Participated · Seed · Feb 2025

Edacious operates a next‑generation food lab and a science‑based software platform that measure and map nutrient density across whole foods and ingredients. The company assays more than 200 compounds essential to human health to reveal how genetics, soil health, and management practices drive nutritional differences. Edacious reports that nutrient levels can vary up to 10x within groups of similar foods (for example, apples) and says its tools measure and map nutrient density 10 times faster and cheaper than incumbent approaches. Its lab replaces incomplete and costly testing with a streamlined, affordable analysis of vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, while the platform enables users to compare, benchmark, and share nutrition data. The company positions its insights for producers, CPG brands, genetics companies, ingredient manufacturers, retailers, and policymakers to enable product differentiation and more informed choices across the food system.

Participated · Seed · Sep 2024

Ucaneo develops patented direct air capture (DAC) technologies that leverage renewable energy-driven electrochemistry and novel solvents to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and provide a sustainable CO₂ source for industrial use. The company is headquartered in Berlin and positions its technology as a way to help companies meet regulatory and sustainability targets while closing the carbon cycle. Supported by a Techno-Economic Analysis and an independent feasibility study, Ucaneo’s DAC approach has the potential to reach costs below €300 per ton of CO₂ in the near term. Ucaneo operates an industrial pilot—described as one of Germany’s largest DAC projects—to generate operational data under real-world conditions. The company plans to use new funding to progress to Germany’s largest DAC demonstration plant, targeted for commissioning in the first half of 2026. Ucaneo previously completed a €6.75 million Seed round in September 2024. Ucaneo develops electrochemical direct air capture technology that mimics the human lung, using electricity and a specialised biomimetic solvent to continuously remove and concentrate atmospheric CO2 at room temperature. The process yields a pure CO2 gas ready for industrial use, and the technology is energy-efficient and compatible with intermittent renewables such as solar and wind, enabling energy price arbitrage and on-demand removal. Supported by an extensive techno-economic assessment and an external third-party feasibility study, Ucaneo projects costs just below €300/tCO2 in the near term and targets below €100/tCO2 long term. The company intends to use its €6.75m seed funding (including grants) to build one of Germany’s largest DAC testing and development facilities and to develop its first industrial-sized product. By 2026 Ucaneo aims to have that industrial product in place to prove performance and scalability and is participating in a Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund project after being selected as one of 13 suppliers from over 220 CDR suppliers. Ucaneo is led by co-founders Florian Tiller (CEO) and Carla Glassl (CTO) and has relocated to the high-tech Campus in Marzahn within the MotionLab.Berlin hardtech ecosystem.

Participated · Series A · Apr 2023

Novalith Technologies develops LiCAL, a patented lithium extraction technology that directly uses and sequesters carbon dioxide to produce lithium chemicals. The company says the LiCAL process uses less equipment, chemical reagents, water and energy than conventional processing, which reduces capital and production costs. Direct use and sequestration of CO2 also produces a smaller emissions footprint than existing and alternative processes. Led by CEO Steven Vassiloudis, Novalith intends to scale up and commercialise LiCAL, including building a new pilot facility in Sydney. The company raised AU$23M in a Series A to support those scale-up and commercialisation plans. Investors in the round include Lowercarbon Capital, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Grantham Environmental Trusts’ Neglected Climate Opportunities Fund, TDK Ventures and Investible. Novalith develops LiCALTM, a lithium extraction technology that uses carbon dioxide as a reagent to simplify production of lithium chemicals. The process reduces the need for conventional chemical reagents and consumes less equipment, water and energy, yielding a smaller emissions and waste footprint. The company says its approach both sequesters CO2 and lowers capital and production costs versus conventional processing. Novalith plans to use the seed proceeds to build out and operate a pilot plant in Sydney and move toward a commercial demonstration plant. Leadership includes Founder and CEO Steven Vassiloudis, Co-founder and CTO Dr Andrew Harris, and Co-founder and CBO Christiaan Jordaan. The company is positioning its technology for lower‑emissions lithium mining and refining transitions.

Led · Seed · Jun 2022

Vibrant Planet’s core product is Land Tender, a cloud-based SaaS that combines remotely sensed data (including satellite and lidar) with tools to model how different landscape-management approaches affect ecosystems and wildfire risk. Prices for Land Tender are based on the number of acres managed rather than per-seat, and the product is currently being used on about 7 million acres. Customers to date have included governments and nonprofits focused on land conservation and species preservation, and the company has signed a deal with large utility PG&E and is in talks with other utilities. Vibrant Planet has assembled a science team with hires from academia, the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and NASA. The company sees a broader market in any organization substantially exposed to wildfire-adapted ecosystems and is positioning to expand beyond its initial conservation and government customers. Financially, the company has received government grants in addition to venture funding, bringing its total capital raised to date to $34 million. Vibrant Planet develops Land Tender, a SaaS "operating system for forest restoration" that helps land managers prioritize objectives and model landscape treatments. The platform centers on a lidar-based map of California, with machine learning to fill lidar gaps and AI to update maps using cheaper satellite imagery. Land Tender is sold via per-seat licenses aimed at federal land managers and stakeholders and is priced at $3,500 per seat. The company plans to make the platform available across California by the end of the year and to expand to other Western states next year, with additional regions added depending on lidar availability. A second business plank is providing data and analysis to develop carbon credits, though the company has not disclosed details. Vibrant Planet has built a team of about a dozen ecologists, foresters, geospatial experts and engineers drawn in part from Big Tech.

Led · Seed · Jun 2022

Travertine commercializes the Travertine Process, which combines salt-splitting electrolysis, caustic direct air capture, and mineralization to convert waste gypsum and atmospheric CO2 into sulfuric acid, green hydrogen, and calcium carbonate (permanent carbon storage). The company is building a demonstration plant at Sabin Metal's main facility outside Rochester/Scottsville, New York, with engineering underway and commissioning expected in mid-2025. The demo is sized to upcycle hundreds of tons per year of gypsum, remove tens of tons of CO2 annually, and supply roughly 50% of Sabin Metal’s annual sulfuric acid needs; future expansion could supply green hydrogen for industrial heat. Travertine says the process can decouple critical element extraction and refining from fossil-derived sulfur and is applicable to lithium, nickel, phosphorus, and cement production. The company is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado and is led by founder and CEO Laura Lammers, PhD. Travertine’s core technology upcycles industrial sulfate waste and CO2 captured directly from the air into sulfuric acid and carbonate advanced cement components that permanently sequester CO2. The produced sulfuric acid is used to extract phosphorus, lithium, nickel, and other critical elements from ores, while eliminating sulfate wastes from conventional extractive processes. The company has demonstrated its process by upcycling sulfate waste from major fertilizer and mining companies in a fully integrated, continuous-flow pilot. Travertine is currently focused on engineering and scale-up for a first commercial demonstration plant. The company plans to use recent funding to expand operations and further its development efforts. Travertine spun out of Laura Lammers’ lab at the University of California, Berkeley in 2022 and is based in Boulder, Colorado. Travertine Technologies develops a novel, cost-effective process to capture and permanently sequester ambient CO2 while producing sulfuric acid. The company aims to enable carbon-negative critical element extraction and fertilizer production through its co-produced sulfuric acid. It is building a pathway to pilot-scale implementation in 2023. The $3M seed investment will be used to scale up the team in Boulder, CO and accelerate that pilot pathway. Travertine was founded by Prof. Laura Lammers and describes its ambition as a gigaton-scale carbon dioxide removal solution. The firm combines CDR with industrial chemical production to address both emissions and raw-material needs.