Participated · Series B · May 2025

OroraTech operates a Wildfire Solution platform that ingests high-resolution thermal data from proprietary and public satellites to deliver real-time situational awareness and risk alerts. The company designs and operates nano-satellites and data pipelines to detect fires day or night and convert raw thermal data into actionable intelligence. It currently has ten satellites in orbit and a team of more than 140, and operates across Germany, the US, Australia, Brazil, Canada and Greece. OroraTech aims to deliver the world’s most persistent and comprehensive thermal data stream and to create a global “wildfire digital twin” capable of simulating future fire behavior. In the past year the company has signed close to €100 million in commercial contracts and venture capital, and recently extended its Series B financing. OroraTech develops space-based wildfire intelligence using thermal-infrared imaging satellites and analytics to offer near-real-time monitoring of at-risk lands. The company currently operates two of its own satellites and monitors about 160 million hectares of forest. It initially used data from dozens of other imaging satellites and terrestrial sources but now relies on its own sensors and plans an initial constellation of eight satellites by mid-2025. OroraTech has commercial deployments watching properties and lands in North America and the Pacific and secured a €20 million ESA contract to monitor Greece’s forests. The additional data they collect is intended to improve their predictive AI and overall service quality. The company recently raised a €25M (≈$27M) Series B to expand its sensor network and accelerate product development; FOREST-3 is expected to launch in early 2025. OroraTech builds and operates space-based thermal‑infrared cameras that deliver data in long‑wave infrared (LWIR) and medium‑wave infrared (MWIR) bands. Its LWIR sensors capture ambient temperatures while MWIR enables detection of very hot objects such as fires. The company’s first product, the Wildfire Intelligence Solution, detects over 100,000 fires each day and protects more than 160 million hectares across six continents. OroraTech plans to use the new funding to expand its climate solutions portfolio and to launch a second thermal‑infrared camera in space in May 2023. Headquartered in Munich, the company expanded its footprint in 2022 with experts in the US, Canada, and Luxembourg. The team is led by CEO Thomas Grübler. OroraTech develops a space-based wildfire warning system using small satellites equipped with custom infrared cameras and onboard machine-learning processing. The service aims to detect fires as small as 10 meters across and report them within half an hour. To validate the product it has been using data from more than a dozen satellites already in orbit. With new funding it will launch a shoebox-sized satellite carrying a custom IR sensor via Spire later this year and plans 14 more satellites by 2023. The company ultimately aims for a constellation of about 100 satellites to provide near-global coverage of high-risk regions. OroraTech was spun out of research by its founders at TUM, which retains an interest.

Participated · Equity · Jan 2025

Agurotech is an Amsterdam-based AgriTech company (founded in 2020) that develops, manufactures and delivers hardware and software for data-driven farming, including sensor technology, weather stations and applications. Its platform provides real-time data, soil-condition insights and AI-driven forecasts to help farmers optimise water, frost protection, fertigation, pesticides and crop protection usage. The company says its system has been proving for nearly five years and currently serves hundreds of customers. Agurotech’s tools enable farmers to make informed decisions and improve resource efficiency and sustainability. The new funding will support faster international expansion and local market rollouts. Agurotech develops and delivers proprietary hardware and software—including sensor technology, weather stations, and applications—that give farmers real-time soil, weather data and AI-powered predictions. The platform helps farmers optimize resource use (notably water) to increase crop yield and improve sustainability. The company is led by founders Joelle van den Brand and Lilia Planjyan and is female-led. Agurotech plans to scale up production in 2023 and to expand beyond its current focus in the Netherlands into international markets. Its technology will be used in the EU-supported “LIFE – The Future of Farming” project, which involves 300 farmers and partners across six EU countries. The team expects to grow over the next five years and aims for international market leadership in key segments.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2024

EarthOptics leverages advances in soil-sensing technologies, genomics, and data science to deliver predictive insights into chemical, physical, and biological soil properties. It combines lab-based analysis with field-based sensors to give farmers and ranchers actionable recommendations to optimize spending and unlock sustainable farming opportunities. The company completed a strategic merger with Pattern Ag, combining EarthOptics’ proprietary field-based sensing technologies with Pattern Ag’s lab-based analysis to offer comprehensive soil data. Led by CEO Lars Dyrud, EarthOptics operates offices in Raleigh, North Carolina; Emeryville, California; Arlington and Blacksburg, Virginia; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Fayetteville, Arkansas, and maintains two laboratories in Emeryville and Memphis, Tennessee. The company intends to use new funding to accelerate technological innovation, broaden its geographic reach, and consolidate its position as an authoritative source for soil insights. EarthOptics develops next-generation soil-sensing technologies that combine ground-based sensors, satellites, physical soil samples, machine learning models, and agronomic expertise to deliver detailed soil measurements. The company's platform provides insights to help farmers optimize fertilizer applications, inform tillage decisions, and quantify carbon sequestration. EarthOptics plans to use its latest funding to expand access to its tools and deliver hyper-accurate soil insights. Founded in 2018 and based in Arlington, VA, the company serves growers and ranchers seeking data-driven land-management decisions. The company is led by CEO Lars Dyrud. The article reports a recent financing that will support its growth and product expansion efforts. EarthOptics has developed an imaging suite that uses ground-penetrating radar and electromagnetic induction to produce deep maps of soil physical and chemical composition. Its commercial products, GroundOwl and C-Mapper (C for carbon), reconcile no-contact sensor data with traditional lab samples via machine learning trained on tens of thousands of ground-truth measurements. The hardware can be mounted on ordinary tractors or trucks and pulls readings every few feet, reducing physical sampling from hundreds of samples to dozens. The company’s outputs can be used to create meter-scale treatment maps or to feed variable-depth robotic field machinery such as smart tillers. Management positions the product as a cheaper, faster, and more precise alternative to traditional soil sampling and as foundational data for automated and robotic farming. Financially, EarthOptics raised a $10.3M A round to scale its two existing products and to develop a moisture-mapping product.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2024

MiAlgae cultivates microalgae on by-products from whisky distillation to produce sustainable omega-3s for aquafeed, pet food and human health markets. Its NaturAlgae product is positioned as a drop-in omega-3 alternative to reduce reliance on wild fish. The company is based at Heriot-Watt University and launched a demonstrator site in 2023 that validated its technology at scale. MiAlgae is now preparing to develop an industrial-scale production facility in Scotland to fully commercialise NaturAlgae. The business recently secured £14 million in fresh funding to support that scale-up and to help create green jobs. Management says the investment will be used to build the infrastructure needed to meet growing global demand while continuing biotechnology innovation. MiAlgae, founded in 2016 and led by Managing Director Douglas Martin, applies biotechnology to produce a sustainable source of omega-3 for animal and human consumption. The company’s platform uses low-value coproducts from the food and drink industry as a feedstock to grow microalgae rich in omega-3 oils. MiAlgae is initially focused on the pet food sector with planned near-term expansion into aquaculture, the largest global consumer of fish oil. It also intends to commercialise other high-value compounds and pigments through expansion of its platform. The recently raised funds will be used to expand the team and complete a commercial demonstrator facility near Stirling to drive commercial traction. Financially, the company secured a £2.3M funding package from new and returning investors to support these commercialisation efforts. MiAlgae is a biotech company that produces microalgae using co-products from the whisky distillation process. The microalgae are high in omega-3 and other nutrients and can be used to sustainably feed fish and create animal food. The company targets the global aquaculture and pet food industries. MiAlgae plans to use the £1m funding to commercialize its product, double the size of its business premises, commission a demonstrator plant in East Lothian and make five new appointments in the next 12 months. The round was backed by Equity Gap, Scottish Investment Bank, Old College Capital and new investor Hillhouse Group. Founded by Douglas Martin in 2016 and based in Edinburgh, Scotland, the company intends to scale operations to serve international markets. MiAlgae produces a new kind of nutritious animal feed made from microalgae grown using co-products from Scotland’s whisky distillation process. The microalgae is rich in omega-3 and other vital nutrients and is aimed initially at the aquaculture industry. The company says the product is economical and environmentally friendly and can serve as an alternative raw material for agricultural feed. MiAlgae plans to use the new funding to scale and expand production capacity 30-fold, expand its team, and build a new plant at a whisky distillery. The company is led by founder Douglas Martin and is based in Scotland. The article does not report revenue or user metrics.

Participated · Series A · May 2024

ArkeaBio is developing a safe, user-friendly, and cost-conscious vaccine designed to reduce methane emissions from ruminant livestock and to integrate with existing global agribusiness practices. The company positions the vaccine as a scalable, low-cost tool to address agricultural methane, which the release cites as generating the equivalent of 3 billion tonnes of CO2 annually (about 6% of annual GHG emissions). ArkeaBio says its R&D results have attracted investor attention and that the vaccine is designed for rapid, on-farm implementation. The Series A proceeds will fund expansion of research and development, large-scale field trials, and engagement along the supply chain to support deployment. The company emphasizes collaborative work with industry partners, regulators, and environmental organizations to bring the product to market. Financially, ArkeaBio announced the close of a $26.5 million Series A financing to accelerate development and commercialization. ArkeaBio is a Boston, MI-based company developing an innovative vaccine to reduce methane emissions from ruminant animals, including cattle, sheep, and goats. Led by CEO Colin South, the company expects ruminant vaccinations to be a scalable and cost-effective solution to rapidly decarbonize global meat and dairy production. Its technology is intended to be integrated into proven delivery systems and existing farming practices to reduce methane emissions across multiple ruminant species, geographies, and agronomic systems. ArkeaBio intends to use newly raised funds to accelerate its research program. The company has stated it will position itself as a leader in the global effort to decarbonize the agricultural sector. No operating metrics were disclosed in the article.