Stockholm, Sweden · StartupNorthvolt is a Swedish battery manufacturer founded to build a European supply of sustainable lithium-ion cells. In November 2024, Northvolt AB filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States to pursue a financial restructuring while seeking strategic solutions for Northvolt North America. On March 12, 2025, the company filed for bankruptcy in Sweden and a trustee was appointed to oversee the process. Northvolt remains a landmark industrial project for Europe’s battery ambitions, but its current status is restructuring and insolvency rather than a typical growth-stage startup.
StartupIndustrial Scale-upClimateIndustrialEnergy
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupStegra (formerly H2 Green Steel) is one of Europe’s most ambitious industrial decarbonization projects, aiming to rebuild steelmaking around renewable energy and green hydrogen. The company is building a fully integrated production campus in Boden, northern Sweden, where abundant hydropower and regional mining supply chains converge. The core innovation is the direct-reduction process: instead of using coal to reduce iron ore, Stegra uses green hydrogen, cutting CO2 emissions by roughly 95% compared with blast-furnace steel. That technical shift is the foundation for a new European supply of low-carbon steel, which is increasingly demanded by automakers, construction firms, and consumer brands. The company rebranded to Stegra in September 2024 to signal that it is more than a steel mill. Its long-term platform vision is to combine renewable power, hydrogen production, and mineral processing into a repeatable template for heavy industry. By 2026, the Boden plant is reported to be more than halfway constructed, with gigascale electrolyzers (supplied by Thyssenkrupp Nucera) being installed and key offtake contracts signed. Customers reportedly include Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Scania, and IKEA, and more than half of initial output has been pre-sold — a strong indicator that the “green premium” market is real. Stegra’s financing structure is as notable as its technology. Rather than relying solely on venture capital, the company blends project-finance debt with growth equity, totaling more than €6.5 billion in commitments. This makes it one of the largest private industrial raises in Europe and a flagship case for climate infrastructure funding. Its origins are tied to Vargas Holding, a Swedish venture-builder that also co-founded Northvolt and Polarium, acting as an institutional co-founder rather than a conventional accelerator. Early support from EIT InnoEnergy helped validate the project at the EU level. Stegra’s investor roster reflects its strategic importance: Altor Equity Partners, GIC, Just Climate, Temasek, and Porsche SE are among its backers. In 2026, Stegra represents the “Northvolt effect” done right: a proof that Europe can re-industrialize around clean energy and keep advanced manufacturing on the continent. If it succeeds, it will be a template for decarbonizing other hard-to-abate sectors, from cement to fertilizers, and a cornerstone of Europe’s green-industry competitiveness.
StartupGrowthClimateIndustrialEnergy
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupBrickanta is building an AI-native operating layer for early-stage commercial construction planning. The platform interprets drawings, code constraints, and cost data to automate bid analysis and estimation, reducing procurement risk and planning overhead for project owners and contractors.
StartupEarly StagePropTechConstruction TechAI
Zurich, Switzerland · StartupClimeworks is a Swiss climate tech pioneer specializing in direct air capture (DAC) of CO₂ – essentially technology to filter carbon dioxide directly out of the atmosphere. Founded in 2009 as a spin-off from ETH Zürich by engineers Jan Wurzbacher and Christoph Gebald, Climeworks has the distinction of building the world’s first commercial DAC plants. Its modular CO₂ collectors use a special filter that binds CO₂ when air passes through, then releases pure CO₂ when heated, allowing it to be captured and stored or reused. In 2017 Climeworks opened a prototype DAC plant in Iceland in partnership with Carbfix, where captured CO₂ is injected underground and mineralized into rock. By 2021, they launched “Orca” in Iceland – the largest DAC plant at the time – able to remove 4,000 tons of CO₂ per year, selling carbon removal as a service to corporate clients like Stripe, Microsoft and Shopify. Climeworks gained widespread attention as the first DAC unicorn: in April 2022 it raised $650M in an equity round (Europe’s largest-ever climate tech funding) at a valuation reportedly around $2 billion. Investors include Carbon Removal Partners and Big Oil venture arms, reflecting broad interest in negative emissions tech. As of 2025, Climeworks is scaling up “Mammoth,” a 36,000 tCO₂/yr plant in Iceland, and planning multi-megaton facilities by 2030. The EU and US policy push for carbon removal (with 45Q tax credits, etc.) strongly benefits Climeworks. The company also sells captured CO₂ for reuse in drinks and agriculture (a smaller market) and operates demonstration units in countries like Switzerland and Italy. With global climate goals increasingly reliant on carbon removal, Climeworks is positioned as a leader in an emerging industry. It touts a goal of removing 1% of global CO₂ emissions by 2050. While challenges remain (DAC is energy-intensive and currently expensive, around $600/ton), Climeworks has achieved real progress – turning sci-fi into reality. Its name comes up frequently in climate policy discussions, and it was highlighted at COP26 as an example of scalable climate innovation. In summary, Climeworks is a trailblazer in direct air capture, turning a bold lab idea into the world’s first commercial carbon removal service, putting Zurich on the climate tech map.
StartupGrowthClimateCleanTech
Munich, Germany · StartupDeepDrive is the Munich startup that convinced major automakers to rethink the electric motor itself. Its core innovation is a patented dual-rotor motor architecture. In a traditional motor, a single rotor spins inside a fixed stator. DeepDrive's design spins both the internal and external rotor simultaneously, delivering higher torque density and substantially better efficiency. The practical outcome is compelling: EVs can achieve roughly 20% more range with 50% less motor weight, while reducing bill-of-materials costs.
By 2026, DeepDrive has moved beyond impressive prototypes to industrialization. The company has reportedly secured series nominations with eight of the top ten global automakers for platform launches in 2028–2029. That level of OEM validation is rare at this stage and signals confidence in both the performance and manufacturability of the design. The company is now focused on building automated production lines in northern Munich to scale output for fleet testing and pre-series runs.
A particularly strategic application is the in-wheel motor. Because the dual-rotor unit is compact and lightweight, it can fit inside the wheel hub, freeing up interior volume and enabling fully flat skateboard platforms. That creates new possibilities for autonomous shuttles and urban delivery vehicles where maximizing passenger or cargo space is paramount. It also allows for advanced vehicle dynamics such as torque vectoring without complex drivetrain components, improving both safety and handling.
DeepDrive is a classic spin-out from the UnternehmerTUM ecosystem at TU Munich, with early validation support from the XPRENEURS incubator. Its investor base blends strategic automotive capital with deep-tech venture funding: Leitmotif led the Series B, BMW i Ventures provides rare early-stage OEM participation, Continental's corporate VC is a strategic partner for braking and chassis integration, and UVC Partners and Bayern Kapital anchor local support. In 2026, DeepDrive is one of Europe’s most promising hardware deep-tech bets: a motor breakthrough with clear OEM pull, manufacturability momentum, and the potential to reshape EV platform design.
StartupSeries BAutomotiveDeep TechHardware
Stockholm, Sweden · StartupEinride is the Swedish pioneer of autonomous freight, best known for its cab-less "Pod" trucks that are designed from the ground up without a driver. Rather than retrofitting automation into traditional vehicles, Einride built a purpose-made electric platform paired with remote operations. Its "Mesh" system allows a single human operator to supervise multiple autonomous pods in real time from a control center, enabling higher utilization while keeping safety oversight in the loop.
The year 2026 is a defining moment for Einride. In November 2025, the company announced a $1.8B merger with Legato Merger Corp. III to list on the NYSE, a deal expected to close in the first half of 2026 and provide more than $300M in growth capital. This public-market transition gives Einride the balance sheet to scale fleet deployments, charging infrastructure, and regulatory approvals across key logistics corridors.
By mid-2026, Einride is executing on major commercial contracts with GE Appliances in the United States and DP World in the UAE. It does not sell trucks in the traditional sense; it sells freight capacity as a service (FaaS), bundling vehicles, energy management, and its digital "Saga" operating system that optimizes routes, energy usage, and scheduling. The 2026 focus is on "Einride Grids": dense regional networks in Northern Europe and the US Southeast where autonomous pods handle repeated hub-to-hub routes, driving down costs compared to diesel trucking while cutting emissions.
Einride's ecosystem ties include Norrsken House in Stockholm and early innovation pilots through Plug and Play. Its investor base blends Nordic growth capital and strategic logistics backing: EQT Ventures, NordicNinja, Maersk Growth, Soros Fund Management, and Temasek are among the key supporters. In 2026, Einride stands out as the most mature European autonomous freight platform, combining electric hardware, autonomy software, and logistics orchestration into a single commercial service. The company is also investing in safety validation, regulatory engagement, and remote-operations tooling to scale autonomy responsibly across multiple jurisdictions.
StartupLate StageMobilityLogisticsAutonomous Vehicles
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