Infrascreen is a Neuchatel, Switzerland-based provider of nanotech solutions for energy-efficient climate control in greenhouses. The company develops smart materials that aim to increase energy efficiency, lower carbon footprints, and improve produce quality. Led by CEO Henri de Lalande, Infrascreen will use its recent funding to build full-scale pilot products for commercial greenhouses. The firm has offices in Rochester, New York in addition to its Neuchatel base. Financially, the company secured $1.5M in seed funding to advance its pilot development and commercialization efforts. The product focus is on applying nanotechnologies to greenhouse materials to deliver operational and environmental benefits. Infrascreen manufactures smart light filters using nanotechnologies and agronomy expertise that are transparent to photosynthetic light while reflecting infrared to reduce heat stress. The company’s filters are claimed to improve greenhouse productivity by 15%, cut heating energy needs by 20% and reduce CO2 emissions by 200 tonnes per hectare per year. Infrascreen was founded in 2019 and is based in Neuchâtel, and it was created through collaboration with the PV-centre of CSEM/EPFL, Wageningen University & Research and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institute. The startup plans to deploy pilot prototypes as early as 2021 and aims to begin commercial positioning by 2022. Financially, Infrascreen received a CHF100,000 FIT Tech Seed loan and is currently conducting a CHF2 million fundraising round. It has also received support from Innosuisse, Venture Kick and the BCN Innovation 2020 Prize. Infrascreen is a Neuchâtel-based startup incubated at Microcity and cofounded by Benoît de Combaud and Henri de Lalande. The company is developing a new generation of thermal screens that use nanotechnologies from CSEM to reduce greenhouse heating needs while maintaining the same solar-spectrum transmission for plant photosynthesis. Its technology aims to cut CO2 emissions from agricultural greenhouses by about 40% and reduce operating costs by roughly 16%. Infrascreen works with several academic and industrial partners to advance more sustainable agriculture. The founders intend to produce the thermal screens in the canton of Neuchâtel. Winning the BCN Innovation Prize is presented as a step to help address the significant remaining technical and market challenges.

Total raised

$4M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

May 2022