Participated · Equity · Sep 2022

Lightyear develops an ultra-energy-efficient automotive platform centered on the Lightyear One, which combines an efficient powertrain, a high-yield solar roof, and optimized thermal management to minimize charging needs. The company claims Lightyear One consumes only 83 Wh/km and achieves about 725 km WLTP range, plus 7,000–20,000 km of annual solar range depending on conditions; the car is priced at €149,000. Lightyear says the vehicle’s solar roof can supply up to 80% of an average driver’s annual charging needs in San Francisco. The company was founded in 2016 and its team includes former employees from Tesla, Audi, and Ferrari. After Covid-19–related delays and earlier capital constraints, Lightyear has prepared for serial production and is working toward customer deliveries and broader commercialization. It also plans a second, mass-market solar model targeted for production in 2024. Lightyear has spent six years building a broad patent portfolio to support highly efficient solar electric vehicles, including the premium Lightyear 0 which was priced at €250,000 and could gain up to 70 kilometres of range per day from the sun. The Lightyear 0 was also touted as the world’s most aerodynamic commercial car with a 0.175 Cd drag coefficient. In January the company suspended production of the Lightyear 0 to focus on a lower‑priced €40k Lightyear 2. Shortly after, parent Atlas Technologies BV was declared bankrupt and the business was restructured into a new entity, Lightyear Technologies, with a reduced workforce of about 100 people (down from ~600). Today Lightyear concentrates on developing and producing solar‑integrated technologies for third‑party vehicle manufacturers. Historically the company has raised over €168.4 million in funding. Lightyear develops solar-powered electric vehicles, beginning with the production-ready Lightyear 0 that uses curved solar panels on its roof, hood and trunk to top up the battery. The company claims the car can run for weeks or months without charging depending on climate, and that plugged-in charging provides about 32 kilometres of range per hour. Interiors are vegan and made from recycled and sustainable materials, and the vehicles will be manufactured by Valmet Automotive in Finland. Lightyear plans a high-volume series with a starting price of €30,000 while also offering limited models (one around €250,000); an initial run of 946 cars was announced. The company reports 10,000 reservations—5,000 each from LeasePlan and MyWheels. Lightyear aims to bring Lightyear 2 to market by 2025 and pursue international expansion beyond Europe. Lightyear is commercialising an electric vehicle with integrated solar cells to minimise charging needs and grid dependency. The company's first model, the Lightyear One, is claimed to have a 440-mile (725 km) range and can recharge from its solar roof. Headquartered in Helmond and founded in 2016, Lightyear plans to put the car on test tracks in Q2 2021 and begin commercial availability by the end of Q4. Recent partnerships include Bridgestone for low-rolling-resistance tyres and a technology agreement with Royal DSM to scale the solar roof. The team combines young talent with industry experience from Tesla, Audi, and Ferrari, and TIME magazine named the Lightyear One one of the '100 best inventions' of 2019. Financially, Lightyear had raised €85.3M to date, including a €40.2M round in March 2021 led by Zero Point Holding BV. Lightyear develops an ultra-energy-efficient automotive platform and the Lightyear One, a solar-equipped electric vehicle designed to minimise charging needs and grid dependency. The company says the Lightyear One consumes just 83 Wh/km, giving about 725 km WLTP range and 7,000–20,000 km of clean solar range per year for an average driver. Its technology portfolio includes an efficient powertrain, a high-yield solar roof, and optimized thermal management. Lightyear announced the Lightyear One in 2019 and has been selecting a production partner while preparing for first customer deliveries by the end of 2021. The company was founded in 2016 and is pursuing further equity financing to accelerate development of a mass-market vehicle. Recent partnerships include a commercialisation agreement with Royal DSM to scale the solar roof solution.

Participated · Equity · Mar 2020

MobieTrain offers a microlearning, gamified mobile app with short 5–10 minute modules designed for onboarding and ongoing training of frontline employees. The product uses microlearning, gamification, quizzes, personalization and built-in retention techniques the company says make knowledge transfer up to six times more effective. Clients use the software to improve sales and customer experience, diversify training, support organisational changes, and for safety instructions across sectors such as retail, logistics, hospitality and healthcare. Founded in 2015, the Belgian HR tech scale-up serves over a hundred organisations in thirty countries and lists customers including Decathlon, Emirates Post, Diesel and Proximus. The company has achieved triple-digit growth over the past year, with more than half of its revenue coming from international markets and having more than doubled turnover in 2021. MobieTrain plans to use new funding to accelerate expansion into Germany, France, the UK and other European growth markets, strengthen teams in Genk, Madrid, Milan and Amsterdam, and sustain product development and innovation. MobieTrain offers a gamified mobile microlearning platform with bite-sized, personalized learning tracks and built-in retention techniques designed for deskless and frontline workers. The product roadmap focuses on adding new gamified elements and leveraging algorithms and machine learning to deliver the right content to the right person at the right time. Founded in 2015, the company serves nearly 100,000 users in more than 20 countries and counts clients such as Atlas Copco, Decathlon, Deloitte, Proximus, Diesel, Hästens, and public bodies including the municipality of Antwerp and the Dutch police. During the pandemic MobieTrain quadrupled its revenue and doubled its customer base; currently 50% of revenue comes from outside Belgium. The company has partnerships with SAP SuccessFactors and Goodhabitz and was added to the SAP store to support international expansion. The new funding will be used to further develop the platform, accelerate international growth, and grow the team from 25 to 40 employees. MobieTrain builds a mobile microlearning platform that enables employers to create five- to ten-minute training and retraining courses employees can access on their phones. Its customers include retail brands Diesel, Proximus, Timberland and Vans. The company has around 20 paying customers across 13 countries and is opening a small office in Lisbon where some technical development already takes place. MobieTrain plans to expand in its home market and focus growth on Northwestern Europe while targeting the hospitality and care sectors. Management says it will use artificial intelligence increasingly to personalise learning trajectories. Financially, MobieTrain has just raised €1.8 million from a Limburg investment company, the Concentra Media Group and existing investors, with BNP Paribas Fortis and another major bank providing a loan on top of the capital.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2017

Kriya Materials develops, manufactures and sells multifunctional coatings and composites for solar panels, window films, LED/OLED lighting, greenhouses and displays. Its products use proprietary nanoparticles and formulation know‑how to improve energy generation, reduce cooling needs and enhance product durability. The company’s coatings for solar panels offer anti‑reflection, anti‑dust and anti‑heat properties that increase energy output. In automotive and construction applications its coatings block solar heat, lowering energy required for cooling. For LED/OLED lighting the firm’s optical coatings increase light output and reduce energy consumption. Kriya also supplies coatings and composite films for greenhouses that improve light and heat management, boost crop yield and reduce water use for evaporative cooling.

Participated · Series A · Jul 2011

BioActor develops proprietary health ingredients for use in functional foods, medical nutrition and dietary supplements. Its ingredients target chronic health concerns such as diabetes, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease that could benefit from preventative dietary measures. The company closed a €2m Series A and intends to use the funds to launch its first product, BONOLIVE, and to finance clinical validation studies for other products in the pipeline. BONOLIVE is clinically proven to stimulate bone-producing cells and will be launched in the USA this year. Investors in the round include ICOS Capital, Nedermaas Ventures and Limburg Ventures, and CEO/founder Hans van der Saag also participated. BioActor operates through alliances with nutrition research institutes (INRA, CSIC, Maastricht University, UCL, Ghent University) and production partnerships with industrial players to shorten commercialization timelines.

Led · Series C · May 2011

Q Chip Limited is a Cardiff, UK–based biopharmaceutical company developing sustained-release drug formulations for cancer and other diseases. Its core platform is a bio-encapsulation and drug delivery technology that enables long-acting injectable therapeutics with tailored sustained-release profiles and improved administration. The company completed a US$6M Series C financing (second close) to support next steps in commercialization and scale-up. Q Chip plans to use the funds for manufacturing and commercialisation of its platform and to establish a sterile pharmaceutical production facility. That facility will be built at its new European manufacturing subsidiary, Q Chip BV, on the Chemelot Campus in the Limburg region of the Netherlands. Named individual backers include the company’s Executive Chairman Ken Powell and investors such as Jon Moulton and Sir Harry Solomon. Q Chip has developed a proprietary, patented micro-fluidic technology that packages high-value pharmaceutical and life-science products in uniform polymer microspheres. The company is a biopharmaceutical drug-delivery firm based in Cardiff, Wales. In December 2009 it secured a £1m venture capital equity financing that will support continued research on its products. The new funds are explicitly earmarked to continue research related to its microsphere packaging technology. The article notes the technology is aimed at high-value pharmaceuticals and life-science applications. No operating metrics such as revenue or user numbers were disclosed in the article.