: Ascend Elements creates sustainable battery materials from spent lithium-ion batteries, reducing the need to mining new materials.

Why it’s poised to take off: “A successful clean-energy transition hinges on our ability to recycle and extract value from spent cells in an economical and environmentally viable manner,” Fearn said. 

Ascend Elements is on track to become the leading domestic supplier of raw battery materials in the US, he said. That’s thanks to its closed-loop recycling process, which is “redefining” the lithium-ion battery industry by delivering active cathode materials to manufacturers in a way that drives down costs and carbon emissions, the investor added. 

Andes Bio is using microbes to boost crops’ ability to draw down carbon dioxide

Alex Roetter, Moxxie VC
Alex Roetter, GP at Moxxie VC.
Moxxie VC

Recommended by: Alex Roetter, Moxxie VC 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2018

Headquarters: Alameda, California, US

Total raised: $51 million 

What it does: Andes Bio is using microorganisms to enhance a plant’s ability to capture and store carbon dioxide in soil as it grows. 

Why it’s poised to take off: Roetter is drawn in by Andes Bio’s multi-pronged approach. The microbial carbon removal process “plugs in nicely” to existing agriculture processes, which is the company’s target market, making it scalable.

Plants use Co2 to grow and healthy soil also needs Co2, so the approach has co-benefits such as increased crop yields and biodiversity, he sad. 

“Carbon dioxide removal is having a moment and needs to scale to the 5 to 10 gigaton per year level over the next 27 years. To do this, we are going to need rapid growth from a lot of different companies and technologies, and Andes is well positioned to be one of them,” Roetter said.

Bnewable builds and manages renewable energy projects

Till Stenzel, SET Ventures
Till Stenzel of SET Ventures.
Timo Sorber

Recommended by: Till Stenzel, SET Ventures 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2022

Headquarters: Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium 

Total raised: N/A

What it does: Bnewable develops, funds, builds, and operates local solar systems for commercial and industrial companies who want to access renewable energy.  It also offers storage installations, EV charge points, and an energy optimization platform. 

Why it’s poised to take off: While Bnewable’s full-service offering removes the complexities of accessing renewables and storage systems for the end user, Stenzel is also impressed by the team behind it. 

“The company is led by an ambitious team of industry insiders that founded and led large cleantech and energy businesses,” he said.

Brimstone is decarbonizing cement

Cody Finke and Hugo Leandri, Brimstone's cofounders
Cody Finke and Hugo Leandri, Brimstone’s cofounders, from left to right.
Brimstone

Recommended by: Sophie Bakalar, Collaborative Fund 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2019

Headquarters: Oakland, California, US

Total raised: $60 million

What it does: Brimstone is decarbonizing cement — without changing the product or price, the company claims. It uses carbon-free calcium silicate rock instead of limestone in producing ordinary Portland cement (OPC).

Why it’s poised to take off: Brimstone achieved a third party certification indicating that it meets ASTM C150 requirements, a global materials standards in construction, Bakalar said. 

Brimstone’s ability to hit the milestone ahead of others puts it in good stead for accelerating the future of net-zero construction, she added. 

Byterat helps engineers understand battery performance

Byterat founder and CEO Penelope Jones
Byterat founder and CEO Penelope Jones.
Byterat

Recommended by: Terese Hougaard, Atomico 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2021

Headquarters: San Francisco, US

Total raised: Undisclosed 

What it does: Byterat has developed an advanced data analytics platform for battery engineers. With a better understanding of a battery’s potential performance, the end goal is to help manufactures bring next-generation batteries to market. 

Why it’s poised to take off: Given that batteries are a key part of the energy transition, Hougaard tipped Byterat as one of 2023’s hottest climate tech startups. 

It uses AI and cloud technology to unlock electro-chemical data for real-time battery performance forecasting, Hougaard said. 

Captura is an ocean-based carbon removal company

Captura CEO Steve Oldham
Captura CEO Steve Oldham.
Captura Corporation

Recommended by: Douglas Hansen-Luke, Future Planet Capital 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2021

Headquarters: Pasadena, California, US

Total raised: $12 million

What it does: Captura is an ocean-based carbon removal company. It uses renewable electricity and seawater in an electrodialysis process to extract carbon dioxide for storage or utilization. 

Why it’s poised to take off: “Captura has fast become one of the most promising carbon removal companies in the market by leveraging the world’s greatest natural carbon sink, the ocean,” Hansen-Luke said. 

The sell for him is that Capture provides “a viable path” to gigaton-scale carbon removal that is needed to curb the worst impacts of climate change, and at a competitive price point below $100 per ton. 

“They are one of the most compelling companies in our portfolio and we are thrilled to be among their first and largest investors,” he added.

Carbon One (C1) is developing green methanol

The Carbon One cofounders
The Carbon One cofounders.
Carbon One

Recommended by: Paul Murphy, Lightspeed Ventures 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2022

Headquarters: Berlin, Germany 

Total raised: 14 million euros ($14.7 million)

What it does: Carbon One is developing a system to produce green methanol en masse so it can be used as an alternative fuel in shipping. 

Why it’s poised to take off: Alternative fuels are an attractive bet thanks to a high gross margin licensing potential, protectable IP, and the ability to tackle large sectors, Murphy said.

Green methanol, which is made from low-carbon sources, will play a “crucial role” in slashing fossil fuel use in chemicals and shipping. It can be used with existing fuel distribution systems, leading to a rapidly growing market supported by a changing regulatory environment, Murphy said.

Carbon One’s process operates at lower temperatures, which lowers investment and operating costs, as the production facility can be located almost anywhere, the investor added.

Clevergy has developed an energy management system

Clevergy cofounders Alvaro Perez Bello, Beltrán Aznar and Juan López López
Clevergy cofounders: from left to right: Alvaro Perez Bello, Beltrán Aznar and Juan López López.
Clevergy

Recommended by: Max Bray, K Fund 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2022

Headquarters: Madrid, Spain

Total raised: 1 million euros (around $1 million)

What it does: Clevergy is an energy management platform that enables end-users to control and optimize their energy consumption. For example, it can be set up so that electric vehicles only charge at night when energy is cheaper because there is less demand. Clevergy sells to utility companies, which provide it to their customers to use. 

Why it’s poised to take off: Smart meters, solar panels, electric vehicles, heat pumps, and at-home batteries are on the rise, Bray said, and “Clevergy is perfectly placed to capitalise on this.”

The investor sees it as a win-win for utilities and customers; the former have increasingly pinched margins and growing customer churn, which is pushing them into novel tools for customer savings and engagement, he said. 

Climate Aligned is building an end-to-end platform for climate data

Climate Aligned team
The Climate Aligned team.
Svetlana Chekhlataya

Recommended by: Zoe Chambers, Frontline Ventures 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2022

Headquarters: London, UK

Total raised: £1.5 million ($1.8 million)

What it does: Climate Aligned is developing a generative AI-driven data platform to collect and analyse sustainability and ESG data. It hopes to help investors avoid greenwashing by making the climate credentials of companies, countries, and their bonds and loans transparent.

Why it’s poised to take off: Chambers was drawn to Climate Aligned’s “compelling” cofounders; seasoned climate, finance, and biotech engineer and founder Aleksi Tukiainen heads up the company as CEO and Krista Tukiainen, the former market intelligence head at the Climate Bonds Initiative, is chief operating officer. 

Chambers said the pair are “redefining how investors interact with and access decision-useful data on climate” through their use of machine learning technology. 

Coreshell Technologies is helping lithium-ion batteries live longer

Douglas Hansen-Luke, Future Planet Capital
Douglas Hansen-Luke of Future Planet Capital.
Future Planet Capital

Recommended by: Douglas Hansen-Luke, Future Planet Capital 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2017

Headquarters: San Leandro, California, US

Total raised: $15.7 million, per PitchBook

What it does: Coreshell Technologies develops a coating for lithium-ion batteries to help prevent specific kinds of degradation. 

Why it’s poised to take off: “To tackle climate change and reduce our carbon footprint, we need to accelerate the scalability of electric vehicles. Coreshell helps us to meet that challenge,” Hansen-Luke said.

The startup’s coating also enables better vehicle charging, unlocks higher-capacity and lower-cost batteries without wholesale manufacturing changes, the investor added. 

As a result, Coreshell Technologies’ product will play a critical role in the energy transition, Hansen-Luke said.

Crew Carbon speeds up natural processes to store carbon

CREW Carbon
Crew Carbon at a wastewater treatment plant.
Eric Medsker.

Recommended by: Christopher Wan, Bessemer 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2022

Headquarters: New Haven, Connecticut, US 

Total raised: N/A 

What it does: Crew Carbon removes carbon dioxide from wastewater in treatment facilities by using rocks that naturally absorb CO2 and act as a store. 

The process significantly speeds up the natural process of weathering, which otherwise takes millions of years, and stores carbon for thousands of years.

Why it’s poised to take off: “Crew is the only company that is doing enhanced rock weathering in closed, engineered systems,” Wan told Insider. Other companies are using the process in open systems such as agriculture or the ocean.

“The fact that Crew does enhanced rock weathering in closed systems makes the measurement, reporting, and verification of carbon sequestration far more feasible, cheap, and accurate,” he added. 

Customcells manufactures battery components for the likes of Lilium and Porsche

Daria Saharova, World Fund partner
Daria Saharova, World Fund partner.
World Fund

Recommended by: Daria Saharova, World Fund

Relationship to VC: Portfolio

Founded: 2012

Headquarters: Itzehoe, Germany 

Total raised: $62 million, per PitchBook

What it does: Customcells makes battery components and systems for a range of environments including satellites, unmanned underwater vehicles, and cars. 

Why it’s poised to take off: The electrification of vehicles is one of the biggest decarbonisation drivers – especially in hard-to-electrify use cases, such as aviation and maritime, Saharova said.

“Customcells’ technology enables the electrification of these sectors, making a low-carbon transport sector possible,” she added. The startup has have solved the two key challenges in electrification – significant range and power issues – which has led to winning big clients like Porsche and Lilium.

Ecoworks wants to reduce the impact of buildings

Arne Morteani, partner at Kiko Ventures
Arne Morteani, partner at Kiko Ventures.
Kiko Ventures

Recommended by: Arne Morteani, Kiko Ventures, and Daria Saharova, World Fund 

Relationship to VC: Not a portfolio company for either investor

Founded: 2018

Headquarters: Berlin, Germany 

Total raised: $41.6 million, per PitchBook

What it does: Ecoworks is a sustainable housing startup focused on developing net zero homes, including retrofitting. 

Why it’s poised to take off: By using software with prefabrication, meaning some elements of the building are constructed in a factory rather than on-site, Ecoworks can turn renovation backlogs into attractive and sustainable living spaces in just a few weeks, Morteani said. 

“It solves the most crucial problems of the construction industry, saving up to 80% of labor costs and bringing on-site work to automated factories. Ecoworks addresses one of the most pressing climate challenges and will help accelerate the decarbonization of buildings across Europe,” he said.

In all, Ecoworks has developed a scalable solution capable of “drastically” reducing emissions, World Fund’s Saharova added. 

Ember is an end-to-end electric bus company

Ember cofounders Keith Bradbury and Pierce Glennie
Ember cofounders Keith Bradbury and Pierce Glennie, from left to right.
Ember

Recommended by: Matt Penneycard, Ada Ventures 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2020

Headquarters: Edinburgh, UK

Total raised: £1.7 million ($2 million)

What it does: Ember is an electric bus company offering an end-to-end service from charging infrastructure and vehicles to passenger experience. 

Why it’s poised to take off:  “Ember, an electric bus network company that puts the passenger first, is an intriguing proposition,” Penneycard said. Its full-stack approach to managing everything needed to run an electric bus network “is really exciting” as it leads to “a far better customer experience,” he added. 

With many of the UK’s startups calling London or the South East home, the investor noted that his firm loves to see innovation from elsewhere in the country. 

E-mobilio is a one-stop shop to get people driving electric cars

E-mobilio cofounders Ralph Missy and Denis Reichel
E-mobilio cofounders from left to right: Ralph Missy and Denis Reichel.
E-mobilio

Recommended by: Till Stenzel, SET Ventures 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2019

Headquarters: Munich, Germany 

Total raised: 12.3 million euros (around $13 million)

What it does: E-mobilio is a one-stop-shop to help drivers switch to electric vehicles, from car selection to public charging.

Why it’s poised to take off: “We believe EV adoption is entering a new stage, transitioning from early adopters to mass market. This is radically reshaping the dynamics of EV sales and consumer engagement in the process,” Stenzel said. 

E-mobilio has had success in the “conservative German car market,” he said. This will be a good jumping-off point for international growth. It currently works with more than 350 car dealer groups in Germany and Austria, the investor added, including Toyota and insurance company HUK-Coburg.

Fyto grows aquatic plants to be used as animal feed

The Fyto team
The Fyto team.
Bill Reitzel

Recommended by: Laurie Menoud, At One Ventures

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2019

Headquarters: Petaluma, California, US

Total raised: $18 million 

What it does: Fyto as an agriculture tech startup growing aquatic plants, such as lemna and azolla, to use as animal feed and fertilizer in a bid to reduce the environmental impact of the food system.

Why it’s poised to take off: Fyto has developed an automated system – which the company said uses robotics – to cultivate and harvest nutrient-rich aquatic plants for animal feed, biofertilizers, and plant-based proteins. It could play a “critical” role in reducing emissions from agriculture, specifically methane, Menoud said. 

“With an edge in unit economics, Fyto offers a competitive alternative to traditional feeds like soybean, utilizing fewer resources in terms of land and water,” the investor added.

Ecosystem Restoration Standard certifies and monitors carbon credit projects

Ecosystem Restoration Standard CTO Baptiste Morel-Lab and machine learning engineer Mathieu Garrigues.
Ecosystem Restoration Standard machine learning engineer Mathieu Garrigues (left) and CTO Baptiste Morel-Lab (right)
Ecosystem Restoration Standard

Recommended by: Charles Seely, Hoxton Ventures

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2020

Headquarters: Paris, France 

Total raised: 5 million euros ($5.2 million)

What it does: Ecosystem Restoration Standard has created a digital system to certify and monitor nature-based projects, like reforestation, that generate carbon credits. 

Why it’s poised to take off: “There is a massive imbalance of supply and demand for carbon credits, which means the world needs to create and certify carbon credits as rapidly and accurately as possible,” Seely said. 

As well as certification bottlenecks, carbon credit projects have also been plagued with quality issues as many have been found to not represent the carbon removal stated. This has led to a boom in monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon credit projects.

Ecosystem Restoration Standard’s proprietary technology, which certifies and monitors projects on an ongoing basis, is a draw for Seely. “Beyond traditional third-party audits by independent experts, they use next-gen digital MRV —from satellite imagery to radar, to time-stamped, geo-located ground data— to make sure projects stay on track,” he said. 

Seely also noted that the team includes PhDs, data scientists, and data engineers.

Jolt Solutions is helping make hydrogen more accessible

Jolt Solutions
Jolt Solutions leadership team stands by a sign for the research institute ICIQ. From left to right: Alberto Bucci, Leon Rizzi, Arturo Vilavella, and Julio Lloret-Fillol.
Jolt Solutions

Recommended by: Marc Sabas, Ship2B Ventures 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2022 as a spin-out of research institute ICIQ

Headquarters: Barcelona, Spain

Total raised: 7.6 million euros ($8 million)

What it does: Jolt has developed a catalytic coating for electrodes used in hydrogen produced via electrolysis t0 improve efficiency and extend electrode lifespan. 

Why it’s poised to take off: The current production cost of green hydrogen, which is hydrogen produced with water and renewable energy, is too expensive. It needs to drop by at least 50% for it to become economically viable at mass scale, according to Sabas. 

By making the electrodes last longer and perform better with its coating, Jolt can help lower the cost over the hydrogen production and facilitate mass adoption, the investor said. 

Neobank Green Got is funding climate projects

Green Got cofounders Andréa Ganovelli, Maud Caillaux, and Fabien Huet
Green Got cofounders from left to right: Andréa Ganovelli, Maud Caillaux, and Fabien Huet.
Green Got

Recommended by: Heidi Lindvall, Pale Blue Dot 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2020

Headquarters: Paris, France

Total raised: 5 million euros (around $5.3 million)

What it does: While some mainstream banks use the public’s savings to invest in fossil fuels, Green Got is a neobank that invests in climate projects such as rainforest preservation, solar panels, and marine clean-ups. 

Why it’s poised to take off: “Our banks today operate as black boxes where we don’t have any knowledge and control of how our money is being used,” Lindvall said.

This increased awareness has led to demand from customers for more control over their money, she added. “Green Got is successfully gaining their trust accelerating its services beyond France.” 

Guided Energy had developed a smart energy platform for electric fleets

Guided Energy cofounders Anant Kapoor and Eric Attoyan
Guided Energy cofounders from left to right: Anant Kapoor and Eric Attoyan.
Guided Energy

Recommended by: Laura McGinnis, Balderton Capital 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2023

Headquarters: Paris, France 

Total raised: Undisclosed 

What it does: Guided Energy has developed a platform for electric fleet management. It uses machine learning to optimize charging and job allocations for its customers, which include rideshare and logistics companies, according to its website. 

Why it’s poised to take off: McGinnis is impressed by the startup’s “top-tier team” and software that goes beyond fleet monitoring – it provides recommendations for optimal charging, job assignments, and can regulate charger power output, she said. 

“Our confidence is further bolstered by our strong belief in the market potential. As fleets transition to electric and electrification surges, sectors like car rentals, delivery services, and ridesharing platforms stand to benefit immensely,” McGinnis said.

Hello Watt helps consumers manage their energy consumption

Hello Watt cofounders Xavier Coudert and Sylvain Le Falher
Hello Watt cofounders from left to right: Xavier Coudert and Sylvain Le Falher.
Hello Watt

Recommended by: Pablo Pedrejon, Seaya 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2017

Headquarters: Paris, France

Total raised: N/A

What it does: Hello Watt has developed a consumer energy management system. It tracks energy use, provides users with a detailed analysis, and recommends ways to reduce energy bills. It also allows users to compare utility providers, insulate their home, and install solar. 

Why it’s poised to take off: While there are a host of energy management products on the market right now, Pedrejon noted Hello Watt’s ability to help customers go green with its insulation and renewables services, as well as its focus on real-time data.

Hide Biotech makes sustainable alternatives to leather

Hide Biotech cofounders Yudi Ding and Niels Ramay
Hide cofounders from left to right: Yudi Ding and Niels Ramay.
Hide Biotech

Recommended by: Charles Seely, Hoxton Ventures

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2020

Headquarters: Cambridge, UK

Total raised: £6 million ($7.3 million)

What it does: Hide is a biotech company making an alternative to leather.

Why it’s poised to take off: Seely dubbed Hide, which uses protein chemistry and engineering, as “transformational.”  

“Its materials provide a viable alternative to leather with comparable performance,” he said. “We have seen many competitors come and go, but Hide is an emerging leader because it is able to meet both the aesthetics and quality performance needs of the world’s largest and most exclusive brands, and because of its ability to supply materials at a very large scale.”

IF Returns is making ecommerce returns more sustainable

IF Returns cofounders: Paul Obando, CTO, Galo de Reyna, CEO, and Marcello Vallerio, COO.
IF Returns cofounders from left to right: Paul Obando, CTO, Galo de Reyna, CEO, and Marcello Vallerio, COO.
IF Returns

Recommended by: Max Bray, K Fund 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio

Founded: 2020

Headquarters: Madrid, Spain

Total raised: 4 million euros (around $4.2 million)

What it does: IF Returns is a returns management platform for ecommerce. It encourages exchanges and new sales by reducing out-of-stock items and damage through its sustainable logistics operation. 

Why it’s poised to take off:  “Bringing an environment-first approach to the monster challenge that is online returns, co-founders Marcello and Galo have carved out a niche serving all shapes and sizes of fashion and e-commerce players in Southern Europe,” Bray said. 

Instead of collecting items, it has a network of 200,000 drop-off points in a bid to reduce carbon emissions. This, together with electric delivery vehicles and sustainable packaging “sets them up brilliantly to grow across Europe in the years to come,” he added.

Lithos Carbon is using volcanic rock to capture and store carbon

The Lithos Carbon team after taking soil samples
The Lithos Carbon team after taking soil samples.
Lithos Carbon

Recommended by: Mona Alsubaei, Transition 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2022

Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, US

Total raised: $6.3 million

What it does: Lithos Carbon is an enhanced rock weathering company. It spreads crushed nutrient-rich volcanic rock, often a byproduct of the mining industry, on cropland. The rock draws down atmospheric carbon and stores it, accelerating a natural carbon removal and sequestration process.

Why it’s poised to take off: Agriculture is both contributing to the climate crisis and being negatively impacted by it, Alsubaei said. Lithos Carbon’s enhanced rock weathering also increases crop yields, improves soil health, and enhances crop resilience to pests and droughts, the investor said. 

Alsubaei noted that the startup has spread over 50,000 tons of rock dust in North America. It has also collected more than 6,000 soil cores, which are being used to validate accurate carbon removal in new regions, the company told Insider. 

Lumachain tracks the supply chain of meat and chicken

Jamila Gordon, CEO and founder of Lumachain
Jamila Gordon, CEO and founder of Lumachain.
Lumachain

Recommended by: Tess Hatch, Bessemer 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio

Founded: 2018

Headquarters: Sydney, Austrailia, and Denver, Colorado, US

Total raised: $22 million

What it does: Lumachain’s has developed an AI platform to bring supply chain transparency for beef and chicken, from ranch to restaurants. The company claims this improves food safety, employee safety, and oversight of the protein industry’s carbon footprint.

Why it’s poised to take off: “Lumachain is revolutionizing one of the oldest industries in the world, one that hasn’t been touched by software,” Hatch said. 

The technology helps the food supply chain industry to reduce waste, increase efficiency, and grow revenues and margins, the investor added. 

Hatch noted that the company is working with large meat processing companies, including JBS and Tyson.

Materials Nexus helps speed up the discovery of new materials

The Materials Nexus team
The Materials Nexus team.
Materials Nexus

Recommended by: Matt Penneycard, Ada Ventures 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2020

Headquarters: London, UK

Total raised: $4 million 

What it does: Materials Nexus has built a platform that uses AI to make the discovery and development of sustainable materials more efficient. 

Why it’s poised to take off: The energy transition and race to net zero is top of mind for many but still relies on Earth’s resources, such as precious metals and rare elements. That’s what Materials Nexus uses AI to find replacements for, Penneycard said. 

“The company is going to build labs to find and create the materials themselves; their technical team is incredibly accomplished,” the investor said.

“Founder Jonathan Bean’s vision is genuinely ground-breaking – and it’s exactly the kind of breakthrough idea that gets us excited at Ada Ventures. It could change the world for the better.”

Mill Industries is tackling consumer food waste by recycling it into farm feed

Mill cofounders Matt Rogers and Harry Tannenbaum
Mill cofounders from left to right: Matt Rogers and Harry Tannenbaum.
Mill

Recommended by: Swati Mylavarapu, Incite 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio

Founded: 2020

Headquarters: San Bruno, California, US

Total raised: $232 million, per PitchBook

What it does: Mill Industries has developed a smart trash can for food waste, which dries up leftovers or scraps and grinds them down. When the bin is full, the customers sends their waste to the company, which then turns it into chicken feed. 

Why it’s poised to take off: Mill is tackling an area where every individual can make an impact, which is important when climate change often feels like a dauntingly large challenge, Mylavarapu said. It is the latest venture of Matt Rogers, the cofounder smart thermostat company Nest, which was later sold to Google.

“This team’s magic is in their ability to build a complicated product and service, and make it look deceptively simple – and drive meaningful change in an everyday behavior,” Mylavarapu said.

By turning household food waste into chicken feed, “Mill is turning garbage into gold,” the investor added. “And that is revolutionary for our planet, for their business, and my portfolio.”

Mitiga Solutions predicts the risk of extreme weather and hazards

The Mitiga team
The Mitiga team.
Mitiga

Recommended by: Max Bray, K Fund

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2018

Headquarters: Barcelona, Spain

Total raised: $17 million

What it does: Mitiga Solutions has developed an AI-driven platform to predict the risk and potential damage of extreme weather events and hazards. The data is used to help protect people and assets, and make them more resilient. 

Why it’s poised to take off: “Mapping climate risk is a problem that is only going to increase in the years to come, and we are firm believers in the value of software tools to help mitigate the effects,” Bray said.

“We’re big fans of both Mitiga’s development of proprietary data sets and algorithms on top of this, as well as an approach that focused on building a product tailored to specific verticals.”

OroraTech uses small satellites to monitor wildfire risk

The OroraTech team
The OroraTech team.
OroraTech

Recommended by: Daria Saharova, World Fund

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2018

Headquarters: Munich, Germany 

Total raised: 17 million euros ($17.8 million)

What it does: OroraTech is a space-tech startup using small satellites and sensors to collect thermal imagery data and detect potential wildfire hotspots. 

Why it’s poised to take off: Wildfires threaten biodiversity, the natural world, and vital carbon stores like rainforests, but the climate crises stokes them.

There is “immense climate performance potential” in protecting rainforests, Saharova said.  “OroraTech’s solution is an intelligent solution to a problem worsening each year.”

Opna helps carbon removal projects get funded

The Opna team
The Opna team.
Riccardo Riccio

Recommended by: Terese Hougaard, Atomico 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2022

Headquarters: London, UK

Total raised: $8.3 million

What it does: Opna has built a financing platform to help businesses discover and invest in pre-vetted carbon removal projects, such as reforestation and biochar. 

Why it’s poised to take off: “While an increasing number of corporates have made 2025 net zero commitments, most are struggling to reach these,” Hougaard said. This is compounded by the fact some carbon credits that are bought by corporations to offset emissions may not represent the carbon savings they are supposed to.

Opna has developed its own method of vetting projects; the platform offers “trustworthy carbon projects,” Hougaard said. 

Overstory helps manage vegetation to reduce wildfire risk

The Overstory team
The Overstory team.
Overstory

Recommended by: Alex Roetter, Moxxie VC 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2017

Headquarters: Amsterdam, The Netherlands 

Total raised: $25 million 

What it does: Overstory uses machine learning on top of satellite imagery to help utilities optimize their vegetation management work, which reduces the risk of wildfires and outages while improving network reliability. 

Why it’s poised to take off:  “Climate change is here. We need to manage the risks today of massive wildfires and destruction to property and loss of life,” Roetter said.

Overstory helps to do just that. “Sadly, once in a century wildfires are now an annual occurrence. We need to throw everything we have at this problem, including tools like this,” he added. 

Proxima is a nuclear fusion company

The Proxima Fusion team
The Proxima Fusion team.
Proxima Fusion

Recommended by: Daria Saharova, World Fund

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2023

Headquarters: Munich, Germany 

Total raised: 7.5 million euros ($8 million)

What it does: Proxima Fusion develops nuclear fusion power plants.

Why it’s poised to take off: A huge amount of emission reductions need to come from technologies yet to be developed, one of those technologies is nuclear fusion.

Nuclear reactors today use fission technology, where atoms are split to create energy. Two atoms have to be combined for fusion energy, which is the same process that fuels the sun. 

“We want fusion to succeed as it will provide abundant, fossil-fuel-free energy for future generations,” Saharova said. There are handful of nuclear companies working to crack it, but “Proxima’s technology is one of the most advanced in the market, the investor added. She also believes that they have the right team in place to succeed.

Quanterra monitors forestry ecosystems

Tess Hatch, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, smiles for a photo against a gray background.
Tess Hatch is a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners.
Bessemer Venture Partners

Recommended by: Tess Hatch, Bessemer 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2021

Headquarters: Exeter, UK

Total raised: $1 million

What it does: Quanterra provides ecosystem monitoring for nature-based solutions to the climate crisis, such as forestry projects or regenerative agriculture. It monitors carbon sequestration as well as the flows of water and energy to understand overall ecosystem health and the effects of different land management.

Why it’s poised to take off: The startup uses eddy covariance towers produce ground-truth data on how gases move in an ecosystem, Hatch said. “This will be vital for the nature-based solution value chain, which currently lack data on how much carbon dioxide stays in soils,” she added.

Quanterra hardware and software package is a fraction of the cost of traditional eddy covariance towers, is more robust, and easy to maintain, the investor said. 

Data can be collected up to every 30 minutes. The startup is also looking at extending its system to methane, according to its website. 

Really Clever makes sustainable materials from fungal waste

Really Clever cofounders Matt Millar and Patrick Baptista Pinto
Really Clever cofounders from left to right: Patrick Baptista Pinto and Matt Millar.
Really Clever

Recommended by: Hussein Kanji, Partner, Hoxton Ventures

Relationship to VC: Portfolio

Founded: 2021

Headquarters: Nottingham, UK

Total raised: $1 million 

What it does: Really Clever makes sustainable materials, for example leather alternatives, from bio-based ingredients and fungal waste, helping fashion companies curb their environmental footprint. 

Why it’s poised to take off: Kanji noted the versatility of Really Clever’s technology – it can use a range of biological-based source material to create “a multitude of different materials to replace animal and plastic derived products.” 

Recycleye beings AI-powered automation to waste sorting

Recycleye cofounders Victor Dewulf and Peter Hedley
Recycleye cofounders from left to right: Victor Dewulf and Peter Hedley.
Recycleye

Recommended by: Pablo Pedrejon, Seaya 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2019

Headquarters: London, UK

Total raised: $25 million

What it does: Some materials are not recycled when the cost of sorting them is more than the materials are worth, according to Recycleye. In efforts to tackle this, the startup uses AI and robotics to make recycling more efficient. By bringing down the cost of sorting materials, it hopes more will be recycled.

Why it’s poised to take off: Recycleye’s robots can pick up to 33,000 items per robot over a 10-hour shift, Pedrejon said. The investor touted it as “the most accurate and efficient AI robotic picking solution globally available today, offering a fast, cost-effective retrofit to existing recycling facilities.”

Its technology allows it to scale fast on existing infrastructure across Europe and the US, he added.  

RePurpose helps companies manage and reduce plastic

RePurpose Global cofounders: Aditya Siroya, CEO Svanika Balasubramanian and Peter Wang Hjemdahl.
RePurpose Global cofounders from left to right: Aditya Siroya, CEO Svanika Balasubramanian and Peter Wang Hjemdahl.
rePurpose Global

Recommended by: Danielle Jing, Pear VC

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2016

Headquarters: New York

Total raised: Undisclosed 

What it does: RePurpose has created a software platform to help companies account for and reduce their plastic use. It helps its customers set targets, find alternative materials and comply with policy. 

Why it’s poised to take off: RePurpose has “built a thoughtful approach to tackling waste that makes them trusted partners,” Jing said.  “It’s truly amazing the impact they’ve made all over the world as well.”

It shows its value through its impact partner ecosystem, plastic credit protocols, flagship plastic-neutral certification, and foot-printing science and standards, Jing added. 

RePurpose has recovered 15 million kilograms of plastic waste from the environment and worked with 300 companies measure and reduce their plastic footprints, it told Insider.  

Safi makes it easier to trade recyclable materials

The Safi team
The Safi team.
Safi

Recommended by: Hussein Kanji, Hoxton Ventures

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2021

Headquarters: London, UK

Total raised: $5.5 million 

What it does: Safi has developed a B2B marketplace for trading recyclable materials, which digitized existing processes. It is powered by AI, which certifies of the material’s quality. 

Why it’s poised to take off: The recycling market is expected to boom in the next decade, Kanji said. Safi is primed to benefit from that scale – it removes friction, increases product and price transparency, and provides access to a wide international customer base, the investor said. 

Simplifyber makes bio-based materials to replace polyester

Simplifyber cofounders Philip Cohen, COO, and Maria Intscher-Owrang, CEO
Simplifyber cofounders from left to right: Philip Cohen, COO, and Maria Intscher-Owrang, CEO
John Mofield

Recommended by: Laurie Menoud, At One Ventures, and Louis Fearn, InMotion Ventures 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio for Menoud, and not a portfolio company for Fearn

Founded: 2021

Headquarters: Raleigh, North Carolina, US

Total raised: $4.9 million

What it does: Simplifyber makes bio-based materials to replace polyester by injecting a specially-formulated cellulose liquid into a proprietary system of molds. It’s manufacturing system enables the production of sustainable soft goods at scale, without plastic.

Why it’s poised to take off: Menoud touted Simplifyber as revolutionary. 

“Simplifyber addresses two significant issues in the fashion industry: sustainability and cost. By eliminating waste and pollution while maintaining cost-effectiveness, Simplifyber positions itself as a future leader in eco-friendly clothing production with a real potential to displace polyester,” she said. 

The startup’s cost and sustainability credentials were also a pull for Fearn who said, “Simplifyber has the potential to become a mainstay in the world’s apparel, footwear, and automotive industries.” 

Solugen is creating alternatives to petrochemicals

Michael Smith, GP and cofounder of Regeneration.vc
Michael Smith, GP and cofounder of Regeneration.vc
Regeneration.VC

Recommended by: Michael Smith, Regeneration.vc

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2016

Headquarters: Houston, Texas, US

Total raised: $640 million, according to PitchBook

What it does: Solugen is a biotechnology company that has developed sustainable alternatives to petrochemicals. 

Why it’s poised to take off: “Bioforge is a first-of-its-kind waste-to-green chemicals production process poised for rapid adoption to support a circular economy,” Smith said. 

The company’s alternative chemicals, which are made with enzymes, have a range of applications across agriculture, water treatment, concrete and cleaning.

Supercritical helps carbon removal projects get funded

Supercritical cofounders Michelle You, CEO, and Aaron Randall, CTO.
Supercritical cofounders from left to right: Michelle You, CEO, and Aaron Randall, CTO.
Supercritical

Recommended by: Paul Murphy, Lightspeed Ventures 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2021

Headquarters: London, UK

Total raised: $15.5 million

What it does: Supercritical has developed a carbon removal marketplace to help such projects get funded and to scale.

Why it’s poised to take off: Supercritical demystifies and brings trust to the voluntary carbon markets, where carbon credits are bought and sold by people and companies, by helping businesses purchase pre-vetted carbon removals, Murphy said. 

“Our view is every company will have a mix of decarbonisation efforts and carbon dioxide removal on their net zero journey,” the investor said. 

“The company’s dedication to continuous evaluation to find and fund new technology with the biggest potential underpin its mission,” he added. 

Cofounders Michelle You and Aaron Randall previously worked together at music startup Songkick, which You also cofounded. They have long been on Lightspeed’s radar, Murphy said, adding that Lightspeed believes their mission-driven approach to building the business will attract top talent and partners. 

Sylvera rates carbon credits to increase transparency of offsets

Sylvera cofounders Samuel Gill and Allister Furey
Sylvera cofounders from left to right: Samuel Gill and Allister Furey.
Nick Wilson

Recommended by: Laura McGinnis, Balderton Capital 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2020

Headquarters: London, UK

Total raised: $97 million, per PitchBook 

What it does: Sylvera help businesses purchase high quality carbon credits, which represent emissions removal or reductions, by rating them. 

Why it’s poised to take off: Balderton Capital believes Sylvera is “transforming” the voluntary carbon market (VCM) via its carbon credit rating and analytics platform, McGinnis said. It was an early company to offer this service, which is still largely nascent. 

“In an era where the global VCM is beset by fragmentation, scarce data, and inconsistent verification processes that can result in fraud, Sylvera emerges as a reliable market leader empowering organizations to confidently amplify their climate efforts and target net zero,” she said.

Toucan is tokenizing carbon credits

Raphaël Haupt, Toucan founder
Toucan founder Raphaël Haupt.
Toucan

Recommended by: Jeremy Brown, Anthemis 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2021

Headquarters: Zug, Switzerland 

Total raised: $16 million 

What it does: Toucan is using crypto tokens to share carbon credit info on an open, blockchain-powered database, which it hopes will increase transparency and integrity in the voluntary carbon market.

Why it’s poised to take off: “The development and sustained growth of the voluntary carbon market will be critical to meet our ambitious carbon reduction goals. To ensure that it continues to grow at a rapid pace, infrastructure layers providing the technical rails to help scale the voluntary carbon market will be critical,” Brown said. 

Toucan is one such company developing infrastructure to add transparency, he said.

Tulu is bringing the circular economy to residential buildings and offices

Tulu founders Yael Shemer and architect Yishai Lehavi
Tulu founders from left to right: architect Yishai Lehavi and Yael Shemer.
Tulu

Recommended by: Michael Smith, Regeneration.vc

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2019

Headquarters: New York, US 

Total raised: $30 million 

What it does: Tulu provides rental kiosks full of appliances, tools, and e-scooters to building owners to promote sharing and a circular economy amongst residents. 

Why it’s poised to take off: “Already in 26 cities worldwide, Tulu is poised to transform our everyday interactions with the built environment while supporting building owners to meet climate targets,” Smith said. 

Tulu’s units are also modular and IoT-enabled, residents use an app to hire a product instantly or book it in advance.

Upway refurbishes and resells e-bikes

Upway cofounders Stéphane Ficaja and Toussaint Wattinne
Upway cofounders from left to right: Stéphane Ficaja and Toussaint Wattinne.
Upway

Recommended by: Kristian Branaes, Transition 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2021

Headquarters: Paris, France 

Total raised: $30 million 

What it does: Upway refurbishes and resells small electric vehicles, starting with e-bikes. It ultimately wants to help decarbonise transportation by making e-bikes more affordable, and reduce waste by extending their lifetime.

Why it’s poised to take off: “The e-bike market is growing very fast, but high cost and a complex buying experience has held back mass-market adoption,” Branaes said. The investor sees Upway as a solution thanks to its discounted rates, warranties, and next-day delivery, which helps to position it as a market leader, he said. 

Upright uses AI to calculate the net impact of companies

Upright founder and CEO Annu Nieminen.
Upright founder and CEO Annu Nieminen.
Janita Autio

Recommended by: Nick de la Forge, Planet A

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2017

Headquarters: Helsinki, Finland 

Total raised: 5.5 million euro ($5.8 million)

What it does: Upright goes beyond ESG compliance to measure how a business, its products or services, capital invested, taxes paid, jobs, and resource use impacts the world. Its findings on some of the world’s biggest companies are available for free online.

Why it’s poised to take off: The fact that Upright has built an open-access platform showcasing its AI-driven impact data is a huge selling point for de la Forge. It challenges reporting or disclosures from companies themselves and democratizes impact data, he said. 

Windfall Bio is capturing and utilizing methane

Windfall Bio team: Judy Su, director of biology; Josh Silverman, the CEO; Carla Risso, director of environment.
Windfall Bio team from left to right: Judy Su, director of biology; Josh Silverman, the CEO; Carla Risso, director of environment.
Windfall Bio

Recommended by: Christopher Wan, Bessemer 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2022

Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, US

Total raised: $9 million

What it does: Windfall Bio produces methane-eating microbes that convert the potent gas into an organic fertilizer, which also boosts agriculture yield. 

Why it’s poised to take off: Wan is convinced by Windfall Bio’s double-pronged approach capturing methane and utilizing it. 

Methane is 28-times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period but remains in the atmosphere for a fraction of the time. Windfall Bio provides microbes and associated services to enable the capture of methane, including directly from the atmosphere. 

“Methane is an overlooked greenhouse gas that has far more harmful effects on the environment than CO2 does,” he added.

Vaayu is an ecommerce-focused carbon accounting company

Vaayu cofounders: Namrata Sandhu, CEO, and Luca Schmid, CTO
Vaayu cofounders from left to right: Namrata Sandhu, CEO, and Luca Schmid, CTO.
Vaayu

Recommended by: Heidi Lindvall, Pale Blue Dot 

Relationship to VC: Not in portfolio

Founded: 2020

Headquarters: Berlin, Germany 

Total raised: $13 million

What it does: Vaayu provides tools to help ecommerce businesses measure, track, and reduce their carbon footprint.

Why it’s poised to take off: Lindvall is impresses by Vaayu’s founding team, with former Zalando sustainability head Namrata Sandhu at the helm. 

She also likes its focus on the retail sector. “I love approaches that specialises on a sector to fully understand how to successfully decarbonise in the best way possible,” she said.

Vytal Global is tackling single-use packaging

Vytal Global's leadership team: Fabian Barthel, Josephine Kreische, and Tim Breker
Vytal Global’s leadership team from left to right: Fabian Barthel, Josephine Kreische, and Tim Breker.
Vytal Global

Recommended by: Arne Morteani, Kiko Ventures 

Relationship to VC: Portfolio 

Founded: 2019

Headquarters: Cologne, Germany 

Total raised: $12.5 million

What it does: Vytal Global has developed a reusable packaging system for cafes and restaurants where customers can order food then return the containers. It’s powered by an app that connects the packaging, customer and cafe or restaurant. 

Why it’s poised to take off: Circular economy is a key tactic to address climate change, Morteani said, in this case by replacing single-use packaging. Reusable packaging specifically is bolstered by a bevy of European policy discussions on the issue. In Germany and the Netherlands, reusable packaging must be offered to consumers.

Vytal says it has a 99% return rate with an average return time below five days. It also has a partnership with Germany’s largest food delivery service, Lieferando.

“With tailwinds in favour of reuse and strong network effects, Vytal is poised to become a very valuable company,” Morteani said. 

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