Industry Briefing · UK Climate Tech
UK Climate Technology & Clean Energy
The UK's climate technology sector spans clean energy generation, grid infrastructure, carbon capture, sustainable agriculture, and industrial decarbonisation. With net zero commitments driving both public and private investment, British climate tech companies are developing the hardware and systems needed to transition the economy — from advanced battery storage and hydrogen technologies to precision agritech and sustainable materials.
UK Climate Tech · 3 companies
Companies
Featured
Seabound
Seabound develops retrofittable onboard carbon capture systems for ships that lock CO₂ emissions in solid carbonate pebbles, providing an ocean-ready decarbonisation solution for the maritime industry.
Proxima Fusion
Munich
Proxima Fusion develops commercial fusion power plants using quasi-isodynamic stellarator technology, leveraging decades of research from the Max Planck Institute and combining optimised stellarator design with high-temperature superconducting magnets.
Isometric
London
Isometric operates a science-backed carbon removal registry that verifies and issues high-quality carbon credits, employing over two dozen interdisciplinary scientists and maintaining transparent, publicly auditable records for durable carbon dioxide removal projects.
Backing Climate Tech · 15 investors
Investors
IQ Capital
Founded in 2005, IQ Capital is a leading European deep tech venture capital firm based in Cambridge and London. Its general partners, Kerry Baldwin, Max Bautin, Simon Hirtzel, and Ed Stacey, have worked together for over 20 years. The firm leads rounds from pre-Seed to Series A and follows on via dedicated growth funds with up to £30m per company. Since inception it has partnered with over 200 deep tech founders, attracting $1.4 billion in follow-on capital to its portfolio. Notable investments include Thought Machine (core banking unicorn backed from Seed), Speechmatics, and Nyobolt, with exits to Apple, Meta, Google, Siemens, Qualcomm, and Oracle.
ParkWalk
Founded in 2009 and now part of IP Group plc (FTSE 250), Parkwalk is the UK's most active investor in university spinout companies. The firm connects investors with high growth, IP rich startups through EIS and VCT fund structures, partnering closely with the tech transfer offices of Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College, and Bristol. To date it has invested £483m across 200+ companies, achieving 39 exits (up to 16x) and returning £166m to investors. Notable co-investors include Amadeus Capital, Cambridge Innovation Capital, and Schroders. The team won Growth Investor of the Year 2024 and Best EIS Investment Manager in 2022 and 2023.
UKRI
Established in 2018, UKRI is the UK's largest public funder of research and innovation, bringing together seven research councils, Innovate UK, and Research England. Through Innovate UK it has awarded over £9.8 billion in grants to approximately 7,000 companies since 2011, targeting an average leverage ratio of at least £3 of private investment for every £1 of public funding. Its £320 million Technology Missions Fund supports AI, quantum, engineering biology, and future telecoms. UKRI invests roughly £8 billion per year and recently outlined a record £38.6 billion four year settlement scaling to nearly £10 billion annually by 2029/30.
Techstars
Founded in 2006 by David Brown, David Cohen, Brad Feld, and Jared Polis, Techstars is one of the world's largest startup accelerators. It invests $220,000 per company ($20,000 for 5% common stock plus a $200,000 uncapped MFN safe) through a three month mentorship driven programme. With a portfolio of over 4,700 companies across 16 unicorns, alumni have collectively raised over $30 billion and hold a combined valuation exceeding $120 billion. Notable alumni include Sendgrid (acquired by Twilio), ClassPass, Remitly, and Chainalysis. Around 75% of companies receive follow on funding or become profitable post programme.
Ahren
Founded in 2018 by Alice Newcombe-Ellis alongside co-founding Science Partners, Ahren is a deep tech and deep science investment firm based in London, Cambridge, and Boston. The firm operates a distinctive model pairing commercially active long term capital with world leading scientists, including Nobel laureates Venki Ramakrishnan and Gregory Winter, and Turing Award winner Shankar Balasubramanian. Ahren invests from pre-seed to pre-IPO, partnering with founders building transformational companies that penetrate or create massive markets. Notable portfolio companies include Graphcore, AI21 Labs, ZOE, Phaidra, Heirloom Carbon, and Bicycle Therapeutics.
Science Creates
Founded in 2015 by Harry Destecroix MBE following his $800m exit of University of Bristol spinout Ziylo, Science Creates is a deep tech ecosystem comprising incubators and a VC fund. Its three Bristol incubators (Unit DX, Unit DY, and OMX opening 2026) span 75,000 sq ft supporting over 125 startups and 370 jobs. The VC arm SCVC invests at pre-seed and seed ($500K to $3m) with Series A follow on up to $7m. Fund 1 ($17m) backed 12 companies; Fund 2 targets $100m. Portfolio companies include Delta g (quantum sensors), VyperCore (RISC-V), Scarlet Therapeutics, and Isomab. The network has contributed £125m GVA annually to the UK economy.
Eclipse
Founded in 2015 by Lior Susan, Eclipse is a venture capital firm focused on transforming essential physical industries through technology. The firm operates a distinctive 'Venture Equity' model, co-founding new companies with senior operators from organisations like Tesla, Amazon Robotics, and Northvolt. Eclipse invests from pre-seed to Series D and backs companies integrating hardware, software, and data across industries representing 75% of global GDP. Notable portfolio companies include VulcanForms, Bright Machines, Augury, Enovix, and Cellares. The firm also partnered with Mayo Clinic to create Nucleus RadioPharma.
Concept Ventures
Founded in 2018 by Reece Chowdhry (originally as RLC Ventures), Concept Ventures is Europe's largest dedicated pre-seed fund. The firm invests up to $1.5m in first rounds, leading over 90% of deals, and is proudly sector agnostic. Fund I is a top 1% performing fund for its vintage globally, with 100% of portfolio companies that went to market successfully closing their next round. Portfolio companies have collectively raised over $450m in follow on funding. The standout investment is ElevenLabs (voice AI unicorn valued at $6.6B), backed at pre-seed and now representing a 400x return. Other notable investments include VSim, Arondite, and Anam.
Plural
Founded in 2022 by Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus, Songkick co-founder Ian Hogarth, Bigpoint CEO Khaled Helioui, and Teleport co-founder Sten Tamkivi, Plural is a founder led early stage venture fund for Europe. The founding team collectively built Skype, Wise, Songkick, and Teleport, bringing deep operator experience to a market where only 8% of European investors are former founders. Plural leads rounds of €1m to €10m and has invested in 48 companies across six countries. Notable portfolio companies include Robin AI, Isometric, Proxima Fusion, and Phasecraft. Its largest investment themes are AI (31%), frontier tech (16%), and climate and energy (14%).
Prima Materia
Founded in 2021 by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and early Spotify investor Shakil Khan, Prima Materia is a private investment vehicle backed by Ek's personal pledge of €1B over a decade into European technology companies. Described as a '100 year project', the firm takes a builder and active owner approach to a small number of long term bets. Prima Materia led the €600M Series D for defence AI company Helsing (valued at $12B) and is an original backer of Neko Health (co-founded by Ek). Other investments include Northvolt, H2 Green Steel, and Pale Blue Dot. The firm focuses on foundational technologies with lasting societal impact.
General Catalyst
Founded in 2000 by Joel Cutler and David Fialkow, General Catalyst is a global venture capital firm investing from seed to growth stage. Named the most active VC investor between 2020 and 2023 by PitchBook, the firm has backed 871 companies producing 90 unicorns, 29 IPOs, and 203 acquisitions. In 2024 GC closed $8B in new capital including $6B for Fund XII, with 25% allocated to Europe. The firm has expanded globally through mergers with La Famiglia (Europe) and Venture Highway (India), and uniquely acquired Summa Health for $485M as a proving ground for its healthtech portfolio. Notable investments include Stripe, Airbnb, HubSpot, Snap, Anduril, Helsing, Mistral, and Canva.
Valor Equity Partners
Founded in 1995 by Antonio Gracias, Valor Equity Partners is a Chicago based growth focused private equity firm renowned for its deep operational involvement with portfolio companies through its 29 person Scale Group. Valor was an early and long standing backer of both Tesla and SpaceX, and its portfolio of 301 companies includes Anduril, Neuralink, Reddit, xAI, Zipline, and WEKA. Fund VI closed at $2.35B (oversubscribed beyond the $2B target), with an additional $1B in co-investment commitments. The firm also manages Valor Siren Ventures in partnership with Starbucks, Nestlé, Target, and Marriott for food, retail, and sustainability investments.
Marathon Venture Capital
Founded in 2017 in Athens, Marathon Venture Capital is a seed stage fund backing ambitious Greek and European founders building world class technology companies. The firm typically leads seed rounds with €1m+ cheques for 15–20% equity, with about half of investments originating internationally from across Europe and the US. Fund I is described as a top percentile performer globally in realised returns. Portfolio companies have attracted follow on capital from Bessemer, Bain, 83North, Insight, and Index. Notable investments include Causaly (AI for biomedical research), Hack The Box (cybersecurity training), Augmenta (agritech), and Lenses.io (exited). LPs include the EIF, EBRD, and HDBI.
HCVC
Founded in 2018 by Alexis Houssou, Jerry Yang, and Aymerik Renard, HCVC (formerly Hardware Club) is an early stage venture capital firm investing in companies automating and digitising the physical world. The firm operates a dual model: a VC fund alongside a selective global community of 600+ hardtech startups (sub-7% acceptance rate) offering shared manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain resources through 200 partners including Foxconn and Amazon Launchpad. Fund I ($50M) backed 50 companies; Fund II ($75M, 2023) targets 40 investments. Notable LPs include John Elkann (Stellantis/Ferrari), Toto Wolff (Mercedes F1), and Albert Wenger (USV). Portfolio companies include Cowboy, Renaissance Fusion, Automata, and Span.
Uber
Founded in 2009 by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, Uber is a $150B+ multinational technology company operating mobility, food delivery (Uber Eats), and freight platforms with $52B annual revenue (2025) and 33,600 employees. Uber has made 31+ corporate venture investments primarily aligned with its core business, focusing on autonomous vehicles, electric mobility, and logistics technology. It holds $18.5B in long term strategic investments. Notable bets include a $100M investment in WeRide (robotaxis), plus stakes in Joby Aviation (electric aircraft), Serve Robotics (autonomous delivery), Waabi (self-driving AI), Lucid Motors, and Nuro. Uber has also acquired 23 companies to expand its platform capabilities.
Climate Tech · 10 roles
Open Roles
Materials Lead Engineer
Maintenance Lead Engineer
Magnet Integration Engineer
Engineering Program Manager
Alpha Cryogenics Engineer
Cryogenic Systems Lead
Senior Product Designer
Business Development Executive
Partnerships Manager
Carbon Removal Scientist, Soil Carbon
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