Sustainability Takes Center Stage as EU GreenTech Funding Booms

GreenTech startups in Europe have been raking in funding this week.

Hot off the back of the Cop27 summit, which saw European governments commit millions to green technology investment, venture capitalists are making their own contributions to the sector.

Leading the charge, Valar Ventures led a $23 million Series A round raised by London-based Treecard to fund its vision for a debit card that helps plant trees.

Currently in beta in the U.S., every $50 spent with the wooden cards plants one tree thanks to a partnership with Berlin-based Ecosia.

In another GreenTech Series A that closed this week, Gorilla, a spin-off from Belgian tech agency November Five, has raised €6 million ($6.3 million). The funds will be used to help energy companies reach their net zero emissions targets with its cloud-based data processing platform.

The startup has already picked up major energy supplier clients, including British Gas, ScottishPower, Shell Energy and Engie.

These companies use the platform to generate insights into the production and consumption of energy to more efficiently manage resources.

With Europe’s current energy prices, companies developing solutions to enhance energy efficiency have caught investors’ attention, not just for their green credentials, but for their increasingly money-saving proposition too.

For example, Finnish company Synergi has picked up €800,000 ($842,920) in pre-seed funding to develop its smart electricity management platform.

Synergi’s solution aggregates energy resources in homes and enables them to participate in demand-response markets.

Users can connect their electric vehicles (EVs) to the system and enable more intelligent charging that optimizes energy usage for lower costs. In the future, the company plans to incorporate features to help homes manage energy consumption and monetize energy generated.

The startup plans to launch to a wider Finnish audience and second market sometime in 2023.

Meanwhile, fellow Finnish startup Cactos has secured €2.5 million ($2.6 million) in equity and debt led by Superhero Capital to ramp up its battery repurposing capacity.

Cactos gives Tesla EV batteries a second life as energy storage systems for homes and businesses. It will use the new capital to meet demand by expanding its production facility.

Space Tech and Alternative Protein Attract Green Investors

While some startups are helping to clean up Europe’s energy ecosystem, others are taking a different approach to GreenTech.

Munich’s OroraTech recently closed a €15 million ($15.8 million) Series A extension round to support the development of its space-based thermal intelligence technology.

With a vision to use thermal data to boost sustainability efforts, OroraTech launched its first infrared camera into space this year and plans to send a second into orbit in 2023.

Currently, the startup is using the camera for wildfire detection and monitoring and claims to detect over 100,000 fires daily, protecting more than 160 million hectares of forest worldwide.

Besides energy transmission and climate monitoring, another area of innovation promising to cut back the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and help fight climate change is the alternative protein space. It holds enormous potential to reduce the world’s reliance on meat and lessen the environmental burden of its production.

Related: Tech Creates Sustainable Food System for Green EU Consumers

Looking to create a new protein source out of waste from the beer industry, Paris-based Yeasty recently scooped €1.4 million ($1.5 million) to scale up production of its yeast-based product and begin working with food manufacturers to test recipes.

By developing a new sustainable food source and helping brewers get rid of a waste product, the startup is hoping to kill two birds with one stone. It has attracted some of the greenest investors, including Asterion Ventures and Satgana.

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