• EcoPals GmbH

  Participated · Equity · Aug 2024

  Ecopals produces sustainable road-construction materials whose flagship product, Ecoflakes, is a high-performance asphalt additive made from recycled plastic. Ecoflakes replaces virgin plastics and parts of bitumen, extends asphalt service life and can cut the CO2 footprint of road construction by up to 20 percent. The company says its products have been proven on dozens of construction sites and also reduce costs versus conventional materials. Ecopals plans to expand production capacity to meet growing demand and to develop international markets while working on further innovations to lower CO2 emissions in road construction. The company recently completed its largest financing to date, securing €4 million to support faster growth. Management is expanding: Fabian Zitzmann will become Co-CEO alongside Jonas Varga to sharpen positioning and expand sales. ecopals has developed EcoFlakes, an asphalt additive produced from non-recyclable plastic streams in cooperation with Fraunhofer ICT and the University of Kassel. EcoFlakes are used as an ingredient in asphalt mixtures to improve bonding between aggregates and bitumen and have been validated in laboratory tests and several pilot roads. The company says the additive can deliver up to 30% lower CO2 emissions in road construction and twice the service life. Founded in 2021 by Jonas Varga and Maximilian Redwitz and based in Berlin, ecopals aims to link recycling, road construction and science to become a platform for resource-efficient construction materials. The startup plans regional production of EcoFlakes to reduce transport-related emissions and to scale widespread use. Following the financing, ecopals intends to grow its team from six to about 12–15 employees with hires focused on chemical engineering and sales.

• Enerdrape

  Participated · Seed · Jan 2024

  Enerdrape is a Western Switzerland cleantech startup that manufactures modular geothermal panels designed for installation in underground settings such as parking garages, tunnels and basements. The panels capture both shallow geothermal energy and residual heat, which is then transferred to a building’s heating or cooling system via a heat pump. According to the company, every square meter of Enerdrape panels can deliver enough thermal energy for up to 23 square meters of living space, underscoring a strong efficiency metric. The solution eliminates the need for drilling, lowering installation complexity and cost relative to traditional geothermal systems. The company plans to use newly secured funding to expand its team, accelerate market development efforts and build new digital tools to support deployment. Enerdrape’s business model focuses on retrofitting existing underground infrastructure, unlocking an untapped renewable energy source for urban areas. Its recent financing indicates growing traction and provides additional runway for commercialization.

No current team members are available.