ClimateTech & cleantech startups
The cost of PV, heat pumps and hydrogen is falling faster than forecasts predicted – meanwhile billions of venture capital are flowing into European cleantech startups. Here you see where economic viability has already been reached and which niches have the most momentum.
Current market prices
PV module (spot)
Source: pvXchange
Heat pump (system)
Source: BWP/EnBW
Battery price 2026
Source: BNEF Annual Survey
Green hydrogen
Source: IRENA/HyDeal/BNEF
PV module price – long-term trend
€/Wp crystalline silicon, spot price 2014–2024 (learning curve)
Heat pump (air-to-water) – system price
System price incl. installation in €'000. Source: BWP/EnBW
Green hydrogen – price trend
LCOH in €/kg (electrolysis, renewable power). Source: IRENA/HyDeal/BNEF
Cleantech venture capital Europe · Last 90 days
VC funding in Climate & Energy and Deeptech & Hardware · European startups · 01/26 – 05/26 · vs. prior 90 days (11/25 – 01/26)
Climate & Energy
41 Startups · 41 Rounds
Deeptech & Hardware
34 Startups · 34 Rounds
Ø round size Climate
Deeptech: €38 m
Funding volume per month
€m · Climate & Energy + Deeptech & Hardware · 10/23 – 04/26
Distribution by stage
Climate & Energy + Deeptech & Hardware · cumulative
Top rounds
largest individual rounds · last 90 days
Sweden · Lead: Wallenberg family
Swedish green-tech startup building the world's largest green-steel plant in Boden, Sweden
France
Enabled by Nobel Prize-winning technology and a full-stack approach, Pasqal delivers cutting-edge quantum solutions worldwide. Leading the way in Neutral Atom Quantum Computing.
UK · Lead: Italian state aid
CamGraPhIC develops graphene-based optical interconnect technology for AI systems. The company makes graphene-based optical transceivers that use light instead of electrons to send and receive data, claiming 80% less energy consumption than traditional silicon versions with higher bandwidth and lower latency.
UK · Lead: Hummingbird
Building the infrastructure for frontier AI. Creating Optical Tensor Processing Units (OTPUs) using photonics for efficient AI inference.
Finland · Lead: General Catalyst
Provider of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite systems offering persistent, real-time Earth Observation for defense, intelligence, natural catastrophe insights, and mission systems
France · Lead: PGGM
A French DeepTech company specialising in on-demand aerial intelligence, building Europe's first on-demand aerial reconnaissance network. Combines internally designed long-endurance VTOL drones, autonomous deployment stations, and proprietary software platform RiftOS to offer a Surveillance-as-a-Service model.
Source: Inventure Capital Side Letter · Orbit API
Early-stage trend radar
Pre-seed & seed niches in Climate & Deeptech · European startups · 03/26 – 05/26
Early-stage startups
25Pre-seed + seed
Active niches
10Sub-sectors with funding
Niches by startup count
Pre-seed + seed · number of startups per sub-sector
Niche details
5 startups · €25 m funding
3 startups · €42 m funding
3 startups · €10 m funding
2 startups · €6 m funding
2 startups · €18 m funding
2 startups · €6 m funding
2 startups · €3 m funding
1 startups · €6 m funding
1 startups · €2 m funding
1 startups · €1 m funding
Source: Inventure Capital Side Letter · Orbit API
What does this mean for your company?
The PV industry's learning curve is relentless – since 2014 module prices have fallen by over 80 %. Anyone still waiting is missing a historically favourable window. The combination of low module prices, high grid power prices and rising CO₂ costs makes on-site generation one of the most profitable investments for industrial SMEs. CO2
Is PV, a heat pump or an electric fleet worth it for your company?
Individual economic calculations with real energy prices, current subsidy rates and realistic usage profiles.
Does any of this sound like your challenge?
A short note is enough – I'll reply personally within one business day with a suggested 20-minute intro call.