Editor’s Note: This article was contributed by guest writer Marta Zaccagnini.
With rising temperatures and inter-governmental action feeling slow, it’s easy to feel pretty hopeless in the face of climate change. We are fortunate that the climate-tech sector is flourishing and that startup-led innovation is giving us the confidence we need to develop the technology required to achieve net zero.
Women founders are playing an essential role in the race to develop innovative climate-tech products. Data has long shown that women are more likely to establish companies that seek to solve social issues and the climate technology sector is no stranger to this.
However, given the pitiful state of the funding landscape for female-led startups (just 2% of all capital obtained in Europe goes to these companies), it’s important to highlight the incredible women in this field who are developing critical solutions. We’ve compiled this list of exceptionally promising women-led startups to watch this year – all founded post-2019, and all developing and scaling the solutions the planet needs.
Sinergy Flow: Alessandra Accogli and her Milan-based team are actively working on the development of an eco-friendly, cost-effective, and remarkably efficient redox flow battery based on sulfur. Their primary objective is to enable long-term storage of renewable energy. With the successful completion of a seed round, securing €1.8 million in funding the previous year, they are now poised to embark on mass production. Their ultimate goal is to address the pressing challenge of green energy storage in Europe.
HelioRec: Headed up by Polina Vasilenko and operating from France, HelioRec is on a mission to provide floating solar electricity solutions to areas that lack access to available land necessary for traditional solar farms. Floating solar panels offer distinct advantages over traditional counterparts; they don’t take up valuable land space addressing land scarcity concerns, and at the same time they are more efficient because they are cooled by the water below them. HelioRec has secured over €1.6 million in funding and aims to finalize their current round this spring.
Ormex: Goulnara Aguiar, leveraging her extensive experience in the Capital Markets Fintech industry, has spearheaded the development of a digital registry and marketplace for agricultural nature-based carbon credits. Situated in Paris, Goulnara and her team are dedicated to establishing an innovative alternative to the prevailing energy and forest-based carbon credit sector. Through Ormex’s blockchain platform, industrial groups can effectively offset their unavoidable emissions by purchasing socially responsible carbon credits with a strong environmental focus. Presently, Ormex is currently in the throes of raising its €1,5 million seed round to fuel further growth and expansion.
The 0-mission: Anna Riis Hedegaard from Denmark is heading the 0-Mission team which offers corporations a unique opportunity to contribute renewable energy to the grid through flexible subscription models. Despite being established in 2022, The 0-Mission has already achieved profitability and serves prominent Danish brands such as 3, a telecommunications company, and Plesner, a renowned law firm. The venture is supported by Antler, a notable Venture Capital fund.
reLi Energy: Under the leadership of Laura Laringe, reLi Energy has developed an innovative software solution that maximises the performance of energy storage systems, allowing batteries to reach their full potential. By optimising battery operations, the product enhances efficiency and generates savings of up to 70%. Based in Germany, reLi has secured €200,000 in funding to conduct further testing of their technology throughout 2023.
SilviBio: Alicja Dzieciol, the founder and CEO of SilviBio, spearheads the mission of promoting tree growth and sustainability. Based in Scotland, SilviBio specialises in designing advanced soil and growing additives that improve resource utilisation and enable higher yields. Alicja, a finalist in the EU Prize for Women Innovators, is a respected figure in the forestry sector. SilviBio has established partnerships with major clients and distributors in the UK and across Europe.
RediGo Carbon: Magdalena Stelmach, originally from Poland and now based in London, leads RediGo Carbon, a cloud-based platform that assists companies to maximise their efficiency by reducing their emissions. RediGo Carbon’s machine learning technology analyses historical and current emissions data and offers a visualised path to achieve net-zero emissions. Recently, the fast-growing company concluded a successful $350,000 pre-seed funding round and is scaling up operations by collaborating with companies throughout the continent.
