DEEP DIVE: Looking to raise for your heat tech? Start with these 10 VCs

Heating and cooling account for nearly half of all energy consumption in the EU, and much of it still relies on fossil fuels; whether it’s gas boilers in homes or steam systems in factories.

Exciting new innovations within thermal heating are already popping up, such as the world’s largest sand battery in Finland that Impact Loop wrote about last week.

But with energy prices rising and new regulations phasing out gas infrastructure, there is an urgent need for more low-carbon heat solutions.

So the opportunity for startups is massive, but so are the barriers: infrastructure complexity, regulatory fragmentation, and the capital intensity of hardware make scaling difficult.

If you’re a founder, that means you need partners with know-how as well as capital. The good news is that a growing number of European venture capital firms are already actively investing in thermal energy startups.

We’ve rounded up ten of the most active thermal energy investors in Europe to help you find your match.

Clean Growth Fund (United Kingdom)

Clean Growth Fund is a UK-based early-stage VC firm focused on accelerating climate innovations across energy, buildings, transport, and industry. CGF closed its first fund at £101m (€116m) and has already raised about a third of its £150m (€173m) target for Fund II. Backed by the UK government and leading utilities, the fund focuses mainly on the seed and Series A stages.

Notable portfolio companies with a thermal focus include Tepeo, maker of a heat battery boiler, and Futraheat, which makes the Greensteam industrial heat pump.

Energy Impact Partners (UK/US)

Energy Impact Partners (EIP) is a global climate-tech investment platform with a €390 million Europe-dedicated fund. The firm backs companies decarbonising energy, transport, industry, and buildings—often at the convergence of energy infrastructure and software. EIP has a deep network of strategic LPs including utilities, grid operators and industrial players.

EIP invests across Series A to growth stages and has the capacity for follow-ons and large-scale deployments. Its portfolio includes HeatTransformers, a Netherlands-based heat-pump deployment platform and Rondo Energy, the U.S.-based developer of the Rondo Heat Battery.

2150 (Denmark/UK/Germany)

2150 is a sustainability-focused VC targeting urban decarbonisation and industrial transformation. The fund backs deep-tech companies in energy, materials, and infrastructure, with a strong emphasis on scalable climate impact. Its first fund closed at €268 million in 2021.

2150 typically invests at Series A and B stages with ticket sizes ranging from €3m to €10m, and actively co-invests with aligned climate VCs. It was an early investor in 1KOMMA5°, the German clean-energy platform.

Extantia Capital (Germany)

Extantia is a relatively young climate-first venture capital firm. It was founded in 2000, but has already closed a €204m flagship fund. The firm is searching for “game-changing” companies who can redefine sectors including industry, heat, and carbon capture. Extantia typically writes €1m–€5m checks at seed and Series A stages, with capacity for follow-on investment as companies scale. Among its portfolio companies, Vamo develops software for mass-scale residential heat-pump installations, and Luminescent builds a next-generation isothermal heat engine.

Demeter (France)

Demeter is one of Europe’s longest-running energy transition investors, managing over €1.3b across venture, growth and infrastructure strategies. The firm backs companies enabling energy efficiency, circular economy, and clean industry, including thermal energy and waste-heat reuse. Demeter invests from seed through growth stages, with ticket sizes ranging from €1m to €30m depending on the fund. It has invested in Qarnot, a French company reusing heat from data centres for space heating.

Statkraft Ventures (Norway)

Statkraft Ventures is the corporate VC arm of Statkraft, Europe’s largest producer of renewable energy. It invests in scalable energy technologies, including heat pumps and thermal systems. The firm invests from Series A to growth rounds, with ticket sizes ranging from €3m to €20m. Notable portfolio examples include Aira, A European clean-energy platform founded by Vargas, deploying residential heat pumps and clean heating systems at scale.

Climentum Capital (Nordics/Germany)

Climentum is a €150m fund focused on Seed and Series A investments into technologies reducing CO₂ in high-emission sectors such as buildings, manufacturing and waste. Clean heating is a key vertical within their strategy.The firm invests primarily in Europe. Climentum co-led the Series B round for Qvantum, a Swedish manufacturer of compact, modular heat pumps for dense urban settings.

Norrsken VC (Sweden)

Norrsken VC is an impact-focused venture capital firm investing in scalable tech for social and environmental benefit. Its €320m second fund focuses on early-stage companies across climate, health and inclusion—with building electrification as a sub-theme. The fund typically invests at Seed and Series A stages with ticket sizes between €1m and €3m. Norrsken has also backed 1KOMMA5°, as well as Lun, a Danish startup providing workflow automation software for European heat-pump installers

Kiko Ventures (UK)

Kiko Ventures is an evergreen climate tech investment platform operated by IP Group. It backs disruptive science-based startups from seed to growth, with the ability to support over long timelines. Areas of interest include energy storage, electrified heat, and materials. Kiko has invested in Mixergy, which builds smart hot-water tanks that integrate with heat pumps and solar to improve energy efficiency and grid flexibility.

Inven Capital (Czech Republic)

Inven Capital is a growth-stage venture capital firm founded by ČEZ, the Czech utility, that invests in European climate and energy startups. The €500m fund targets companies that can scale rapidly and deliver decarbonization impact across power, energy efficiency, electrification, and new clean technologies. Inven brings deep industrial connections—especially across Central and Eastern Europe. It typically participates in Series A through C rounds. Inven was an early backer of Sonnen, a German home energy storage and virtual power plant company that was acquired by Shell.

On the picture: Niklas Adalberth, founder of Norrsken VC; Morten Halborg, CEO Climentum Capital; Robert Trezona, founding partner Kiko Ventures; Oliver Schwarzer, co-founder Extantia Capital; Sophie Paturle-Guesnerot, managing partner Demeter; Petr Mikovec, managing director Inven Capital; Matthias Dill, CEO Energy Impact Partners Europe; Beverley Gower-Jones, managing partner Clean Growth Fund. Photos: Press. Graphic: Impact Loop.