NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Muktar Oladunmade

Satgana, a European venture capital (VC) firm headquartered in Luxembourg, has closed a €30 million fund to fund startups that tackle climate change problems in Africa. The fund will do so by investing up to €500K in the pre-seed and seed stages of startups across Europe and Africa.

The VC will leverage the network of its team and some of its investors to help founders with direct operational and strategic support, in addition to funding, on issues like impact management, technology development, strategy, hiring, and fundraising. Satgana will concentrate on food, agriculture, energy, mobility, industry, buildings, carbon removal, and the circular economy as it works to decarbonize all areas of the economy.

The fund has invested in 3 climate tech startups: Orbio Earth, a German startup building methane intelligence software to help energy providers monitor and reduce methane emissions with the use of satellites; Mazi Mobility, a Kenyan startup building a network of electric motorbikes and battery-swapping infrastructure in East Africa; and Yeasty, a French startup building an alternative protein leveraging beer yeast with a circular model.

Photo courtesy of Franz Jachim.