105 investors and founders in open letter to Von der Leyen: Buy European clean tech!

More than 100 European cleantech companies and investors have called on the European Commission to do more to support homegrown clean industries, warning that Europe risks losing competitiveness as clean technologies move from innovation to large-scale production.

In a joint letter sent to Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and executive vice-president Stéphane Séjourné, the signatories argue that Europe’s main problem is no longer a lack of ideas or startups, but the difficulty of scaling those companies into globally competitive businesses.

The letter, coordinated by industry group Cleantech for Europe, comes ahead of the EU’s upcoming Industrial Accelerator Act – a key piece of legislation intended to turn the bloc’s Clean Industrial Deal into concrete action.

Victor van Hoorn, director of Cleantech for Europe, said the EU faces a clear choice.

“The question is whether Europe is willing to do what it takes to secure clean industrial leadership,” he said in the letter, adding that predictable demand is essential to mobilise private capital and keep manufacturing in Europe.

Top impact investors among the signatures

The letter is backed by 35 impact investors, including World Fund, Planet A Ventures, Vireo Ventures, Axeleo Capital, Carbon Equity, Matterwave Ventures, Nordic Alpha Partners, SET Ventures, and Climentum Capital.

The signatories also include 70 cleantech companies, among them green steel maker Stegra, battery manufacturer Verkor, fusion startup Proxima Fusion, wave energy company CorPower Ocean, and battery recycling firm Cylib.

The group warns that further delays to the Industrial Accelerator Act, which has been pushed back from its original target of late 2025, would undermine Europe’s credibility at a moment when speed and clarity are critical for investment decisions.

“We stand ready to invest, manufacture and create high-quality jobs across Europe,” the signatories wrote.

Mobilising private capital

Rather than calling for higher tariffs or large new subsidy programmes, Cleantech for Europe is pushing for targeted “Made in Europe” requirements for public funding and procurement in selected strategic cleantech sectors.

The idea is that when public money is spent, it should create clear demand for clean technologies manufactured in Europe.

“Europe is very good at innovation, but much weaker at scaling,” the group says, adding that too often manufacturing, value creation and jobs end up outside the EU once cleantech companies grow. That, it argues, has become not just an economic issue, but one tied to Europe’s energy security, resilience, and independence.

The letter, published Wednesday, echoes broader concerns about slow disbursement of EU green funding.

The bureaucratic load

Only 4.7% from a pool of €7.1bn has been awarded from the EU Innovation Fund, a separate grant programme launched in 2021. Part of the problem is bureaucracy, with companies spending up to 3,000 hours and an average €85,000 on applications to access the money, the Financial Times reported in November.

The difficulty in navigating European regulation has found its most recent expression with EU-INC, which proposes a pan-European company structure that would let startups incorporate and scale across the bloc under a single rulebook. Recently endorsed by Von der Leyen at the World Economic Forum in Davos, EU-INC aims to, among other things make it possible to incorporate a company anyway in the bloc in under 48 hours.

In parallel, The EU is also considering new rules to incentivise the buying of 'made in Europe' cleantech. A draft European Commission proposal seen by Reuters sets out minimum requirements for public procurement to buy EU-assembled batteries, solar and wind components, and electric vehicles.

Pictured above: Victor van Hoorn (Cleantech for Europe); Shari Rana (Nordic Alpha Partners); Francesco Sciortino (Proxima Fusion); Eric Burdier (Axeleo Capital); Lilian Schwich (Cylib); Julia Padberg (SET Ventures); Henrik Henriksson (Stegra); Lena Thiede (Planet A Ventures).