Articles written by
Anna Heim

The VDS Startup Competition, part of the international tech event organized by Startup Valencia, has officially opened its 2025 call, in collaboration with Sesamers.

Dealroom’s recent Green Computing White Paper argues that Europe is well positioned to combine DeepTech with climate impact.

As its name suggests, the JEC Investor Day that Sesamers is co-organizing only lasts one day, during JEC World, a must-attend event for all things composites. But several firms in attendance are worth keeping tabs on all year round. That’s particularly true if you are a founder whose startup helps advance circularity through new materials. The good news is that there is funding out there for you. But as usual with fundraising, it is worth knowing the nuance: Some firms invest pre-idea, while others only look at growth-stage companies. Taking a step back, it is also useful to know what is driving investors into this space, for instance a climate-oriented thesis, and what other companies they may have already backed. Without further ado, here are some investors that should be on your radar, and additional details about each of them: 4elements 4elements describes itself as a “venture studio for a sustainable future.” As its venture director Vanessa Amaral explained, its focus is on “pre-seed investments in impact-driven startups that develop breakthrough technologies in materials science, particularly those enabling decarbonization, circularity, and resource efficiency.” Whether it co-founds new businesses from scratch or joins pre-seed startup founders who already had an idea, it can finance ventures internally up to €6 million. But there’s more than capital, Amaral said: “Our approach includes helping founders refine their technology roadmap and scale from lab-scale to pilot and industrial production; connecting startups with industrial partners, early customers, and supply chain stakeholders; helping assemble high-performing teams, recruiting key talent, and setting up governance structures; and supporting startups in securing follow-on funding from institutional investors, grants, and corporate partners.” Infinity Recycling Infinity Recycling established the Circular Plastics Fund, an Article 9 ‘dark green’ impact fund under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation — as such, its ultimate goal is a combo of “great impact and financial returns.” Infinity Recycling is based in Rotterdam, but its portfolio is international — and growing. It already invested in seven companies, but there’s more to come. By the end of its cycle, the fund aims to have invested in 10-14 companies working with waste valorization technologies that convert end-of-life plastic waste into virgin-grade commodities. Mandalore Partners Mandalore Partners is a Corporate Venture Capital as-a-Service firm that specializes in four domains: Insurtech, InvestTech, ImpactTech and IndustryTech. Under its IndustryTech vertical, it has a mandate of driving France’s industrial transformation.  New materials are central to this mission, founder & managing partner Minh Tran told Sesamers. In particular, the fund is interested in how composites can drive sustainable production, reduce reliance on foreign technologies, and support innovations in key areas like 3D printing, energy storage, and advanced manufacturing. NOVA  Created in 2006, NOVA is the corporate venture arm of Saint-Gobain. It invests from Seed to Series A in startups in construction tech, mobility, industrial decarbonation and material sciences. It also has deep pockets: According to its website, Nova’s total investment in startups corresponds to almost 100 million US dollars. But like other firms on this list, it provides more than capital, and works with Saint-Gobain’s teams to set up strategic co-development partnerships, distribution, marketing or licensing agreements with startups. Past investments in new materials have included companies like FibreCoat, a German startup developing new fiber-based products for the mobility and construction sectors. Slate Venture Capital Slate Venture Capital is a B2B climate tech fund, and materials are core to its investment thesis. “We are actively looking at companies creating advanced materials, bio-based materials, or material using carbon. We are also very interested in recycled materials,” founding partner Sébastien Léger said. Compared to other firms, one difference is that two of Slate Venture Capital’s founders are ex-entrepreneurs who sold their companies — Eventbrite and PeopleDoc. “Helping portfolio companies is of paramount importance to us. We do so across multiple topics, from overall strategy, growth acceleration to capex execution,” Léger said. Portfolio companies related to new materials include Arda and Fairmat. Starquest Founded in 2008, Starquest supports startups that have the potential to drive significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, whether that’s in energy, transportation, agriculture, industrial processes — or new materials. It takes a particular interest in supporting initiatives including circular economy practices, waste recycling, product life extension, and recycling. In 2022, the Paris-based firm joined forces with Montefiore, a private equity firm dedicated to service SMEs and mid-market companies. Starquest, however, remains focused on high-impact investing, with checks typically ranging from €1 million to €10 million, often for minority stakes. Syensqo Ventures Syensqo Ventures is the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Syensqo, which emerged after Belgian chemicals group Solvay was split into two entities. Syensqo focuses on clean mobility, electric vehicle batteries, green hydrogen and thermoplastic composites, which also inspires the thesis of its CVC. “Our investment thesis in composites is centered on addressing the growing needs of our customers for composite parts,” said Syensqo Ventures’ managing partner, Matt Jones. These needs evolve around the objectives of “creating lighter, more manufacturable, cost-effective parts.” Portfolio startups in this sector include iCOMAT and Plyable. “Both bring innovation to speed up and lower the cost of manufacturing composite parts, in line with our thesis on meeting customer needs in this space,” Jones said. We hope these investors will find valuable dealflow opportunities at JEC Investor Day 2025, and that some of the exciting composites startups in attendance will soon join their portfolios!

With the inaugural JEC Investor Day around the corner, we caught up with five investors who will be attending this special event.

JEC’s head of events programs, Benjamin Debusschère, talked to Sesamers ahead of JEC World 2025.

These 20 finalists will pitch on stage during JEC World 2025 as part of the JEC Composites Startup Booster.

About 75% of CES attendees say their business is primarily B2B, or both B2B and B2C.

In an interview on the Selected podcast, La Belle Vie CEO and Frichti co-CEO Paul Lê shared the journey of his company from its inception ten years ago to becoming a €100 million business leveraging AI and robotics for more efficient deliveries.

With more than 200 talks on four stages, not to mention the side events, Slush 2024 had so much content to offer that you probably missed some even if you were there. And if you missed it altogether, here are four trends that caught our attention: Second-hand is going mainstream Two high-profile figures of second-hand marketplaces were speakers at Slush 2024: former Depop CEO Maria Ragu, and Vinted co-founder Milda Mitkute. The two companies are incredible success stories in terms of adoption, and also as businesses. Vinted is now valued at €5 billion valuation, and Etsy acquired Depop for some $1.625 billion. “Depop returned 25 times our money,” Creandum general partner Fredrik Cassel said on stage during his fireside chat with Maria. While both entrepreneurs have moved on (Maria, to VC, and Milda, to edtech), second-hand itself is here to stay, and not just in the background.  It’s already blatant in Helsinki, where pre-owned items are a shopping highlight. Premium second-hand clothing can even be found right inside Stockmann, the city’s largest and fanciest department store, and at the airport, where Finnish family business Relove has its own shops, complete with cafés.  But the trend goes well beyond Scandinavia, or clothing; for instance, pre-owned is no longer a taboo for Christmas gifts, and it will be interesting to see if French unicorn Back Market has any numbers to share in January on how many refurbished electronics made their way under the tree during this holiday season. Medtech: The time is now The startup that won this year’s Slush 100 competition was OASYS NOW, a solution to connect patients with clinical trials. It is a sign that there is still a lot to be done in healthtech, but also that startups can help. “Unfortunately healthcare has been quite a drought when it comes to adoption of innovation and technology. We are here to make a difference,” its CEO Nima Salami told Sesamers.  OASYS NOW wasn’t the only healthtech company on stage, including during the finals: Top 3 finalist Mohana Health is a platform to navigate perimenopause. According to its founder and CEO, Dora Jambor it relieves symptoms thanks to three key ingredients: “precision, personalized care and behavioral psychology.” With smart ring maker Oura Health now valued at $5 billion and establishing itself as one of Finland’s top success stories, it is only natural that Slush would be one place where investors are on the lookout for medtech innovation. AstraZeneca’s A.Catalyst Network (A.CN), for instance, was created in 2021 and has been attending the conference every year since then. Don’t sleep on Roblox Roblox is “a sleeping giant to us adults who weren’t playing,” Gamefam chief business officer Ricardo Briceno said. And while we were sleeping, a lot happened: Time spent on the platform skyrocketed, and esthetics changed, too.  There’s also more to come, Gamefam CEO Joe Ferencz argued in a keynote. Roblox, he said, “is likely to disrupt gaming, and maybe media itself.” The key here is user-generated content, which is “changing everything.” These conversations took place at a Slush side event dedicated to the future of gaming, but Roblox was also represented at the conference itself. Its Vice President of Civility & Partnerships, Tami Bhaumik, took part in a panel discussing gaming safety.  EU regulation for the win? European entrepreneurs have mixed feelings about regulation in the region, to say the least. But Slush also brought examples of how legislation is creating tailwinds for startups in some sectors.  One is Slush 100 Top 3 finalist DevAlly, which is helping companies comply with the European Accessibility Act (EAA), which will come into effect on June 28, 2025. “What GDPR did for data protection this act will do for accessibility,” its CEO, Cormac Chisholm, said during his finals pitch. Another example is the textile sector. In a panel featuring Infinited Fiber Company, maker of circular fiber Infinna, and Syre, the recycled polyester venture founded by H&M Group and Vargas Holding, the conversation touched on the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, and how it serves as an incentive for fiber recycling. The startup and investment community in Europe is also taking proactive steps to ensure that regulation plays in its favor.  The most emblematic initiative in that sense is EU Inc, a petition to create a pan-European legal status for startups, and which was also a topic of discussion at Slush. It will definitely be worth tracking: If it works out, it could serve as a platform to introduce other changes that would better serve the startup ecosystem in the EU and beyond.

Stockholm is home to Techarena’s flagship event, whose next edition, taking place on February 20-21, 2025, will also be much larger than the previous one, with 12,000 expected attendees, compared to 7,500 last year.

“Taito.ai’s whose name translates to “skill” in Finnish, positions itself as a scalable, AI-powered solution that enables continuous feedback and coaching on employee performance.

Dutch healthtech startup OASYS NOW won the Slush 100 startup competition, and is on a mission to connect patients to better treatments.