NextSTEP Portfolio
Leafr
Leafr bridges the critical sustainability skills gap by connecting businesses with a marketplace of pre-vetted freelance sustainability specialists, AI-powered project guidance, and targeted upskilling resources. Designed to streamline and scale sustainability initiatives, the platform provides tailored solutions for navigating complex regulations and achieving ESG goals without the high costs and delays of traditional consultancies. By combining data-driven insights with expert guidance, Leafr fosters efficiency and delivers actionable results, empowering over 75 million businesses worldwide required to adopt sustainability practices. With a proven track record of success, Leafr is revolutionizing how organizations address climate challenges and align with their Net Zero commitments.
2024
UK
HRTech
Seed
Switch
Switch is a cutting-edge B2B SaaS platform transforming urban mobility through AI-powered tools and data-driven insights. Designed for shared mobility operators, logistics providers, and local governments, Switch helps optimize fleet distribution, predict demand, and streamline operations to make urban transportation more efficient and sustainable. At the heart of Switch are solutions like Urbiverse and Urban CoPilot, which leverage digital twins, real-time simulations, and advanced predictive analytics to address the complex challenges of modern mobility. By providing actionable insights and intelligent tools, Switch empowers businesses and cities to reduce inefficiencies, improve service availability, and design smarter, greener transportation systems that align with the future of urban living.
2024
Italy
Mobility
Seed
SIEve
SIEve is an innovative startup that has developed a groundbreaking, all-in-one regenerable filter for advanced wastewater treatment. Designed with a fully circular approach, the filter ensures both environmental and economic sustainability. The solution repurposes hazardous slag, a byproduct of aluminum oxide mining that is typically left unused and stored in massive open dumps. By transforming this waste material into a valuable resource, it addresses a critical environmental challenge while creating economic opportunities. At the end of its lifecycle, the filter is not discarded. Instead, it gains a new purpose as an inert filler for the construction industry, further closing the loop and enhancing its circular impact.
2024
Italy
Water
Seed
Algapelago
Algapelago is pioneering the development of sustainable seaweed-based products aimed at revolutionizing regenerative agriculture and beyond. By cultivating extensive offshore kelp forests, Algapelago produces natural fertilizers and animal feed supplements that eliminate the need for freshwater, land, pesticides, or fertilizers. Their innovative approach not only sequesters carbon and enhances marine biodiversity but also supports coastal communities through job creation and economic revitalization. As the largest licensed kelp cultivator in the UK, Algapelago is committed to scaling its operations to create a global network of “algapelagos”, contributing to a greener future.
2024
UK
AgriTech
Seed
Snelix
Snelix is pioneering sustainable protein production through its innovative, technology-driven snail farming solutions. By combining advanced AI with precision agriculture, Snelix revolutionizes heliciculture to produce high-quality protein products with minimal environmental impact. Their state-of-the-art approach ensures efficiency, sustainability, and a reduced ecological footprint, making Snelix a key player in the transition to eco-friendly protein alternatives.
2024
Italy
AgriTech
Pre-Seed
Pulpatronics
Pulpatronics is transforming RFID technology with their groundbreaking metal-free and chipless tags, designed to protect natural resources. Using an innovative laser-induced process, they imprint conductive circuitry directly onto paper, eliminating the need for metal components and simplifying manufacturing. This approach not only reduces costs but also cuts CO2 emissions significantly, saving 2,400 kg of CO2 for every million tags produced. Fully recyclable and eco-friendly, Pulpatronics’ tags set a new standard for sustainability, minimizing waste and environmental impact.
2024
UK
Fashion
Pre-Seed
ClearWatt
The easy-to-use app, enhanced by a proprietary ML-powered algorithm (patent pending), accurately measures and certifies EV range and battery health. ClearWatt’s unique GPS-based approach eliminates third-party data limitations and enables OEM and telematics-agnostic deployment, ensuring maximum coverage and rapid scaling. ClearWatt EV Health Reports provide detailed advanced performance metrics, fostering trust between buyers and sellers throughout the entire sales process.
2024
UK
Mobility
Seed
Musthad
Musthad provides a sophisticated excess inventory management software that enhances circularity in the fashion industry. Their data-driven platform automates waste management, ensures traceability, and reports impact KPIs, benefiting both the environment and businesses by improving efficiency, reducing costs, ensuring regulatory compliance, and supporting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
2024
Italy
Circular Economy
Bridge to Seed
Atium
Atium’s advanced reusable filter technology provides a highly effective and cost-efficient solution for the selective removal of toxic mercury from water. This technology, grounded in electrochemistry, is the culmination of several years of dedicated research at Chalmers University of Technology.
2024
Sweden
Water
Seed
Chloris Geospatial
Chloris Geospatial employs cutting-edge technology to quantify carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems. Through their advanced machine learning algorithms, Chloris is able to integrate data from various Earth observation satellites to deliver precise measurements of above-ground biomass stock, as well as data on forest cover and change.
2024
US
SpaceTech
Bridge to Series A
Agrisky
Agrisky offers an IoT and AI solution for indoor farming that monitors, analyses and calculates carbon footprint, and delivers carbon credits to its users while helping the decision making in order to improve farming performances.
2024
Italy
AgriTech
Angel
ToMove
ToMove innovates urban mobility with sustainable vehicle designs, prioritizing environmental impact reduction to enhance city life.
2024
Italy
Mobility
Pre-Seed
Nina Energy
Nina.Energy transforms agricultural waste into solid biofuels and biochar, offering sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. Their innovative technology yields diverse secondary products like biochar, torrefied biofuels, and liquid products, enriching soil, reducing CO2 emissions, and providing sustainable energy solutions for various sectors.
2024
Equador & UK
Biochar & Biofuel
Pre-Seed
Ganiga
Ganiga is an innovative startup revolutionizing waste collection efficiency and sustainability with their patented smart bins, ‘Hoooly!’, which communicate with citizens, autonomously sort waste, and utilize AI for data analysis, ultimately reducing costs, enhancing recycling practices, and cutting pollution.
2023
Italy
Waste Management
Pre-Seed
iotilize
iotilize.me is a startup that enhances waste collection efficiency and sustainability by utilizing fill-level sensors and advanced algorithms to optimize collection routes, reducing costs by 30% and CO2 emissions significantly.
2023
Italy
Waste Management
Angel
Bufaga
Bufaga is a smart device that can be mounted on any vehicle in order to improve air quality. Its purpose is that of removing pollutants from air through a specific filtering process and gathering data about pollution levels, with the aim of reducing the environmental footprint of company fleets in our cities. We are fighting pollution, simply by driving.
2023
Italy
Mobility
Pre-Seed
The First Element
The First Element pioneers clean energy solutions with Smart Tank technology, enabling safe, scalable green hydrogen generation. From homes to industries, TFE empowers users to contribute to net-zero emissions, using water and renewable electricity.
2023
UK
Hydrogen
Pre-Seed
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