It may not always seem like it, but cities are growing steadily smarter. Air quality and traffic flow data tell us the cleanest and quickest streets to take. New buildings are going up with environmental ambitions and are covered in sensors to control automated heating and cooling systems. Inside, you’ll find digital hubs for controlling lights, doors, lifts and cameras.
According to Sifted data, €912.6m has been deployed into Europe’s urban tech startups as of September 25, defined as those companies developing smart cities, buildings and green homes technology (excluding those solely focused on solar panels).
79 of the 91 deals have come at early stage (up to and including Series A), with an average cheque size of €4.9m. Berlin-based renewable energy home upgrade company Cloover’s €105m seed round led by US climate tech investor Lowercarbon Capital is the largest early-stage deal to date.
Including growth and late-stage fundraising, Sweden tops the charts (€365m) largely thanks to Stockholm-based heat pump startup Aira’s €145m Series B — led by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek — and €200m debt financing from French bank BNP Paribas in June.
Relevant resources:
- Everything you need to know about Europe’s urban tech sector
- 2024 urban tech funding rounds (downloadable)
Here are the 10 early-stage urban tech startups that told Sifted they’re currently fundraising (with pitch decks where available):
1/ JUUNOO
Location: Zwevegem, Belgium
Founded: 2017
Total funding: €10.3m
Last round: €5.8m Series A in June 2023
Investors: Saint-Gobain, Finindus, SFPIM and family offices
Fundraising: Expecting to close its Series B round shortly.
Pitch deck
JUUNOO’s demountable walls, glass wall partitions and office pods are modularly designed for next-generation commercial offices. Its workspace products are used by clients including Microsoft, Deloitte and Volvo.
2/ Measurable.energy
Location: Reading, UK
Founded: 2018
Last round: €5.4m from Series A in January 2023
Investors: Clean Growth Fund, TEAM SY and Tech Nation
Fundraising: Currently raising a Series A extension round to be completed at the end of September 2024.
Measurable.energy’s plug sockets, powered by machine learning, identifies a plugged-in device that’s wasting energy and automatically turning it off, reducing a building’s carbon emissions and electricity bills.
3/ PYDRO
Location: Rostock, Germany
Founded: 2016
Total funding: €3m
Last round: €1m seed round in September 2020
Investors: European Innovation Council, Gigahertz Ventures, GENIUS Venture Capital, EIT Climate-KIC, Innovationsstarter Fonds, Leading Cities and Thomas Clemens
Fundraising: Targeting a February 2025 close of a €1.3m pre-Series A round. It has already secured €793k.
Pitch deck
PYDRO provides hydro-powered monitoring and sensing technology to water utility companies and distribution networks. It measures water flow and pressure and delivers accurate data to manage smart water networks, reduce water leakage, avoid pipe bursts and perform quality checks.
4/ MAGNOTHERM Solutions
Location: Darmstadt, Germany
Founded: 2019
Total funding: €11.9m
Last round: €6.8m seed round in July 2023
Investors: Extantia Capital, LAUDA, Revent, BMH, Cesah, ENGIE New Ventures, EIT Climate-KIC, ESA BIC Hessen and the European Innovation Council
Fundraising: The company says that it is “planning on entering fundraising mode soon” but doesn’t have a set timeline yet for a Series A round.
Pitch deck
MAGNOTHERM is an university spinoff from Technische Universität Darmstadt with expertise in permanent magnets and magnetic cooling. Its technology, based on solid state materials and water, is capable of replacing standard gas compression cooling or heating solutions in compliance with current and future EU F-gas regulations. It currently has two products: an 80l drinks cooler designed for events and an 1,000l commercial refrigerator.
5/ Furbnow
Location: Birmingham, UK
Founded: 2022
Total funding: €870k from a pre-seed round in November 2023
Investors: Norrsken Impact Accelerator, SFC Capital and Nesta
Fundraising: Targeting a December 2024 close of its €3.5m seed round.
Pitch deck
Furbnow surveys, plans and manages energy efficiency projects for UK homeowners — including insulation, ventilation, solar energy, battery storage and heating systems. It claims that it can cut a home’s carbon emissions in half, save £1.8k annually on energy bills and add £21.3k to its value.
6/ Windcredible
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
Founded: 2022
Total funding: €300k
Last round: €200k pre-seed round in December 2023
Investors: Techstars, Portugal Ventures and angels
Fundraising: Expecting to close a €2m SAFE seed round by the end of 2024. It has already secured verbal commitment from a VC for €500k and is searching for a lead investor with a climate or industrial background.
Pitch deck
Description: Windcredible offers three different types of wind turbines that can exist in urban environments. It has four patents to its name currently.
7/ NanoSci
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Founded: 2020
Total funding: €800k
Last round: €255k pre-seed round in June 2024
Investors: Infini ASI VC and N50 Cyprus
Fundraising: Plans to raise €1.2m by the end of 2024.
Pitch deck
NanoSci’s advanced air purification devices use semiconductor photocatalysis that utilises UV light to activate nanomaterials that break down airborne pathogens and ethylene gas into harmless substances. Its devices are particularly applicable to food-related settings, extending the shelf life of fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
8/ Luna Systems
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Founded: 2020
Total funding: €1.8m
Last round: €830k seed round in November 2021
Investors: EIT Urban Mobility, Enterprise Ireland and angels
Fundraising: Targeting closing its €3m seed round between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025.
Luna develops computer vision technology to keep micromobility vehicles — including shared electric scooters, bikes and mopeds — safely in the correct lane or parking zone, while also generating crowd-sourced vision data for city managers.
9/ AviBike
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Founded: 2019
Total funding: €800k
Last round: €530k pre-seed round in September 2023
Investors: Hiventures
Fundraising: €1m seed round
Pitch deck
AviBike designs and manufactures smart and secure infrastructure for electric bikes in cities, including bike stands and gated lock up/parking zones.
10/ Geodesic.Life
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Founded: 2020
Total funding: €75k
Last round: €25k grant in June 2024
Investors: EIT Manufacturing and Seeds of Bravery
Fundraising: Targeting a close of a €550k pre-seed round at the end of 2024
Pitch deck
Geodesic.Life provides affordable and sustainable prefabricated dome homes for families that use space and materials more efficiently — lowering emissions and energy bills. Homes come equipped with an automatic air ventilation system and solar panels as standard.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/10-urban-tech-startups-fundraising/
