Participated · Seed · Jun 2025

RIIICO builds an AI-based software platform that creates precise 3D digital twins of existing factories to enable faster, collaborative redesign and retrofitting. Its AI automatically detects machines, equipment, and building structures from LiDAR scans to populate the digital twin. The platform is positioned as a collaborative decision-making tool for plant managers, engineers, and suppliers, and is claimed to make redesigning processes four times faster while speeding product launches. RIIICO’s solution was used in the automotive industry to install electric-vehicle production lines in factories previously used for combustion engines. The company says its automotive lead users validate the solution under high cost pressure and quality demands. With recent funding, RIIICO plans to expand its AI platform with new applications for utilising digital twins to boost industrial resilience and competitiveness. RIIICO uses deep learning on 3D scans and advanced segmentation and meshing algorithms to automatically generate factory-floor digital twins. Its platform translates shopfloor reality into transparent 3D models used for simulating virtual start of production and for VR/AR and other factory software applications. The product is browser-accessible and designed to run on a standard workplace laptop without prior training, enabling faster design collaboration and greater end-user involvement. RIIICO positions its technology to help manufacturers adapt to rapid industrial shifts—for example the automotive transition to electric vehicles—by speeding planning and reducing costly downtime. The company already counts customers such as Siemens, Porsche, Volkswagen, Schaeffler and Schmitz Cargobull. It raised funding to further advance its AI-driven digital twin capabilities.

Participated · Series B · May 2025

Breathe develops a suite of software tools that predict and optimize battery performance for automakers and electronics companies. Its products—Charge, Model, Map and the forthcoming Design—optimize charging, simulate long‑term performance, and augment simulations with real‑world data. Charge, the first product, reduced charging time by 27% for phone maker Oppo and helps Volvo’s forthcoming ES90 sedan charge 10%–80% in about 20 minutes. The company operates a lab in London that runs tests on candidate cells and can deliver a Breathe Model to a customer in as little as four weeks while continuing to collect data for Map. Breathe aims to push its software earlier into the battery development process to reduce brute‑force lab testing and guide design tradeoffs. The startup recently raised a $21 million Series B to support those efforts. Breathe Battery Technologies develops algorithm-based battery software that provides cell-level visibility to enable faster charging and extend battery life. Its charging software uses algorithms to allow EVs to charge at full power while maintaining safety without altering battery chemistry. The company already has a battery-performance product installed on 27 Oppo smartphone models and is working to adapt that longevity and performance technology for electric-vehicle batteries. Breathe is working with a number of top-tier blue-chip brands, including Volvo, which has invested via its corporate venture arm. Volvo plans to deploy Breathe's charging software on new EVs within two to three years, targeting about 30% faster charging times. The size of Volvo's investment was not disclosed. Breathe Battery Technologies develops lightweight software products — Charge and Life — that can be integrated into existing lithium-ion battery management systems to improve charging times or extend lifetime. The company reports its code cut 0–80% charging time by 27% for a standard battery type used in warehouse robots, and that Oppo Reno8 phones using its software reach 80% capacity after four years instead of two. Its software runs on industry-standard microcontrollers and is designed to be complementary to advances in cell chemistry while touching a small portion of a typical battery-management system's code. The startup is engaging automotive customers — it is working with Rimac and Cosworth and says conversations with other car companies are "very far along" — targeting the large EV market (Allied Market Research estimates 60% of lithium-ion batteries go to EVs). Breathe recently closed a $10 million Series A led by Lowercarbon Capital with participation from Speedinvest. Co-founder and CEO Ian Campbell, who has spent much of the last decade studying battery charging and failure, positions the company as either an acquisition target for device makers or battery manufacturers or as an independent supplier to both tech and automotive customers. Breathe Battery Technologies is a London spinout from Imperial College London’s Electrochemical Science & Engineering group that develops battery-health and management software for electric vehicles and consumer electronics. Its core product, Lincc, is a health-adaptive charging system that runs battery physics and models on low-power microcontrollers, bringing workstation-grade modeling to embedded devices. The company says this enables faster charging, longer battery lifetime, reduced warranty costs, and cheaper vehicle development by replacing trial-and-error approaches. Breathe was founded by Dr. Yan Zhao, Dr. Ian Campbell and Professor Greg Offer, the latter of whom leads a £17.9 million Faraday Institution multi-scale modelling programme. The startup already has commercial contracts with smartphone maker Oppo and Rimac, a Porsche-backed EV company. The £1.5 million seed funding will be used to scale up operations and accelerate deployments.

Participated · Series B · Jan 2025

Founded in 2019 by David Reger in Metzingen, Germany, NEURA Robotics builds ‘cognitive’ robots that can see, hear, sense their surroundings and learn from experience. The company integrates sensors, AI software and robotic hardware into single devices, likening its machines to a “smartphone with arms and legs.” In addition to hardware, it offers the Neuraverse software platform, which enables the safe deployment and interaction of intelligent robots with humans. NEURA serves both industrial and consumer markets and has disclosed nearly $1 billion worth of purchase orders from customers such as Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Omron. Management is focused on accelerating humanoid robot development and scaling production capacity. Financially, the firm previously secured €120 million in January 2025 and is now pursuing a much larger raise to fund expansion. If successful, the new round could push the company’s valuation to approximately €4 billion.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2024

RemotiveLabs develops developer-centric tooling that virtualizes ECUs and entire vehicle networks to enable early integration testing on laptops and in CI pipelines. Its stack leverages open standards such as the Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS) and modern practices like containerization, gRPC and cloud collaboration. The platform lets teams switch seamlessly between virtual and physical environments, aiming to find and fix software issues earlier in the development cycle. RemotiveLabs positions this iterative approach as critical to achieving software quality at the start of production for Software Defined Vehicles. The company is recognized as a key enabler within Volvo Cars and other automotive OEMs and tech firms. With new funding, RemotiveLabs plans to further enhance its tooling and broaden adoption among automotive software teams.

Participated · Series A · May 2024

Syre develops textile-to-textile recycling technology that produces circular polyester with quality comparable to virgin polyester while delivering improved sustainability performance. The company’s core solution targets hyperscale recycling starting with polyester to reduce emissions and waste in the textile supply chain. Syre acquired a patented recycling technology developed over more than nine years by North Carolina–based Premirr, which demonstrated energy-efficient conversion of post-consumer waste into circular polyester that can be rapidly scaled. The company plans to finance and commission a blueprint plant in the U.S. later this year and to build its first two gigascale textile-to-textile recycling plants. Syre was founded in 2023 and is led by CEO Dennis Nobelius. The company raised significant equity capital in the round described below to fund plant construction and technology acquisition.