Carbon13 ramps up climatetech startup funding with biggest round of investment yet into 21 ventures
Image Puja Balachander, Head of the Venture Launchpad, walks with Amy Ma, founder of Danu Robotics, from Cohort 2 of the Venture Launchpad
Carbon13 is delighted to announce that we have invested into 21 start-ups. This is our biggest round since our first eight ventures in September 2021, just two years ago.
Carbon13’s founding belief then has not changed today: entrepreneurs are the answer to the climate emergency. We believe they will change the trajectory of the world by exploring thousands of new areas, applying the best of humanity’s innovations, moving millions of people to action, and creating meaningful and measurable impact.
It is Carbon13’s role, and privilege, to support these entrepreneurs to make sure this future actually happens.
Dr Nicky Dee
Co-founder and Chief Sustainability Officer
At Carbon13 we believe in the forward thinking of entrepreneurship, the power of innovation to re-invent the rules, and the art of the venture studio to accelerate startups. Our latest round of investments shows how new ventures can prompt stakeholders to reimagine what is possible – from mobility to carbon utilisation, the built environment and beyond.
Nicky Dee
Co-founder of Carbon13
Our first Venture Builder began in the innovation hotspot of Cambridge in 2021 and has since produced such ventures as Kita, Nium, and Materials Nexus. In 2023, we launched the Venture Builder in Germany and expanded our offering to startups through our accelerator the Venture Launchpad. Through these three programmes, we can now make our biggest round of investments – so far.
This round of investments takes the total to 65 preseed investments in climatetech startups from the Carbon13 funds. This makes us one of the most active investors in the climate tech space. This current group is made up of incredibly strong ventures, who are already executing their plans and successfully raising further funding, so we are very excited to be a part of their story!
Michael Langguth
Co-founder and CSO of Carbon13
Michael Langguth
Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer
Meet the ventures
Image Christian Allen of Mozaic Earth, Freddie Scott of Cocoon and Sam Duke of Adia Thermal on the Venture Builder
What makes a Carbon13 venture a Carbon13 venture is that each startup here has demonstrated to us their ability to mitigate a minimum of 10 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions per year once at scale. We invest in nothing less.
15 of the 21 ventures receiving investment from Carbon13 are listed below. Descriptions of the other 6 investments made into EU-based startups will be made public in the coming weeks.
46% of the startups below have at least one female cofounder. One third are software based, leveraging technologies such as computer vision, AI and digital twins. Two thirds are hardware or deeptech based, including robotics, micro hydro turbines, carbon capture in steel manufacture, and bio-manufacture for fuels.
The Venture Launchpad
The Venture Launchpad is the accelerator for carbon removal and reduction. It brings the Carbon13 ecosystem to early stage startup teams, with the one-on-one bespoke support that startups need to progress rapidly.
The ventures work on their growth milestones while understanding and maximising their solutions’ full potential on carbon.
Nine ventures have received investment through Venture Launchpad – and applications are open now for our next cohort which begins in November.
Natural Building Systems – Producing a carbon-negative, modular system for sustainable construction.
Pattern Project – Reducing waste in fashion production by offering an AI-driven supply chain and digital twin service for made-to-order garment manufacturing
Future Greens – Solving the energy conundrum to scale carbon negative vertical farming through circularity.
Hubl – Revolutionising cold chain logistics with their unique Pods, using advanced phase change materials
Cercula – Accelerating decarbonisation in the construction sector through a carbon data calculator.
Optimise AI – Reducing energy and carbon emissions from buildings via its revolutionary AI assisted Digital Twin
Pulse – Introducing their HydraPulse, an innovative turbine designed to achieve unparalleled efficiency and power output.
Reaforma – Making circularity in construction a reality by valorising mineral waste streams. Â
Danurobotics – Advanced and accessible AI and robotics technology that enables efficient and effective recycling globally and rapidly.Â
The Venture Builder
The Venture Builder brings together a cohort of 80 individuals committed to working on the urgent challenges of Net Zero. They work intensively on the programme to form cofounding teams and launch high potential climatetech startups.
These six ventures are from our fifth cohort of the Venture Builder.
Adia – Tackling the soft costs of heat pump adoption with simple sensors and digital-twin driven controls.
Deep Blue Biotech – Pioneering synthetic biology of cyanobacteria to developa biomanufacturing platform for carbon neutral chemicals.
Cocoon Carbon – Capturing CO2 and upcycling industrial waste to decarbonise the steel and cement industries.
Mozaic Earth – Enabling investors to put a value on the services that nature provides; carbon sequestration, healthy soil, fresh water, thriving biodiversity – through a community-led AI monitoring solution.
Climate-i – Reducing the climate’s most potent greenhouse gases through predictive monitoring and detection of fluorinated gases.
Cbamboo – Building the operating system for carbon border taxes, giving firms the tools they need to decarbonise the world’s supply chains. Â
Focused on scalable impact for the climate
These 21 startups take their place in the Carbon13 portfolio and will now focus on scaling. Investors in our alumni from previous cohorts include top tier climate VCs such as Pale Blue Dot, Agfunder, Octopus Ventures, High Tech Gründerfond, Unruly Capital, Climate VC, DCVC, Zero Carbon Capital and Ada Ventures. These include:
Kita – Earthshot 2023 nominated and the world’s first carbon insurer
Tierra Foods – Earthshot nominated 2023 and 2022, natured based CDR
Materials Nexus – AI powered materials discovery
Nium – Green ammonia, replacing Haber-Bosch
Infyos – EV supply chain platform
Sun Bear Biofuture – Precision fermentation, alternative palm oil
Biozeroc – Carbon negative concrete
Preoptima – Low carbon building design.
If you’re a founder of a climatetech startup, or ready to become one, explore the Venture Builder and Venture Launchpad. Applications are open now for our Venture Launchpad (until the 16th October), and for the Venture Builders in the UK and Germany.
Our Programmes
Whether you’re already a founder or ready to become one, explore our programmes to see how we’ll work with you to innovate on solutions for the climate emergency.
Venture Builder Cambridge
An eight-month programme for a cohort of 80 determined individuals from the UK and beyond, who don’t have a startup yet but want to find a co-founder and build a climate-tech startup.
Venture Builder Berlin
For founders resident in the EU, our Berlin Venture Builder combines the entrepreneurial and academic spirit of Cambridge with the DACH climate tech scene.
Venture Launchpad
The Venture Launchpad is a fully remote startup accelerator where teams work on their Carbon Case, their growth strategies, and their investment readiness for pre-seed and beyond.