The Renaissance period of the 15th and 16th Centuries saw great social upheaval and a proliferation of art, literature, science and culture across Europe. It was also a time when the foundational principles for banking and finance were first articulated within business and trade. Now the EU is having a renaissance moment as deeptech and climate tech funding rebounds. Over €13bn was invested in total across these sectors during the first six months of the year, based on a recent report from Sifted.
The last two years of venture investing saw a marked decline globally with deal flow falling off a cliff in 2022 and 2023 according to Crunchbase data. But that trend may be changing for the better, if the explosive growth in the number of new European funds over the last few months is anything to go by. Particularly heartening from a regenerative finance perspective is that, after years of dining out on software, many of these new venture funds are targeting clean tech, climate tech and deep tech. Here are six top EU based VCs funds out of the blocks since the start of 2024.
Climate tech investor Carbon Equity operates its own investment platform attracting private capital to finance climate solutions. Founded in 2021, the company is now onto its second €100 million fund and has an interest in technologies such as green hydrogen, battery tech, carbon-free cement, heat pumps, bioplastics and next generation proteins.
The latest fund from Paris based Ternel aims €120 million of regenerative finance (ReFi) squarely at European startups, mainly at the seed to series A stages, focusing upon climate change, biodiversity, circularity, health, education and the need for inclusion. Ternel invokes the term “regenerative venture capital” in their investment thesis, explaining that status quo is not sufficient if we want to protect the planet.
Another Parisian VC by the ethereal name of Wind is on the road to building a €130 million war chest. Started by a group of previously exited founders, their investment thesis rests upon funding essential services and infrastructure industries such as those involved with environmental health, food sustainability, air quality, mobility and energy, construction and security. Previous bets include a car sharing app, green hydrogen producer and a waste transformation company.
Only a few days ago, Dutch investor Lumo Labs announced a €100 million fund aimed at backing 30+ impact-driven digital technology startups that deliver on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Lumo team perceive emergent technologies as instrumental in addressing global social, economic, and environmental challenges.
Also reported this week, Vsquared Ventures closed off their latest with an over-subscription at €214 million. This fund is the largest European early-stage deep tech fund so far, reflecting rapidly growing interest in deep tech across the Continent. With the NATO Innovation Fund being a major backer, Munich based Vsquared sees the need to protect European sovereignty in high tech, with investments already committed into diverse areas such as cognitive robotics, DNA sequencing and sustainable hydrogen.
Berlin-based climate tech investor AENU rounds out the half dozen new funds with a recently over-subscribed €170 million promising “a focus on early stage investments in energy transition and carbon economy” in Northern Europe.
Image credit: Steve Hersey via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 1.0
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