• Esgrid

  Participated · Seed · May 2024

  Esgrid provides an AI-powered SaaS platform that automates supply chain ESG data collection, analytics, reporting and engagement for medium-sized businesses. The company launched with a focus on supply chain sustainability management and is expanding into wider supplier management including supplier evaluation, document management, and communication. Its product emphasizes AI-supported automation and an AI agent called Grid that can generate custom supplier evaluation templates in about 30 seconds. Esgrid says its platform can reduce costs by up to 90% compared with manual supplier processes. The startup has secured dozens of flagship customers across Europe and is accelerating product development to cover a broader range of supplier workflows. Founded in 2023, the company aims to adapt its AI-first product to companies of different sizes to deliver cost-effective supplier management. Esgrid provides a platform that helps businesses assess, manage, and improve value chain sustainability impact and compliance with ESG standards. The company offers AI-assisted functions to support users in providing and analysing ESG data and has launched a free ESG self-assessment tool for SMEs. Esgrid targets medium-sized enterprises and financial-sector clients that face rising reporting demands and procurement requirements tied to sustainability. It promises to reduce the typical annual cost of value-chain sustainability management by about tenfold compared with existing solutions. Esgrid launched publicly in December, has signed enterprise customers including Ibis Hotel, Nordic Milk and Utilitas, and counts financial clients such as Specialist VC and Fjord Bank. More than 100 companies are now providing ESG data on the platform, and the team is preparing to launch its first enterprise AI assistant to extract actionable information from collected ESG data.

• UP Catalyst

  Participated · Seed · Dec 2023

  Founded in 2019 and based in Tallinn, UP Catalyst commercialises a molten salt electrolysis process that transforms industrial CO2 into high-performance graphite and carbon nanotubes for EV batteries and other industrial uses. The company claims lower energy use and a very low cradle-to-gate carbon footprint for its carbon nanotubes and battery‑grade graphite, verified by an LCA. In 2024 it opened an in‑house testing and validation facility and a new production plant in Estonia; product performance was validated in large‑scale battery cells using GEN3alpha in 2025. UP Catalyst plans to scale production to 270 tonnes of carbon nanotubes and 1,350 tonnes of green graphite per year by 2027, requiring about 6,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. The company aims to convert 250,000 tonnes of CO2 into carbon‑neutral raw materials by 2030 and was selected as a strategic project partner under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act in March 2025. The business positions itself to supply a significant share of Europe’s projected graphite shortfall as it scales. UP Catalyst produces battery-grade graphite and carbon nanomaterials directly from CO2 emissions using a molten salt electrolysis process. The company claims a very low carbon footprint: 0.07 ton CO2-eq per ton of graphite (20x lower than conventional graphite) and 0.7 ton CO2-eq per ton of carbon nanotubes (242x lower than CVD). It plans to accelerate construction of a first-of-a-kind industrial production unit and develop an industrial pilot reactor designed to process 100 tons of CO2 annually and yield 27 tons of advanced carbon materials. UP Catalyst has begun moving into a new facility adjacent to the Tallinn waste incineration plant to access hard-to-abate CO2 streams and scale production tenfold versus its current setup. Management frames the technology as a pathway to reduce EU dependence on imported fossil-based carbon materials and to provide industrial partners options to utilize CO2 emissions. The company cites a strategic target of utilising at least 200,000 tons of CO2 annually by 2030 as it scales. Up Catalyst develops an electrochemical reactor that converts CO2 in a molten-salt electrolyte into graphite that can be used in lithium-ion battery anodes. The process strips oxygen from CO2 so carbon accumulates on a cathode; the material is then removed and purified. The company can also adapt the process to make carbon nanotubes and graphite tailored for hydrogen fuel cells. Up Catalyst was started in 2019 and is based in Tallinn, Estonia. It highlights the climate and supply-chain rationale for its approach given China's dominance of global graphite supply and the high carbon intensity of Chinese-refined graphite. The startup is scaling its reactor design toward industrial production and aims to reach price parity with existing graphite sources as it grows. UP Catalyst is an Estonia-based deep tech startup developing sustainable carbon nanomaterials and graphite produced from CO2-rich flue gases for use in electric vehicle batteries. The company says its materials increase energy and power density, speed charging and improve battery lifetime, addressing range and charging concerns in the EV market. Founded in 2019 with R&D dating to 2016, UP Catalyst aims to scale by building the first industrial-scale prototype synthesis unit to supply larger volumes as demand already exceeds supply. Its process uses CO2-rich flue gases from heavy industry emitters as feedstock to avoid environmentally harmful conventional carbon production methods. UP Catalyst targets European battery manufacturers and lists potential customers including Tesla, Northvolt and CATL. Financially, the company secured a €1.59M grant from EIT RawMaterials earlier this year and closed a €500k pre-seed round, bringing total funding to €2.09M. The company plans to use the funding to accelerate production, expand R&D, and grow the team. Founded in 2019 and based in Estonia, UP Catalyst has developed a novel process to produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere while converting the carbon monoxide byproduct into carbon nanomaterials. The company’s method operates at similar temperatures to NASA’s MOXIE experiment but differs by reprocessing CO into materials rather than emitting it. The produced nanomaterials could be used in batteries, ultracapacitors, conductive and strengthening coatings, polymer formulations and water filters for space applications. UP Catalyst says this approach enables a more sustainable use of both oxygen and carbon byproducts on Mars. The startup received €50,000 of seed funding from the 2021 ESA BIC programme for business and product development. In addition to funding, UP Catalyst receives technical support from the European Space Agency and hands-on mentoring from field-specific experts. The company is positioned to scale up its production method to support future human missions to Mars.

No current team members are available.