The Venture Codex

Participated · Seed · Jan 2026

Ammobia is re-engineering the century-old Haber-Bosch method to synthesize ammonia at roughly 150 °C cooler temperatures and one-tenth the pressure of conventional plants, potentially lowering production costs by up to 40%. Its technology leverages a proprietary reactor design, including a sorbent that removes ammonia as it forms, enabling smaller, modular plants and easier load-following with renewable energy. A commercial unit is planned to output 250 tons of ammonia per day, and the company has already run a laboratory-scale system for about a year. Because the process requires less extreme conditions, producers can use cheaper equipment and more readily integrate intermittent green hydrogen sources. Ammobia believes this approach could open new markets for ammonia beyond fertilizer, including industrial and transportation fuels. With fresh seed financing, the startup will build a 10-ton-per-day pilot plant that mirrors its full-scale design. No revenue or user figures have been disclosed, but the company claims its modular approach offers significant CapEx and OpEx advantages for customers.

Participated · Series B · Oct 2022

Botalys is a Belgian pioneer in hydroponic precision farming, using a controlled-environment platform to reproduce ideal growth conditions for rare medicinal plants. Its technology produces 100% pure, clinically ultra-premium botanicals aimed at the nutraceutical and cosmetic markets while preserving plants' natural biotopes. The company operates a factory and an R&D center in Ghislenghien dedicated to developing new plants and innovative derivatives. Botalys aims to deploy its platform across additional medicinal plants and to expand commercially in American and Asian markets. It seeks to become the largest vertical farm in Belgium and a global leader in rare medicinal-plant cultivation. Prior public backing and grants have supported its industrial development and R&D efforts.

Participated · Equity · Mar 2022

H2 MOBILITY operates hydrogen refueling stations for road mobility and is described as the leader in Germany. The company has more than 90 stations in operation and aims to expand its network to 300 stations by 2030. H2 MOBILITY recently completed a financing round that raised €10 million. The round included participation from VINCI Concessions and the Clean H2 Infra Fund, which is managed by Hy24. VINCI Concessions has indicated it will support H2 MOBILITY's development ambitions through its subsidiary VINCI Highways. The transaction coincided with the closing of the Clean H2 Infra Fund, in which the VINCI group is a key industrial investor. H2 Mobility develops and runs a network of hydrogen filling stations to serve fuel-cell passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and increasingly trucks and buses. The company operates over 90 stations and has previously set up more than 50 hydrogen filling sites. It raised €110 million to upgrade existing stations and build new, higher-capacity stations to meet growing demand from commercial and intensive-use vehicles. Planned upgrades will expand more than 200 filling stations into large-scale facilities and target several highly frequented traffic corridors across Europe. H2 Mobility positions itself as a key player in the EU mobility transition and supports implementation of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR). Company leadership highlights preparing stations for the expected ramp-up of intensive-use vehicles from automakers.

Led · Equity · Apr 2019

FirstElement Fuel develops, owns, and operates retail hydrogen refueling stations in California under the “True Zero” brand. The company focuses on building and scaling retail hydrogen fueling infrastructure to support fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Air Liquide’s $12 million equity investment and a long-term hydrogen supply agreement are intended to enable FEF’s ramp-up and expansion of the True Zero network. Those agreements aim to ensure robust and reliable fueling to accommodate the roughly 40,000 FCEVs expected to be deployed in California by 2022. FEF collaborates with partners including Toyota, Honda, Mitsui and others as part of efforts to develop a sustainable hydrogen mobility ecosystem. The investment complements Air Liquide’s broader U.S. hydrogen activities, including a planned new hydrogen production facility in the western U.S. FirstElement Fuel is developing and operating a retail hydrogen refueling network across California. The company has built a planned network of 19 stations serving metro, connector, and destination locations. FirstElement has received grants totaling over $27 million from the California Energy Commission and substantial funding assistance from Toyota earlier this year. Honda has signed a letter of intent to provide significant financial assistance, which—together with anticipated state grants—could allow the company to add at least 12 more stations and expand to at least 31 stations. California has a plan to invest $200 million in hydrogen station development over the next several years, which could further support FirstElement’s growth. The company’s stated goal is to enable fuel cell vehicle drivers to travel throughout the state as seamlessly as with conventional gasoline vehicles, positioning itself as the world’s first true retail hydrogen network. FirstElement Fuel is building a consumer hydrogen fueling network to support the launch of fuel cell electric vehicles. The company received a $27.6 million grant from the California Energy Commission to help deploy stations across California. It plans to have its first 19 stations operational by fall 2015, ahead of vehicle rollouts. Leadership includes Chairman and CEO Joel Ewanick, formerly GM’s VP and global CMO, and scientists Tim Brown and Shane Stephens‑Romero from UC Irvine’s National Fuel Cell Research Center. FirstElement intends to create a scalable business model to expand to other U.S. markets and global markets as the fuel cell market grows. The company cites state programs such as AB 118 and broader support from automakers and the public sector as enablers of its rollout.

Participated · Series E · Nov 2016

Sigfox is a French IoT company building a dedicated global radio network to connect, monitor and control a wide range of devices. Its network is operational in regions across 26 countries, covering 1.35 million square kilometers and 358 million people, and it reports about 10 million devices registered. Pricing starts at €1 per device per month with a sliding scale based on volume. The company aims to expand its footprint to 60 countries by 2018, sees opportunities in China and India, and has completed a recent 100-city U.S. deployment. It plans to integrate with Salesforce’s IoT Cloud to sell solutions to clients already using Salesforce for IoT management. Sources place Sigfox's valuation at around €600 million, and the company has raised just over $300 million to date. SIGFOX provides an Internet of Things (IoT) network protocol built on Ultra Narrow Band (UNB) technology that delivers scalable, long-range, two-way connectivity with high capacity. The company's UNB approach is positioned as a cost-effective, energy-efficient option suited for small-message IoT devices. SIGFOX operates its network in more than a dozen countries and major cities and runs a SIGFOX Ready™ program to certify compatible devices and promote them in a global solutions catalogue. The company’s protocol has been integrated into Samsung’s ARTIK platform, enabling ARTIK-based devices to become SIGFOX Ready™ and connect where the SIGFOX network is available. That integration allows developers to activate the SIGFOX network via a simple cloud connectivity subscription. Samsung Ventures has invested in SIGFOX as part of this strategic relationship; the articles state the investment terms were not disclosed. SIGFOX operates a dedicated Low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) cellular network that delivers economical, energy-efficient two-way transmission of small quantities of data for IoT and M2M devices. The company positions its network as complementary to high-bandwidth systems, aiming to unify efficient connectivity across energy and throughput dimensions. Deployments are already live in France, Spain, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, with expansion plans into the United States and broader roll-outs across Europe, Asia and the Americas. SIGFOX reports more than 2 million square kilometers of network coverage through its SIGFOX Network Operator partnership program. The firm says its technology extends battery and service life of connected devices and lowers barriers to large-scale IoT implementation. Incorporated in 2009, SIGFOX is headquartered in Labège, France, with offices in Mountain View, California and Madrid, Spain. Sigfox provides global cellular connectivity for the Internet of Things, fully dedicated to low-throughput communications. Its solution is based on an antenna and base station infrastructure that is completely independent of existing telecommunications networks. The company was co-founded by Ludovic Le Moan (CEO) and Christophe Fourtet (CSO) and has offices in Labège, Paris, Madrid and San Francisco. In March 2014 Sigfox raised €15m in venture capital funding. The company said it will use the funds to accelerate growth, support international deployment and hire new people. Backers in the round included Idinvest Partners, FSN PME, Fonds Ambition Numérique, Elaia Partners, Intel Capital, Ixo Private Equity and Partech. SIGFOX is a Toulouse, France-based operator of a cellular network fully dedicated to Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things communications. Led by CEO Ludovic Le Moan, the company leverages its patented UNB technology, SIGFOX, to enable large-scale connection of objects. It operates a very low throughput network aimed at wide-area, low-bandwidth IoT/M2M use cases. SIGFOX closed a €10m Series B funding round led by Intel Capital, with participation from existing investors Elaia Partners, Partech Ventures International and iXO Private Equity. The company intends to use the capital to deploy its network across the whole of France and into several foreign countries.