Europe's fastest-growing climate tech unicorns – mapped

Yes, funding for climate is down. Sure, Europe lost Northvolt, its only climate tech decacorn. Indeed, investors are flocking to AI and defence right now.

But investors and founders we've spoken to over the last few months tell us it's not all doom and gloom.

European climate tech is maturing – and the evidence is everywhere, literally:

All the money poured into climate tech the past decade or so has given rise to over seventeen $1 billion companies. Thirteen of those reached unicorn status after the funding boom of 2021.

Those companies driving the green energy transition make up the bulk of Europe's herd of climate tech unicorns. Also featuring are those working in circular economy, heavy industry, and mobility.

All our unicorns are paving the way for the next generation of climate technologies to break in.

Not all of these unicorn's are at the same level of maturity. Some, like Bolt, Octopus Energy, and Vinted are coming of age – and generating profit. Others, like Fuse Energy, Stegra, and 1KOMMA5° are growing fast.

We've crunched the numbers and ranked all of Europe's climate tech unicorns by growth rate, plus their valuations, principle investors, revenue generation (if any) – and who's hiring.

🚀 Let's go!

1. Fuse Energy

Only three years in, Fuse Energy became a unicorn this year, taking on Octopus Energy in the race to sell renewable power. Yet questions linger over its green credentials, since part of its supply still comes from gas.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): +147%

📅 Founded: 2022

🦄 Unicorn status: 2025

📍 Headquarters: London, UK

💰 Valuation: $1.0b

💵 Total equity funding: $52m

🤝 Principal investors: Lowercarbon Capital, Balderton Capital, Multicoin Capital, Lakestar, Accel, Creandum, Ribbit and more

👥 Hiring: Yes

📊 Revenue: $90m

2. Stegra (formerly H2 Green Steel)

Stegra is pushing to transform steelmaking with hydrogen, targeting one of the world’s most carbon-intensive industries. Its green ambitions have drawn global attention, though scaling production remains a major challenge.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): +93%

📅 Founded: 2020

🦄 Unicorn status: 2022

📍 Headquarters: Stockholm, Sweden, but first plant under construction in Boden, northern Sweden.

💰 Valuation: $4.1b

💵 Total equity funding: $2.6b

🤝 Principal investors: Vargas Holding, Altor, Hy24, Just Climate and more

👥 Hiring: Yes

📊 Revenue: $14.4m

3. Verkor

Backed by Renault, Verkor is emerging as Europe's next major battery manufacturer after Northvolt's collapse.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): +81%

📅 Founded: 2020

🦄 Unicorn status: 2023

📍 Headquarters: Grenoble, France, but buildings its first gigafactory near Dunkirk, France.

💰 Valuation: $3.7b–5.6b

💵 Total funding: $3.7b | Last round: €1.3b Debt

🤝 Principal investors: EQT Ventures, La French Tech, Bpifrance, Macquarie Asset Management, Crédit Agricole Assurances, and the European Investment Bank

👥 Hiring: Yes

📊 Revenue: N/A

4. Newcleo

Newcleo is a Paris-based nuclear energy startup with Italian roots developing small modular reactors (SMRs) that aim to recycle nuclear waste into clean energy.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): +47%

📅 Founded: 2021

🦄 Unicorn status: 2024

📍 Headquarters: Paris, France

💰 Valuation: $1.7b

💵 Total funding: $544m | Last round: €135m Series A

🤝 Principal investors: Exor family office, Italian pension fund Inarcassa, Club degli Investitori and more

👥 Hiring: Yes

📊 Revenue: $3.5m

5. 1KOMMA5°

1KOMMA5° is scaling Europe’s home energy market with AI-powered systems that integrate solar, storage, and EV charging. An IPO in the coming years is likely.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): +34%

📅 Founded: 2021

🦄 Unicorn status: 2023

📍 Headquarters: Hamburg, Germany

💰 Valuation: $2.4b

💵 Total funding: $733m | Last round: €150m Growth Equity VC

🤝 Principal investors: G2 Venture Partners, Sabanci Climate Ventures, CalSTRS, Deutsche Bank and more

👥 Hiring: Yes - 222 open roles (August 2025)

📊 Revenue: $541.1m

6. Zenobe Energy

Zenobe Energy provides battery storage and electric fleet solutions, and is co-owned by KKR and Infracapital.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): +25%

📅 Founded: 2017

🦄 Unicorn status: 2022

📍 Headquarters: London, UK

💰 Valuation: $1.1B

💵 Total funding: $1.22b | Last round: €325m debt

🤝 Principal investors: JERA, Tiger Infrastructure Partners, Santander Group, NatWest and more

👥 Hiring: Yes

📊 Revenue: $70.8m

7. Octopus Energy

Octopus Energy has become the UK's largest energy supplier, serving over 7.5 million customers with (mostly) renewable electricity. It also invests in renewable energy projects through its venture arm.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): +22%

📅 Founded: 2015

🦄 Unicorn status: 2020

📍 Headquarters: London, UK

💰 Valuation: $9.0b

💵 Total funding: $2.5b | Last round: $800m Growth Equity VC

🤝 Principal investors: Octopus Group, the company's majority shareholder and founder, along with Origin Energy, Tokyo Gas, Generation Investment Management, CPP Investments, Lightrock and more

👥 Hiring: Yes - 158 positions open (August 2025)

📊 Revenue: $17.2b

8. Vinted

Vinted is an online marketplace that has become Europe's largest peer-to-peer platform for second-hand fashion.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): +17%

📅 Founded: 2008

🦄 Unicorn status: 2019

📍 Headquarters: Vilnius, Lithuania

💰 Valuation: $5.5b

💵 Total funding: $532m | Last round: $340m

🤝 Principal investors: TPG, Hedosophia, Accel, Burda Principal Investments, EQT, Insight Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Sprints Capital

👥 Hiring: Yes - 90 open roles

📊 Revenue: $894m

9. Enpal

Probably 1KOMMA5°'s greatest rival, Enpal offers flexible rental and purchase options for solar panels, heat pumps, battery storage, and EV chargers.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): +17%

📅 Founded: 2017

🦄 Unicorn status: 2021

📍 Headquarters: Berlin, Germany

💰 Valuation: $2.5b

💵 Total funding: $754m | Last round: €110m Growth Equity VC

🤝 Principal investors: TPG Rise Climate, Softbank Vision Fund II, The Westly Group, Activate Capital, HV Capital and more

👥 Hiring: Yes - 472 open roles (August 2025)

📊 Revenue: $990m

10. BeZero Carbon

BeZero Carbon is an independent ratings agency for the (sometimes controversial) carbon credit market. Its ratings, ranging from AAA to D, are used by over 150 clients – including UBS, Equinor, and Bloomberg.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): +12%

📅 Founded: 2020

🦄 Unicorn status: 2022

📍 Headquarters: London, UK

💰 Valuation: $1.0b

💵 Total funding: $104m | Last round: $32m Series C

🤝 Principal investors: Norrsken VC, Contrarian Ventures, GenZero, EDF Pulse Ventures, Hitachi Ventures, Quantum Energy Partners, Molten Ventures and more

👥 Hiring: Not currently

📊 Revenue: N/A

11. Back Market

Back Market is a Paris-based online marketplace specialising in refurbished electronics, aiming to make secondhand tech mainstream. Since its inception in 2014, the company has sold over 30 million devices across 17 countries.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): +10%

📅 Founded: 2014

🦄 Unicorn status: 2021

📍 Headquarters: Paris, France

💰 Valuation: $5.7b

💵 Total funding: $1.0b | Last round: $510m Series E

🤝 Principal investors: General Atlantic, Generation Investment Management, Goldman Sachs Growth Equity, Aglaé Ventures, Eurazeo, Sprints Capital, Groupe Arnault and more

👥 Hiring: Yes – 12 open roles (August 2025)

📊 Revenue: $11m (last confirmed but likely much higher)

12. EcoVadis

EcoVadis is a platform that evaluates and rates companies on their environmental, social, and ethical performance.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): 9%

📅 Founded: 2007

🦄 Unicorn status: 2022

📍 Headquarters: Paris, France

💰 Valuation: $1.0b

💵 Funding: $734M | Last round: $500m

🤝 Principal investors: Astorg, BeyondNetZero, GIC, Princeville Capital and more

👥 Hiring: Yes – 56 open roles (August 2025)

📊 Revenue: $162.2m (in 2023)

13. OVO Energy

Similar to Octopus Energy and Fuse Energy, OVO provides electricity, gas, and smart home services, aiming to make energy cheaper, greener, and simpler.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): Stable

📅 Founded: 2009

🦄 Unicorn status: 2019

📍 Headquarters: Bristol, United Kingdom

💰 Valuation: $1.3b

💵 Funding: $569m | Last round: £200m growth equity VC

🤝 Principal investors: Mitsubishi Corporation and others

👥 Hiring: 8 open roles

📊 Revenue: $10.8b

14. Bolt Mobility

One of Europe's largest private tech companies, Bolt offers ride-hailing, micro-mobility, and food & grocery delivery. Most of its vehicles are electric.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): Stable

📅 Founded: 2013

🦄 Unicorn status: 2018

📍 Headquarters: Tallinn, Estonia

💰 Valuation: $8.1b

💵 Funding: $1.9b | Last round: €220m debt

🤝 Principal investors: Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management

👥 Hiring: Yes

📊 Revenue: $2.2b

15. Climeworks

Climeworks is one of the pioneers in direct air capture (DAC) technology to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. However, its experienced some economic headwinds recently - it cut 20% of its staff in May 2025.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): -3%

📅 Founded: 2009

🦄 Unicorn status: 2022

📍 Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland

💰 Valuation: $2.8b

💵 Funding: $898m | Last round: CHF 128m Late VC

🤝 Principal investors: Not specified

👥 Hiring: Yes

📊 Revenue: $4.9m

16. NW Groupe

NW Groupe develops and operates high-power EV charging stations, distributed storage units, and renewable energy plants across Europe and North America.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): -9%

📅 Founded: 2007

🦄 Unicorn status: 2022

📍 Headquarters: Paris, France

💰 Valuation: $1.7b

💵 Funding: $367m | Last round: €300m Late VC

🤝 Principal investors: RGREEN INVEST, Santander, Rabobank and more

👥 Hiring: Not now

📊 Revenue: N/A

17. Einride

Einride builds autonomous trucks and develops smart routing software for electric vehicles. The company has faced financial difficulties of late, forcing it to lay off some of its employees last year, according to some reports in Swedish media.

📈 Employee growth rate (last 12 months): -20%

📅 Founded: 2016

🦄 Unicorn status: 2022

📍 Headquarters: Stockholm, Sweden

💰 Valuation: $1.0B

💵 Total equity funding: $405m | Last round: $51.1m convertible

🤝 Principal investors: Temasek Holdings, EQT Ventures, Northzone, Norrsken VC, AMF, and Soros Fund Management.

👥 Hiring: Yes

📊 Revenue: $4.4m

Pictured top: Alan Chang, Fuse Energy; Karin Hallstan, Stegra; Benoit Lemaignan, Verkor; Pierre-François Thaler, Ecovadis; Elisabeth Rizzotti, Newcleo; Philipp Schröder, 1komma5; Martin Adeyinka, Zenobe; Stuart Jackson, Octopus Energy; Laura Wolff, Enpal; Tommy Ricketts, Bezero Carbon.