Funding Event
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DeepDrive lands €30M for its electric motors that accelerate EV adoption
Munich-based DeepDrive, a high-tech electric motor company, has landed €30 million in Series B funding. The oversubscribed round was led by Leitmotif, an independent venture capital firm, active in both the US and Europe dedicated to decarbonisation investments. It saw participation from all existing investors, BMW i Ventures, co-pace, the corporate venture unit of Continental, UVC Partners, and Bayern Kapital (which invested in XO Life and Symphera), through the Wachstumsfond Bayern.
With this latest capital, DeepDrive is poised to convert high-volume projects in its strong customer pipeline of 8 of the world’s 10 largest automakers. The funding will also enable the company to build in-house production lines and industrialise its patented Dual Rotor motor technology to accelerate the mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).
Twelve Announces $645 Million in Funding Led by TPG to Transform CO2 into Jet Fuel and Electrochemicals at Scale
Twelve, the carbon transformation company that converts captured carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals, fuels, and other essential products typically made from fossil fuels, announced $645 million in funding. This raise is a strategic mix of capital which includes $400 million in project equity led by TPG Rise Climate, $200 million in Series C financing, and an additional $45 million in credit facilities from leading funders in the renewable energy sector marking this as one of the largest financing rounds to date in the e-fuels space.
The funding accelerates Twelve’s goals of defossilizing manufacturing processes, focusing first on emissions generated by aviation. This includes the completion of AirPlant™ One, Twelve’s inaugural sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant located in Moses Lake, Washington, which is expected to begin production in 2025. AirPlant One is the first of many facilities throughout the country to make E-Jet® fuel, using the company’s patented technology to produce SAF derived from biogenic CO2, water, and renewable energy sources which achieves lifecycle emissions up to 90% lower than conventional fossil jet fuel.
Inbolt bags €15M to sharpen industrial robots’ intelligence
In a world where automation is key to staying competitive, one startup is helping manufacturers overcome long-standing barriers. Inbolt, a Paris-based pioneer in real-time robot guidance solutions, has secured €15M in a Series A funding round led by Exor Ventures, to develop AI-powered vision for industrial robots. This funding will drive Inbolt’s mission to revolutionise factory automation through cutting-edge AI-powered software that gives robotic arms the ability to adapt in real-time to their surroundings.
The latest funding round, led by Exor Ventures, the early-stage investment arm of Exor N.V., will accelerate Inbolt’s research and development efforts, helping the company expand its operations in the US and Japan. Existing investors such as MIG Capital (Germany), SOSV (US), BNP Paribas Développement, and Bpifrance also participated in the round, bringing the total amount raised to €20M. Notably, Exor Ventures is the largest shareholder in companies like Ferrari and Stellantis, linking Inbolt to a broader network of industrial giants.
Tidal Metals Announces $8.5 Million Series Seed Funding Led by DCVC for Revolutionary Technology to Safely and Economically Extract Magnesium Metal from Seawater
Tidal Metals announced the completion of its $8.5 million Series Seed funding round led by DCVC with participation from First Spark Ventures and Bidra Innovation Ventures. The financing will fund the development and construction of a commercial pilot plant to demonstrate Tidal Metals’ breakthrough technology for extracting primary magnesium metal from seawater.
Tidal Metals has developed a revolutionary technology that will produce magnesium metal at competitive prices using a carbon neutral and environmentally harmless process. Magnesium is the second most abundant metal in seawater, averaging 1.3 kilograms per cubic meter. However, historical techniques that relied on chemical extraction proved to be economically uncompetitive and environmentally harmful. Without new innovations, the world cannot recover any of the magnesium contained in discharged desalination brine each year, estimated at over one hundred times the current global magnesium production of one million tons per year.
Cybord Raises $8.7 Million Series A to Expand First-of-its-Kind Visual AI Electronic Component Quality and Traceability Solution, Pioneering the Next Generation of Electronics Manufacturing
Cybord, the visual AI solution ensuring electronic component quality, authenticity, and traceability, announced that it has secured $8.7 million in Series A funding led by Capri Ventures, with participation from Ocean Azul Partners and existing investors IL Ventures and NextLeap Ventures, among other new and current investors. Partnered with leading manufacturers including Flex and Siemens, Cybord is integrated into over 60 manufacturing lines worldwide, inspecting millions of electronic components daily. This newest funding will be used to accelerate the company’s growth and further global distribution of its transformative solution.
Using deep learning and AI algorithms, Cybord analyzes and inspects 100% of electronic components on PCBA powering everything from electric vehicles to data centers. The Cybord solution addresses the industry’s critical need to confront electronic component quality to prevent damaging product condition, consumer trust, and manufacturers’ bottom lines. Until now, electronic component quality and security have largely been overlooked, leading to increased occurrences of defects and costly recalls, which hit a seven-year high in 2023. This unreliable state of electronic component quality results in time-consuming and costly reworking and scrapping of electronic boards and products, the allocation of valuable capital in anticipation of warranty claims, and costly recalls worth millions to billions of dollars in lost profits.
Pickommerce Secures $3.4M Investment to Advance Innovative Robotic Piece-Picking Technology
Pickommerce, a warehouse automation innovator, announced it has secured $3.4 million in funding to advance the development, production and marketing of its innovative PickoBot piece-picking robot. Pickommerce’s technology is poised to disrupt the warehouse automation market, which is projected to grow at a CAGR of 53.4% and reach nearly $9 billion by 2029, according to research firm Mordor Intelligence. The funding round was led by IL Ventures, a fund focused on disruptive technologies for legacy industries, and includes InNegev, Fusion VC, the Israel Innovation Authority and strategic investor ZIM Ventures, the corporate venture arm of maritime shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd (NYSE: ZIM).
With PickoBot, Pickommerce has delivered the missing link in achieving a fully autonomous warehouse workflow, providing a superior solution for various industries such as apparel, retail (consumer goods, food, DIY, electrical, etc.), e-commerce, pharmaceutical, agricultural and spare parts. PickoBot utilizes an advanced computer vision system powered by machine learning that enables the safe and intelligent packaging of objects of different sizes, weights and textures. It features multiple gripping methods in a single station, including vacuum, finger-based, and patented adhesive-based grippers. An AI-driven decision-making algorithm selects the optimal gripper and grasp configuration for each item. Pickommerce’s patent-protected technologies significantly increase the variety of products that can be handled by robots in logistics, as well as the level of autonomy those robots possess.
Samp raises €6M to scale up Shared Reality platform
French deeptech startup Samp, which has developed a first-of-its-kind AI-generated digital twin solution to accelerate the transformation and decarbonisation of industrial sites, has raised €6 million in funding. The investment came from Promus Ventures, which backed Recycleye and The Exploration Company, and Kvanted, which backed Buddywise and Cozero.
The investment will allow the company to scale up and deploy its innovative “Shared Reality” solution internationally. It will help Samp meet the growing demand by developing the sales team in France and Europe; continue R&D to stay at the forefront of AI and 3D developments; and prepare for international expansion outside Europe.
Reverion raises €56 million for serial production of renewable power plants
Reverion, a company building reversible, carbon-negative power plants, announced it had raised €56 million in Series A funding, including non-dilutive funding. The oversubscribed round was led by Energy Impact Partners (EIP) with participation from Honda and the European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund). Existing investors Extantia Capital, UVC Partners, Green Generation Fund, Doral Energy-Tech Ventures, and Possible Ventures also joined the round. This funding will enable Reverion to begin serial production of its power plants and meet over $100 million in customer pre-orders collected to date.
Reverion’s patented technology is paving the way to 100% renewable energy by using the full potential of biogas. Their reversible power plants overcome the limitations of conventional technologies for power generation from biogas, significantly increasing revenue for operators from the same biomass. Unlike conventional gas engines, which are inefficient and emit millions of tonnes of CO2 annually worldwide, Reverion’s fuel cell-based plants achieve up to 80% efficiency in power generation, doubling the electricity output of gas engines.
Cerrion raises $5 million in funding to boost AI Video tech in manufacturing
Zurich video AI startup Cerrion has raised $5 million in funding. The round was led by Y Combinator and Justin Kan’s Goat Capital, with additional participation from session.vc, Soma Capital, 10x Founders, Rebel Fund and renowned angel investors.
By automating tasks traditionally handled by skilled operators, Cerrion’s AI video-led technology helps manufacturers maintain productivity despite workforce shortages. It leverages standard CCTV cameras to learn and monitor production processes, automatically detecting and acting on deviations in real-time.
SiLC Technologies Receives Investment from Honda to Advance AI Vision Capabilities
SiLC Technologies, Inc. (SiLC), today announced it has received an investment from Honda to develop next-generation FMCW LiDAR solutions for all types of mobility. SiLC is the leading developer of integrated, single-chip FMCW (Coherent) LiDAR solutions and focuses on enabling advanced AI-based machine vision. Honda invests in innovative startups through its global open innovation program, Honda Xcelerator Ventures. This program is led by Honda Innovations, a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
SiLC is tackling several critical challenges in vehicle vision technology using high-performance FMCW LiDAR. Current radar and 2D/3D vision systems struggle with detecting dark objects, such as tires, at distances of a couple of hundred meters. They also have difficulty distinguishing between slow-moving and stationary vehicles for effective evasive actions. Most time-of-flight LiDARs suffer from interference caused by sunlight, retro reflectors, and other LiDAR systems. SiLC’s FMCW LiDAR overcomes these obstacles by detecting objects at distances of a kilometer or more with precise distance measurements and can measure the velocity of objects, allowing the system to predict their movements accurately.
Reshape Automation Raises $5 Million in Seed Funding to Catalyze Industrial Automation Equipment and Services Adoption
Reshape Automation, an AI-powered solution transforming industrial automation from discovery to deployment, has raised $5 million in seed funding. The round was led by Ironspring Ventures and included new investors Haystack, Supply Chain Ventures, Remus Capital, Expansion VC, and prominent angel investors including Amar Hanspal, former co-CEO of Autodesk, alongside existing investors Schematic Ventures and Bee Partners.
This funding milestone reinforces Reshape’s innovative approach to scaling industrial automation. Reshape’s platform consolidates and analyzes process data, tracks requirements, and aggregates demand and supply for automation equipment and services. With its recommendation engine, transparent pricing, and AI agents, the platform accelerates adoption, boosts transparency, and reduces risk for manufacturers and supply chain companies.
With this new capital, Reshape will accelerate the development and deployment of its product suite, the “Reshape Industrial Automation Hub”. Under this umbrella, Reshape is announcing two new products: Reshape Insights and Reshape Planner, and integrating its existing Reshape Market, which now features hundreds of automation products and solutions with plans to add thousands in the coming years.
Mantel Secures $30 Million to Bring Low Cost, Energy Efficient Carbon Capture to the Heavy Industrial Sector
Mantel Capture, Inc. (Mantel), the technology provider of a carbon capture system using molten borates, announced it has raised $30 million in Series A funding co-led by Shell Ventures and Eni Next. Additional participating investors include Engine Ventures, New Climate Ventures, Hartree, bp Ventures, Arosa Ventures, Vale Ventures, Newlab, MCJ Collective, and others. The funding will be used to implement a demonstration project at an industrial site and help pave the way for full-scale commercial deployment of Mantel’s high-temperature carbon capture systems. The company’s technology has already demonstrated carbon capture at lab scale of half a tonne per day, and the upcoming project will be around 10 times larger, rated to capture 1,800 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year at an industrial site.
Mantel leverages molten borates, the only high-temperature liquid-phase carbon capture material, to capture CO2 at the source of emission. By operating at high temperatures Mantel’s systems recover high-grade heat when capturing CO2 (absorption), offsetting the energy necessary to regenerate the molten borate material (desorption). This enables Mantel to capture CO2 from industrial emissions efficiently, reducing capture costs by more than half compared to conventional amine-based carbon capture technologies, which helps render installing Mantel’s carbon capture technology at heavy industry sites economically feasible. As more carbon capture equipment is installed, it is expected this will prompt more investment in infrastructure, further driving down costs of carbon capture, transport and storage.
Switch Bioworks Raises $17M in Series Seed Financing to Bring New Biological Fertilizer Technology to the Field
Switch Bioworks, a biotechnology company developing low-cost and sustainable fertilizers, announced it raised $17 million in Series Seed financing led by Change Forces Capital and joined by Grantham Foundation, Astanor Ventures, Acre Venture Partners, Anthos Capital, Thia Ventures, Emerson Collective, as well as the farmer-led Ag Ventures Alliance and others.
The first product Switch Bioworks is developing will be a consortium of diverse symbiotic microbes, where each member is engineered to release nitrogen fertilizer under precise genetic control. Applied at planting using existing farmer practices, Switch’s product will cost less than the conventional fertilizer it replaces, helping farmers improve their bottom line – fertilizer is one of the biggest operating expenses of farming.
24M Raises $87 Million in Series H Preferred Investment Round
24M today announced it has closed an $87 million investment round. This Series H Preferred Stock financing led by Nuovo+, a 24M strategic partner and licensee, values the company at $1.3 billion post-money. This new investment brings 24M total funding to over $500 million and will help accelerate the commercialization and mass production of 24M offerings, most notably with the acquisition and opening of a new R&D and pilot manufacturing plant in Rayong, Thailand. In addition to Nuovo+, other strategic investors in this round include Kyocera Corporation, ASAHI Kasei, Dai Nippon Printing Company (DNP), Lucas TVS and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.
6K Closes $82M as Part of Series E Fund Raise for Expansion of Production Capabilities
6K, a leader in the sustainable production of engineered materials for lithium-ion batteries and additive manufacturing, today announced that it has closed $82M as part of its Series E funding round. The capital raised was an insider-led investment with investors Anzu Partners, Energy Impact Partners, LaunchCapital, Material Impact, and Volta Energy Technologies participating to enable the company to scale up production for battery cathode active materials (CAM) and the expansion for additive manufacturing metal powders. The $82M represents the first close of Series E with the second close expected in the late fall. In addition, Dr. Aaron Bent has transitioned out of the position of CEO, handing the reigns over to 6K COO Dr. Saurabh Ullal who assumes the role of CEO effective immediately.
Seegrid Announces Closing of $50M Series D Investment
Seegrid Corporation, the leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for pallet material handling, today announced the successful closure of its $50M Series D investment round, funded by its existing lead investors Giant Eagle Incorporated and G2 Venture Partners, as well as smaller investments from other existing shareholders. The investment allows Seegrid to accelerate its autonomous lift truck market initiatives, which are currently generating more growth than expected, in a market that is projected to reach nearly $3.5B by 2027.
3DEO Secures Strategic Investment from Mizuho Bank to Drive Innovation in Metal Additive Manufacturing
3DEO, a Los Angeles-based leader in design, engineering, and metal additive manufacturing (AM), proudly announces a significant strategic investment from Mizuho Bank, Ltd., a Japan-headquartered global financial institution committed to fostering innovation and sustainability. This investment underscores Mizuho’s dedication to advancing the adoption of AM technologies and supporting 3DEO’s efforts to unlock new opportunities in product design and development.
Mizuho Bank’s investment of $3.5 million in 3DEO highlights a shared vision for the future of manufacturing, particularly in leveraging 3DEO’s proprietary Intelligent Layering® technology and expertise in Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM). This strategic investment follows Mizuho Bank’s “Transition Investment Facility,” aimed at promoting sustainability and innovation in various sectors.
Entalpic raises €8.5 Million to pioneer AI solutions for decarbonizing industrial chemistry
Entalpic, an innovative startup at the forefront of generative AI technology for materials discovery targeted to the chemical industry, announced today that it has successfully secured €8.5 million in seed funding. This investment is led by Breega, Cathay Innovation & Felicis, alongside contributions and insights from industry and academic advisors Jörg Weiser (ex-Managing Director at Schrödinger), Gilles Wainrib (co-founder at Owkin), Thomas Wolf (CSO and co-founder at Hugging Face), Arnaud Robert (ex C-level at Sanofi), Michal Valko (Principal LLama Engineer at Meta, ex-Deepmind) and Yoshua Bengio (Turing award, founder and scientific director at Mila). Entalpic emerges from a collaboration between researchers at Mila, the world’s premier research lab specializing in machine learning for climate action, and a leading executive from Owkin, a unicorn company renowned for its use of AI in drug discovery. Leveraging this expertise, Entalpic is set to redefine material and molecule discovery for a more sustainable future.
Entalpic’s state-of-the-art AI platform is designed to generate and evaluate new materials and molecules that could replace outdated industrial chemical processes. This platform swiftly formulates and tests chemical hypotheses through a series of automated experiments, enriching the knowledge base with actionable data. By integrating diverse data sources—from numerical quantum simulations and physical lab experiments to academic literature and patents—Entalpic leverages the latest in AI technology, including Large Language Models (LLMs), Active Learning and Graph Neural Networks.
Baseload Capital completes its €53M series B round to scale up geothermal energy
Baseload Capital, the Swedish company scaling up geothermal energy worldwide, announced the closing of its €53M Series B round of financing.
The Series B round was led by an investment from infrastructure fund ENGF. The main investor behind ENGF is Ingka Investments – the investment arm of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer. Other shareholders participating in this round include energy technology company Baker Hughes – whose investment was announced in 2023 – Nefco, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Gullspång Invest.
Baseload Capital pushes the boundaries for geothermal development by addressing underutilized resources and building a global collaborative portfolio of projects to scale the entire industry. Funds will be used to commercialize the company’s current portfolio of projects.
Nvidia Invests in Sakana AI's $100 Million Funding Round
Nvidia is investing in Sakana AI and partnering with the artificial-intelligence research company to spur AI development in Japan. Sakana AI, founded by Google engineers in 2023, announced the collaboration with the U.S.-based chip giant on Wednesday, saying it raised over $100 million from a group of investors. The Series A round was led by venture-capital firms New Enterprise Associates, Khosla Ventures and Lux Capital.
The AI lab is building technology aimed at automating the development of foundation models, based on nature-inspired ideas.
Treble Technologies secures €11M for its cloud-based sound simulation platform
Treble Technologies, a company specialising in sound simulation technology, announced that it has raised €11M in a Series A round. The funding round was led by KOMPAS VC, with participation from Frumtak Ventures, the European Investment Bank, Omega Venture Partners, strategic partners St. Gobain & L-Acoustics, as well as experienced angel investors. The Icelandic company will use the funds to expand its team, enhance R&D efforts, forge new enterprise clients, and tap into new markets.
Powered by its proprietary simulation technology, the company’s platform allows users to perform highly accurate sound simulations for buildings, cars, and even immersive reality applications. According to the company, it is more than 100x faster than existing sound simulation solutions, enabling a wide range of industries to bring down costs.
Oxylus Energy Raises $4.5 Million Seed Round for Clean Fuel Technology
Oxylus Energy, developer of a novel carbon utilization technology for the production of e-fuels, announced the close of its $4.5 million Series Seed investment co-led by Toyota Ventures and Azolla Ventures with participation from Earth Foundry and Connecticut Innovations. Oxylus’ solution is the first low-temperature and low-pressure conversion of carbon dioxide to green methanol, a liquid fuel. This is enabled by commercializing the first-ever catalyst developed at Yale University by Professor Hailiang Wang for direct electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol. Building reactors similar to green hydrogen electrolyzers, Oxylus creates methanol using only captured carbon dioxide, water and electricity. Designed to operate in modular conditions, this approach is a lower-cost technology for carbon conversion into alternative fuels. This funding will accelerate Oxylus’ technology development, prototype testing and pilot deployment.
Oxylus Energy’s methanol can be used as a drop-in fuel replacement or upgraded to jet fuel and other green petrochemicals. By uniquely combining carbon conversion and alternative fuel production this approach can reduce energy expenditures and cut costs for fuel production. “Direct electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide at low temperatures and pressures is the only way to decrease the cost of green methanol,” said Conor Rooney, Co-Founder and CTO of Oxylus. According to Harrison Meyer, Co-Founder and COO of Oxylus, “Without decreasing the price of methanol it will be difficult to decarbonize the hard-to-abate sectors of aviation, shipping, and petrochemicals that are currently responsible for 11% of global emissions.”
GALY Raises $33 Million in Oversubscribed Series B Financing to Advance its Cellular Agriculture Platform
GALY CO., a climate tech company pioneering the development of first-of-its-kind sustainable cellular agriculture products, announced the closing of an oversubscribed $33 million Series B financing led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) with additional participation from new investors H&M Group and Inditex. In addition to BEV, H&M Group, and Inditex, the oversubscribed investment round was joined by repeat investors including Material Impact, John Doerr’s family office (Eighty Eighty Group), Artesian, BRINC and Reaction Global. Additionally, there was participation from Indorama Ventures, Endeavor Scale-up Ventures, and Unreasonable, among others.
The funds will primarily fuel the expansion of GALY’s research and development on its innovative cellular agriculture platform and its flagship product, “GALY Cotton,” which uses 99% less water and 97% less land than traditional cotton while emitting 77% less CO2, as it advances towards pre-industrial quality and scale.
Sustainability startup Signol raises £2.5m to harness the human factor in emissions-intensive industries
Sustainability startup Signol, which uses behavioural science to reduce emissions in shipping and aviation, has raised £2.5m from leading industry-focused investors. The investment round was led by New York-based venture capital firm TMV, which invests in legacy industries ripe for disruption, such as healthcare, the future of work, maritime, ports and mobility. The round included participation from leading industry stakeholders: Ultranav, a global diversified ship-operator, and MOL PLUS, the venture arm of Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.(MOL). London-based venture capital firm East Innovate, which led Signol’s previous funding round, has reinvested.
ThinkCyte Secures $32 million in Series C Funding to Drive Global Expansion of VisionSort™
ThinkCyte announced the successful completion of its Series C funding round. Including the equity financing secured last November, the company raised an additional $15 million in the extension round, bringing the total to $32 million. The extension round was led by Japan Green Investment Corp. for Carbon Neutrality (JICN), KIRIN-GB Fund I L.P., and SMBC Venture Capital No. 7 Investment Limited Partnership. The company also secured a loan from Japan Finance Corporation.
This latest round brings ThinkCyte’s total funding to $91 million, reinforcing the company’s commitment to expanding the global reach of its flagship product, VisionSort™. Since its launch in June 2023, VisionSort™ has been adopted by major biopharmaceutical companies and leading academic institutions worldwide.
The new funding will drive production and manufacturing scale-up as well as help accelerate global commercial expansion. With this stable footing, ThinkCyte is poised to broaden the impact of its technologies, driving advancements in the life sciences and maintaining its leadership in innovative single-cell analysis and sorting solutions.
PuriFire Energy raises £2.7M to cut emissions by producing green hydrogen and methanol
PuriFire Energy, a Cambridge-based producer of sustainable green hydrogen and methanol solutions, has raised £2.7 million in seed funding. The round was led by HICO Investment Group with participation from Bulnes Capital, R&R Investments, and Abhishek Desai.
The company will combine the Seed investment with a £525K grant from Innovate UK to set up a pilot project by mid-2025 to convert anaerobic digestion liquid digestate and other wet feedstocks into green methanol using its patented technology.
Swiss-Mile secures over €19.8 million in seed funding, co-led by Jeff Bezos and HongShan
Swiss-Mile, a pioneering company connecting AI with the physical world using autonomous machines, announced the successful closure of over €19.8 million seed funding round. This round was notably co-led by Jeff Bezos, through Bezos Expeditions, and HongShan, with additional participation from the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund and Armada Investment. The round also saw continued support from existing investor Linear Capital, underscoring the strong belief in Swiss-Mile’s vision and potential.
Swiss-Mile is a spin-off from the renowned Robotic Systems Lab at ETH Zurich and has been at the forefront of integrating artificial neural networks into robots with both legs and wheels. The company’s technology allows robots to walk, drive, stand upright on two legs, and manipulate objects with wheeled end effectors. This versatility is key to addressing real-world challenges in both mobility and manipulation, positioning Swiss-Mile as a leader in the next wave of robotic automation.
UP Catalyst bags €2.3M to develop sustainable battery materials from CO2
UP Catalyst, an Estonian nanotechnology startup in sustainable carbon material production, has €2.36 million in a seed extension round. This follows the initial seed round of €4 million raised late last year, bringing the total seed funding to €6.36 million.
The round saw equal participation from Warsaw Equity Group, a leading private investment firm in Central and Eastern Europe, which backed , and Estonia’s state fund SmartCap, which backed Antler’s Nordic Fund II and Bisly. In addition, existing investors – Extantia, Sunly, Little Green Fund, Scottish Baltic Invest, and UniTartu Ventures participated in the round.
The investment will accelerate the construction of its first-of-a-kind industrial production unit, positioning UP Catalyst as the largest provider of CO2-grown carbon materials globally.
Asteroid Mining Startup AstroForge Raises $40 Million
Asteroid mining startup AstroForge has raised $40 million as the company races the clock to get its next mission ready for launch. AstroForge that it raised the Series A round led by Nova Threshold, bringing the total raised by the Southern California startup to $55 million. Others participating in the round include funds 776, Initialized, Caladan, YC and Uncorrelated Ventures as well as individual investor Jed McCaleb, the billionaire who also founded commercial space station company Vast.
Matt Gialich, co-founder and chief executive of AstroForge, said in an interview that the funds will support the company’s third mission, called Vestri. The spacecraft will launch as a rideshare payload on the IM-3 lunar lander mission by Intuitive Machines in late 2025 and travel to an undisclosed asteroid. The 200-kilogram spacecraft will rendezvous with the asteroid and touch down on its surface to characterize it, including quantifying what precious metals could be extracted from it. The funds will also allow AstroForge to refine technologies for refining asteroid materials in deep space. “But the primary thing it gets us is mission three,” he said.
Power to Hydrogen snaps $18M to accelerate transition to clean energy
Power to Hydrogen, specialising in advanced electrolysis technologies, has raised over $18 million in Series A funding. The round was led by venture studio Rev1 Ventures and strategic investor Worthington Enterprises. It also saw support from global investors, including Finindus, JERA, Asahi Kasei, American Electric Power, EDP Ventures, E.ON, ESB, FH Capital, INP Capital, and others.
Trunk Tools Raises $20M Series A Led By Redpoint Ventures to Expand Suite of AI Agents for Construction
Trunk Tools, a groundbreaking AI platform disrupting the $13 trillion construction industry, announces a $20 million Series A. The new capital was led by Redpoint Ventures with participation from Innovation Endeavors, who led the Seed round, bringing the total capital raised to-date to $30M.
Trunk Tools leverages the latest in AI technology to build the “brain” behind construction. By structuring millions of pieces of unstructured project data and deploying AI agents that augment construction professionals in their administrative workflows, Trunk Tools ensures critical information is available to the right people at the right time, automating the tedious and repetitive tasks that have historically weighed on industry productivity and profitability. With Trunk Tools, construction professionals not only save time but avoid construction delays and rework that can cost tens of millions - or more - per project.
Fortera Secures $85M to Accelerate the Global Deployment of Low-Carbon Cement Production
To meet the growing demand to lower the cement industry’s carbon emissions, advanced materials manufacturer Fortera secured $85 million in Series C funding to scale the deployment of its low-carbon cement technology that integrates with existing infrastructure. The round included participation from previous investors Khosla Ventures and Temasek, and first-time investments from Wollemi Capital, NOVA by Saint-Gobain, Presidio Ventures, and Alumni Ventures. With operations at the company’s Redding ReCarb Plant underway, Fortera is positioned to move forward with additional plants that will produce ReAct® green cement, which has 70% less carbon dioxide (CO2) per ton than ordinary cement.
Fortera’s ReCarb process bolts onto existing cement manufacturing plants, captures the industrial CO2 emissions from traditional cement production, and converts it to mineral form to achieve a ready-to-use low-carbon cement. Since the company’s process integrates into established infrastructure, including feedstocks, capital investments, logistics, and sales networks, the path to wide-scale commercialization is shorter and more cost-effective. Fortera’s ReCarb technology operates at a significantly reduced kiln temperature and is compatible with renewable energy integration, which would further reduce emissions and enable zero CO2 cement production.
BeyondMath Raises $8.5 Million to Revolutionize Physics-Based Engineering with Groundbreaking AI-Powered Simulation Platform
BeyondMath, a leader in advanced engineering simulation, announced it has secured $8.5 million in seed funding led by UP.Partners, with significant participation from Insight Partners and InMotion Ventures, the investment arm of JLR. This funding supports BeyondMath’s ambitious mission to reshape engineering practices globally with its AI-driven multiphysics simulation platform, which accelerates engineering iterations by a factor of 1,000 compared to current solutions.
To help achieve this mission, BeyondMath is among the first to adopt an NVIDIA DGX H200 system to enhance the capabilities of its platform. DGX H200 systems provide advanced AI supercomputing, allowing BeyondMath to train its physics solver at industrial scales and helping it deliver even more groundbreaking solutions to its customers.
Apheros secures $1.85M to cool down data centers, using high performance cooling systems
Data centers are the backbone of the digital age, with unprecedented demand for digital infrastructure driven by the surge in the use of AI, machine learning, and supercomputing. However, their energy consumption is skyrocketing. By 2030, an estimated six percent of global energy consumption will be used specifically for cooling data centers. A shift from traditional cooling methods to more cost- and energy efficient liquid-based solutions is inevitable. Enabling this transition, deep tech startup Apheros is announcing a $1.85m funding round seizing this critical moment to introduce its innovative metal foam technology, offering a superior solution to this pressing industry challenge.
The pre-seed funding round, led by venture capital firm Founderful, will accelerate development and deployment of Apheros’ revolutionary metal foam-based cooling solutions.
The Apheros patented manufacturing process creates unique foam structures with completely open porosity and unparalleled surface area, surpassing traditional solutions by a factor of thousand, which translates into exceptional heat transfer and flow properties. Ideal for high performance cooling applications, Apheros’ metal foams are easily integrated within its customers’ existing cooling systems. They address customers’ urgent needs of reduced energy consumption and cooling costs.
HistoSonics Announces Oversubscribed $102 Million Series D Financing to Scale Launch of Non-Invasive Histotripsy Platform
HistoSonics, the manufacturer of the Edison® Histotripsy System and novel histotripsy therapy platforms, announced the completion of an oversubscribed $102 million Series D financing. The round was led by Alpha Wave Ventures, a world leader in growth stage investments, with participation from new investors Amzak Health and HealthQuest Capital, and existing investors Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), Venture Investors, Lumira Ventures, Yonjin Venture, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, and others.
Histotripsy is a novel form of focused ultrasound that uses high amplitude, very short pulses to create a “bubble cloud” that is designed to mechanically destroy and liquefy targeted liver tumors. These bubble clouds form and collapse in microseconds, creating mechanical forces strong enough to destroy tissue at cellular and sub-cellular levels in a non-invasive and non-thermal method. Histotripsy offers a promising alternative to treatments such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, which often have significant side effects.
The Series D funding will be used to accelerate category defining advancements to its non-invasive histotripsy platforms, support commercial growth in the US and in planned global markets, and initiate the company’s innovative, prospective BOOMBOX Master Study that will evaluate HistoSonics’ Edison System for the treatment of liver tumors across multidisciplinary users. The Edison Histotripsy System was granted FDA De Novo clearance in October 2023. HistoSonics is currently partnering with leading institutions across the US and internationally in developing multi-disciplinary histotripsy liver programs.
Gauge Capital Announces Strategic Growth Investment in AGT Robotics
Gauge Capital announced that it has partnered with the founder and management team of AGT Robotics to provide growth capital and recapitalize the Company. Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Trois Rivieres, QC, AGT is a leading provider of robotic welding solutions for the structural steel and heavy metal fabrication industry. The Company’s primary products are modular, autonomous welding robots which operate on proprietary software that has been developed specifically for the structural steel and heavy metal manufacturing industry. This software enables end-users to analyze structural plans, identify each unique part used in the welding process, and determine the ideal type of weld, allowing the robot to conduct the welds with little to no human intervention.
Thintronics Inc. Closes Its Series A Extension
Thintronics Inc. closed its Series A Extension having added M Ventures, the CVC arm of Merck KGaA, TGVP, the US CVC arm of TOPPAN Holdings, and previous investor Tallwood Venture Capital to the Thintronics Series A syndicate. The series was led by Maverick Capital and Translink Capital.
Thintronics Inc. is a California-based electronic materials startup supplying high-performance insulators for emerging AI datacenter, networking, and RF/millimeter-wave (mmW) applications.
The addition of M Ventures, TGVP and Tallwood delivers significant strategic advantages for Thintronics. M Ventures brings an important partnership with Merck KGaA, one of the leading semiconductor materials providers in the market and a global player in science, technology and manufacturing worldwide. TGVP brings Thintronics into TOPPAN’s ecosystem. TOPPAN is a leading global supplier of semiconductor packaging materials and a significant user of insulator materials for the sector. Along with Tallwood, a California based long-term semiconductor investor and an early Thintronics funder, the addition of these partners provides the company with important strategic intelligence into its target markets and significant technical and innovation resources that can accelerate and compliment their commercialization efforts.
PLAIO raises €4.3 million to expand its AI planning platform for pharma industry
PLAIO, an Iceland-founded AI-assisted decision support platform for the pharmaceutical industry, has raised €4.3 million in an oversubscribed round. The round was led by Iðunn, a venture capital fund managed by Kvika Asset Management, with continued support from existing investors Frumtak Ventures and Dr. Agon.
PLAIO will use the funding to implement strategic enhancements to the platform’s ‘AI Coplanner’ offering, as well as strengthen and develop both new and existing partnerships to solidify its position as a market leader in AI pharma planning solutions.
The funding, which follows a €2.7 million million pre-Series A round in 2021 and €400k injection from the Icelandic Technical Development Fund in 2023, will be used to scale operations within the U.S. and Europe.
Promethean Particles Announces Closure of £8M Series A Investment Round
Promethean Particles announces the closing of a £8 million financing round. The investment was led by Mercia Ventures and Aramco Ventures, with participation from existing investors including the Midlands Engine Investment Fund I (managed by Foresight), the University of Nottingham, TSP Ventures, and the East Midlands Early Growth Fund (managed by the British Business Bank).
MOFs are a class of materials composed of metal ions interconnected by organic molecules to form a porous, lattice-like structure. Their unique architecture gives them an exceptionally high surface area and customizable pore sizes, which allows them to trap and store gases and liquids efficiently. This makes MOFs highly effective for applications such as gas storage and separation, carbon capture, and catalysis.
The company has developed a proprietary continuous-flow reactor that not only dramatically improves the throughput and cost of MOF production, but also increases process reliability and consistency, without sacrificing critical quality parameters. Promethean currently produces a wide portfolio of MOFs for various customer applications including carbon capture and storage (CCS), biogas upgrading, water harvesting and gas separation and storage.
General Catalyst Invests $120 Million Into Re:Build Manufacturing
Venture-capital firm General Catalyst has invested $120 million into Re:Build Manufacturing to have the startup holding 13 U.S. industrial and engineering businesses serve as a one-stop-shop for clients’ manufacturing needs and help new companies make products on American soil.
The investment comes after Cambridge, Mass.-based General Catalyst published a blog post last year outlining a thesis to back companies that could make critical systems like supply chains more resilient amid unstable geopolitics.
CruxOCM closes $23.3-million CAD Series A led by Microsoft’s venture fund
Calgary-based startup CruxOCM, which provides software that automates the operations of industrial control rooms in the energy sector, has raised a $23.3-million CAD ($17 million USD) Series A round led by M12, Microsoft’s venture fund. The round saw participation from other new investors, including natural gas company Oneok, Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, and EIC Rose Rock Fund, as well as backing from return investors including Angular Ventures, Bullpen Capital, Root Ventures, Industry Ventures, Cendana Capital, Pipeline Capital Partners, and Golden Ventures.
CruxOCM said the Series A round brings its total capital raised to date up to $37 million CAD ($27 million USD). The investment will enable CruxOCM to bring its co-pilot offering to more control rooms across the energy sector, CEO and co-founder Vicki Knott said in a statement.
RightHand Robotics Secures New Funding as Yaro Tenzer is Appointed CEO
RightHand Robotics, Inc., a leader in autonomous AI robotic picking solutions for order fulfillment, is thrilled to announce that it has secured new funding, further strengthening the company’s position in the market. In conjunction with this funding, co-founder Yaro Tenzer has been appointed as CEO, effective August 1, 2024. Former CEO Brian Owen is planning to continue his involvement as a trusted advisor and investor.
The restructuring and funding round highlight RightHand Robotics’ commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions that drive efficiency, autonomy, and order accuracy in order fulfillment. Arunas Chesonis, a partner at Safar Partners, added, “We are excited to continue supporting the company on its journey as the obvious choice for piece-picking robotics in supply chain logistics.”
Curvalux Accelerates Global Internet Access with Strategic Investment from Pegasus Capital Advisors
Curvalux, a leading manufacturer of innovative, energy-efficient fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband technologies, announced a strategic investment from the Subnational Climate Fund, managed by Pegasus Capital Advisors. This partnership aims to help facilitate prompt production and delivery of existing orders for Curvalux’s sustainable high speed wireless products to valuable customers that are servicing communities with essential internet access, including those areas without access to electricity.
Curvalux’s suite of Point-to-Multipoint (PtMP) products includes the world’s leading high-capacity fixed wireless systems. They operate in both unlicensed 5-6 GHz frequencies (Curvalux 2) and millimeter-wave spectrum (Curvalux 3). Designed specifically for deployment in rural areas lacking electricity, these products enable Curvalux customers, including internet service providers and telecommunication companies, to prioritize sustainability and carbon emission reduction. Curvalux devices consume minimal power, enabling solar-powered operation and presenting a green alternative to power-intensive 5G technologies in extending connectivity to rural communities.
CVC Joins CD&R as an Investment Partner in Epicor
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and CVC, announced that funds managed by CVC have agreed to acquire a significant ownership position in Epicor, a global provider of industry-specific enterprise software to promote business growth. CD&R, which first invested in Epicor in 2020, and CVC will each have equal number of Board seats, with Jeff Hawn continuing to serve as Chairman. Steve Murphy will continue in his role as CEO of Epicor. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.
Since CD&R’s acquisition of Epicor in 2020, the company recently surpassed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR) as a result of organic growth, including a successful transformation into a SaaS-first company, as well as complementary strategic acquisitions which expanded product capabilities and geographic reach. Epicor’s SaaS transformation and 45% annual growth in SaaS ARR have been powered by significant R&D and Go-to-Market investments, while laying the groundwork for further innovation. In May 2024, Epicor unveiled its new Epicor Grow portfolio, an integrated set of artificial intelligence (AI) and Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities powered by an industry-focused data platform tuned specifically for the requirements of the Make, Move, and Sell industries. The company’s portfolio redefines how AI-powered ERP software serves the supply chain industries and their workers, and includes Epicor Prism, a patent-pending generative AI service embedded across Epicor’s Industry ERP Cloud solution.
Alaska Airlines announces investment in JetZero to propel innovative aircraft technology and design
Alaska Airlines announced an investment in JetZero, a pioneering company developing a new blended-wing body (BWB) aircraft that will provide up to 50% less fuel burn and lower emissions. The investment reflects Alaska’s commitment to advance new technology that will benefit the future of aviation, including those that enable the airlines’ path to net zero carbon emissions. Alaska invested as part of JetZero’s Series A last year and is the first airline to do so.
The investment, which includes options for future aircraft orders, was made through Alaska Star Ventures (ASV), the airline’s investment arm whose purpose is to influence the future of the aviation industry. ASV is focused on identifying and enabling the technologies that can help Alaska reach its ambitious goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2040. This initiative is one piece of Alaska’s comprehensive sustainability strategy along with operational efficiency, fleet renewal, sustainable aviation fuel, waste reduction, and electrified aircraft.
Railcar startup Intramotev raises $14M
Intramotev closed a $14 million Series A round for battery-powered autonomous railcars, the company tells Axios.
Why it matters: Rail has been an overlooked area for tech innovation, but electric and autonomous technologies could help the rail sector cut diesel use.
How it works: Rail customers buy the railcars as a retrofit to existing trains, and also get the accompanying software, sensors and interfaces.
ITpipes Secures $20 Million to Transform Water Infrastructure Management with AI and Cloud Solutions, Ensuring Safer, Healthier Communities
ITpipes, the established leader in pipeline inspection software, announced it has secured $20 million in equity financing from Trilogy Search Partners and Miramar Equity Partners. Known for its trusted and user-friendly platform, ITpipes streamlines infrastructure management, making sewer and storm system compliance and oversight more efficient, accurate and cost-effective. This results in safer, cleaner communities.
With this investment, ITpipes will accelerate innovation for municipalities, ensuring continued growth and enhanced client offerings. Specifically, the funding will allow ITpipes to scale its operations, elevate customer service and develop new products, such as advanced AI-driven condition assessment technology for managing underground infrastructure.
Advent International to invest in SYSPRO, a global provider of manufacturing and distribution software to enhance innovation and growth
Advent International, one of the world’s largest and most experienced private equity investors, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to invest and acquire a majority ownership stake in SYSPRO, a leading global ERP software provider for the manufacturing and distribution industries. Founded in 1978, SYSPRO currently employs around 400 people globally and serves customers across six continents, with headquarters in the UK and South Africa.
Advent is an experienced software investor with investments in ERP, financial and manufacturing software. Recent investments in the sector include Aareon, a European provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions for the property industry; Unit4, a global cloud ERP software vendor; Medius, a global leader in AP automation, B2B payments, sourcing and procurement software; and Prometheus Group, a global provider of enterprise asset management software. In addition to a 34 year track record in technology investing, Advent brings a depth of experience in the manufacturing and industrial space, having invested $21bn within the sector globally in the last 33 years.
Holman Acquires a Minority Stake in FM Capital
FM Capital, a venture capital firm focused on early-to-mid stage technology companies transforming the automotive and transportation industries, announces that Holman, a global automotive services leader, has acquired a minority interest in FM Capital. This is the first time an integrated automotive services organization has acquired a general partner interest in an automotive VC.
Guidewheel raises $31M Series B to scale AI-powered FactoryOps across factory floors globally
Guidewheel, the leader in AI-powered FactoryOps, raised an oversubscribed $31 million Series B funding round led by Decarbonization Partners, a partnership between BlackRock and Temasek. Ecolab, Rethink Impact, and GSBackers also participated in this round, alongside existing investors Greycroft and Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), among others.
Guidewheel provides the first way to bring AI to the factory floor at scale—every machine, in every factory. Inspired by the universal truth that every machine on the factory floor uses power, Guidewheel starts with non-invasive sensors that simply clip like a smartwatch on the power draw of any machine to bring its real-time “heartbeat” into a connected, AI-powered FactoryOps platform. Guidewheel empowers teams to reduce lost production time, increase efficiency, and enhance performance over time, delivering fast, concrete ROI through its technology, with customers reporting an average of 41% more production from their existing assets. Within the same FactoryOps platform, Guidewheel builds in all the tools manufacturers need to track and manage energy and carbon towards sustainability goals.
Guidewheel’s recent momentum has been marked by acquiring some of the world’s leading manufacturers as customers, including General Motors, Igloo, Kimberly Clark, JELD-WEN, DRiV/Tenneco, CEMIX, TricorBraun, Reliance Steel & Aluminum, Madison Industries, BorgWarner, U.S. Steel, Berry Global, Myers Industries, and Johnson & Johnson.
AI Innovator UptimeAI Raises $14M to Drive North American Expansion
UptimeAI, the world’s first AI-based plant monitoring software for industrial businesses announces it has raised $14 million in Series A funding to boost its North American operations. WestBridge Capital led the round, with participation from Emergent Ventures and Aditya Birla Ventures.
This latest round of funding will significantly support UptimeAI’s rapid expansion plans across North America and will help position the company as the market leader in boosting efficiency and reliability in U.S. manufacturing and processing sectors.
Shinkong Invests $10M in Ambercycle's New Facility to Commercialize Circular Polyester Innovation
Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corporation, a global leader in polyester production, has invested $10 million in Ambercycle’s first state-of-the-art commercial facility. Shinkong’s contribution to the leading material science company’s facility will help expand global production capacity for its premium material made from end-of-life textiles. It builds on three years of collaboration that harnessed Ambercycle’s molecular regeneration technology and Shinkong’s extensive experience in the premium polyester market to jointly manufacture regenerated yarns and meet the growing demand for cycora® material.
Collo secures €5M to lower emissions from dairy plants
Collo, a Finnish startup offering IoT analysers for optimising industrial liquid processes, has just raised €5 million in growth financing. It was co-led by Swedish SEB Greentech Venture Capital and Dutch deep tech investor FORWARD.one (which backed Rocsys and Sensorfact) and joined by an existing investor, Danish deep tech investor Scale Capital.
This investment will allow Collo to expand its solution globally, helping its client to achieve their strategic goals for reducing their emissions and improving their sustainability.
Currently, there is a growing pressure and demand for sustainable operations and concrete actions. At this point in time, Collo provides an advanced, yet scalable and easy-to-use solution for dairy and beverage plants to meet these demands. Its technology is a combination of new sensor technology, based on electromagnetic sensing technology, and advanced analytics and machine learning. Its unique benefits are that the same sensor can be used everywhere across the plant, regardless of the liquid’s properties.
Kognic secures €8.8M to help machines make sense of the world using data
Gothenburg-based Kognic, an annotation platform helping global enterprises produce and verify sensor-fusion data for high-performing and safe AI, has secured SEK 100M (€8.8M) in funding. The round saw investment from existing investors including Metaplanet, Neudi Kapital and Stena Sessan.
Kognic specialises in enabling Embodied AI, which powers physical devices like autonomous vehicles and robots to interact with the real world. The company focuses on the critical role of data in AI development, providing a platform for annotating sensor-fusion data from cameras, LiDARs, and radars.
Robot Maker Deep Robotics Completes Series B+ Funding Round
Deep Robotics, a Hangzhou-based AI robotics company, has recently announced the completion of its Series B+ funding round. The funds raised will be primarily used for new product development, continuous innovation in cutting-edge technologies, expansion in domestic and international markets, and the recruitment of top talents. The company is also pursuing opportunities within the AI-powered humanoid robot sector. In 2024, Deep Robotics launched the J80 and J100 robot joints, featuring ultra-high torque, industry-grade applications, and high protection levels, providing essential power for humanoid robots.
Currently, Deep Robotics has established long-term, in-depth collaborations with industry giants such as State Grid, Southern Power Grid, Baosteel, and Fluke.
InventWood Raises $8 Million and Appoints Tyler Huggins as CEO as It Prepares For Early 2025 Commercial Launch
InventWood, transforming undervalued wood into high-performance climate-resilient Superwood building products that are stronger and lighter than steel, announced $8 million in new funding and the appointment of Tyler Huggins, Ph.D. as its new Chief Executive Officer. The company is planning its commercial launch in early 2025 with two key priorities: establishing its scaled supply chain to ensure every tree used is chosen purposefully to improve the health and longevity of our forests, and commissioning the company’s pilot production facility capable of profitably producing up to one million square feet of product annually. InventWood’s proprietary technology stack transforms wood’s intrinsic nano-cellulose structure – nature’s strongest material – into climate-resilient Superwood products that offer unrivaled fire, insect and rot resistance with bulletproof hardness, while maintaining highly desirable wood aesthetics. With superior strength at low cost, InventWood is on a mission to displace some of our dirtiest industrial materials like steel and concrete, evolving our built environment from a carbon source to a carbon sink, all while improving the health and resilience of our forests.
By applying the company’s automated and advanced manufacturing, InventWood is preparing for early 2025 availability of its Superwood products. The company’s pilot manufacturing facility in Frederick, Md. will be capable of producing diverse finishing and structural applications.
SYSO Secures $14.5 Million in Series B Funding Led by Kimmeridge to Accelerate Market Operations for the Energy Transition
SYSO, a leading market operator of renewable energy and battery storage assets, announced the successful completion of its Series B funding round, raising $14.5 million.
The round was led by Kimmeridge, an alternative asset manager specializing in the energy sector, out of its Kimmeridge Carbon Solutions strategy, with participation from existing SYSO investor Lacuna Sustainable Investments. This investment empowers SYSO to expand its offerings into new markets, while continuing to drive improved operational and financial outcomes for developers and independent power producers that are advancing the energy transition across the power sector.
VSParticle raises €6.5 million for next-generation material discovery printers
VSParticle (VSP), a leading supplier of nanoparticle synthesis and deposition tools, has raised a €6.5 million A2 extension round led by NordicNinja and previous investor Plural to continue its mission to unlock a century of material innovation in the next 10 years.
VSP’s technology enables materials to be broken down to the size of nanoparticles and produced at the push of a button, allowing university researchers and commercial R&D teams to experiment to create new materials that will power next-generation products. It can take up to 10 years to discover new materials in a lab and a further five to bring them to mass production, but VSP’s technology is supporting teams to reduce the overall time of material discovery down to only one year.
The new funding, which also included participation from previous investor Hermann Hauser Investment, brings the total raised by VSParticle to €24.5 million. The fresh capital will be used to further the development of the startup’s technology so its next-generation printers have up to 100 times higher output and will also support the company in expanding to Japan and doubling down in the US and Europe.
Miru closes $27.4-million CAD Series A as smart windows startup prepares to launch in 2025
Vancouver-based startup Miru has announced $27.4 million CAD ($20 million USD) in Series A financing as it looks to accelerate the commercialization of its electronically tintable window technology.
The all-equity round, which closed July 2024, was co-led by BDC Capital, the investment arm of Crown corporation the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), and Angelo Paletta, president and CEO of Ontario-based TNG Capital Corp. The deal also saw participation from Toronto cleantech-focused venture capital firm Greensoil. Miru’s spokesperson noted there were other participants in the Series A round, but declined to disclose names.
Miru is led by CEO and co-founder Curtis Berlinguette, a professor of chemistry and biological engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Berlinguette’s research group at UBC focuses on exploring and discovering advanced materials for high-performance, low-cost alternative energy technologies. He was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada for his work in 2021.
Miru is designing three demonstration plants in North America and Europe, with two additional plants currently in development. The new funding will be allocated to invest in Miru’s automotive glass roofs and support the construction of new pilot lines in North America and Europe. Pilot lines refer to small-scale industrial setups used to test and refine manufacturing processes before they are implemented on a full production scale.
IONETIX closes financing led by Tees River and Eli Lilly and Company
IONETIX Corporation, a leading cyclotron technology innovator and isotope manufacturer for diagnostic and therapeutic applications, announced a financing which included Eli Lilly and Company, as well as existing shareholders of the Company led by Tees River Limited.
The financing follows prior Actinium supply and convertible debt agreements with POINT Biopharma, which has since been acquired by Lilly. The financing underscores the robust strategic interest in Ionetix’s differentiated technology and the Company’s continued leadership in isotope manufacturing.
With this financing, the company meaningfully extends its cash runway to fund continued development of its core technology offerings and expansion of the current cyclotron network in support of its strategic growth plans in the late-stage clinical and commercial settings. Capitalizing on the growth derived from new therapeutics programs, Ionetix aims to fill the market need resulting from the capacity-constrained isotope manufacturing landscape.
Anduril Raises $1.5 Billion to Rebuild the Arsenal of Democracy
Anduril Industries announced it has secured $1.5 billion of funding for its Series F round to hyperscale defense manufacturing. This funding will enable Anduril to increase hiring, enhance processes, upgrade tooling, increase resiliency in its supply chain and expand infrastructure. Anduril is also investing in Arsenal, the manufacturing platform for modern warfare. With Arsenal, Anduril’s goal is to manufacture and produce tens of thousands of autonomous weapons systems addressing the urgent needs of the United States and our allies.
Co-led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital, Anduril’s Series F values the company at $14 billion and includes new investors Fidelity Management & Research Company, Counterpoint Global, and Baillie Gifford, as well as major commitments from existing investors including Altimeter and Franklin Venture Partners.
Datch Closes $15M Series A
Datch, a pioneer in AI technology for frontline manufacturing, energy and utility sectors, announced the closing of its $15M Series A via an extension led by Third Prime. The fundraise coincides with the launch of Datch’s latest product offering, Asset Insights. Third Prime, a leading venture firm focused on the industrial technology space, led the latest round of funding, and is joined by existing investors including Blackhorn Ventures, Blue Bear Capital and Susquehanna Investment Group. Datch plans to use this funding to invest in market expansion within the enterprise while increasing capabilities within the Asset Insights toolkit.
Datch’s Asset Insights leverages breakthroughs in LLM and graph technology so organizations can turn the unstructured, disparate information within their ecosystem into actionable insights that improve operational outcomes. As the latest installment of Datch’s Frontline Intelligence Platform, it represents the next step in the company’s mission to empower operations that accelerate the world’s economy.
Adept Materials raises first tranche of $4M seed round to commercialize building moisture control technology
Adept Materials, an advanced materials startup, has announced the first closing of a $4M seed round. This equity funding will help bring its patented directional moisture control technology to market. In particular, the investment will fuel the commercial launch of its first product, an advanced interior wall paint and primer system, and the development of a directional water-resistive barrier product.
The round is led by D.R. Horton and PulteGroup, two of North America’s largest homebuilders, joined by Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), a state-run economic development agency, and Point Cove LLC, an investment firm.
Growlink Secures Strategic Investment from Casa Verde to Accelerate Innovation and Growth
Growlink, a leading controlled environment agriculture (CEA) provider of advanced IoT controllers, sensors, and cultivation software, announced the closing of its $2 million seed financing round led by Casa Verde. Growlink’s co-founders, Ted Tanner and David Holmes, have built technology companies together for 26+ years with two previous successful exits and are dedicated to creating data-driven tools that empower growers to maximize their yield with minimal resources.
This fundraise will enable the company to expand its AI capabilities and enhance its third-party integration platform. This ensures that any hardware can connect to the Growlink cloud. Users will gain access to Growlink’s advanced control algorithms, cultivar blueprints, and AI crop steering programs. Current integrations include Agrowtek, Trolmaster, Pulse Grow, and Aranet wireless sensors. These integrations make sophisticated cultivation technology accessible to growers of all scales, enabling them to achieve higher yields and better quality crops.
Vivace Announces Growth Investment from Cerberus
Vivace International Corporation, a manufacturer of specialty propulsion tanks for space and defense applications, announced that it has received a growth capital investment from an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., a global leader in alternative investing. Building upon the Company’s successes to date, the investment will support Vivace’s current work on important national security programs and position the Company for a period of sustained growth.
The partnership with Vivace is led by Cerberus’ Supply Chain and Strategic Opportunities platform, which invests in companies that are addressing critical national shortage areas to drive innovation, promote resilient infrastructure, and increase security for the United States and its allies. Cerberus is an experienced investor in the aerospace industry, bringing to bear extensive operating, technical, and government expertise to help position portfolio companies as key partners to customers on large, complex programs.
Cala Systems Announces $5.6 Million Seed Round and Makes its Intelligent Heat Pump Water Heater Available for Preorder
Cala Systems (Cala), creator of highly-intelligent heat pump water heaters that ensure comfort, save energy, reduce emissions, and integrate with the home, announced $5.6 million in seed funding and the commercial launch of its product. The round was led by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and Clean Energy Venture Group, and included Burnt Island Ventures, Leap Forward Ventures, CapeVista Capital, Collaborative Fund, and Climate Capital. Cala’s heat pump water heater (HPWH) is now available for preorder on its website, with initial deliveries expected in the first half of 2025.
Cala has developed a highly efficient and intelligent heat pump system that heats water based on the patterns of hot water use in each home and the preferences of the homeowner. By understanding each home’s hot water patterns, Cala improves hot water availability during times of high demand and minimizes costs. In addition, homeowners can tailor water heating to their home and priorities; including synchronizing water heating with the power output of their home solar system, minimizing their greenhouse gas emissions by coordinating water heating with times of clean electricity on the grid, decreasing costs for homes with variable electric rates, preheating water before potential power disruptions, and more.
To achieve this, Cala combines sensors and advanced hardware with patented predictive control software originally developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Cala’s predictive controls blend artificial intelligence and physics-based techniques, enabling the system to plan ahead for future hot water use, and whatever other inputs (home solar output, electricity price, etc.) the homeowner has activated in the Cala app. It also incorporates a variable speed compressor and an integrated mixing valve, which enable it to take full advantage of its predictive controls by increasing water heating efficiency and producing more hot water when beneficial.
Terrantic Closes $3.5M Seed Round to Help Food Processors Extend Shelf Life and Increase Production Yields
Terrantic, the data platform for modern operations, for the food supply chain, announced the close of its oversubscribed $3.5 million Seed round.
Supply Change Capital led the round, with participation from York IE and Vitalize VC as well as existing investors Array Ventures. Terrantic will invest the capital to continue helping food processing companies minimize food waste and improve yield by optimizing their supply chain operations and ensuring their products reach their destination at their best quality.
Seeq Announces $50 million Series D Funding Round Led by Sixth Street Growth
Seeq, a leader in industrial analytics, AI, and monitoring, announced it has closed a $50 million Series D funding round led by leading global investment firm Sixth Street Growth, with participation from existing investors including Insight Partners, Altira Group, Second Avenue Partners, and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures. This round brings Seeq’s total funding to approximately $165 million. Nari Ansari, Managing Director at Sixth Street Growth, will join Seeq’s Board of Directors.
H3X Closes Oversubscribed $20M Series A to Advance Revolutionary Electric Motors in Aerospace, Defense, and Marine Sectors
H3X, the leading manufacturer of high power density electric motors, announced a $20 million oversubscribed Series A raise. The funding round was led by Infinite Capital, with participation from Hanwha Asset Management, Cubit Capital, Origin Ventures, Industrious Ventures, Venn10 Capital, and follow-on investors that include Lockheed Martin Ventures, Metaplanet, Liquid 2 Ventures, and TechNexus.
In the past 24 months, H3X has successfully validated its high-performance core technology, launched the HPDM-30, HPDM-250, and HPDM-140 integrated motor drives, and delivered these units to leading aerospace and defense customers. They also successfully completed multiple contracts with both NASA and the Air Force. With the Series A funding, H3X plans to expand production and bring its next-generation, multi-sector class of integrated motor drives to the market (HPDM-350, HPDM-1500, and HPDM-2300). The HPDM-1500 and HPDM-2300 are megawatt-class machines that will significantly enhance the performance of electric aircraft through their high power density and fault tolerance. In some cases, aircraft range can be doubled by using H3X motors versus conventional solutions by freeing up weight for additional energy storage onboard. These megawatt-class machines will also unlock new market segments for H3X in both marine and heavy industry.
PHINXT Robotics raises €2.3 million to redefine warehouse automation
PHINXT Robotics, an AI-led robotics software company, has secured €2.3 million in an oversubscribed funding round led by Sure Valley Ventures with participation from Ada Ventures, Heartfelt and Atlas Ventures. The company will use the funds to grow its engineering and sales teams and begin expansion into mainland Europe where the team sees considerable opportunity. According to its founders, PHINXT’s long-term vision is to extend beyond warehouse robotics automation to encompass delivery drones and autonomous vehicles. Given the core decentralised edge computing technology enables coordinating machines within a distributed network, continued development of the platform will enable PHINXT to deploy solutions in frontier technologies such as autonomous vehicles.
PHINXT has developed a decentralised edge AI software solution to enable robotics automation at any scale. Founded in 2022, the company aims to redefine the landscape of warehouse automation with its cloud-based platform, designed to streamline robotic deployments and support a flexible monthly subscription model. Traditionally, adopting robotics in warehouses has been hindered by exorbitant setup costs – often exceeding £500k – and the complexity of on-site deployment. Consequently, over 90% of warehouses remain fully manual.
TDK announces AI venture TDK SensEI Pte. Ltd to advance industrial machine health through edge AI and sensor fusion
TDK Corporation (TSE: 6762) announces the formation of a new corporate legal entity, TDK SensEI to address the growing market of the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and sensor fusion at the edge. The name SensEI is derived from the use of the phrase “sensor edge intelligence.” The organization will focus on Industry 4.0 solutions as the segment expands further into machine and production health. TDK SensEI is a global organization, headquartered in Singapore, accelerating transformation for a sustainable future with a significant capital infusion from TDK.
Lucid Group, Inc. Announces Public Investment Fund Commitment of $1.5 Billion
Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: LCID) announced that it has entered into agreements with its majority stockholder, Ayar Third Investment Company (“Ayar”), an affiliate of the Public Investment Fund (“PIF”), to (i) purchase $750 million of convertible preferred stock via private placement, and (ii) provide for a $750 million unsecured delayed draw term loan facility, subject to certain terms and conditions (the “Delayed Draw Term Loan Facility”).
New Motion Labs secures £890K investment for drivetrain technology
New Motion Labs (NML), a developer of drivetrain technology for the mobility and industrial markets, has secured over £890,000 equity investment from the South West Investment Fund via the appointed Fund Manager, The FSE Group.
Exeter-based NML’s patented and award-winning Enduo technology NML has re-engineered the traditional chain and sprocket to reduce wear, enhance lifespan, reduce energy loss, and lower manufacturing costs, while offering retrofit capabilities.
The investment is part of a wider £1.8 million funding round designed to support business growth. It will bolster a variety of activities including product development, sales and marketing, and the creation of new jobs.
CorrosionRADAR raises €5.9M to help industries with corrosion management
Cambridge, UK-based CorrosionRADAR, a provider of predictive Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI) monitoring solutions, announced that it has secured £5M (approximately €5.9M) investment in a fresh funding round from Aramco Ventures, Dow, Kanoo Ventures, and Mercia Ventures.
CorrosionRADAR will use the investments to accelerate its growth plans and large-scale deployment of its CUI monitoring systems worldwide. The company will use the capital to continue developing new product lines to improve safety and operations within the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries, and the expanding hydrogen sector.
Aurora Announces Closing of $483 Million Upsized Public Offering of Class A Common Stock and Full Exercise of Underwriters’ Option to Purchase Additional Shares
Aurora Innovation, Inc. (Nasdaq: AUR) announced the closing of its previously announced underwritten upsized public offering for total gross proceeds of approximately $483 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses.
In the public offering, Aurora sold 134,166,667 shares of its Class A common stock at $3.60 per share, which includes the full exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase up to 17,500,000 additional shares.
| Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Allen & Company LLC and Morgan Stanley acted as joint book-running managers and Evercore ISI, Canaccord Genuity, TD Cowen and Wolfe | Nomura Alliance acted as book-runners for the offering. |
Sora Fuel Secures $6M to Produce Atmospherically-Sourced Sustainable Aviation Fuel
Sora Fuel, a startup producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using only water, air and renewable energy, announced it has raised an oversubscribed $6 million seed round. The Engine Ventures led the round, with Wireframe Ventures and others participating. The funding will be used to expand Sora Fuel’s Boston-based team, develop commercialization partnerships and further advance the company’s novel technology.
London’s Axle Energy secures €8.3M from former F1 champion, Accel, others to decarbonise power grid
London-based Axle Energy, an energy flexibility startup, announced that it has secured $9M (approximately €8.3M) funding in a Seed round led by Accel, with participation from existing investors Eka Ventures and Picus Capital. Notable angel investors, including Amit Gudka (founder and CEO of Field Energy); Sierra Peterson (founder of Voyager Ventures); Hanno Renner (founder and CEO of Personio); and Nico Rosberg (Formula 1 World Champion and sustainability entrepreneur), also participated.
The company says it will use the funds to increase its headcount and accelerate its growth across the European energy market.ainability in the F&B industry, and this funding will enable it to solidify its position as an industry leader.
Agrovision Closes $100 Million in Equity Financing at Over a $1 Billion Valuation for its Tech-Enabled Superfruit Platform as Healthy Snacking Booms
Agrovision, the healthy superfruit platform and the leading large-scale, fully vertically integrated superfruit business, has closed $100 million in equity financing from Aliment Capital, alongside other marquee new and existing investors, including Steve Kaplan, Co-Founder of Oaktree Capital Management. In its next growth phase, the company will invest in future crops, superfruit varieties, and scale operations due to accelerated and higher-than-anticipated retailer demand for Fruitist and Big Skye’s crunchy and flavorful superfruits.
Agrovision has invested over $400 million in global expansion, new genetics, artificial intelligence, and other proprietary technology to deliver an elevated healthy snacking experience. The predictability of Agrovision’s vertically integrated platform ensures consistency and reliability in the face of industry challenges.
Knowde raises Series C at a valuation cut
The San Jose-based startup raised $60 million in a round that values it lower than the $500 million valuation it garnered in its most recent round, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. This round values the company at north of 20x ARR, according to a source familiar with the transaction. The round included new investors: Blue Cloud Ventures and Point72 Private Investments in addition to existing backer Sequoia.
FleetPulse Accelerates Trailer Telematics Efforts with New Funding from Industry Leaders NFI Ventures and Ironspring Ventures
FleetPulse, the leading innovator in trailer telematics, announced additional funding from NFI Ventures, a venture capital group run by NFI, a prominent 3PL, and Ironspring Ventures, a venture capital firm with deep transportation and logistics experience. This new backing aims to enhance FleetPulse’s development of customer-focused innovations and expedite product commercialization.
Following its recent Q2 separation from Great Dane and an $11M seed funding round, FleetPulse continues to attract strategic and financial investments, reflecting its pivotal role in delivering end-to-end trailer safety and cargo security solutions.
NFI, an early adopter of FleetPulse trailer telematics, has been instrumental in pilot programs and technology design partnerships aimed at improving safety, cargo security, and fleet performance. FleetPulse provides critical trailer and cargo data to NFI customers across a growing fleet of thousands of assets nationwide.
UgoWork raises $51M to further transform material handling with its advanced energy solutions
UgoWork™, a premier provider of advanced energy storage solutions for material handling equipment, announced the closing of $51M as part of its Series C financing. This investment round was led by Fonds de solidarité FTQ, with significant participation from returning investors Investissement Québec (IQ), Export Development Canada (EDC), and includes a new credit facility from Desjardins Technology & Innovation Banking. This financing brings UgoWork’s total funding to $77 million, strongly positioning the company for continued growth and innovation in the energy sector.
UgoWork’s clients achieve cost savings by reducing the equipment needed to run their operations, offering a significant advantage in the current environment of high-costs and labor shortages. Moreover, its AI-driven cloud platform unlocks peak shaving features to lower energy costs during high demand periods and enhances safety through the use of digital twin technology.
TS Conductor raises $60 million from industry-leading investors to expand US production of high-capacity power lines
TS Conductor (TS), a US-based manufacturer of advanced electric power lines, today announced the close of a $60 million growth investment round led by Wellington Management. The funds will be used to open a second US production facility, which is part of the company’s plan to greatly increase production of its high-performance conductors in response to strong customer demand.
The oversubscribed investment round also included Quanta Services, Gates Frontier, Energy & Environment Investment, Inc., Blue Earth Capital, and Edison International, and repeat investors National Grid Partners, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources.
To meet rapidly-growing demand for its advanced conductors, TS Conductor is expanding its production capacity. The company’s existing ISO-certified facility in Southern California is operating at near-full capacity, and plans are under consideration to increase this facility’s output in the near term. The bulk of this funding round, however, will support an ambitious expansion east of the Mississippi River.
Applied Carbon Raises $21.5 Million to Deploy Groundbreaking Biochar Technology that Increases Soil Health and Sequesters Carbon
Applied Carbon, a technology company designing automated biochar production machines that convert in-field agricultural crop waste into biochar, today announced it has raised a $21.5 million Series A. The funding round was led by TO VC, with participation from Congruent Ventures, Grantham Foundation, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, S2G Ventures, Overture.vc, Wireframe Ventures, Autodesk Foundation, Anglo American, Susquehanna Foundation, US Endowment for Forestry and Communities, TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good, and Elemental Excelerator. The funding will be used to deploy a fleet of biochar machines across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, delivering high durability carbon removal and agricultural services. The company was also recently named as a top-20 global finalist in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition and as a semifinalist in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) CO2 Removal Purchase Pilot Prize.
Applied Carbon’s technology utilizes a high-tech, fully self-contained trailer pulled behind a tractor that collects crop residue, processes it into biochar via high temperature pyrolysis before quenching it with water and supplementing it with nutrients and microbes as desired by the farmer. The final biochar product exits the machine and is spread directly onto the field, eliminating bulk material transport and drastically reducing its cost per ton. The machine can also operate in an efficient edge-of-field configuration for added flexibility to address diverse crop wastes all year long.
New Funding Fuels Tracktile’s Vision for Smart Manufacturing Software
Tracktile, an innovative technology SaaS startup, is excited to announce the successful closing of its pre-seed financing round. This $575,000 investment will fuel the company’s mission to empower manufacturers with complete visibility into their operations. Tracktile offers cloud-based manufacturing software tailored specifically for the food and beverage industry with plans to move to other manufacturing verticals.
The pre-seed funding round was led by BDC Capital’s Seed Venture Fund and Island Capital Partners, with participation from the New Brunswick Innovation Fund. This round of funding will enable Tracktile to accelerate its product development, expand its team, and scale its operations to meet growing market demand.
Type One Energy Group finalizes $82.4M Seed financing round
Type One Energy announced the final closing of its $82.4 million seed financing round, attracting a broad base of global investors to the Company and its FusionDirect program, which is pursuing a direct path to commercializing fusion energy. FusionDirect is intended to culminate in the launch of Type One Energy’s fusion pilot power-plant project with an owner/operating partner by 2030.
Prominent new shareholders in Type One Energy include Centaurus Capital, GD1 from New Zealand, together with Foxglove and other funds from Australia. This global support highlights the growing international conviction that stellarator fusion technology can play a critical role in completing the transition to a net zero carbon emissions energy system. Fusion energy, unlike traditional nuclear fission, is the power of the stars - fueled from sea water, deployable anywhere, intrinsically safe, and leaving no long-term waste. These unique attributes of fusion energy are what makes the technology increasingly compelling to stakeholders in the future of energy.
Flink Robotics gets €156,000 kick to transform industrial robots in into dynamic workers
Industrial automation startup Flink Robotics has received €156,000 (CHF 150,000) from Venture Kick to enable robots to adapt to dynamic environments. Flink Robotics will use the CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick to accelerate its go-to-market strategy and undertake additional pilot projects.
Flink Robotics is an ETH spinoff emerging from the Computational Robotics Lab and affiliated with the ETH AI Center. Its founding team includes CEO Dr. Moritz Geilinger, CTO Simon Huber, and CSO Prof. Dr. Stelian Coros.
Flink Robotics transforms robots into adaptable, plug-and-play workers suitable for a variety of dynamic material handling tasks. Its software, FlinkAutonomy, has built-in physical intelligence that enables robots to perceive and react to changes in their environment and collaboratively solve material handling tasks.
Polyplastics invests in NEMATX to advance 3D printing of liquid crystal polymers
Japanese engineering materials company Polyplastics Co. Ltd recently invested in Switzerland-based startup NEMATX AG, a spin-out from ETH Zurich that specializes in industrial material extrusion 3D printing. This strategic investment will enable the companies to develop and bring to market high-performance polymer grades that will expand end-use additive manufacturing applications in industries like automotive, aerospace, electronics, semiconductor, medical and more.
Through the investment, Polyplastics will leverage NEMATX’s 3D printing solution, while NEMATX will incorporate the Japan-based firm’s experience in LCP processing in its own product development. The partnership will also ultimately support the adoption of NEMATX’s NEX 01 platform in specialized markets around the globe, including the electrical and semiconductor industries, which can benefit from the ability to print precision components from LCPs like connector housings for PCBs and thin-film components for printed electronics.
Convective Capital Backs OnSight Technology to Safeguard Solar Assets from Thermal Events
OnSight Technology, a leader in advanced solar monitoring and inspection, announced a strategic investment from Convective Capital, a venture capital firm focused on funding startups solving the global wildfire crisis. With Convective’s expertise in the wildfire technology space, the partnership will further strengthen OnSight’s position as a trusted solution for the solar industry.
Convective Capital’s investment will enable OnSight to expand the deployment of its innovative Bulldog Inspection robot and OWL fire detection system, which help solar asset owners and operators identify and mitigate fire risks on their sites. OnSight’s customer base includes many of the largest renewable developers, operators, and construction companies. Its robots have inspected over a million modules, scanned and documented over 250,000 barcodes, traveled over 3 million meters, and identified and documented over 13,000 issues.
Watermelon Ecosystem Secures $4 Million Series A Funding
Watermelon Ecosystem, a rapidly expanding startup revolutionizing the food and beverage (F&B) industry, has successfully closed its $4 million Series A funding round. This achievement places new investors at a 13.8% capital shareholding, giving the company a post-money valuation of $29 million.
The funding round was led by prominent investors, with Daman Investments acting as the exclusive Fundraising Advisor. Daman Investments, through its Investment Management & Advisory (IMA) division, specializes in advising and supporting entrepreneurs and companies in raising funds across various stages, including private equity, venture capital, growth capital, and debt such as private credit and structured finance.
Watermelon plans to use the $4 million investment to accelerate its local and regional growth, enhance its technological offerings, and expand its market presence. The company is committed to boosting efficiency, transparency, and sustainability in the F&B industry, and this funding will enable it to solidify its position as an industry leader.
Altana Closes $200M Series C to Enable the Public and Private Sectors to Take Command of Global Value Chains
Altana, the world’s first Value Chain Management System, today announced a $200 million Series C investment led by Thomas Tull’s US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT). The funding round included participation from March Capital, Generation Investment Management, Salesforce Ventures, Friends and Family Capital, and each of Altana’s key existing investors, including GV (Google Ventures), Activate Capital, Floating Point, and OMERS Ventures. The funding brings Altana’s valuation to $1 billion.
Altana is tackling some of the world’s thorniest problems – from building economic security, to mitigating carbon emissions, to protecting critical industries and infrastructure. Its Value Chain Management System unlocks solutions that have never been possible before at scale by bringing applied AI to the infrastructure of global commerce. These include: the first-ever system to provide accurate Scope 3 carbon measurement; the ability to root out forced labor from customers’ supply chains; the ability to intelligently coordinate supply and demand across multiple tiers of the supply chain to reduce costs and working capital; the ability to price and insure against the risks of supply chain business interruptions; and, the ability to defend critical supply chains from geopolitical adversaries.
The world’s most important public and private sector organizations, including Maersk, Boston Scientific, ZF, the Lloyd’s Insurance Market, US Customs & Border Protection (US CBP), and multiple UK government agencies through the UK Global Supply Chain Intelligence Programme, all use Altana to manage their multi-tier, global value chains.
unspun Raises $32M in Oversubscribed Series B Funding to Transform Fashion Supply Chains with Groundbreaking 3D Weaving Technology
unspun, the industry leader in 3D weaving technology, announced $32M in an oversubscribed Series B funding round led by DCVC, with participation from Lowercarbon Capital, E12, Decathlon and SOSV. The funding will fuel the rapid scaling of unspun’s innovative 3D weaving technology, Vega™—designed to help brands realize a low-inventory, nearshore and automated supply-chain for woven products, which represent 57% of the total apparel market, —as the company expands its operations in Europe and North America.
Vega™ is the world’s first 3D weaving technology for apparel. It takes thousands of yarns and weaves them into garments in minutes, allowing for (almost) zero-waste, on-demand manufacturing. This technology unlocks scalable on-demand or low-inventory production.
AeroShield Materials Announces Opening of New Manufacturing Facility, $5M Additional Funding to Produce Cutting-Edge, Energy Efficient Technology for Built Environment
AeroShield Materials, an MIT spin out developing cutting-edge technology for energy efficiency applications in the built environment, announced today the opening of their new manufacturing facility in Waltham, Massachusetts and the close of $5M in additional funding with participation from existing investors Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and MassVentures as well as new investor MassMutual Ventures. The funding will support AeroShield in scaling its business by enabling the company to expand its team to more than 30 employees in the 12,000 square-foot facility where it plans to manufacture full-sized products, including double pane windows.
AeroShield’s breakthrough transparent silica aerogel sheets are some of the most insulating materials ever created and can be added inside double-pane windows and doors to improve energy performance by up to 65%. The facility in Waltham will significantly expand the company’s capabilities with cutting-edge aerogel R&D labs, manufacturing equipment, assembly lines, and testing equipment.
Alphabet to invest $5B in Waymo, its self-driving vehicle unit
Google parent company Alphabet plans to invest $5 billion in Waymo, its unit for autonomous vehicles, over the next few years. Alphabet CTO Ruth Porat announced the news during the company’s quarterly financial results call.
Prior to this, Waymo raised $2.25 billion in its first external funding round in 2020. The company raised another $2.5 billion in 2021 in a round that included funding from Andreessen Horowitz, AutoNation, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Fidelity Management & Research Company and more.
The new funding round will enable Waymo to continue to build the world’s leading autonomous driving company, he said.
Led by GM Ventures, Addionics Raises $39 Million Series B to Drive Cost-Efficient EV Battery Innovation
Addionics, a global leader in battery technology, announced its Series B funding round of $39 Million. The round was co-led by GM Ventures and Deep Insight, with participation from Scania, along with new and returning strategic investors. The funds will be used to bolster the company’s manufacturing capabilities and advance global business engagements. The investment will allow Addionics to build up teams across the globe, and expand its manufacturing and commercialization efforts, including advancing the construction of its planned US-based giga-factory for the production of Addionics 3D Current Collectors.
akirolabs Secures 7-digit Grant to Develop the Leading LLM for Strategic Procurement, Building on Recent $5M Seed Round
akirolabs, a Berlin-based ProcureTech startup, enabling enterprises worldwide to augment strategic procurement processes, announces an extension to its recent $5 million seed funding with an additional 7-digit ( € million) non-dilutive grant from Investitionsbank Berlin and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
This funding will be strategically utilized to further advance the software’s AI/LLM capabilities, solidify akirolabs’ position as the AI-first ProcureTech B2B SaaS company, and accelerate product development and team expansion.
Applied Intuition Closes Over $300 Million in Secondary Round and Welcomes New Investor Fidelity Management & Research
Applied Intuition, a Silicon Valley-based vehicle software supplier for automotive, trucking, construction, mining, agriculture and other industries, announced it has closed a secondary round of over $300 million and welcomes Fidelity Management & Research Company as a new investor. Existing investors General Catalyst, BOND, Lux Capital and Elad Gil also participated. As part of the secondary sale, investors purchased equity from current employees, former employees, and early investors.
The oversubscribed secondary round comes on the heels of Applied Intuition raising $250 million Series E announced back in March. The Series E funding is being used to grow Applied Intuition’s team and expand the company’s AI-powered product portfolio to continue meeting customer needs.
Micropep Raises $29M in Series B Funding and Unveils Krisalix, its Proprietary Discovery Platform
Micropep Technologies (Micropep), the global leader in micropeptide technology, announced a $29 million Series B funding round along with its proprietary discovery platform, Krisalix. The round was led by Zebra Impact Ventures, and BPI Green Tech Investment. All existing investors, Fall Line Capital, FMC Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, Supernova Invest, and IRDI Capital Investissement also participated, bringing the company’s total funding to more than $51.8 million.
Micropep plans to use the Series B funding to accelerate go-to-market strategy through partnerships, complete the regulatory studies of the first biofungicide molecule, and expand its pipeline of micropeptide active ingredients on the Krisalix™ platform.
Matereal Inc. Raises $4.5M Seed Round, To Lead the Fight Against Toxic Plastics
Matereal, a pioneering plastic replacements technology, proudly announces the successful closure of its $4.5 million seed funding round, led by the Collaborative Fund. This key investment propels Matereal into its next stage of development to bring a new environmentally safe plastic to market. The funds will support the company on its mission to decarbonize and detoxify the chemical plastic supply chain.
The technology powering Matereal’s transformative agenda is the commercialization of its groundbreaking chemical platform, Polaris™. This innovative non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) is a monumental breakthrough, offering a sustainable and safe alternative to traditional polyurethane—a historically challenging plastic to decarbonize. Nearly every product sold to consumers contains polyurethane, from fashion to paints, but it is not a renewable resource and has limited, to no, end-of-life options. With the global polyurethane market reaching nearly $90 billion annually, the need to address its carbon-intensive and toxic nature is paramount, and Matereal is on a path to replace it.
LanzaJet Announces Strategic Investment from Airbus
LanzaJet, a leading sustainable fuels technology company and sustainable fuels producer, announced a strategic investment from Airbus, a worldwide leader at the forefront of the aviation industry. The investment enables LanzaJet to continue to build its capability and capacity to scale its proprietary ethanol to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) process technology.
Airbus’ investment is part of LanzaJet’s recent growth equity funding round, with support from leading companies across industries and around the world. In the last few months, LanzaJet has announced investments from leaders from across the SAF value chain, including Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Groupe ADP, MUFG, and now Airbus. In addition to Airbus, LanzaJet’s portfolio of investors and funders now includes All Nippon Airways (ANA), Breakthrough Energy, British Airways, Groupe ADP, LanzaTech, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Mitsui & Co., MUFG, Shell, Southwest Airlines, and Suncor Energy.
Astranis raises $200 million Series D, fully funding Omega development program
Astranis has raised a $200 million Series D, led by a16z Growth Fund and co-led by BAM Elevate. This brings our total capital raised to $750 million, and gets us one step closer to launching 100 MicroGEO satellites by 2030 — and connecting millions to affordable internet.
Lineage Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering
Lineage, Inc. announced the pricing of its underwritten initial public offering of 56,882,051 shares of its common stock at the initial public offering price of $78.00 per share. In addition, the underwriters of the offering have been granted a 30-day option to purchase from the Company up to 8,532,307 additional shares of its common stock at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The Company intends to use the net proceeds received from the offering to repay borrowings outstanding under its delayed draw term loan, repay borrowings outstanding under its revolving credit facility, fund one-time cash grants to certain of its employees in connection with this offering and estimated cash to pay tax withholding obligations associated with stock grants and redeem its Series A preferred stock. Following such uses, the Company expects to use the remaining net proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of additional borrowings outstanding under its revolving credit facility.
Lineage, Inc. is the world’s largest global temperature-controlled warehouse REIT with a network of over 480 strategically located facilities totaling over 84.1 million square feet and 3.0 billion cubic feet of capacity across countries in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Coupling end-to-end supply chain solutions and technology, Lineage partners with some of the world’s largest food and beverage producers, retailers, and distributors to help increase distribution efficiency, advance sustainability, minimize supply chain waste, and, most importantly, feed the world.
Clarapath Closes $36M B Round to Transform 150-year old Laboratory Processes
Clarapath, a medical robotics company modernizing and transforming how pathology laboratories process tissue, announced a $36 million Series B-1 funding round led by Northwell Ventures. Additional new strategic investors participated in the financing, including CU Healthcare Innovation Fund, Mayo Clinic, and Ochsner Ventures, bringing the company’s total funding to $75 million.
Robotics and automated systems have been introduced in healthcare settings as a way to alleviate workforce issues and standardize, however most of the progress has been aimed at surgical robots or physical rehabilitation. With this latest round of funding, Clarapath is poised to be the first US-based company to develop and deploy a new category of ground-breaking healthcare robotics, machine vision and digital automation tools, elevating the standard for hospitals and patients.
Splight Inc. secures $12M in seed funding to tackle the energy industry's biggest problem: energy curtailment
Splight, an AI startup at the forefront of grid operations technologies, announced the completion of its seed funding round. The $12M round was led by noa (formerly A/O) and joined by EDP Ventures, Elewit, Draper Cygnus, Draper B1, Ascent Energy Ventures, Fen Ventures, Reaction Global, Barn Investments, and the UC Berkeley Foundation, among others.
This capital infusion will support the company’s mission to address the global, multi-generational challenge of clean energy at scale, expanding its North America and EU presence and continuing to grow its development, implementation, and leadership teams to keep up with growing demand.
H55 Keeping Up the Momentum: Series C Funding Closed, Accelerating Electric Propulsion Certification
H55, a pioneer in electric aviation technologies, is pleased to announce the closing of its Series C funding round, including an investment from the Government of Québec. This funding milestone will enable H55 to complete the EASA final certification testing requirements for its propulsion battery pack by the end of 2024, which will be a world’s first.
The Series C financing round closed at CHF 65 million including the first phase announced last year. This funding allows H55 to finalize all EASA certification requirements for its battery packs by the end of this year. The battery packs will be ready for integration into CS-23 aircraft starting early in 2025. In March 2024, EASA approved H55’s Compliance Check List for its Energy Storage System (ESS), confirming adherence to operational suitability and environmental standards. Rigorous testing has validated the safety and performance of H55’s battery pack, positioning the company at the forefront of electric aviation innovation.
Mytra Unveils Breakthrough Robotics and AI to Transform Warehouses and Boost Economic Productivity
Mytra, the company supercharging industrial productivity with first-of-its-kind three-dimensional robotics, launched with $78 million in total financing through the Series B stage and several commercial partners, including Albertsons Companies. Founded by ex-Tesla and Rivian robotics and manufacturing leaders, the company will automate the most common industrial task: moving and storing material. Mytra is backed by several investors, including Greenoaks, who led the company’s Series B, Eclipse, who led the previous seed and Series A rounds, in addition to Co-founder and Chairman of Okta Frederic Kerrest’s 515 Ventures, and individual investors, Garry Tan, Lachy Groom, among other individual and corporate partners.
Mytra systems are infinitely customizable, shapeable, scalable, and high-density, allowing them to automate complex pallet and case handling without the complexity of forklifts, pallet jacks, conveyors, elevators, and other automation. This radical simplicity is enabled by three key breakthroughs:
- Simplified offering: Unlike other solutions that involve thousands of parts and saddle customers with technical debt, Mytra comprises only three individual components: bots, a simple and repeating matrix structure, and edge-intelligent software, which simplifies the deployment process, reduces cost, and avoids single points of failure.
- 3D movement: Mytra is the first system that allows for full 3D movement at up to 3000 pounds from any cell to any adjacent cell in any direction. This achieves the physics-limited maximum level of flexibility.
- Software: Mytra’s software platform optimizes bot routes, manages inventory, and continuously learns and improves, adjusting to changing customer needs. This approach entirely abstracts the hardware layer and makes material flow fully software-defined, allowing operators to unlock endless new applications and future-proof their operations.
Sojo Industries Partners with Schreiber Foods on Mobile Manufacturing and Next Generation Track and Trace Platform
Sojo Industries, a leading mobile automation and robotics manufacturer for food and beverage assembly, announced that it has partnered with Schreiber Foods, a global food manufacturer with over $7 billion in sales across five continents. Sojo Industries also announced it has raised a Series A round of $10 million with participation from Schreiber Ventures and Tech Council Ventures, an early-stage fund that manages over $175 million.
Sojo Industries is supporting Schreiber’s continued innovation across its food and beverage operations through the use of its proprietary Sojo Flight™ solution. Sojo Flight™ provides brands with mobile manufacturing lines and multiple packaging capabilities that can be moved across the country into different food and beverage production facilities, supporting the growing innovation in the variety-pack and multi-pack categories as well as mitigating rising labor costs, labor shortages and high freight costs.
AI Startup, Code Metal, Secures $16.5M in Seed Funding to Accelerate Edge Development
Code Metal, the leading company in AI-powered development workflows for the edge, announced a $13M seed, led by Shield Capital, and a prior $3.45M pre-seed round, led by J2 Ventures, with support from Fulcrum Venture Group, Underdog Labs, and others. Code Metal will use this funding to continue building modular and verifiable agentic workflows that transform product development timelines from months to days. It also plans to expand its team of experts in hardware, AI, and traditional compiler design to serve its rapidly growing pipeline of customers.
Code Metal is already generating revenue and has established strategic partnerships with industry leaders in edge deployments, including X-Press Feeders, the world’s largest independent container feeder operator, and L3Harris, a renowned American defense contractor and tech services provider.
SirenOpt Raises $6.6M in Seed Funding
SirenOpt®, Inc., an advanced manufacturing intelligence company announced the successful closing of its US $6.6M seed funding round, which was led by Voyager Ventures and TOMORROW (part of Visionaries Club), with participation from Union Labs, Berkeley Skydeck Fund, Wireframe Ventures, Access Industries, Climate Club, and Climate Capital. Other existing investors include Impact Science Ventures and Courtyard Ventures.
Monarch Tractor Announces $133M Series C Funding - Marking Largest-Ever Raise in Agricultural Robotics
Monarch Tractor, creator of the MK-V, the world’s first fully electric, driver-optional smart tractor and Wingspan Ag Intelligence (WingspanAI) farm management platform, has announced a history-making $133 million Series C, making it the largest funding raising round in agricultural robotics history. Funding was co-led by global impact investor Astanor and HH-CTBC Partnership, L.P., with additional support from prominent investors, including At One Ventures, PMV and The Welvaartsfonds.
The Series C funds will support the further development of Monarch’s cutting-edge AI product offering, expansion of their operational footprint domestically and globally, while enabling the company’s path to profitability. This funding round will support the expansion of Monarch’s digital solutions and AI applications, including the development of Autodrive, Monarch’s autonomous operations feature, for new global markets and crop sectors.
Saronic Raises $175 Million in Series B Funding, Valuing Company at $1 Billion
Saronic, a defense technology leader that designs and manufactures autonomous surface vessels (ASVs), announced a $175 million Series B raise placing the company’s valuation at $1 billion. The funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from both new and existing investors, including 8VC, Caffeinated Capital, Elad Gil, and NightDragon, among others.
This new investment will accelerate Saronic’s growth both domestically and internationally. At home, it will allow further expansion of Saronic’s in-house manufacturing capabilities and enable increased production of all its ASV models. Additionally, it will advance the research and development of new autonomous capabilities for naval and maritime forces, including increased technology and payload integration with government and commercial partners. Internationally, this investment will support Saronic’s expansion to more fully serve U.S. allies and partners in key markets.
Nearfield Instruments secures €135 million in landmark deep-tech funding round
Nearfield Instruments, the developer of state-of-the art Metrology & Inspection (M&I) solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, announced the successful closure of a €135 million Series-C funding round. The oversubscribed funding round is led by two new major investors, Walden Catalyst, an industry leading US venture capital firm helping the next generation of category-defining businesses in deep-tech, and Temasek, a global investor that also looks into opportunities in emerging technologies to solve complex and high impact challenges, and address market inflections. M&G Investments, a leading global asset manager, through its Catalyst strategy, is acting as a co-investor. The success of this round is further underscored by the participation of existing investors Innovation Industries, Invest-NL, and ING.
The growing complexities in advanced semiconductor manufacturing, driven by the surge in demand for higher performing and lower energy consuming chips, are addressed by Nearfield’s innovative process control solutions. These include the QUADRA 3D metrology system that provides non-destructive, high-throughput, and high-resolution metrology capabilities. Nearfield is deeply engaged with most major chip manufacturers globally, and QUADRA is fully validated and deployed in high-volume manufacturing.
Marathon Fusion Closes $5.9m Seed Round to Process Fuel for Fusion Energy
Marathon Fusion, a startup developing fuel processing technology for the fusion industry, announced a fundraise led by 1517 Fund and Anglo American, with participation from Übermorgen Ventures, Shared Future Fund, Malcolm Handley and other leading investors. Alongside a CREATE award from the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E, these investments bring Marathon Fusion’s total funding to $6.9M.
Since its founding in 2023, Marathon Fusion has been dedicated to making improvements to fuel processing efficiency. Its technology allows fusion power plants to operate with less tritium inventory, enabling smaller facilities and improved operational expenses. Now working to commercialize this technology to enable rapid, efficient and high-throughput processing of fusion fuel, Marathon aims to reduce onsite tritium inventories and improve plant economics, helping to ensure that fusion has a path to scale to its full potential.
The new funding will allow Marathon Fusion to accelerate the development and deployment of its fuel processing technology in fusion power plants. The company has signed Letters of Intent with Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Helion Energy, two leading fusion startups aiming for the near-term deployment of fusion power plants.
EneCoat Technologies Raises Series C Round, Totaling 5.5 Billion Yen
EneCoat Technologies, a leading developer of perovskite solar cells (“PSC”), announced a 5.5 billion yen Series C funding round led by Toyota’s growth fund, Woven Capital and joined by INPEX and Mitsubishi HC Capital. Existing investors Mirai Creation Fund III and Kyoto University Innovation Capital participated in the round, bringing the total funding raised to over 8 billion yen.
The new capital will be used to expand operations with a production facility, and continue to progress its PSC technology that can diversify solar supply chains, support a broad range of IoT devices and advance new mobility applications. Michiko Kato, partner at Woven Capital joins EneCoat’s Board of Directors.
Agronomics Limited Announces Onego Bio Secures EUR 14 million in New Funding
Agronomics (LSE:ANIC), a leading listed company in the field of cellular agriculture, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Onego Bio Ltd (“Onego”) has secured EUR 14 million in new funding from the European Innovation Council Accelerator Program and an additional Series A investor. In April, Onego announced it closed EUR 37 million in its series A round which, including this new capital, brings Onego’s total funding to date to EUR 65 million.
Agronomics has invested EUR 8.4 million into Onego since inception which, subject to audit, is currently carried at GBP 11.1 million (EUR 12.9 million) and will not change as a result of this fundraise. This position accounts for approximately 6.7% of Agronomics’ last published Net Asset Value (31/03/2024), including post-balance sheet adjustments. Agronomics has an equity ownership of 16.1% on a fully diluted basis.
Didero is using AI to solve supply chain management at mid-market companies
Didero announced a $7 million seed investment. While it was at it, the startup also announced it was emerging from stealth and making its product generally available. The round was led by First Round Capital with participation from Construct Capital, AI Grant, Box Group, Company Ventures and Conviction. Industry angels also contributed.
The company uses a variety of AI models, including OpenAI and Google Gemini, depending on the task or requirement, and they are continually experimenting to see which model is best suited to what they are trying to accomplish. “We’re using a lot of foundational models and APIs that are out there. We’re not creating our own foundational models, but we’re doing a lot of fine-tuning of some of the existing models,” company CEO Tom Petit said.
Again raises $43M from Google Ventures and others to turn CO2 into green chemicals
Again, a Danish climate tech startup, which turns carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals, has raised $43 million in Series A funding. The investment round was co-led by Google Ventures (which invested in ClimateX and StatusPRO) and HV Capital. Kompas VC, EIFO – Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund, ACME Capital, and Atlantic Labs also participated in the round. With this round, the total funding raised by Again accounts for $100 million, including a $47 million Horizon Europe grant for the PyroCO2 project.
The new funding will be used to build additional facilities to combat the climate crisis at scale. It will be used to build additional production capacity to deliver green chemicals to customers, and R&D to expand Again’s product portfolio and bring more molecules to market.
STAX Engineering Secures $40M to Bring the 3 Largest Shipping Vessel Classes into California Air Resources Board Compliance
STAX Engineering, a pioneer in maritime emissions capture and control, closed a $40M funding round led by Upper90, a leading provider of hybrid growth capital. Upper90 has provided flexible capital to finance the build out of STAX’s fleet of mobile emissions capture and control barges; the expansion will accelerate over the next six months to meet increasing demand across container and auto carrier classes as well as broaden coverage to include tankers. As California Air Resources Board regulations expand to include tankers beginning in January 2025, this concerted push from STAX will best position the organization to service the newly regulated class.
STAX’s patented, flexible exhaust capture system is designed to fit all ships without modification, even in the most congested ports. Once the exhaust is captured and funneled into the STAX system, it is filtered. STAX removes 99% of particulate matter (PM) and 95% of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) before being released as purified gas. To date, STAX has treated 83 at-berth vessels for a cumulative of 4,000 hours and controlled 31 tons of pollutants—and counting.
VARM bags €5.7M to insulate Europe’s homes
VARM, a Berlin-based insulation startup, has secured €5.7 million in seed funding. The round was led by Emerge and Pale Blue Dot (invested in Climate X and Ember), with additional support from noa (formerly A/O), Foundamental, and previous angel investors. This investment will advance VARM’s mission to decarbonise Europe by revolutionising the insulation industry.
The recent €5.7 million seed funding sets the stage for significant growth in Europe’s insulation market. By addressing the insulation skills gap and offering affordable, efficient solutions, VARM is poised to make a substantial impact on reducing CO2 emissions. It’s training academy and business-in-a-box model will expand the workforce, driving widespread adoption. With a clear vision and innovative approach, VARM is well-positioned to lead in household decarbonisation efforts.
Blue Earth Capital leads €25m growth funding round in Quatt, a leader in smart heat pumps
Quatt, an Amsterdam-based scale-up specializing in smart heat pumps, announces €25 million in a growth equity funding round led by Blue Earth Capital, with participation from Seaya Andromeda and existing investor Impact Equity Fund.
Quatt has experienced rapid growth over the past two years, installing over 7,500 smart heat pumps throughout the Netherlands, and the organization has seen significant expansion. “Due to its quick payback period, more and more Dutch people are opting for our heat pump,” says Marijn Flipse, CEO and co-founder of Quatt. “In the three years since our inception, we have secured a leading position in the heat pump market thanks to our consumer-centric approach, smart software and attractive design. By focusing on product development, sales, and installation all in-house, we deliver an excellent customer experience at a very competitive price. This is now recognized by international investors as well.”
ACEL Power Secures $10M in Series A Funding to Drive Sales and Advance Renewable Energy Solutions in the Marine Industry
ACEL Power, a trailblazer in marine electric innovation, has closed their oversubscribed Series A round with US$10M in funding. The funding was led by Tau Capital, an Abu Dhabi-based private venture capital firm committed to supporting advancements in science and technology for a positive impact on the world.
GrowUp, the UK’s best-selling vertical farm, receives £38 million investment from Generate Capital to produce locally grown, pesticide-free greens
Generate Capital, a leading sustainable infrastructure investment and operating company, and GrowUp, the UK’s best-selling vertical farm, announced a £38 million investment to meet growing demand for GrowUp’s popular ready-to-eat salads.
Generate Capital’s investment will help expand capacity at GrowUp’s Kent vertical farm, accelerate GrowUp’s leadership of the UK salad category, support the Unbeleafable and Fresh Leaf Co. brands, drive R&D at GrowUp’s Leaf Lab site in Cambridge, and increase GrowUp’s influence as a certified B Corp.
This funding extends Generate Capital’s existing partnership with GrowUp, following an initial financing in 2021 that enabled GrowUp to prove its energy-efficient growing system and start converting a five-acre brownfield site into the equivalent of 1,000 acres of grade 1 farmland in Kent. GrowUp is the first vertical farm to have supplied branded, bagged salads to the country’s largest supermarket chain, Tesco, and to Iceland, SPAR, as well as other major food service customers.
Peak Energy on Track to Rapidly Scale Sodium-Ion Battery Manufacturing in the U.S. to Secure Future of Renewable Energy
Peak Energy, a U.S.-based company developing low-cost, giga-scale energy storage technology for the grid, announced it has secured its $55M Series A to launch full-scale production of its proven sodium-ion battery technology. Xora Innovation, an Early-Stage deep tech investing platform of Temasek, led the round, with significant participation from existing investor Eclipse, strategic partner TDK Ventures, and new investors Lachy Groom, Tishman Speyer, TechEnergy Ventures, Doral Energy-Tech Ventures and DETV-Scania Invest.
Sodium-ion is a stable and proven battery chemistry that offers advantages in cost, supply chain security, scale, and safety over lithium-ion, the industry’s current default battery storage choice. With the shift to sodium-ion technology underway worldwide at giga-scale, Peak Energy has emerged as the company best suited to deliver utility-scale sodium-ion storage in the U.S. The Series A financing from Xora Innovation, Eclipse, TDK Ventures, and other new strategic investors marks a pivotal inflection point in the clean energy transition and secures the future of the U.S. grid with domestically produced storage.
As Peak Energy moves fast to industrialize sodium-ion, the company is already experiencing significant demand for its battery systems. With access to meaningful new capital, Peak Energy enters the next phase of growth, launching the first full-scale production of sodium-ion storage in the U.S. The company’s sodium-ion batteries will deploy to a select group of six premier customers participating in its pilot program as early as next year. The roster includes three of the top five largest Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and electric utility companies in the country.
Cloverleaf Infrastructure raises $300 Million from NGP and Sandbrook Capital
Cloverleaf Infrastructure announced that it has secured capital commitments totaling over $300 million from private equity investors NGP and Sandbrook Capital, alongside contributions from its management team.
Cloverleaf is a recently-formed developer of large-scale digital infrastructure sites powered by low-carbon electricity. The company is led by a team of seasoned executives with backgrounds from renowned independent power developers such as Pattern Energy and ConnectGen, as well as major data center operators such as Microsoft. Building on this extensive expertise in the power and data center sectors, Cloverleaf collaborates with regional US utilities and data center operators to deliver scalable clean electricity through strategic investments in transmission, grid interconnection, land, onsite power generation and electricity storage.
doinstruct raises €7.6M to address frontline-worker skills shortages
Europe is facing a jobs crisis driven by skills shortages and aging populations. Millions of people start a new job every year in key industries with inadequate onboarding and training. doinstruct announces that it has secured €7.6m in a funding round led by Creandum, an early backer of Spotify, Klarna and Pleo, to address these challenges.
doinstruct has built a mobile-first onboarding and training platform with the real needs of deskless workers front of mind. There is no app to download, no password to remember and no email required. All of the training content is continually updated in partnership with regulators and certifiers and currently available in more than 16 languages.
Syntetica raises €4.2 million to scale nylon recycling for the global clothing market
Syntetica, an innovative nylon recycling startup helping to solve the pollution problem in the fashion industry, has successfully raised €4.2 million in a seed round led by EQT Ventures with participation from the family offices of Peugeot and ETAM, Volta Circle (Indorama Ventures’ shareholders family office), Better Angle, Pareto Holdings, Athletico Ventures, Bear Flag Capital and high-profile angels 2-time Formula-E champion Jean-Éric Vergne, IDEC Group CEO Patrice Lafargue, and former tennis player Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Syntetica will use the fresh capital to build out the team’s existing expertise with additional technical talent and begin producing the first fully recycled nylon materials for fashion and automotive clients with the aim of reaching a pre-industrial stage by mid-2026.
Infinitum Secures $35 Million Series E Extension Amid Rapid Growth
Infinitum, creator of the sustainable air-core motor, announced it has extended its Series E with $35 million in funding from Marunouchi Innovation Partners and Rice Investment Group. The additional funding brings the company’s total Series E funding to $220 million, and will be used to scale the company to meet customer demand and drive decarbonization.
Infinitum’s air-core motor systems can sustainably power energy-intensive applications used in data centers, hospitals and buildings, as well as logistics, manufacturing and industrial facilities with less electricity, carbon emissions and waste.
When compared to traditional motors, the Infinitum motor system consumes 10-65% less energy, is 50% smaller and lighter and uses 66% less copper. Infinitum’s motor systems have an integrated variable frequency drive and can be customized to meet an application’s specific power and torque requirements to reduce strain on the electric grid by drawing less power. Infinitum motor systems use fewer raw materials in manufacturing and modular design allows for motors to be easily serviced, repaired, remanufactured or recycled to keep motors in service and out of landfills.
eLstar Dynamics Announces Two Million Euros in Series A Funding
eLstar Dynamics, a leading developer of dynamic glass, has secured a two-million-euro investment from the Dutch family office Panthea. The funds will help complete the development of eLstar’s dynamic glass product, designed to meet the booming demand for sustainable and energy-efficient solutions for buildings and vehicles.
eLstar has raised a total of 13 million euros to date from Wafloma and Panthea BV, two Dutch family offices with strategic interests in eLstar’s sustainability-focused technology.
Falfurrias Management Partners Makes Growth Investment in Gravitate
Gravitate, a leading provider of AI-enabled fuel management and energy logistics software announced a significant growth investment from Falfurrias Management Partners, a Charlotte-based investment firm focused on growth-oriented, middle-market businesses. The investment is a testament to Gravitate’s innovative approach to optimizing fuel supply for retailers, refiners, wholesalers, and carriers. With Falfurrias’ support, Gravitate is poised to continue its growth trajectory and mission of transforming the energy logistics landscape through AI-enabled cutting-edge technology.
Gravitate’s fuel management software offerings address the fuel value chain across the secondary fuel logistics market serving refiners, wholesalers, carriers, and retailers. The company, founded in 2011, has established itself as a leader in this market, historically characterized by outdated and manual solutions. Customers leverage Gravitate’s suite of solutions to manage and optimize fuel supply and logistics, optimize rack and customer pricing, and provide fuel customers with online channels for dynamic fuel purchasing. Notably, Gravitate’s Supply & Dispatch product is the only AI-integrated optimization and dispatch solution for supply and logistics decisions in the fuel industry. This product, along with others in their portfolio, can deliver a 40% or greater reduction in overhead in dispatching departments and a 5-10x ROI through supply and asset optimization. As part of the transaction, Gravitate has been spun-out of its parent company, capSpire, which also received a growth investment from Falfurrias.
Halo Industries Closes $80 Million Series B Funding Round Led by Thomas Tull’s U.S. Innovative Technology Fund
Halo Industries, Inc., the creator of a laser manufacturing technology platform for the semiconductor industry, announced it raised up to $80 million in its oversubscribed Series B funding round. Led by Thomas Tull’s U.S. Innovative Technology Fund (USIT) with participation from 8VC and SAIC, the funding will help Halo Industries scale the commercialization and reach of its technology and advance its mission to establish the new gold-standard of silicon carbide substrate production.
Halo Industries’ proprietary laser-based tools and processing technologies enable efficient, precise and high-quality manufacturing that minimizes the cost, waste and environmental impact associated with traditional manufacturing methods. The company manufactures several materials used for semiconductor production, including silicon carbide (SiC) wafers, which serve as the building block of efficient high voltage power electronics. Leveraging SiC wafers for power devices enables greater power output and system performance while being smaller, lighter, and more robust than traditional materials. SiC is a hard, brittle material that is challenging to cut without losing meaningful amounts, and Halo Industries’ proprietary laser-based slicing tools significantly increase yield and quality of SiC while minimizing waste and production cost.
Earthshot winner 44.01 raises $37M Series A
Climate tech 44.01 has raised $37M Series A funding for its mineralisation technology which aims to eliminate CO2 safely, permanently and at scale. The funding will enable 44.01 to continue to refine its technology, develop commercial-scale projects, and expand its deployment internationally. The round is led by Equinor Ventures with Shorooq Partners in the UAE, as well as Air Liquide Venture Capital, Alumni Ventures, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Climate Investment, Innovation Development Oman, Planet A Ventures, Salica Oryx Fund, Siemens Financial Services, Sumitomo Corporation and several other investors. Existing investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures have also recommitted to 44.01’s technology by participating in the round.
44.01 eliminates CO2 by turning it into rock. The company’s pioneering technology accelerates the natural process of CO2 mineralisation to remove captured CO2 permanently in less than twelve months. Mafic and ultramafic rock formations capable of mineralising CO2 are found on every continent making 44.01’s mineralisation technology a truly global climate solution. Mineralisation projects can be built quickly and modularly, offering a cost-effective alternative to conventional geological carbon storage.
Coldcart Announces $6.5M Seed Round to Eliminate Perishable Parcel Shipping Inefficiency and Complexity
Coldcart, the first orchestration and optimization platform for frozen and refrigerated parcel logistics, announced that the company closed an oversubscribed $6.5 million seed financing. The round was led by Collide Capital and includes previous convertible note investments led by Material. Great North Ventures, Behind Genius Ventures, Feld Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and Service Provider Capital also participated.
Coldcart’s platform reduces perishable logistics costs by 15-50% per shipment and refundable shipments by 40-60%.
With this new funding, Coldcart will grow its installed base of perishable shippers and logistics providers. The resulting network effects will further increase operational efficiencies created by their platform.
Heimdall Power raises $25 Million USD Series B to Accelerate Power Grid Optimization Globally
Heimdall Power, the global leader in power grid optimization, announced a $25 million USD capital raise in a Series B financing. The round was co-led by the international energy company Orlen, Nordic cleantech fund NRP Zero, and the Steinsvik Family Office. Existing shareholders, including Investinor, Eviny, Hafslund, Lyse, and Sarsia Seed, participated in the round with a combined $8.5 million USD.
Founded in 2016, Heimdall Power delivers software and sensors for the monitoring of overhead power lines. The technology enables electric utilities to increase transmission capacity in their high-voltage power grids by 40% on average, while simultaneously improving the safety and efficiency of their operations. Heimdall Power’s solutions allow utilities to optimize existing power grid assets, reducing or delaying the need for expensive infrastructure upgrades, while making utilities better prepared to meet the growing electricity demand fueled by the ongoing energy transition.
Naked Energy Announces £17m Of New Equity In Series B First Close, Led By E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions
British solar heat and power scale-up Naked Energy announced that it has secured £17m of new equity as part of a Series B first close to supercharge its global expansion and the adoption of its cutting-edge solutions to decarbonise heat. The round was led by E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions (E.ON EIS), a provider of integrated, sustainable energy solutions for cities and industries. E.ON EIS is part of the E.ON Group, one of Europe’s largest operators of energy networks and infrastructure, and a strategic partner to Naked Energy.
The investment is a strong endorsement of Naked Energy’s growth plans, enabling the company to accelerate the international distribution of its award-winning solar heat and power technology with the adoption of innovative new business models.
HammerTech Secures US$70 Million Growth Investment Led by Riverwood Capital to Modernize Construction Site Safety and Efficiency Globally
Construction safety software company HammerTech is set to accelerate business expansion and product innovation following a US$70 million (A$105 million) growth investment from US-based Riverwood Capital, one of the leading investment firms solely dedicated to technology growth and scalability.
The new capital will spur growth and accelerate research and development. This includes the integration of AI and other technologies into HammerTech’s safety intelligence software platform for general contractors and trusted by more than a million workers globally.
Alvys Raises $20+ Million to Transform Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Alvys, the next-generation logistics operating platform for logistics and supply chain management, announced it has raised $20.5 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Titanium Ventures (formerly Telstra Ventures), with new investor Picus Capital and existing investors RTP and Bonfire.
The successful achievement of this round solidifies Alvys’s position as a leader in logistics and supply chain management. The company is experiencing rapid customer growth, and this capital enables Alvys to accelerate its development efforts and to recruit top talent to solve complex issues within the industry.
Imperial and BASF spinout SOLVE to digitally transform chemical manufacturing
Pandemic-beating drugs could enter production more quickly and agrichemicals such as fertilisers could be produced with fewer toxic raw materials thanks to technology from the new company SOLVE. The spinout has been launched by Imperial and global chemical company BASF under an innovative partnership model, with funding from BASF subsidiary Chemovator in a pre-seed round led by venture capital firm Creator Fund.
It is using innovative chemical processing techniques to build up large sets of data on chemical reactions, which it will use to train machine learning models to rapidly predict the optimal ways to manufacture high-value chemicals. The company is building up experimental data sets using novel techniques in flow chemistry, an advanced form of processing in which reactions are carried out in a continuous flow rather than in batch vessels. The technology is designed to enable chemical companies to scale manufacturing of new chemicals more quickly and to optimise manufacturing processes.
Arkion raises $4M for its energy infrastructure inspection platform
Swedish grid inspection company Arkion (formerly known as Skyqraft) has raised $4 million, bringing its funding to over $10 million. Subvenio Invest led the round with participation from existing investors such as Neptunia Invest, Antler as well as new investment from several business angels. The funds will be used in continued product development to increase technical scalability and market presence in response to growing demand.
Arkion provides faster, more accurate, and more sustainable energy infrastructure inspections in response to the challenges posed by increasing energy consumption and securing grid reliability and longevity.
Italy-based Exein raises €15M to lead the charge in embedded IoT cybersecurity
Roma-based Exein, an embedded IoT cybersecurity company, announced that it has raised €15M in a Series B round of funding. The round was led by an investor in cybersecurity and infrastructure software, 33N, and supported by Partech, along with existing investors United Ventures, eCAPITAL, and Future Industry Ventures (a Redstone/SBI fund).
The funds will support Exein’s global expansion into Europe, the US, and Asia, with a new office in Taipei. The company also plans to double its workforce within the next year.
Standard Bots Secures $63M in Funding to Propel American Manufacturing Forward with AI-Driven Robotics
Standard Bots, a pioneer in robotics automation, announced it has raised $63 million in total funding, with its recent Series B round led by General Catalyst with participation from Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund and Samsung Next. The company has already successfully launched its RO1 robotic arm and is now preparing to bring its new AI-powered robots to market, unlocking use cases and industries untouched by traditional robotics, such as complex assembly, food preparation, or dishwashing.
Standard Bots designs and assembles collaborative robotic arms in the United States to transform industrial sectors such as manufacturing. The company is also developing a transformer-based model that leverages the power of AI to enhance robotic capabilities. By observing human demonstrations, Standard Bots empowers robots to master intricate tasks from loading complex welding fixtures to folding clothing with unprecedented precision, marking a pivotal moment in the industry and unlocking a realm of new possibilities previously deemed by many to be beyond robotic reach. Standard Bots’ RO1 and RO2 robotic arms are currently in production and are designed for high variability and challenging real-world applications, a stark contrast to traditional, pre-programmed robots that often cannot navigate unpredictable conditions such as dynamic or cluttered environments and unexpected obstacles.
Jacobi Robotics raises $5M for motion planning software
Traditional industrial robot programming can take weeks to months. If you are a software programmer for a systems integrator, your schedule is often squeezed at the end of the project development cycle for your customer, after the hardware build and implementation delays hit the project schedule. Jacobi Robotics is trying to solve these issues for robot programmers with its new AI-powered motion planning software that it claims can deploy robot arms in days and requires 1000x less computation time.
The startup has made its software platform available to the general market, raised $5 million in seed funding, and released Jacobi Palletizer, the first in a series of AI-powered solutions that leverage Jacobi’s motion planning technology. Pallet-based logistics represents more than $400 billion worth of U.S. trade exports annually, driving a rapidly growing demand and deployment for robotic palletizers that stack cases onto pallets for storage and shipment.
The company was formed by a group of roboticists from the Berkeley AI Research Lab and came out of Berkeley professor Ken Goldberg’s AI lab. The company believes industrial robotics has reached an inflection point. Robots in production use cases are now being reprogrammed every six months instead of every six years. Shorter production runs and new use cases enabled by advancements in AI require robots that adapt to changes. In production deployments, Jacobi’s pilot partners have already seen a 95% reduction in deployment time and a 24% savings in overall project costs after deploying Jacobi.
Dynelectro secures €11 million for 1-MW Dynamic Electrolyser Unit
Dynelectro, a pioneering company in sustainable energy solutions, announces the successful closing of an €11 million investment round. This funding will enable the company to build its innovative 1-MW Dynamic Electrolyser Unit (DEU) technology, facilitating broader deployment into the green hydrogen market. Complemented by €9 million in grants from the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the Danish Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP), plus other regional programs, Dynelectro will utilise the funds for the development of DEUs from 150-kW prototypes to the commercial-scale fully modular 1-MW units.
Dynelectro’s technology focuses on next-generation solid-oxide electrolysis (SOE) and offers unparalleled system performance and longevity. SOE aids decarbonisation in hard-to-abate sectors by efficiently producing hydrogen and utilising industrial waste heat. It supports heavy industries and chemical production by providing on-site hydrogen, reducing emissions, and generating synthetic fuels and enabling the green energy transition in these sectors. SOE is poised to revolutionise the energy sector by enhancing energy efficiency, reducing costs and to facilitate broader renewable integration.
Booz Allen Fuels Automation in Space Firm Quindar
Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) announced that its corporate venture capital arm, Booz Allen Ventures, LLC, has made a strategic investment in Quindar, an early-stage commercial space technology company focused on automating and democratizing satellite operations. This investment is aligned with the firm’s VoLT business strategy—centered on velocity, leadership, and technology—and highlights the urgency of integrating mission-critical technologies across the space domain to increase awareness, security, automation, and data collection for decision advantage on a global scale.
This collaboration further demonstrates the power of dual-use technology and the need for partnership between the federal and commercial arenas. It also reflects the growing need in the space domain to scale and integrate efforts for mission success, with a focus on automation and secure, open architectures.
AI-Driven Seismos and Edison Partners Team to Drive Energy Industry’s Digital Future
Seismos and Edison Partners announced a new $15 million growth investment to enable and accelerate the energy industry’s shift from analog-focused exploration and production to technology-driven, digital infrastructure and autonomous production operations. This growth equity investment will support Seismos’ expansion across its existing oil and gas industry base and into new verticals, such as geothermal and mining that are similarly embracing modern digital infrastructure solutions.
Tools and practices historically used in oil and gas production are facing their natural limits in generating relevant, real-time information which results in suboptimal cost structures, production numbers and safety standards. The new, autonomous, digitized oil and gas field requires next-generation automation and optimization. With its AI-powered Acoustic Sensing, Seismos is revolutionizing the energy sector with efficient, innovative technology that delivers real-time, actionable intelligence. The company’s proprietary AI technology enables rapid, continuous insights and predictive monitoring for quality control that can create up to 10x production improvements and cost savings for operators.
epilot raises €10M to accelerate the green energy transition
epilot, a Cologne-based platform transforming the energy sector with its cloud-based software, has raised €10 million from Expedition Growth Capital, a software specialist growth equity firm, with offices in London and Boston, which backed headless CMS Kontent.ai.
The new funding will enable epilot to significantly expand its about 100-strong team, including expanding the product engineering team, to develop new products and solutions for the platform and extend its AI capabilities.
X-Bow Raises More Than $70 Million Series B to Accelerate Expansion of Hypersonic and Solid Rocket Motor Technologies
X-Bow Systems Inc. (X-Bow), the nation’s leading non-traditional producer of advanced manufactured solid rocket motors (SRMs) and hypersonics technologies, announced the successful completion of the initial close of its Series B financing, raising over $70 million. This private capital will accelerate the rapid growth of its hypersonic-capable vehicles, strategic and tactical scale solid rocket motor programs, and completion of its Luling, TX gigafactory campus. The company will also be expanding its engineering and R&D facilities across New Mexico. The round was led by National Security technology-focused growth equity firm Razor’s Edge, with additional participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures, Boeing Ventures, Crosslink Capital and Balerion Space Ventures.
With this funding now secured, X-Bow will accelerate its growth trajectory as the nation’s third supplier of Solid Rocket Motors and continue in its quest to rapidly innovate and deliver agile, affordable solutions for SRMs, hypersonics and associated adjacent markets.
Skild AI Raises $300M Series A To Build A Scalable AI Foundation Model For Robotics
Skild AI, an AI robotics company building a scalable foundation model for robotics, announced it has closed a $300M Series A funding round. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, SoftBank Group, and Jeff Bezos (through Bezos Expeditions), with participation from Felicis Ventures, Sequoia, Menlo Ventures, General Catalyst, CRV, Amazon, SV Angel, and Carnegie Mellon University. The funding brings the company to a valuation of $1.5B. The capital will be used to continue scaling the company’s model and training datasets for future commercial deployment of its technology, in addition to hiring for roles across AI, robotics, engineering, operations, and security.
Skild AI is building intelligence that is grounded in the physical world. The company is breaking the data barrier in robotics, training its model on at least 1,000X more data points than competing models. As opposed to vertically designed robots that are built for specific applications, Skild’s model serves as a shared, general-purpose brain for a diverse embodiment of robots, scenarios and tasks, including manipulation, locomotion and navigation. From resilient quadrupeds mastering adverse physical conditions, to vision-based humanoids performing dexterous manipulation of objects for complex household and industrial tasks, the company’s model will enable the use of low-cost robots across a broad range of industries and applications.
Mantle Secures $20 Million in Series C Funding to Expand Breakthrough Metal 3D Printing Technology for Precision Tooling
Mantle, the leader in metal 3D printing technology for precision tooling, announced it has reached a significant milestone by securing $20 million in Series C funding. The Series C funding round will be critical in supporting Mantle’s rapid market expansion, scaling manufacturing to meet demand, and developing new capabilities and materials. Led by Schooner Capital, a Boston-based private investment firm, the round was also joined by the company’s largest existing investors, including Fine Structure Ventures, Foundation Capital, Corazon Capital, 11.2 Capital, and Build Collective.
Mantle’s innovative technology has played a crucial role in producing millions of end-use parts, ranging from medical devices and deodorant packaging to industrial components. By focusing on printing tools for mass production rather than the parts themselves, the company has tackled the longstanding issues of high costs and lengthy production times associated with tool creation for mass production. This strategic shift has resulted in cost reductions for customers exceeding 65 percent and accelerated manufacturers’ development cycles by up to 90 percent.
Active Membranes Receives Initial Round of Seed Funding
Active Membranes, developer of revolutionary, award-winning electrically-conducting membranes used in desalination, has closed its initial round of Seed Funding to further develop its game-changing desalination technology. This investment will facilitate Active’s further corporate growth, technology scale-up, and commercialization, as well as the execution of several extended field pilot tests, all of which are co-funded by various US federal and state government agencies. The funding round includes investments from Natural Ventures, Echo River Capital, and Pacifica Water Solutions, one of Active Membranes’ co-founders.
Active Membranes brings a new and entirely different approach to desalination membrane technology. Its membranes utilize the company’s patented technology that incorporates tunable electrical potential into a spiral wound desalination membrane module to make it actively resistant to scaling and fouling during the desalination process.
With their anti-scaling, anti-fouling properties, these membranes require minimal pre-treatment and minimal usage of chemicals and consumables. They also operate at a higher recovery rate and significantly simplify operation. This results in a much lower footprint, lower capital costs, and reduced operating costs. In so doing, Active Membranes transforms desalination into a technology of choice rather than a technology of last resort.
65 Equity Partners has made an investment of SGD 100 million ($74.06 million) in Hi-P International
Temasek-backed global investment firm 65 Equity Partners has made an investment of SGD 100 million ($74.06 million) in Singapore-headquartered regional advanced manufacturing service provider Hi-P International Pte. Ltd. (Hi-P).
The fresh capital injection was made through 65 Equity Partners’ Local Enterprise Fund, which is a joint SGD 1 billion ($741 million) fund with the Singapore Government, led by the Ministry of Trade & Industry, with the goal of developing Singapore champions. According to the statement, Hi-P will work with 65 Equity Partners to develop plans for a new strategic focus and leadership succession for growth acceleration and sustainability.
ZwitterCo Secures $58.4m in Series B Funding Led by Evok Innovations
ZwitterCo, which is transforming water treatment through advanced membrane technologies, announced the successful close of its Series B funding round led by Evok Innovations. Evok was joined by DCVC, BHP, Munich Re Ventures, Siteground, HG Ventures, and Blue Horizon Advisors. The oversubscribed $58.4 million round will accelerate ZwitterCo’s mission to unlock the potential of unconventional water sources, such as industrial wastewaters and more challenging surface waters or process streams, to meet the massive water demands of industries that underpin a low-carbon future.
While membranes are ubiquitous in water treatment, there had been no breakthrough innovations in the field for half a century until ZwitterCo introduced membranes with novel zwitterionic chemistries. ZwitterCo’s technology creates unprecedented immunity to organic fouling, enabling ZwitterCo’s membranes to continue working efficiently and sustainably long after traditional membranes would have clogged.
AE Industrial Partners Closes Fund III with $1.28 Billion in Capital Commitments
AE Industrial Partners, LP (“AEI”), a private equity firm specializing in national security, aerospace and industrial services, announced the close of its third flagship private equity fund, AE Industrial Partners Fund III, LP (“Fund III”), with total capital commitments of $1.28 billion.
Reflecting the firm’s strategic focus on its three key target markets, Fund III will make control investments in the critical “toll gates” across the aerospace and defense supply chains and support key industry suppliers as they scale up production to meet ongoing and increased demand from their respective end markets.
Commitments to Fund III came from a diverse mix of institutional investors in the U.S. and around the world, including leading endowments, charitable foundations, public and corporate pensions, financial institutions, funds of funds, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds.
BBTruck Extends Pre-series A Funding to Over $6 Million to Drive Global Expansion
BBTruck, a global leader in supply chain and logistics technology, announces the successful closure of its pre-series A funding round. Spearheaded by Oasis Venture, H2U Corp., and StarWorks Entrepreneurial Venture Capital, this round has brought BBTruck’s total funding to $6.5 million.
This new capital infusion will accelerate BBTruck’s global market expansion, particularly in North America and Southeast Asia, and bolster product development and talent acquisition initiatives. BBTruck aims to revolutionize supply chain logistics with its cutting-edge technology, aspiring to create a comprehensive global logistics technology ecosystem.
Polystyvert secures $16M to revolutionize polystyrene recycling, enabling the global deployment of innovative technology for sustainable polystyrene production from plastic waste
Polystyvert, an innovative company specializing in recycling technologies and the circular economy of styrenic plastics (polystyrene and ABS), announces the closing of a first tranche of a Series B funding for over $16 million. This investment represents another step for the company towards the construction of its very first commercial plant in Québec, dedicated to recycling highly contaminated polystyrene waste. With funding from European and North American investors, Polystyvert will further solidify its position as a leader in the field of styrenic plastics circularity, thanks to its patented dissolution and purification technology. Other investors will participate in the second tranche of this financing to enable the Series B round to raise up to $30M. Polystyvert is grateful to the investors in the Series B round who are supporting the company in a new era in the circularity of highly contaminated styrenic plastics. Infinity Recycling led the round, followed by SWEN Blue Ocean, and Earth Foundry, an existing shareholder.
Remaining true to its roots as a technological innovator, part of this funding will also be dedicated to further diversify Polystyvert’s intellectual property (IP) portfolio, which already includes over forty patents with worldwide coverage.
Germany-based alcemy secures €9.25M to decarbonise the cement and concrete industry
Berlin-based alcemy, a deeptech startup, has secured $10M (approximately €9.25M) in funding to expand its cement decarbonisation solution. This funding follows alcemy’s partnership with Spenner, Germany’s fifth-largest cement manufacturer. Together, they have developed a commercial-grade low-clinker, low-carbon cement mixture, a first for the industry globally. The round, led by Norrsken VC, aims to advance alcemy’s research and development efforts and facilitate entry into new markets in 2024, including the United States.
Using machine learning and control technology, alcemy predicts cement and concrete quality properties. This approach provides real-time insights across the entire value chain, transforming traditional materials into data-driven high-tech products. alcemy’s solution enhances product quality, reduces production costs, and achieves CO2 reductions of up to 65 per cent.
Altrove closes €3.7 million to develop sustainable alternatives to critical materials
Altrove, a deep tech startup creating sustainable alternatives for critical materials, has raised €3.7 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Contrarian Ventures, Emblem and strong angel investors like Thomas Clozel (CEO Owkin), Julien Chaumond (CTO HuggingFace) and Nikolaj Deichmann (3Shape). The funding will accelerate the development of their core technology, currently focusing on substitutes for rare-earth compounds used in transition technologies, electric vehicles, and advanced electronics. The company was founded in early 2024 by Cambridge alumnus Dr. Joonatan Laulainen and second-time founder Thibaud Martin at Entrepreneur First.
Unlike recent AI materials startups, Altrove does not stop at predicting what new materials could exist but focuses on finding the optimal recipe to manufacture alternative materials at scale. Altrove developed a proprietary characterization technology to iteratively learn from each experiment, accelerating the discovery process up to 100 times.
Stellantis Invests Additional $55 Million In Archer Following Recent Flight Test Milestone
Stellantis N.V. and Archer Aviation Inc., a leader in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, announced Archer has received an additional $55 million investment from Stellantis under the companies’ strategic funding agreement following the achievement of its transition flight test milestone last month.
Archer remains on track to complete construction of its high-volume manufacturing facility in Georgia later this year. This first phase of the build out is a ~350,000 square foot facility on an ~100 acre site designed to support production of up to 650 aircraft annually, which would make it one of the largest manufacturing facilities by volume in the aircraft industry. Archer’s goal with this facility remains to establish a factory that can support its planned commercial ramp up by leveraging the expertise of Stellantis as its contract manufacturer.
Phaidra Raises $12 Million to Help Data Centers Increase Compute Infrastructure
Phaidra, an AI-based control system that helps mission-critical facilities like data centers improve energy efficiency and increase compute infrastructure, announced $12 million in new funding led by Index Ventures, bringing their total capital raised to $60.5 million. The new funding will allow Phaidra to accelerate expansion of its autonomous control systems, which use reinforcement learning to help data centers optimize their power usage while improving reliability. The announcement comes at a time when rapid AI innovation relies on scaling compute. This, combined with a shortage of power and skilled labor needed to support mission-critical facilities like data centers, is contributing to a global crisis where AI innovation is constrained by a lack of compute infrastructure.
Phaidra’s AI control platform turns industrial facilities into intelligent, self-learning systems that combine the precision of manual methods with the scalability and efficiency offered by AI. It seamlessly integrates into existing building management systems to capture real-time data, feed that data into its cloud-based reinforcement learning agent, and autonomously alter the settings on the individual components to achieve optimal performance of the entire system. And unlike traditional control systems, which slowly degrade and require regular manual programming updates, Phaidra automatically learns and gets better over time. Phaidra’s early customers have seen efficiency improvements amounting to millions of dollars in cost savings, which translates to increased power availability for revenue-generating services.
Sensorita uses digital twins to help waste management companies streamline construction waste
The company is coming out of stealth with $3.25 million in venture funding. The round was led by construction-focused VC Brick and Mortar Ventures with participation from Telenor, a large telecomm player. The firm has raised a total of $6 million, with about a third coming from grants.
The Oslo-based startup puts its sensors into construction waste bins and uses radar and machine learning technology to create digital twins of each bin. Waste companies can then use Sensorita’s software to get updates from where their bins are and how full they are and use that data to better plan pickups.
Lien said Sensorita plans to use the funding to build out its team and continue investing in its technology. She added that they have really strong traction in Norway and are looking to expand out of the region. The company is developing their sensor technology to be able to determine what type of material is in a given garbage bin. They also hope to be able to create a virtual assistant for the waste management industry.
Sustainable grain-based leather startup UNCAGED Innovations secures $5.6M funding
UNCAGED Innovations, a biomaterials startup that creates sustainable leather, has raised an oversubscribed $5.6 million seed investment. This follows the $2 million in a pre-seed funding round raised back in 2023. The round was co-led by Green Circle Foodtech Ventures and Fall Line Capital, with participation from Ponderosa Ventures, Golden Seeds, and existing investor InMotion Ventures, the investment arm of JLR, which invested in Energy Source and Carmoola.
This investment will support UNCAGED’s commercial launch and allow the company to continue to increase production and expand its team, including growing the manufacturing team.
AI robotics startup Pivot Robots raises funding from NuVentures
US-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup Pivot Robots, which develops software for robotic arms, has raised an undisclosed amount of money from early-stage venture fund NuVentures. The funds will be used for team expansion, particularly in the areas of motion planning and computer vision. It will also be used for supporting the testing of more robots and the establishment of an office space, cofounder Siddharth Girdhar told ET.
Pivot Robots, founded in 2023 by Carnegie Mellon University graduates Siddharth Girdhar and Vignesh Rajmohan, leverages AI vision control software to automate industrial robots. It assists manufacturers in automating their most labour-intensive tasks. The company’s initial product focuses on the grinding of metal parts.
Strohm secures €30M to reduce carbon footprint in pipeline infrastructure
Netherlands-based Strohm, a company specialising in developing and manufacturing pipelines for conventional and renewable energy sectors, has secured €30M in equity funding led by SENCO, a hydrogen-focused investment firm in Germany. The round also saw participation from existing shareholders, including Chevron Technology Ventures, Evonik Venture Capital, HydrogenOne Capital, ING Corporate Investments, and Shell Ventures.
The funding aims to accelerate Strohm’s growth trajectory, particularly in hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) applications.
Thiozen Announces $3.2M in Funding from Provincial Government for Project in Alberta
Thiozen, the first company ever to produce clean hydrogen from “sour gas” waste streams, announced it has received a total of $3.2M in funding for a clean hydrogen project in Alberta, Canada. Administered by Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) and Alberta Innovates, the funding is part of an overall $57 million commitment by the Government of Alberta to support 28 projects that advance the hydrogen economy, reduce emissions, and create jobs in Alberta.
Thiozen will use ERA funding to install its proprietary technology at a gas processing site in Alberta. The Thiozen platform will facilitate the “de-souring” – or removal – of hydrogen sulfide from the sour natural gas streams while simultaneously generating zero-emission hydrogen.
Sila Raises $375M to Deliver Titan Silicon™ for Auto Series Production
Sila, a next-generation battery materials company, announces it has raised $375 million in a close of its Series G round led by existing investors Sutter Hill Ventures and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., with participation by new outside investors as well as existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Coatue, Perry Creek Capital, and others.
The funding will secure the completion of the company’s Moses Lake plant in Q1, 2025, enabling the delivery of its Titan Silicon anode material to auto customers in Q4, 2025. Mercedes-Benz and Panasonic, as well as three additional customer contracts yet to be publicly disclosed, have been secured and will be fulfilled through Sila’s Moses Lake manufacturing facility.
Titan Silicon was the first commercial next-generation silicon anode technology to enter the market in 2021. Today, it delivers up to a 20-25% energy density improvement over the industry’s best performing graphite cells, enabling automakers to deliver unmatched EV performance, dramatically increasing vehicle range and reducing charge times – pivotal to addressing consumer concern in switching to electric. Future releases of Titan Silicon will drive improvement of up to 40%, recharge times to less than 10 minutes, and lower the $/kWh cost of batteries.
Li Industries Closes $42M in Series B Funding, Announces New Investors
Li Industries announced the successful closing of its Series B funding round with an additional $6 million commitment from investors. The new investors include General Motors (GM) Ventures, DNX Ventures, and Tech Energy Ventures. This latest investment brings the total size of the Series B round to $42 million and increases Li Industries’ total funding to date to over $50 million.
Li Industries plans to expand its 10,000 tonne recycling facility and further develop its cutting-edge recycling technologies. The company is dedicated to addressing the environmental challenges posed by end-of-life batteries and production waste, transforming them into valuable resources in a cleaner and more cost-effective manner.
Aether Fuels Secures $34 Million in Series A Financing
Aether Fuels (Aether), an advanced climate technology company, announced that it has secured $34 million in Series A financing from a syndicate of global investors. AP Ventures led the round, which also includes Chevron Technology Ventures, CDP Venture Capital and Zeon Ventures. Series Seed lead investor Xora Innovation and other existing investors TechEnergy Ventures, Doral Energy-Tech Ventures, Foothill Ventures and JetBlue Ventures also participated.
With this financing, Aether plans to accelerate the scale-up of Aether Aurora™, the company’s proprietary technology to create sustainable fuels for the aviation and ocean shipping industries. Aether Aurora, which leverages technology licensed from Aether’s strategic partner GTI Energy, delivers breakthrough economics via a transformed Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process by combining innovations in chemistry (catalysts), equipment (reactors), and process flows to slash plant investment and operating costs, while simultaneously driving up yield. It is also highly flexible, enabling the conversion of a wide range of abundant waste carbon feedstocks into jet fuel and other liquid hydrocarbons and therefore overcomes the supply constraints faced by many other sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production processes.
Axelera AI Raises $68 Million Series B Funding to Accelerate Next-Generation Artificial Intelligence
Axelera AI, the leading provider of purpose-built AI hardware acceleration technology for generative AI and computer vision inference, announced its successful close of an oversubscribed $68 million Series B financing round, bringing the total amount raised to $120 million. In just three years, Axelera AI has built a world-class team of 180+ employees (including 55+ PhD’s with more than 40,000 citations), launched its Metis™ AI Platform which achieves a 3-5x increase in efficiency and performance, and has visibility into a strong business pipeline which exceeds $100 million. This success has attracted diverse, global funding from venture capital, sovereign wealth and pension funds.
Axelera AI’s Series B funding round is Europe’s largest oversubscribed Series B funding round in the fabless semiconductor industry. It is backed by major institutional investors, including Invest-NL Deep Tech Fund, the European Innovation Council Fund, Innovation Industries Strategic Partners Fund (backed by Dutch Pension Funds PMT and PME, administered by MN) and Samsung Catalyst Fund, along with existing investors Verve Ventures, Innovation Industries, Fractionelera and the Italian sovereign fund CDP Venture Capital SGR. The new capital adds to previously raised funds, including the innovation credit from RVO, and equity investment from Bitfury, CDP Venture Capital, Federal Holding and Investment Company of Belgium (SFPIM), imec, imec.xpand and Innovation Industries.
This new capital enables Axelera AI to grow its high demand AI inference solutions based on its proprietary digital in-memory computing and RISC-V technology.
Momenta leads Series A investment round in SprayVision, revolutionizing industrial coating operations
Momenta, the leading Industrial Impact® venture capital firm, has led the Series A investment round in SprayVision, an Ostrava, Czechia-based leader in process control and simulation of paint coating operations. Momenta invested along with the participation of J&T Ventures. This strategic funding will accelerate the company’s global operations, creating an even greater industrial impact.
SprayVision’s intelligent coating solution enables dynamic process control and optimization of paint lines. Their innovation significantly reduces time, scrap, paint waste, and emissions. With a simulation prediction accuracy of over 98%, SprayVision empowers customers to accelerate the transition from automation to autonomous operations. The company’s solutions support customers from digitizing manual processes to enhancing automation environments where human-robot collaboration is integrated into fully autonomous operations.
Vertus Energy closes €8.75M to generate renewable energy from waste
Vertus Energy, an Austrian Waste-to-X (treating waste as a resource) industrial biotech startup, has closed €8.75 million in seed funding round. It was led by global investors Energy Capital Ventures, joined by Blackbird, which backed Partly, the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund, and Aussie Angels, alongside existing investors.
The startup will use the fresh capital to scale its flagship product, BRIO, into pilot projects. The flagship product, BRIO, creates the platform for Vertus to control the bacteria within anaerobic digestion plants by retrofitting their modular hardware unit that can generate 60% more energy, 3 times faster. Vertus Energy is determined to democratise access to sustainable energy through its advanced BRIO technology and its purpose of delivering energy justice for all.
Feon Energy Secures $6.1M Seed Round for Electrolyte Innovation and Achieves UN 38.3 Certification for Li-Metal Batteries
Feon Energy, an advanced battery electrolyte startup spun out of Stanford University, announced the recent closing of a $6.1 million seed round that will enable the development of next-gen batteries. The round was led by Fine Structure Ventures, with participation from Eight Roads, Foothill Ventures, MassVentures, EPS Ventures, and Valkyrie Fund.
The new funding will allow Feon to expand its world-class R&D team, scale up its high-throughput molecular discovery platform, and accelerate commercial engagement with leading battery and automotive players.
Feon Energy is pioneering a platform approach to create new electrolyte molecules and formulations purposefully designed for advanced battery chemistries like lithium-metal and cobalt-free ultra-high-voltage lithium-ions. Their non-flammable liquid electrolyte solutions enable advanced batteries with higher energy density, improved safety, lower cost, and more supply chain resilience than today’s lithium-ion batteries.
e-Zinc Secures USD $31M in Series A2 Funding to Advance Commercialization Initiatives
e-Zinc, the company enabling sustainable, long-duration energy storage with its zinc-air battery, announced it has raised an additional USD $31 million in follow-on funding to its $25 million Series A round. This oversubscribed Series A2 round was led by Evok Innovations, with additional investments from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Export Development Canada (EDC), and Ultratech Capital Partners. e-Zinc’s existing shareholders also participated, including Toyota Ventures, Eni Next, Anzu Partners, BDC, and Graphite Ventures. e-Zinc plans to use this financing to accelerate product development and complete the construction of its 42,000 sq. ft pilot manufacturing facility in Mississauga, Ontario.
This funding will accelerate e-Zinc’s establishment of a manufacturing base that will enable commercialization of its long-duration energy storage solution, which promises lower cost and increased safety compared to conventional batteries.
e-Zinc is partnering with Toyota Tsusho Canada Inc. and the California Energy Commission to demonstrate how e-Zinc’s energy storage systems can reliably provide long-duration energy storage at commercial scale. By using this new investment to carry out these field demonstration projects, e-Zinc will validate that its zinc-air batteries have the capability to store 24 hours of energy, which is approximately 10x that of traditional batteries.
Bright Machines Raises $126M Series C Funding to Propel Manufacturing Into Software-Defined Era
Bright Machines, an innovator in intelligent, software-defined manufacturing, announced it has raised $126M in Series C funding, with $106M in equity led by investment from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and participation from NVIDIA, Microsoft, Eclipse, Jabil and Shinhan Securities, and with $20M in venture debt from J.P. Morgan. This brings the company’s total amount raised to more than $400M. The capital will be used to launch product innovations, expand its software stack for increased assembly flexibility, and grow strategic relationships with ecosystem partners.
Formic Raises $27.4 Million to Bring Automation to More Manufacturers
Formic, a provider of Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) automation for U.S. manufacturers, announced it has raised another $27.4 million in Series A financing led by Blackhorn Ventures with participation from Mitsubishi HC Capital America, NEC, Translink Capital, Alumni Ventures, FJ Labs, Lux Capital, Initialized Capital and Lorimer Ventures. This new funding brings the total Series A round to more than $52 million since January 2022.
With the new financing, Formic plans to:
- Expand its fleet of standardized equipment to provide more automation to more manufacturers, offering rapid deployment and shorter lead times (75% of Formic customers are automating their material handling processes for the first time)
- Increase its network of support experts across the U.S., enabling even faster customer response while continuing to uphold industry-leading maintenance service level agreements (SLAs)
- Enhance its equipment-agnostic robotic automation software that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) for motion planning, predictive maintenance and system design, as well as more intuitive customer interfaces and dashboards
Travertine secures $8.5 million to reduce waste and emissions in mining, fertilizer, and cement production
Travertine Technologies, Inc. announced the closing of its $8.5 million financing to commercialize a novel electrochemical platform that enables carbon-negative production of fertilizer and critical elements like lithium and nickel while eliminating chemical waste. The financing was co-led by Holcim MAQER Ventures, with participation from the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment and venture capital firms Clean Energy Ventures and Bidra Innovation Ventures.
Travertine has successfully upcycled sulfate waste from major fertilizer and mining companies across the globe in its fully-integrated, continuous-flow pilot and is currently focused on engineering and scale-up for a first commercial demonstration plant.
LanzaJet Announces Strategic Investment from MUFG
LanzaJet, a leading sustainable fuels technology company and sustainable fuels producer, announced an investment from MUFG, one of the world’s leading financial groups with total assets of approximately $2.9 trillion. The investment enables LanzaJet to continue building its capability and capacity to deploy its proprietary ethanol to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) process technology.
MUFG’s investment is part of LanzaJet’s current $100 million growth equity funding round, with support from leading companies across industries and around the world. In the last few months, LanzaJet has announced investments from Southwest Airlines, Microsoft, Groupe ADP, and now MUFG. While SAF production continues to scale, LanzaJet maintains its role in developing the industry by continuing its work building the ecosystem required to decarbonize aviation through SAF. LanzaJet continues to be at the forefront by commercializing its next generation ethanol-to-SAF technology and opening its fully-funded LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels biorefinery – the world’s first commercial-scale ethanol-to-SAF plant. Located in the United States, the historic plant will produce SAF and renewable diesel from low-carbon and sustainable ethanol and achieve International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC).
Prewave Raises €63M Series B to Revolutionise Supply Chain Risk Management with AI-Driven Superintelligence Platform
Prewave, the AI-enabled sustainability, risk and compliance platform, has raised €63m in its Series B funding round, led by the global investment firm Hedosophia, with participation from existing investors Creandum, Ventech, Kompas, Speedinvest and Working Capital Fund. The new funding will be used to drive Prewave’s next phase of global growth and to support further product R&D on its proprietary AI technology to deliver the world’s only supply chain superintelligence platform.
Prewave’s end-to-end solution differentiates the company as a category leader. While many providers still rely heavily on manual inputs or legacy technology, Prewave’s next gen platform automatically maps, scores and monitors millions of supply chain nodes. Built on a decade of R&D and data training, Prewave’s academic-bred AI engine accurately identifies risk signals from vast and fragmented data sets made up of news and social media content across 400+ languages; company certifications and annual reports; government and NGO data feeds; and sanction and Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) lists.
Prewave then generates real-time predictive and reactive alerts, along with recommended actions for customers’ supply chains, risky suppliers, and sub-tier networks. By integrating all supply chain risk use cases and enabling effective end-to-end risk management throughout the lifecycle (including identification, tier-n mapping, prioritization, mitigation, and reporting and control), Prewave reduces businesses’ workload by a factor of 40 compared to manual, questionnaire-based compliance approaches.
Wave Photonics Secures $5.8M to Enable Widespread Deployment of Light-Based Chips
Wave Photonics, a Cambridge-based deep tech startup, has received £4.5 million ($5.8 million) to develop on-chip photonics designs for quantum technologies, sensors, and data center applications. The UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and Cambridge Enterprise Ventures led the round, with participation from Redstone QAI Quantum Fund, Kyra Ventures, Parkwalk’s University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund IX (UCEF IX), and Deep Tech Labs. The investment round was complemented by non-dilutive funding via EIC and Innovate UK grants, taking the company’s total funding to date to £5.4 million ($6.9 million).
This investment will enable the company to take its technology from a research manufacturing line to a commercial foundry, with a particular focus on solutions for frontier applications such as quantum technologies and biosensing.
Wilya Secures $4 Million in Seed Funding Led by Ironspring Ventures to Bring Flexibility to the Manufacturing and Supply Chain Workforce
Wilya, formerly known as Gig and Take, an innovative B2B SaaS company transforming traditional HR practices in the manufacturing and supply chain sectors, announced the successful close of a $4 million seed funding round. The round was led by Ironspring Ventures, with participation from Schematic Ventures, Plug & Play Ventures, Iron Prairie Ventures, Motivate Ventures, and 25Madison. This funding milestone underscores both the growing recognition of Wilya’s cutting-edge approach to flexible work and skills digitization, and the company’s rapid commercial growth.
With this new injection of capital, Wilya will accelerate the development and deployment of its software solutions, further expand its market reach, and add product features to address the unique human capital challenges in the supply chain.
German satellite launch service company Isar Aerospace extends Series C by €65M+
Munich-based Isar Aerospace, a space technology company that offers launch solutions for satellite constellations, announced that it has expanded its Series C funding round by more than €65M, reaching a total of more than €220M. This extension includes investment from the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), a VC fund backed by 24 NATO Allies. With over €1B at its disposal, the NIF supports deep tech companies focused on addressing challenges in defence, security, and resilience. This is NIF’s first direct investment in a satellite launch provider.
The round also saw participation from several new investors, including the European family office G3T and 10x Group, Besant Capital, Finadvice Med HOLDINGS, and LP&E. Existing investors such as Lakestar, Earlybird, Airbus Ventures, Bayern Kapital, and UVC Partners also contributed to the extension round.
Vecna Robotics Closes $100 Million in Series C Funding to Streamline and Automate Warehouse Workflows
Vecna Robotics, the leader in flexible material handling automation solutions, announced the close of its Series C round at $100 million, with $40 million in new funding including equity and debt, that nearly doubles the company valuation from the previous round. Tiger Global Management, Proficio Capital Partners, and IMPULSE participated in the round.
The cash infusion will be used to fund new workflow-specific innovations that enable the company to deliver rapid ROI to cost conscious warehouse operators served by the $165 billion pallet-moving autonomy market. To support its rapid expansion, the company also announced the appointment of Michael Helmbrecht as Chief Operating Officer.
Over the past year, the company has combined cloud software updates and investments in its PivotalTM Command Center to help customers like GEODIS, FedEx, Caterpillar, Shape, and others, realize upwards of 70% performance improvements in ground-to-ground warehouse workflows like case picking, packaging, and cross-docking. In addition to these improvements, the cash infusion will support the launch of innovative, next-generation platforms that will help the company provide more deployment flexibility and reach into new workflows that are in high demand, while being able to continue delivering operator cost savings from day one.
GrayMatter Raises $45M Series B to Accelerate its Unique AI-Powered Robotics Solutions for Manufacturing's Hardest Problems and Unique Challenges
GrayMatter Robotics, an AI-powered robotics leader empowering humans with intelligent automation, announced $45 million in Series B funding. Wellington Management led the round, which also included NGP Capital, Euclidean Capital, Advance Venture Partners, SQN Venture Partners, and other existing investors 3M Ventures, B Capital, Bow Capital, Calibrate Ventures, OCA Ventures, and Swift Ventures.
With the new capital, GrayMatter, founded in 2020 by SK Gupta, Ariyan Kabir, and Brual Shah, is actively hiring for a wide range of roles to meet customer demands, expanding its Los Angeles headquarters, and accelerating the development and deployment of its next-generation AI-powered robotic solutions.
GrayMatter’s technological advancements continue to set new industry standards. Its proprietary GMR-AI™ technology enables robots to self-program and adapt to high-mix manufacturing environments, providing consistent quality and reducing cycle times. Over the past two years, GrayMatter Robotics has deployed robots across North America in aerospace, defense, specialty vehicles, marine, recreation, and general manufacturing industries, processed over 7.5 million square feet of product surface area, and holds ten patents.
M2X Energy Announces $40 Million Series B Financing to Accelerate Commercial Operations
M2X Energy Inc., an end-to-end developer of modular, transportable gas-to-liquids systems that economically produce low-carbon methanol from stranded methane, announced a $40 million Series B financing round led by Conifer Infrastructure Partners. Also participating in the round are the existing Series A investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Eni Next, Add Ventures by SCG, and Autodesk Foundation.
The funds will be used to accelerate the in-house manufacturing and deployment of M2X’s first commercial fleet of low-carbon methanol production systems. Prior to the Series B funding round, M2X successfully conducted multiple field deployments, which de-risked its patented chemical process technology, and demonstrated the benefits of replacing economies of scale with mass manufacturing and automation to rapidly mitigate methane emissions from otherwise stranded, highly distributed sources. M2X has already established 10,000 square feet of turnkey manufacturing space capable of constructing multiple systems in parallel, and initiated equipment orders to accelerate go-to-market and fleet expansion. On the commercial front, M2X is actively sourcing biogas feedstocks to produce biomethanol, which aligns with regulatory certification schemes and customer demand. M2X expects to deploy its first commercial systems and deliver low-carbon methanol, including biomethanol, under long-term offtake agreements in early 2025.
Molten Industries Raises $25M Series A to Produce Clean Graphite and Hydrogen and Onshore Battery Supply Chains
Molten Industries, a fast-growing American start-up that converts natural gas into clean graphite and hydrogen, has announced the successful close of a 25 million dollar Series A financing round. The raise was led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), with new participation from Sozo Ventures, Mark Heising, and Steelhead Capital. Existing investors also participated in the round, including Union Square Ventures, 50 Years, J4 Ventures, Moai Capital, UVC Partners, Jane Woodward, and Peter Attia. Molten will use this funding to build its first modular commercial reactor in Oakland and become a leading producer of graphite for lithium-ion batteries and clean hydrogen to decarbonize the chemical and steel industries.
Maxterial Raises nearly $8 Million in Series A Funding
Maxterial, a technology company dedicated to pioneering advancements in material science including the commercialization of advanced coatings, has announced the successful closure of its Series A funding round, raising nearly $8 million. This milestone underscores Maxterial’s rising influence in disruptive material science technologies and its commitment to reshaping traditional industry norms with dynamic and environmentally responsible solutions.
The Series A funding round, led by Helios Climate Ventures, with participation from global corporation QEMETICA (formerly Ciech) and the Mott Corporation, solidifies Maxterial’s position as a leader in climate-conscious innovation. This capital enables Maxterial to accelerate its R&D efforts, including large-scale trials, expand its products, and scale operations in North America and Europe.
Delft-based Qblox secures €24.2M to help quantum computer builders reach industrial applications
Qblox, a provider of scalable and modular quantum control stacks, announced that it has secured $26M (approximately €24.2M) in a Series A funding round led by Quantonation and Invest-NL Deep Tech fund. Others, including QDNL participations and the European Innovation Council (EIC), also participated in the round.
The recent capital injection will enable the Dutch company to expand its research and development efforts, accelerate product development, and further strengthen its market position. Additionally, the funds will be used to expand its team to meet growing demand and drive future growth.
South Korea’s bitsensing cements $25M to drive growth in radar technology
bitsensing, a South Korean company developing advanced radar solutions, has secured $25 million in Series B funding. This investment round, led by prominent venture capital firms and strategic investors, underscores bitsensing’s potential to revolutionise various industries with its radar technology.
The fresh capital will be used to bolster bitsensing’s operations in several ways. The company plans to: scale its workforce, enhance its existing product portfolio, explore new market opportunities, and establish strategic partnerships. This multi-pronged approach aims to accelerate bitsensing’s global growth and solidify its position as a leader in the radar technology sector.
Kinetic Announces $21 Million Series B Funding Round, Led by Menlo Ventures
Kinetic, an automotive infrastructure company that delivers digital maintenance and servicing for EVs and AVs through its network of service centers, announced it has secured $21 million in Series B funding, led by Menlo Ventures. Other participants in the round include returning investors Lux Capital, Construct Capital and Haystack Ventures along with new investors Allstate Strategic Ventures and Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures. Kinetic will use the new funding to accelerate its business growth and continue to add top technology and engineering talent to its team.
Kinetic currently operates four service hubs across the nation—in Las Vegas and in Orange County, San Bernardino and Lake Elsinore in California—and plans to launch four additional hubs in the coming months to meet the growing demand for repair of the digital systems that power modern vehicles. The company offers scanning, programming and calibration of all modern vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) via its Kinetic Hubs, which are staffed by certified technicians, and through revenue-sharing agreements with traditional collision repair centers, dealerships and rental fleets.
Floating Wind Startup Aikido Technologies Raises $4M in Seed Financing
Aikido Technologies, a floating wind startup whose technology lowers costs, reduces fabrication timelines and brings serial production to the floating wind sector, announced the successful close of its over-subscribed $4 million Series Seed investment round. The financing was led by Azolla Ventures with participation from Propeller Ventures, Sabanci Climate Ventures, Cisco Foundation, Anthropocene Ventures, and others. Aikido will use this capital to advance its technology for offshore deployment, build its team, and develop a commercial pipeline. The company is currently supported by Breakthrough Energy Fellows, which is funding Aikido’s first pilot deployment, the Aikido One.
The core of Aikido’s technology is a platform for floating offshore wind turbines that slashes project costs and enables floating offshore wind projects to become economic. Key features of the platform include a) pin joints that enable serialized production of its 13 major steel components; b) a unique design that allows it to fold up during assembly, occupying 2/3 less space in a shipyard or quayside port facility; c) a fit-for-purpose, re-usable assembly structure that enables the quick placement, alignment, final assembly, and transport; and d) an upending procedure that only requires water ballast.
LD Carbon Closes $28M Investment to Scale Production of Sustainable Carbon Black and Pyrolysis Oil
LD Carbon, a leading producer of recovered carbon black, closed a $28M Series C funding round led by Toyota’s growth fund, Woven Capital, with participation by Meritz Securities, Investwith, Industrial Bank of Korea, Hyundai Motor Group ZER01NE, Elohim Partners and New Main Capital. LD Carbon will use the investment to scale operations to recycle end-of-life tires and material from end-of-life vehicles into recovered carbon black and pyrolysis oil through pyrolysis and material recovery technology, which in turn can be used to create new automotive parts and tires. The investment will advance LD Carbon’s mission of accelerating the circular economy while delivering material cost and carbon savings to global customers.
Manufacturing carbon black is a highly polluting process, generating 25 million metric tons of CO2 annually, while another 1.6 million metric tons come from the 28% of all waste tires that are burned — the combined CO2 equivalent of more than 9M passenger vehicles. LD Carbon’s pyrolysis and material recovery process uses patented recovered carbon black manufacturing technology to provide nearly 100% recovery of waste tires, providing an environmentally safe option for recovered carbon black (“rCB”) and developing pyrolysis oil.
Liquid Instruments secures $12M in funding to expand manufacturing
Liquid Instruments, a leading innovator of reconfigurable test instrumentation, announced that it has secured a new round of funding totaling $12 million, led by a $10 million investment from Breakthrough Victoria, with other investors including Lockheed Martin Ventures, Acorn Capital, and Powerhouse Ventures. This funding will enable Liquid Instruments to significantly expand its manufacturing operations in Australia, establish a new office in Melbourne, and scale its global operations while supporting regional economic growth.
Founded in Australia in 2014, Liquid Instruments develops reconfigurable test and measurement devices to support and accelerate critical scientific research and development in a range of applications, from optics and photonics to aerospace and defense. The company’s flexible Moku platform leverages the processing power and versatility of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to integrate a complete suite of test instruments — from bench essentials like an oscilloscope to advanced tools like a lock-in amplifier — into a single, compact device. Liquid Instruments’ technology is rooted in decades of fundamental research at leading Australian universities, as well as the Australia-based ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the United States.
CesiumAstro Secures $65M in Oversubscribed Funding Round
CesiumAstro Inc., a leading provider of space communications technology, announced the closing of a $65 million Series B+ funding round. The round was led by Trousdale Ventures, with matching participation from Development Bank of Japan Inc. and Quanta Computer, Inc. Renowned investors, including Kleiner Perkins, Lavrock Ventures, L3Harris Technologies, InMotion Ventures (JLR’s investment arm), Matter Venture Partners, MESH Ventures, and Assembly Ventures, also joined the round.
This investment validates CesiumAstro’s innovative approach to space communications technology, as exemplified by their industry-leading Vireo multi-beam Ka-band active phased array payload and provider-agnostic Skylark SATCOM terminal, which are disrupting the space communications landscape.
Nota AI®, Leading AI Optimization Company, Secures $19.9 Million Series C Funding to Pioneer On-Device Generative AI
Nota AI, a leading South Korean startup specializing in AI optimization and lightweighting technology, has successfully raised $19.9 million (25.8 billion KRW) in its Series C funding round. This brings the total investment raised since its founding to approximately $42.6 million (53.2 billion KRW). The round was led by STIC Ventures and LB Investment, with new investments from STIC Ventures, Korea Development Bank, and Mirae Asset Securities. Existing investors Stonebridge Ventures, LB Investment, InterVest, and DS Investment Partners also contributed additional funds, alongside a key AI semiconductor CVC participating as a strategic investor.
Alpen Closes $18 Million Capital Raise
Alpen High Performance Products (Alpen), the leading American manufacturer of high-performance window and door technologies, announced a combined $18 million funding raise designed to help scale its award-winning window, door, and glass businesses. The funding is anchored by a $5.9 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) that was awarded as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Recovery Act (BIL/IRA). The DOE grant catalyzed an additional $12.1 million of private capital.
SewerAI Raises $15 Million Series B to Modernize Sewer Inspection using AI
SewerAI, a global leader in AI and cloud-driven sewer condition assessment, announced the completion of a $15 million Series B funding round. The round was led by Innovius Capital, with additional funding from Emerald VC, Epic Ventures, Suffolk Technologies, Bentley Systems, Burnt Island Ventures and notable individual investors including Zachary Bookman, founder and CEO of OpenGov, and the CEOs of several elite AI and computer vision companies.
CuspAI raises $30M to create a GenAI-driven search engine for new materials
The modern method of coming up with new materials is to make something and then use a computer to work out whether the material came out correctly. But what if you flipped that around, using generative-AI-driven software to design the material in the first place? That’s the premise behind Cambridge, U.K.-based CuspAI, which has now secured $30 million in a seed round led by Hoxton Ventures, with significant participation from Basis Set Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
The company says its platform functions like a search engine for materials, enabling the fast evaluation of a “vast number of novel structures.” An area where CuspAI thinks AI-designed materials could have a significant near-term impact is carbon capture and storage.
Princeton NuEnergy Closes $30 Million Oversubscribed Series A Funding
Princeton NuEnergy (PNE), a leader in lithium-ion battery direct recycling furthering America’s circular economy, closed a Series A funding round with a strategic investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, Samsung’s corporate venture arm, investing in breakthrough technologies across industries and from Helium-3 Ventures. Investor demand for this 50% oversubscribed round brought PNE’s Series A total to $30 million. Samsung Venture and Helium-3 join the round’s previous investors, including Honda Motor Co. Ltd., LKQ Corporation, SCG Group, Traxys Group, and Wistron Corporation.
The funds will support construction of PNE’s first standalone, full-scale direct battery recycling advanced manufacturing facility, which will be announced later this month. In total, the company has raised over $55 million, including multiple U.S. Department of Energy grants totaling $18 million and a $7.9 million seed & angel round.
TIER IV secures additional $54 Million in Series B funding: Deploying Level 4 autonomous driving systems across Japan
TIER IV, a pioneer in open-source software for autonomous driving systems, proudly announces the successful extension of its Series B funding round, securing an additional US$54 million (¥8.5 billion). This brings the total Series B funding to US$132 million (¥20.7 billion) and the company’s overall funding to US$243 million (¥38.1 billion).
The latest funds are earmarked for launching the production of Level 4 autonomous driving systems, leveraging TIER IV’s advanced software platforms and reference designs. The funds will also boost our efforts to develop safety assessment methods that tightly integrate processes and tools.
During the Series A round, TIER IV expanded beyond developing the open-source software Autoware to commercialize comprehensive software platforms that encompass communication, insurance, and risk management features for autonomous driving systems. The Series B round has further enhanced our software development capabilities, particularly in advocating the concept of reference designs. TIER IV was also selected for the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization’s (NEDO) Green Innovation Fund Project, participating in a substantial US$162 million (¥25.4 billion) R&D initiative aimed at introducing scalability to autonomous driving systems.
DataMesh Concludes New Funding Round
DataMesh, an innovator focused on Industrial Metaverse platforms, announced the successful closure of a new funding round, joined by KDDI Open Innovation Fund 3, the corporate venture capital fund of the Japanese telecom giant KDDI, Singtel Innov8, the corporate venture capital fund of Singtel, along with esteemed funds having business partnerships with DataMesh. The funds raised will expedite the research & development efforts and market expansion of DataMesh’s Industrial Metaverse platform, further driving digital transformation across the industrial sector, particularly through the application of XR and digital twin technologies.
Echion raises £29 million in Series B investment round
The world’s leading developer of niobium-based, fast-charging battery materials, Echion Technologies, has successfully completed its Series B funding round, raising £29 million in investment capital. The round was led by specialist battery and energy storage technology investor Volta Energy Technologies (Volta), with participation from existing investors CBMM, BGF, and Cambridge Enterprise Ventures.
The investment will enable Echion to execute its go-to-market strategy to see its innovative niobium-based XNO® anode material utilised in real world applications, at volume. Echion is Volta’s first investment into a European headquartered company and having Volta as the lead Series B investor highlights Echion as a rising British battery technology business within the crucial global energy storage industry.
Echion’s longstanding partnership with the world’s leading producer of niobium, CBMM, will see the opening of a 2,000 tonne per year XNO® manufacturing facility this year. This provides Echion with the manufacturing capacity to satisfy the large and growing demand for XNO® across its global customer base comprised of major cell manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
UNIGRID Battery announces $12 Million Series A round
UNIGRID Battery, a San Diego-based startup developing advanced sodium-ion batteries, announced a successful close of an oversubscribed $12 Million Series A funding round. The financing was Co-led by Transition VC and Ritz Venture Capital and joined by new investor Union Square Ventures and existing investor Foothill Ventures. The investment will accelerate and scale-up UNIGRID’s battery production to fulfill MWh-scale customer orders in the electric mobility and stationary storage markets.
A key strength to UNIGRID’s technology is its drop-in compatibility with conventional Li-ion battery manufacturing infrastructure, along with off-the-shelf availability of materials in the existing supply chain. As such, the team currently works with battery manufacturing partners to immediately scale its products, avoiding the need for highly customized equipment or the redesigning of tools, which has been a barrier for various next generation battery technologies. This has resonated well with customers and system integrators looking for immediate alternatives to Li-ion batteries.
Aepnus wants to create a circular economy for key battery manufacturing materials
Aepnus recently raised an $8 million seed round to ship more pilot-scale electrolyzers and develop the commercial-scale version. The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures with participation from Gravity Climate Fund, Impact Science Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Muus Climate Partners and Voyager Ventures.
Aepnus was founded to modernize the century-old chloralkali process, which splits salts like sodium sulfate back into the acids and bases that created them. The company uses electrolyzers to zap the salts, coaxing them into splitting. Other companies do the same thing, but they might use pricey metals to help speed the reactions. “We don’t use any expensive catalysts in our electrolyzers,” Akuzum said. The startup has over 15 customers at various stages, ranging from feasibility studies to testing the pilot-scale equipment.
Black Semiconductor closes €254M for next-gen graphene-based chip tech
Germany’s Black Semiconductor, a startup in the next-generation chip technology sector, has announced €254 million in Series A funding. This is one of the largest funding for a deep tech company manufacturing chips in Europe to date. Of this, €228.7 million in public funding from the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia over the next 7 years under IPCEI ME/CT. Alongside the public funding, the company has secured an additional €25.7 million in equity funding.
The round was led by Porsche Ventures and Project A Ventures, with participation from leading venture capital firms, corporates, and industry leaders including Scania Growth, Capnamic, Tech Vision Fonds, and NRW.BANK, joining the seed round investors Vsquared Ventures, Cambium Capital, and Hermann Hauser’s Onsight Ventures.
With the fresh capital, Black Semiconductor will accelerate its R&D initiatives and establish pilot line manufacturing capabilities in Aachen, Germany, an important step towards fulfilling its long-term goal of producing and implementing high-quality graphene in Europe. The company plans to inaugurate a pilot manufacturing facility in Aachen by 2026, demonstrating the seamless integration of graphene into electronic chips.
Apex Raises $95M in Series B Funding to Increase Productized Satellite Bus Manufacturing
Apex, a Los Angeles-based spacecraft manufacturing company, announced its $95 million Series B funding round. The funding round was led by XYZ Venture Capital, an early investor in the company, and co-led by CRV, alongside new investors Upfront, 8VC, Toyota Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Mirae Asset Capital, Outsiders Fund, GSBackers, existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Shield Capital, J2 Ventures, Ravelin, angels Baiju Bhatt, co-founder of Robinhood, and Avalon Capital Group, private investment company founded by Ted Waitt, co-founder of Gateway, Inc.
As the only producer of truly productized satellite buses, Apex is dedicated to helping customers rapidly advance space capabilities. Traditional buses are custom built for every spacecraft, adding months or years to the process of getting payloads on orbit. Apex allows customers to get to space faster, without the need for a bespoke bus for every launch with their productized platform. The fundraise, which allows them to increase production to meet customer demand, follows the successful launch of Apex’s first bus in March and a growing number of customers.
Swift Solar Announces $27 Million Series A Funding Round
Swift Solar, a pioneering American solar technology company, announced the close of its $27 million Series A financing round. This milestone is a major step forward for U.S. manufacturing of advanced perovskite solar technology.
The round was co-led by Eni Next and Fontinalis Partners. Eni Next, the corporate venture capital arm of Eni, invests in high-growth start-ups with the most innovative, disruptive, and scalable technologies to accelerate the energy transition toward a zero-carbon future. Fontinalis Partners is a mobility and deeptech VC firm that invests in early-stage companies enabling efficient and sustainable movement of all forms. Also joining the round are new and existing investors including Stanford University, Good Growth Capital, BlueScopeX, HL Ventures, Toba Capital, Sid Sijbrandij, James Fickel, Adam Winkel, Fred Ehrsam, Jonathan Lin, and Climate Capital.
The improvements in efficiency and durability enabled by Swift Solar’s perovskite technology would transform traditional solar markets while creating new possibilities for solar integration. Electric vehicles, for example, could gain 15 miles of range or more per day with perovskite solar roofs. Satellites could benefit from a 10x cost reduction and improved radiation tolerance for solar arrays. The company is actively testing its perovskite technology in space.
CargoSense Raises $8M in Series A to Accelerate Software Automation in Supply Chain
CargoSense, the ‘Visibility OS’ platform for driving transformative supply chain automation using visibility data, announced an initial close on an $8 million Series A investment round, led by Lanza techVentures. Merck Global Health Innovation Fund (MGHIF) joined the round as a strategic investor, along with Chicago-based venture firm SmoothBrain, channel partner The Pallet Alliance, and other previous private investors in CargoSense.
The investment will enable CargoSense to execute on expanding its partner ecosystem of integrated management systems, data sources, and industrial IIoT platforms available to digital agents running on the Visibility OS. This will empower CargoSense’s global customers with the tools to automate and simplify additional aspects of their supply chain operations.
Tenderd secures $30M in Series A funding led by A.P. Moller Holding to supercharge heavy equipment operations using AI
Tenderd, a global leader in digital transformation for heavy equipment management and operations, has closed a $30 million Series A funding round. The round was led by A.P. Moller Holding, a $32 billion investment company and parent company of the A.P. Moller Group, which includes A.P. Moller - Maersk. New investors in the round included Quadri Ventures and Saurya Prakash, a product leader at Stripe. Existing investors Wa’ed Ventures, Nakhla Ventures, SOMA Capital, and Liquid 2 Ventures have also re-invested, reinforcing their continued confidence in Tenderd’s growth. Tenderd’s existing backers include Peter Thiel, Paul Graham, and Y Combinator.
The capital infusion will fuel technological innovations and enable Tenderd to further expand its global footprint in its mission to integrate AI with physical operations in the construction, mining, and industrial sectors. The backing from partners across logistics, ports, energy, construction, and technology underscores the broad applicability of Tenderd’s technology and its unique global position within sector-specific data to develop industry-focused AI models, setting Tenderd apart from general models in driving industry transformation.
Mitsubishi Electric, ME Innovation Fund Invests in Pente Networks Inc.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) announced that its ME Innovation Fund has invested in Pente Networks Inc., a U.S.-based startup company that provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) to promote the introduction of private LTE/5G networks for enterprises. This is the seventh investment that the fund has made to date.
Mitsubishi Electric plans to combine its 5G core network with Pente Networks’ Orchestrator and Service Portal to create business opportunities using private networks.
Quantica increases Series A to €19.7 million to fuel growth of its additive manufacturing tech
Quantica, an advanced additive manufacturing technology company based in Berlin, announced the increase of its Series A funding to a total of €19.7 million. The extension was led by a new investor, British private equity and VC firm West Hill Capital, as well as participation from a family owned company in the dental industry, Quantica management, and Korean VC Big Bang Angels.
Founded in 2018, Quantica operates as an IP-driven deep technology company with offices in Barcelona (Spain) and Cambridge (UK). The company aims to advance additive manufacturing with its two landmark printing system solutions: the NovoJet™ OPEN printing system and the NovoJet™ JetPack. The NovoJet™ OPEN is designed for ultra-high viscosity, multi-material printing of 2D and 3D applications, serving as an open printer capable of using new materials for inkjet process and application development. The JetPack™ is an R&D tool empowering researchers to optimize and validate new materials for the NovoJet™ printheads.
Isar Secure $20M in Growth Debt from US-based ATEL Ventures
German launch provider Isar Aerospace has secured $20 million (€18.39 million) in growth debt from California-based ATEL Ventures.
Munich-based Isar Aerospace is developing its two-stage Spectrum rocket, which is designed to deliver payloads of up to 1,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit. According to reporting from industry consulting firm Euroconsult, the company is also planning a larger version of the rocket, currently being referred to as Spectrum 2. This larger vehicle will be capable of delivering up to 4,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit.
ATEL Ventures announced the completion of the growth debt agreement with Isar on 4 June, stating that the company would use the facility to purchase “state-of-the-art equipment used in the production of its launch vehicles.” ATEL’s deal with Isar is not its first foray into the launch market, having previously invested in a US-based launch startup, Stoke Space.
Sware Raises $6M to Accelerate Life Sciences Innovation by Automating FDA-Mandated Software Validation
Sware, provider of the most complete software validation solution for innovative life sciences companies, announced that it raised $6 million in Series B funding, bringing its total raised since inception to $26 million. The round was led by First Analysis, which joins a syndicate of existing investors that includes LRVHealth, New Stack Ventures and Insight Partners. The funding will be used to bolster research and development of Sware’s computer systems validation (CSV) platform, Res_Q, to further streamline processes with artificial intelligence (AI), and to expand the company’s sales team so it can bring the platform to more organizations struggling with validation debt, the unpaid cost of release, testing, GxP, and business requirements. As a result of the funding, Matt Nicklin, managing director at First Analysis, will join the company’s board of directors.
iCOMAT raises $22.5M financing led by 8VC and NATO Innovation Fund to automate composites manufacturing
iCOMAT, a pioneer in advanced composite manufacturing, announced the successful closure of its Series A funding round, securing $22.5 million in capital. The round was led by 8VC, and co-led by NATO Innovation Fund. Other investors joining the round include Syensqo Ventures and existing investors Velocity Partners VC.
iCOMAT’s automated and scalable manufacturing technology, the first of its kind, is delivering lighter, stronger and more sustainable structures for aerospace and automotive vehicles. iCOMAT’s technology leverages a breakthrough in composite materials and carbon fiber. Unlike conventional methods, which produce components by stacking multiple straight fiber layers, iCOMAT has developed the world’s first production technology that enables fiber steering – the ability to steer the fibers to optimise the properties of a structure at any point. This innovative technology can help reduce weight by 10 to 65 percent compared to the state-of-the-art commercial solutions, and can increase production rates by 10x.
SiTration Raises $11.8 Million for Critical Metals Recovery
SiTration, a materials recovery company serving the mining and metals industries, announced it has raised $11.8 million in seed capital. The financing round was led by 2150 with participation from BHP Ventures, Extantia, and Orion Industrial Ventures. Previous investors Azolla Ventures and MIT-affiliated E14 Fund also participated in the oversubscribed round. The funding will be used to scale the company’s novel solution for the recovery of critical metals and minerals and to deploy pilot systems with commercial partners.
Founded as a spinoff from research conducted at MIT, SiTration is working to address the demand for critical materials needed to manufacture technologies that are key to the clean energy transition, including electric motors, wind turbines, and batteries. The company’s innovative solution lowers both the cost and the resource intensity of extracting and recycling materials, contributing to the overall push towards a circular economy.
Coboworx secures €11.4M to provide robotics to SMEs
German B2B robotics startup coboworx has secured €11.4M to help companies integrate robotics into their digital architecture without prior robotics expertise. The funding will be used to expand coboworx’s team of robotics experts and software engineers, enhance its product offerings, and enter new markets. Additionally, the company plans to open an office in Munich later this year.
Botsync completes a $5.2 million Series A round of financing.
Botsync, the Singapore-based developers of integrated automation solutions for Asia Pacific (APAC) and beyond, has on Wednesday announced the completion of a $5.2 million Series A round of financing. The round was led by Capital 2B and Betatron Venture Group, with participation from IvyCap Ventures, AppWorks, Iterative, Wong Fong, ZB Capital, Nalin Advani, and Ascend Angels, Botsync said in a statement.
The firm plans to aggressively expand deeper into Southeast Asia and India, as well as enter Australia and Middle Eastern markets. With this round of financing, Botsync will increase the range of supported automation integrations on the syncOS platform, as well as invest into product development to further automate and simplify the syncOS platform and simplify the automation onboarding process.
restor3d Announces Successful Closing of $70 Million Financing
restor3d, the leader in 3D printed, personalized orthopedic implants, announced the successful closing of a $55 million Series A funding round led by private investors including Summers Value Partners and existing investors plus an additional $15 million in debt financing led by Trinity Capital.
restor3d is a world leader in 3D printed patient specific musculoskeletal implants and driven by the belief that every patient deserves personalized care. The company holds proprietary expertise and intellectual property in 3D printing of osseointegrative materials, AI-based planning and design automation tools, and digital health solutions to provide seamless data-backed care to optimize individual patient outcomes. Alongside its customers, restor3d is reimagining the musculoskeletal reconstruction landscape.
HyperSpectral Announces $8.5M Series A Funding to Accelerate Deployment of Spectral Artificial Intelligence Software
HyperSpectral, the world’s first AI-powered spectral intelligence company with hardware-agnostic solutions for particle detection, emerged from stealth with $8.5 million in a Series A funding round. HyperSpectral’s Series A round was co-led by RRE Ventures and Kibo Ventures with participation from Correlation Ventures, and GC&H Investments. The funds will allow the company to ramp up development of the technology, hire key talent, and create wider AI datasets through lab partnerships and testing.
The company has garnered significant interest from multiple industry sectors, with food safety and healthcare being among the most important. In the food safety sector, Case Western Reserve University and the Safe Food Alliance are key partners. This interest has led the company to initiate several pilot programs in these industries. Additionally, the company has secured a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to help develop defense applications for this technology.
Plancraft raises €12M to build Europe’s first contractor operating system
Hamburg-based startup Plancraft has secured €12M in a Series A round of funding led by Creandum, a pan-European early-stage venture capital firm.
Plancraft, which digitises work processes for craftsmen, plans to become the first European contractor operating system with the new funds.
Dive Raises $10 Million Series A Led by the D. E. Shaw Group to Transform How Manufacturers Use Computer Simulation
Dive Engineering Software, Inc. (“Dive”), the pioneering cloud-native and particle-based simulation software company, announced it raised a $10 million Series A led by the D. E. Shaw group, a global investment and technology development firm, to elevate how manufacturing enterprises engineer products through fluid simulation. Additional investors include First Momentum Ventures, Segenia Capital, and Senovo Capital, who participated in the company’s seed funding. The Berlin-based company also announced the opening of a U.S. office in Boston.
Dive helps engineers simulate the mechanics of physical product components to be seamlessly tested in a browser-based platform. The company will use this round of financing to expand its Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation portfolio to support a variety of new simulation use cases. It will also strengthen its data analytics and data governance programs, bolstering its enterprise offering. Additionally, this round of financing will help fuel the company’s growth and expansion in the North American market.
Nucleus RadioPharma Secures Series A Extension Funding with AstraZeneca Investment
Nucleus RadioPharma, the world’s first fully integrated development, manufacturing, and supply chain organization for radiopharmaceuticals, announced the closing of a Series A extension round with new investor AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/Nasdaq: AZN). AstraZeneca joins existing investors from GE Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, Eclipse Ventures, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Echo Global Granger Management Mercy Health, and the University of Missouri as Nucleus expands development, supply, and commercial manufacturing capabilities to make targeted radiotherapies and theranostics more accessible to patients globally. Concurrent with the financing, Tyrell Rivers, PhD, Executive Director of Corporate Ventures at AstraZeneca, was named to the Board of Directors.
coboworx grabs €11.4M to simplify robotics automation for SMEs
Germany-based B2B robotics startup coboworx has snapped €11.4 million in funding. The round saw participation from Northstar Family Holdings, SquareOne Venture Capital (invested in Glassfy), Picus Capital (invested in Baselayer and CEEZER), and well-known business angels.
coboworx has announced that it will use the investment to expand its team of robotics experts and software engineers, improve its product offerings, and step into new markets. Furthermore, the company plans to open an office in Munich later this year.
Viaduct Raises $10 Million in Series B Funding Round
Viaduct, a developer of pioneering AI technology that identifies, solves and predicts product failures, announces the close of a $10 million Series B funding. The round was led by FM Capital, a venture capital firm which invests in the people and technologies that are transforming the automotive and transportation industries. FM Capital was joined by Innovation Endeavors, Exor Ventures, Stellantis Ventures and Sumitomo Rubber.
The company will use the proceeds to accelerate both business development and deployments for its solution that helps customers improve product quality, boost customer satisfaction and drive operational efficiency. Viaduct’s patented TSI Engine is the only AI-powered solution that intelligently and automatically analyzes thousands of variables hidden in terabytes of data to discover patterns of health, defects and performance in products across a wide range of industries.
Prevu3D Joins McRock's Portfolio
Our latest investment is breaking the mold and changing the Digital Twin category with some downright cool innovations to help businesses take their first steps into the industrial metaverse. We’re excited to welcome Montreal-based Prevu3D to our portfolio!
Our investment and expertise will assist Prevu3D scale its operations. We’ve been investing and believing in Industrial Software since we launched the firm in 2012. The successes of our first decade stem from applying our deep expertise and can-do attitude to nurture several high-potential industrial SaaS companies from basement startups into international success stories. Companies like Prevu3D don’t come along every day. This kind of innovation will continue to accelerate the Digital Industrial Revolution – with the right support.
Engineering AI Platform Neural Concept Raises $27 Million Series B to Further Accelerate Global Growth
Neural Concept, the leading Engineering Intelligence platform that transforms product design with 3D Deep Learning, has announced that it has raised $27 million in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Forestay Capital, with the D. E. Shaw group and existing investors Alven, CNB Capital, HTGF, and Aster Group also participating. This round follows the company’s $9 million Series A round in March 2022 and $2 million Seed round in 2020. Funds raised in this latest round will be used to consolidate Neural Concept’s technology leadership in the field, as well as to accelerate its global recruitment and growth to meet strong customer demand across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the US.
The platform combines Neural Concept’s proprietary technology with unique data analysis, MLOps, and application deployment capabilities to make Engineering Intelligence central to the product simulation and development processes. It dramatically improves collaboration across data-science, simulation, and design teams in order to enhance and accelerate innovation. Neural Concept is proven to reduce end-to-end product development times by up to 75%; accelerate product simulation by up to 10x; and improve product characteristics, including efficiency, safety, speed, and aerodynamics, by up to 30%.
Xcimer Raises $100 Million to Put Inertial Fusion Energy on Path to Commercialization
Xcimer Energy Inc. announced that it has raised $100 million in Series A financing led by Hedosophia, with participation from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Prelude Ventures, Emerson Collective, Gigascale Capital and Starlight Ventures. Xcimer will use this financing to establish a new facility in Denver, where it will build a prototype laser system including the world’s largest nonlinear optical pulse compression system to advance the development of its transformative technology for laser-driven inertial fusion.
Xcimer’s mission is to extend the proven science of inertial fusion to industrial scale by developing the world’s highest-energy laser system and combining it with key technologies and innovations from multiple fields. It has developed an approach to fusion energy that many experts recognize as having the best long-term economics and therefore most viable commercialization prospects of any fusion approach. Xcimer’s laser architecture will produce up to 10 times higher laser energy at 10 times higher efficiency and over 30 times lower cost per joule than the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser system that achieved fusion scientific breakeven in December 2022.
Entroview Raises $1.6M to Revolutionize Battery Diagnostics for Gigafactories and Automotive Companies
Entroview, a pioneering deep-tech startup specializing in battery software diagnostics, announces that they raised $1.6M to revolutionize battery diagnostics for gigafactories and automotive companies. The seed round was led by AFI Ventures - the early-stage impact arm of Ventech, and Rethink Ventures, and marks a significant milestone in the company’s mission to transform the Electric Vehicle landscape with advanced diagnostic software solutions. The funding will be used to expand its team, further develop its software, and scale its operations to meet the growing demand for advanced battery diagnostics solutions. Entroview was also named a finalist in the Grand Prix ACF AutoTech contest, which is judged by some of the most prestigious executives in the automotive industry in France.
Entroview provides deep insight on the internal state of batteries in real-time and provides a unique edge that goes beyond data analysis alone. With this insight, OEMs and cell producers can make informed decisions and drive innovation in battery management. Entroview provides physics-based software solutions that diagnoses batteries through the entire value chain with applications already tested by top gigafactories and automotive companies across Europe.
Field Materials Total Seed Funding Grows to $8.15M to Bring AI to Construction Procurement
Field Materials, the leading AI software to control and verify construction material and equipment spending, raised an additional $3.5M to bring its total Seed funding to $8.15M. The round was led by new investors DivcoWest Ventures, Navitas Capital, Zelda Ventures, and Flyer One Ventures alongside existing investors Blumberg Capital, s16vc, Zacua Ventures, and several prominent industry executives. The company was founded two years ago by Eldar Sadikov and Victor Gane, serial entrepreneurs out of Stanford, with backgrounds in AI and construction. Their previous AI startup was acquired by PayPal in 2018.
Field Materials’ AI capabilities have been the major driver for customer demand. The proprietary technology was built and trained using tens of thousands of vendor quotes, invoices, and packing slips from customers across eight different construction trades. It leverages state-of-the-art large language models (LLMs) and can read and interpret new vendor documents that it has not previously seen, without additional training.
CheckProof Secures Investment from Viking Venture to support expansion plans in North America and Europe
CheckProof, a Swedish SaaS company, is thrilled to announce a significant investment and long-term partnership with Viking Venture, the leading Nordic B2B software investor. Viking Venture will be a long-term partner, supporting CheckProof in its ambitious growth plans across North America and Europe. Viking Venture will join Granitor Growth Management AB as a lead shareholder in CheckProof.
CheckProof provides a user-friendly, all-in-one platform for the construction materials industry. The platform digitizes Maintenance & HSEQ Management with tasks including quality and maintenance routines, defects, deviation, and incident reporting.
BioBTX secures over € 80 million to launch world’s first renewable aromatics plant
By converting plastic waste and biomass into renewable aromatics, BioBTX is spearheading the creation of a circular chemical industry, significantly reducing carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels. Aromatics, essential for producing every-day products like insulating foams, coatings, PET bottles, batteries, and pharmaceuticals, will now have a sustainable alternative to fossil-based sources, presenting a major opportunity for circular business models.
As a leading technology developer since 2012, Groningen-based BioBTX aims to scale up its revolutionary technology at the PETRA Circular Chemicals Plant in Delfzijl. The PETRA plant will convert 20,000 tons of mixed plastic waste annually into renewable aromatics, replacing fossil resources and recycling low-value plastic waste into high-value chemicals. Once production is proven, the company intends to roll out the technology to chemical industry customers world-wide.
The € 80 million investment round includes € 42 million in equity from new shareholders Invest-NL, Infinity Recycling, and Covestro, alongside existing shareholders Carduso Capital, NOM and Groninger Groeifonds, and others. Additional funding comprises of € 15 million in debt financing from the Polestar Capital Circular Debt Fund and € 4 million from the Province of Groningen, a € 14 million grant from the Dutch Government via RVO, and other subsidies. Invest-NL’s investment is partly backed by InvestEU, a European Commission program that supports initiatives aligned with EU policy priorities.
Momenta leads Investment in Luffy AI, Adaptive AI for Industrial Optimization
Momenta, the leading Industrial Impact® venture capital firm, has announced its latest investment in Luffy AI, a Cambridge, UK-based leader in adaptive AI for industrial control. This strategic funding aims to advance industrial processes and enhance operational outcomes.
Luffy’s Adaptive Intelligence Framework, driven by neuroplasticity, offers unparalleled computational efficiency and supports edge deployments of optimized industrial control applications. This innovative technology enables control systems to continuously learn and adapt, making them more resilient and effective than traditional AI models. By integrating simpler digital twin models with self-optimizing neural networks, Luffy’s solution provides numerous benefits, such as reduced maintenance costs, improved explainability, and a heightened ability to manage uncertainty or unexpected events.
Gireve raises €20 million to consolidate as a global leader in EV charging
Gireve, a French player in electric vehicle charging and decarbonisation of transport, announced it has raised €20 million from Partech’s Impact Fund. Under the terms of the agreement, the investor will participate in the company’s capital, reinforced by new capital contributions from existing shareholders.
The deal will further the platform’s expansion in Europe and internationally but also develop new services such as Plug & Charge and Clearing. It will also enable the company to develop its data and consulting solutions further.
WindBorne Raises $15 Million to Scale Its Balloon Constellation and Bring AI Weather Modeling to the Fight Against Climate Change
WindBorne Systems, the world’s largest atmospheric sensing system and most accurate AI weather model, announced $15 million in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures, which earlier led WindBorne’s pre-seed round in 2019 and will take a board seat. Existing investors Footwork VC, Pear VC, and Convective Capital also participated in the round.
The funding round comes three months after WindBorne unveiled its deep learning-based weather forecast model, named WeatherMesh, which has unseated Google DeepMind’s GraphCast as the most accurate medium-range global forecast model in the world. (WindBorne publishes real-time benchmarks for its model.)
“The emergence of generative AI and WindBorne’s AI-native tech stack will enable us to deliver a new, smarter kind of weather experience that’s bespoke and co-creative in ways that software has never been before,” said Kai Marshland, WindBorne co-founder and Chief Product Officer. “The ability to cost-effectively deliver these insights across any industry and company presents an enormous opportunity to not only reduce emissions through smarter energy use, but also to help every community better adapt to the extreme weather that’s intensifying in the wake of climate change.”
WindBorne Raises $15 Million to Scale Its Balloon Constellation and Bring AI Weather Modeling to the Fight Against Climate Change
WindBorne Systems, the world’s largest atmospheric sensing system and most accurate AI weather model, announced $15 million in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures, which earlier led WindBorne’s pre-seed round in 2019 and will take a board seat. Existing investors Footwork VC, Pear VC, and Convective Capital also participated in the round.
The funding round comes three months after WindBorne unveiled its deep learning-based weather forecast model, named WeatherMesh, which has unseated Google DeepMind’s GraphCast as the most accurate medium-range global forecast model in the world. (WindBorne publishes real-time benchmarks for its model.)
Helsing raises €450M Series C for AI defence tech
German defence AI company Helsing has raised €450 million in a Series C financing round led by General Catalyst. Elad Gil, Accel, Saab, Lightspeed, Plural, and Greenoaks participated. This brings the company’s funding to over $760 million.
The funds will be used for product development and R&D; a particular focus will be on capabilities to secure European sovereignty including protecting the NATO Eastern Flank.
Neural Concept Raises $27 million Series B to further accelerate global growth
Neural Concept, the leading Engineering Intelligence platform that transforms product design with 3D Deep Learning, announced that it has raised $27 million in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Forestay Capital, with the D. E. Shaw group and existing investors Alven, CNB Capital, HTGF, and Aster Capital also participating. This round follows the company’s $9 million Series A round in March 2022 and $2 million Seed round in 2020. Funds raised in this latest round will be used to consolidate Neural Concept’s technology leadership in the field, as well as to accelerate its global recruitment and growth to meet strong customer demand across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the US.
The platform combines Neural Concept’s proprietary technology with unique data analysis, MLOps, and application deployment capabilities to make Engineering Intelligence central to the product simulation and development processes. It dramatically improves collaboration across data-science, simulation, and design teams in order to enhance and accelerate innovation. Neural Concept is proven to reduce end-to-end product development times by up to 75%; accelerate product simulation by up to 10x; and improve product characteristics, including efficiency, safety, speed, and aerodynamics, by up to 30%.
The Series B funding news follows the recent unveiling of a close technical collaboration with NVIDIA, allowing Neural Concept to optimize performance of physics-driven deep learning models on NVIDIA GPUs and CUDA software and to jointly push the frontiers of the field.
EthonAI raises $16.5M for Manufacturing AI
EthonAI announced that it has raised CHF 15 million ($16.5 million) in a Series A round of funding led by Index Ventures, with participation from General Catalyst, Earlybird and Founderful.
Founded out of Zurich in 2021 by CEO Julian Senoner and CTO Bernhard Kratzwald, EthonAI can train AI models for specific use cases, for instance in electronics manufacturing where the customer supplies imagery of defect-free products and EthonAI’s Inspector software can then identify surface defects in the products during the manufacturing and assembly process.
Maxa secures Series A funding led by Framework and BDC Capital
Montréal-based startup Maxa has raised $28.7 million CAD ($21 million USD) in Series A funding for its data automation and analytics platform for enterprise resource planning (ERP). The all-equity round was co-led by Framework Venture Partners and BDC Capital’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund, with participation from third-time return backers AQC Capital and Graphite Ventures. The round also saw participation from new investors Snowflake Ventures, Amiral Ventures, and NAventures, the venture arm of National Bank of Canada.
Maxa said the new funding will fuel its product development, go-to-market, and customer self-serve capabilities. Alexis Steinman told BetaKit that Maxa had raised around $5 million prior to this round, and that Framework partner Jim Texier and a representative from BDC Capital gained seats on Maxa’s board of directors as a result of the round.
Reibus Welcomes Jared Rowe as New CEO and Chairman of the Board
Reibus International, Inc., the leading independent metals marketplace, announced the appointment of Jared Rowe as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Board. Rowe brings over two decades of executive experience in the technology and marketplace sectors and will advance Reibus’ mission to revolutionize the industrial materials supply chain. The company also announced $30 million in new funding in a combination of equity and debt from existing investors, including Canaan and Nosara, with HSBC as its banking partner, to fuel its next phase of growth and innovation.
DataHow secures Series A investment for its AI bioprocessing Solutions
DataHow, a leader in AI-powered solutions for bioprocess development and manufacturing, has successfully closed its Series A investment round led by Momenta, the leading industrial impact venture capital firm. This investment, along with the participation from Rockwell Automation and Zürcher Kantonalbank, will allow the Zurich-based company to accelerate the deployment of its digital bioprocess development and manufacturing platform, DataHowLab.
An ETH spin-off founded in 2017 by a team of experienced researchers with industry experience, DataHow has pioneered the development of hybrid models for bioprocess development, implementing their innovative technologies with many of the biopharmaceutical industry’s largest players. Combining hard-coded process knowledge with data-driven AI algorithms, DataHow’s hybrid models provide process engineers with richer process insight when developing complex manufacturing processes while requiring less data.
Axus Technology Secures $12.5 Million in Capital Funding
Axus Technology, a leading global provider of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) equipment, critical for manufacturing semiconductors and compound semiconductors, announced it has received $12.5 million in capital funding from growth capital firm IntrinSiC Investment LLC. In addition, the company has secured a significant revolving and term line of credit from a leading national bank.
As an established equipment manufacturer with a strong installed base and leadership in advanced silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor processing, Axus Technology has developed a core understanding of technologies related to CMP – specifically, semiconductor wafer polishing, thinning and cleaning. As a result, the company is extremely well positioned to drive toward volume sales of, and enter new markets with, its highly differentiated Capstone® and Aquarius™ platforms. The company will use the equity funds to further these efforts, leveraging its strong capitalization to pursue and fulfill high-volume orders from semiconductor and compound semiconductor manufacturers around the world.
Frore Systems, the maker of AirJet® thermal solutions, accelerates unleashing the performance of AI platforms with $80M Series C fundraising
Frore Systems announced Series C fundraising of $80M, bringing the total money raised by the Company to $196M. The funds will be used to scale operations and expand the product line to meet the rapidly growing demand for AirJet Solid-State Active Cooling solutions that are unleashing the performance of both Edge AI and Data Center AI platforms.
The Series C fundraising is led by Fidelity Management & Research Company. Prosperity7 also made a significant investment in the round, together with all existing investors, Mayfield Fund, Clear Ventures, Addition, Qualcomm Ventures, MVP Ventures, Stepstone Group, Alumni Ventures and others. This support reinforces that Frore Systems, the pioneer in solid-state active cooling, is uniquely positioned to seize the massive opportunity in thermal solutions created by the AI revolution.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Leads Series B Investment in Realtime Robotics
Realtime Robotics, the leader in collision-free autonomous motion planning for industrial robots, announced that it has secured a strategic investment from Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. This is the lead investment in Realtime Robotics’ recently opened Series B round. Mitsubishi Electric was also a participant in the Series A round, and will be adding a senior representative to Realtime’s Board of Directors.
The funds will be used to support the refinement and scalability of the company’s revolutionary robot workcell optimization and runtime solutions, which significantly help engineers and manufacturers reduce costs and increase productivity.
Customers, including automotive manufacturers BMW and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, as well as integrators Valiant TMS and Schaeffler Group, report improved cycle times, reduced downtime, and increased throughput as a result of working with Realtime.
By increasing its stake, Mitsubishi Electric plans to further integrate Realtime’s cutting-edge motion planning technology into 3D simulators and other software to optimize manufacturing through the power of digital twins. Later, Mitsubishi Electric expects to incorporate Realtime’s technology into factory automation (FA) control system devices, such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), servo motors and computer numerical controllers (CNCs), to ensure uninterrupted plant operations by responding to needs for expanded automation capabilities, streamlined plant operations for improved efficiency, and fast responses to unexpected events.
Packwise secures funds to scale its industrial tech to North America
Dresden-founded IoT startup Packwise has raised an undisclosed seven-figure amount to drive upcoming internationalisation to North America. This current round of funding comes from TGFS Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen, together with Hüttenes³ GmbH. Founded in 2017, the company offers an innovative industrial IoT solution that enables customers in the chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries to gain transparency along the supply chain. Customers include BASF, Merck and Solvay.
The Packwise Smart Cap plug-and-play device creates new insights and records sensor data on the location, level, temperature and movement of mobile liquid containers with high precision in real-time. The accompanying platform visualises and analyses processes for various applications in the supply chain. By creating a digital twin of their industrial packaging, customers of the company gain insight into their entire supply chain and can use the Packwise software platform to map a variety of supply chain processes.
Wavelogix Secures $3M Investment from Rhapsody Venture Partners
Wavelogix, an Indiana-based startup manufacturing novel concrete strength sensors, has secured $3M in Series A funding from Rhapsody Venture Partners, a Cambridge-based venture capital firm that specializes in hard-tech investments.
Wavelogix’ patented REBEL Concrete Strength Sensors, developed at Purdue University, is the world’s first-ever, completely BREAK-FREE™, real-time, in-place concrete strength sensing solution. Once embedded, the sensors are able to measure in-place strength directly, without any information about the concrete mix. This innovation enables construction engineers to make data-driven decisions, optimizing schedules, reducing costs, and improving jobsite safety.
Claros Technologies, Inc. Raises $22 Million to Accelerate PFAS Destruction and Analytical Technologies
Claros Technologies, Inc. (ClarosTech™), the leader in PFAS analytical and destruction technologies, announced that it has raised $22M in new funding co-led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund and American Century Investments. This financing will allow ClarosTech™ to continue scaling the research, development and market penetration of its UV-photochemical PFAS destruction technologies, its durable anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-odor and broad spectrum UVA and UVB bio-based functional materials technologies and its ISO/IEC 17025:2017 analytical laboratory.
Additional investors include Capita3, Children’s Minnesota, Kureha America Inc., Open Door Foundation, F. R. Bigelow Foundation, other corporate investors, several individual investors alongside incumbent investors Groundswell Ventures and the University of Minnesota.
Nextmol successfully completes funding round to drive green and digital transformation in the chemical industry
Nextmol, a pioneering spin-off company from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center that provides computational chemistry solutions to accelerate the R&D of sustainable speciality chemicals, has successfully closed its first funding round. The investment round has been led by ACT Venture Partners with participation from Axon Partners Group, Abac Nest Venture Capital and GROW Venture Partners. This round will boost its product development and sales efforts to better support the chemical industry’s green and digital transition.
Nextmol drives forward R&D teams in the speciality chemicals industry with cutting-edge deep technology, empowering their customers to excel in launching new products into the market. Already collaborating with top-tier customers, with this funding round, Nextmol will continue to invest in the high-quality technology they have been developing, which is based on molecular modelling and AI.
Orca AI Raises $23 Million to Propel Autonomous Shipping
Orca AI, the industry-leading AI-based operational platform for ships, has raised $23 million in new funding, led by OCV Partners and Mizmaa Ventures taking its total raised to nearly $40 million.
Orca AI’s solution is the first step in introducing autonomous features to vessels already on the water. In 2022, it powered the world’s first autonomous commercial ship voyage with NYK and is now working on the second phase of fully autonomous ship technology to be rolled out in 2025.
By detecting and alerting crew to high-risk marine targets, Orca AI optimizes operations to avoid unnecessary maneuvers and speed drops, reducing fuel burn and emissions. The improved navigational decisions enabled by Orca AI resulted in an average $100 – 300k saving in fuel per vessel per year (3-5%) and 172,716 tonnes of CO2 reduction last year.
Fiberwood Raises €7.7 Million for the Development of Ecological Building Insulation and Packaging Materials
A Finnish materials technology startup, Fiberwood Ltd, has raised 7.7 million euros in growth funding from existing investors Metsä Spring and Stephen Industries, together with public financiers. The company is preparing to enter a commercial phase with the aim of international growth.
Fiberwood is a materials technology startup that develops fossil-free insulation and packaging materials from the forestry side streams and other natural fibres. The company unlocks the potential of leftovers by converting them into valuable, recyclable, and carbon-sequestering materials for various applications. Breathable and compostable insulation and packaging materials are ecological alternatives to mineral wool-based insulation and cellular plastic-based packaging cushioning.
CIRCTEC secures €150M to construct Europe’s largest end-of-life tyre pyrolysis recycling facility in the Netherlands
CIRCTEC, a company specialising in pyrolysis for sustainable end-of-life tyre recycling, announced that it has secured €150M in a fresh financing round co-led by Novo Holdings and A.P. Moller Holding. The funding includes a €75M equity investment from Novo Holdings and A.P. Moller Holding, along with €22.5M in grants awarded by the Government of the Netherlands.
The capital will enable CIRCTEC to establish Europe’s largest end-of-life tyre pyrolysis recycling facility in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. Once operational at full capacity, the facility will be capable of processing approximately 5 per cent of the 3.6M tons of end-of-life tyres generated annually in Europe.
Verse™ Secures $20.5 Million in Series A Funding led by GV to Help Organizations Reduce Electricity Costs & Emissions
Verse, whose software enables organizations to understand, plan, and manage clean energy, has raised a $20.5M Series A funding round. The investment, led by GV (Google Ventures) with participation from Coatue, CIV, and MCJ Collective, will support Verse as it scales commercial operations and develops new product capabilities to help organizations reduce emissions and lower electricity costs.
InfinitForm Emerges from Stealth to Transform Manufacturing with a Groundbreaking AI-Copilot for Mechanical Engineers
InfinitForm is proud to announce the public launch of its innovative software which promises to transform the engineering design process for manufacturing. This software enables mechanical engineers to establish new standards for speed, efficiency, and performance through extensive GPU-accelerated design simulation and optimization tools, improved collaboration features, and an intuitive user interface. InfinitForm raised seed funding led by Schematic Ventures in December 2023 and has swiftly progressed from a beta version to a commercial product.
The existing Design-for-Manufacturing process is challenged by silos, intricate workflows, and time-intensive procedures. This process can take weeks to months, involve a multitude of expensive software tools, workflows, and require highly skilled personnel with cumbersome coordination. InfinitForm’s software reduces the time this complex process takes down to minutes.
Porsche Ventures invests in battery startup South 8 to boost cold-weather EV performance
All cars suffer when the mercury drops, but electric vehicles suffer more than most as heaters draw more power and batteries charge more slowly as the liquid electrolyte inside thickens. Drivers in Chicago found this out the hard way last January after many Teslas failed to charge during a deep freeze.
One startup, South 8 Technologies, says it can make cold-weather charging more reliable by filling batteries with a pressurized, liquified gas electrolyte instead of a liquid one. In the process, it hopes to slash the cost of lithium-ion batteries by 30%.
The company recently attracted new funding from Porsche Ventures in the form of a SAFE note, which will be applied to a Series B round that the company is starting to raise. Stepien said he could not disclose the size of Porsche Ventures’ investment.