French climate investor SlateVC raises €132 million first close for inaugural growth fund

Slate Venture Capital, a Paris-based venture capital firm dedicated to the climate transition, has secured a €132 million first close for its inaugural growth fund focused on energy and circularity.

Disclosed investors include the European Investment Fund (EIF), Bpifrance and the Fonds National de Venture Industriel (FNVI), managed by Bpifrance and endowed by the French government (France 2030), and BNP Paribas.

“In a complex fundraising environment, this first close affirms a clear market signal: climate impact requires scale, and scale requires industry-leading competitiveness. We are looking to back European B2B companies where environmental performance drives superior unit economics, specifically in energy transition, low-carbon industrial processes, and circularity,” said Slate VC in a public statement.

Activity across 2025 and early 2026, shows continued capital formation around European climate, energy transition and circular-economy investment strategies, providing context for Slate Venture Capital’s first close.

In Northern Europe, Copenhagen-based Footprint Fund I (€76 million) announced an early-stage vehicle targeting climate and DeepTech companies across the region, while Munich’s Ananda Impact Ventures (€73 million first close) continued its impact-driven investment approach with a strong climate component.

At the larger end of the spectrum, London-based 2150 Fund II (€210 million) raised a growth-stage fund focused on urban systems, energy and industrial decarbonisation, while Barcelona’s SC Net Zero Ventures I (€210 million) targeted scale-up capital for industrial climate technologies.

In parallel, the Netherlands saw continued activity from Rubio Impact Ventures Fund III (€70 million) and Amsterdam-based CapitalT Fund II (€50 million first close), both backing climate-aligned innovation, while the UK’s Clean Growth Fund II (€56.8 million first close) reinforced investor support for energy, circular economy and built-environment technologies.

Taken together with Slate Venture Capital’s raise in France, these announcements represent approximately €900 million to €1 billion in disclosed capital committed to climate- and transition-focused venture strategies over the period, underlining sustained institutional interest in scalable business models where environmental performance is linked to economic returns.

Founded in 2023, SlateVC is an independent pan-European investment firm regulated by the French financial markets authority (AMF). The firm invests in European B2B companies developing technologies contributing to the climate transition.

Today’s first close comes amid, what the VC is describing, as a slowdown in venture fundraising and a reassessment of climate strategies, with investors prioritising business models that deliver clear economic returns alongside impact.

SlateVC is led by four partners with backgrounds spanning entrepreneurship, venture capital, and industrial strategy. Collectively, the team has completed more than 150 venture investments.

The founders are:

• Clément Buyse, co-founder of PeopleDoc (acquired by UKG) and former Vice-President of France Digitale
• Chloé Giard, former investor at IdInvest and Eurazeo
• Sébastien Léger, former Partner at McKinsey, where he led the Energy and Climate
  practices
• Renaud Visage, co-founder of Eventbrite (NYSE: EB) and former Venture Partner at Index Ventures and Point Nine Capital

SlateVC was established to back the market deployment and scaling of companies where environmental performance is driven by superior economics  – through lower costs, improved productivity, and increased resilience for industrial customers.

SlateVC’s first fund invests in European B2B companies developing hardware, software and AI solutions in:

• energy transition
• low-carbon industrial processes and materials
• circularity and the resource economy
• climate resilience

The fund plans to back 15 to 20 companies with strong commercial momentum that are ready for international expansion.

SlateVC has already completed two cornerstone investments illustrating its investment thesis in 2025.

The fund co-led the Series B of Fairmat, a French industrial company developing recycled carbon- fiber composite materials for the construction, automotive, and sports industries, and led the Series B of Resourcify, a German company developing an AI-powered SaaS platform that lets global corporations optimise their circularity programmes worldwide.

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