2024 could be the highest funded yet for circular economy companies. H1 broke a record in circular economy funding peaking at €8.4B, largely driven by Northvolt’s and Verkor’s giga-rounds. In a recent report developed with Ecoembers and The Circular Lab, we checked the temperature of circular startup funding in Europe in H1 2024. These were the top 10 hottest deals, according to our data:
1. Verkor
French startup Verkor is building Europe’s largest gigafactory to fast-track the manufacturing of low-carbon batteries. Verkor contributes to the transition to a circular economy by automating recycling of production scrap. The company raised a $4B debt round from Ing Group in May, marking its most substantial funding round to date.
2. Picnic
Online grocery shopping platform Picnic links customers to farmers and suppliers to receive fresh produce. Picnic uses AI and automation to reduce waste by predicting customer needs and optimizing stock levels. All orders are delivered with electric vehicles, and its deposit return system allows for the recycling of packaging and retainers.
3. DeepGreen
Octopus Ventures led a £200M investment into UK-based DeepGreen at the beginning of this year. DeepGreen uses excess heat from data centers to slash energy bills for communities, driving the transition towards a cleaner and cheaper energy future.
4. Bolt
Green mobility company Bolt secured 220M euros in credit facility in May as it moves closer to IPO. The facility was provided by a syndicate of banks including Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan. Bolt has raised over $2B in total funding since the company was founded in 2013, to fuel the transition towards a shared economy.
5. Tibber
Norweigan digital energy company Tibber closed a $448M debt round in January 2024. Its latest energy product ‘Grid Rewards’ allows customers with electric cars to earn money by reducing the load on the grids through their controllable electricity consumption.
6. Cirtec
Cirtec is a Spanish circular economy company born out of a merger between Valoriza Medioambiente and Composan Industrial y Tecnologa. Cirtec promotes a circular economy in road construction projects by providing sustainable asphalt and other waste-derived by-products. Cirtec raised €150M in growth equity in May 2024.
7. Ineratec
German-funded Ineratec secured a $129M Series B round in January to provide sustainable e-fuel at scale. Backers include Horizon Ventures, Siemens Energy, and High-Tech Gründerfonds.
8. D-Orbit
The space logistics market is growing. Italian aerospace company D-Orbit closed a $110 Series C round earlier this year to make space exploration more sustainable by facilitating greater collaboration between companies operating in space and recycling satellites.
9. Verne
Circular economy company Verne closed a €100M Series A round in February 2024. Verne is working on Mobility as a Service platform improving urban transportation through autonomous electric vehicles, and decreasing the reliance on car ownership.
10. Northvolt
Leading Swedish sustainable battery manufacturer Northvolt secured a $5B debt round in early 2024 – the largest green loan ever raised in Europe. Northvolt’s in-house recycling program ‘Revolt’ turns old batteries into fresh raw materials, with the goal to source half of materials needed for cell production from recycling by 2030. The debt was provided by a group of 23 commercial banks, including the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB). However, Northvolt has recently hit the news due to a series of setbacks, clouding its future.
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