Madrid July 2nd, 2024
Seaya has closed Seaya Andromeda — the first Article 9 climate-tech fund based in Southern Europe — at €300m. LPs in the new fund include Iberdrola, Nortia, Santander, BNP Paribas Group, Next Tech Fund, Bpifrance and brings Seaya platform's total AUM to over €650m, making the firm the largest VC investor in Spain.
Seaya, with twelve years of experience in climate tech, has set up ‘Andromeda’ to invest in impact-driven growth companies specialized in energy transition, decarbonization, sustainable food value chain, and circular economy. The fund only invests in companies that promote a sustainable society by reducing waste and pollution. The fund subscribes to SFDR’s Article 9, which ensures that all investments the firm makes have a positive impact on society or the environment.
The firm has already made its first five investments from the fund into a range of impact technology companies, including Recycleye an AI-driven robot which sorts recyclable waste, and 011h, an environmentally friendly construction firm which reduces building-site CO2 emissions by 75 per cent.
Seaya’s new fund will invest anywhere between €7-40m as a first cheque, and will retain capital for follow-ons. It plans to make 25 investments in total between now and the end of 2027, including around five more deals this year.
Seaya is one of few female-founded venture capital firms in Europe – launched in 2013 by former private equity investor Beatriz González. Across Europe, only 15% of ‘decision makers’ are women. González made her first sustainability-focused investment in 2012, backing Ecoalf, a sustainable and recycled clothing line. Seaya Ventures went on to invest in seven more startups in this space including Clarity.ai, Biome Makers, RatedPower, Samara, Crowdfarming, Descartes and Wallbox (which went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021).
Beatriz González, Founder and Managing Partner of Seaya, says, «From day one we were focused on impact and climate. We have a strong technological background in this space. We started in 2012 backing climate tech companies and have successfully guided three of them right through to exit. We have 12 years of experience in this space and we can bring this knowledge and expertise to founders through this specialized vehicle.”
Pablo Pedrejón and Carlos Fisch lead Andromeda as Investment Partners. The fund has four verticals when it comes to investing:
- Energy transition
- Decarbonisation
- Sustainable food value chain
- Circular economy
Andromeda has invested in five companies to date:
- Spain-based augmented-reality skill training solution Seabery in July 2022. Seabery has developed AR software and hardware for training welders. Virtual welding training reduces carbon emissions by 95% per welding session, as it reduces raw material waste and harmful gas particles.
- UK-based AI-powered waste management startup Recycleye in February 2022, which builds robots to sort rubbish for recycling. Recycleye’s automated solution uses computer vision to improve efficiency in the sorting phase. One single robot saves 3,700 tonnes of CO2 per year. The company has already sold robots to clients in eight countries.
- Spain-based sustainable construction platform 011h in June 2022, a tech-enabled next- generation construction firm which creates low-carbon emitting, high-quality wood residential buildings. 011h’s system reduces carbon emissions in first build by 75% and cuts construction time by 35%. Construction represents a huge market for sustainable solutions, representing 15% of global GDP, but also 39% of global CO2 emissions.
- San Francisco-based Pachama in September 2022, a climate-tech company which uses data to verify the quality of carbon credits and enable the launch of new carbon credit projects. Pachama, whose clients include Amazon, Microsoft and Salesforce, has overseen 3.5 mega tonnes of carbon credit transactions. Co-investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures (founded by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos), Future Positive and Amazon Venture Capital’s Climate Pledge Fund.
- Copenhagen-based Aegir Insights, a Danish provider of software, data and intelligence for offshore wind investors. Aegir Insights’ data platform has so far helped more than 280 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions be avoided.
By investing at Series B+ stage in British, Danish and US companies, as well as in Spanish ones, Seaya has drawn on its experience in the global expansion of portfolio companies such as unicorns Glovo, Cabify and Wallbox and companies such as RatedPower, Alma, Descartes.
One of its other attractions for entrepreneurs is its extensive network of founders, investors and multinational corporations.
Carlos Fisch, partner at Seaya, says: “In addition to investors that can provide capital, there is a need for experienced investors with a proven track record who can support startups navigating the growth challenges in this space. Since we started investing, we have backed 12 climate tech companies and have successfully exited three of them: Wallbox, RatedPower and Ecoalf”.
Pablo Pedrejón, partner at Seaya, says: “Deep-tech climate entrepreneurs face a unique set of challenges compared to software-tech entrepreneurs. Climate-tech companies must translate research into a working product, bring it to market, and then scale it.
This long journey requires different kinds of support than what is typically provided to software startups. This is why there is a need for Series B and B+ investors that help climate tech startups bridge the ‘valley of death’ – the gap from initial development to deployment at scale.”
About Seaya Andromeda
Seaya Andromeda is the largest ClimateTech Venture Capital out of Southern Europe focused on growth. With €300M assets under management, Andromeda is an SFDR Article 9 fund on a mission to address global sustainability challenges and deliver profits with purpose through investments in technology-driven companies focusing on Energy & Decarbonisation, the Circular Economy, and the Sustainable Food Value Chain.
Seaya Andromeda is a fund of Seaya –the leading European and Latin American Venture Capital platform, with offices in Madrid, Barcelona and Mexico City, that invests in exceptional entrepreneurs who are building global technology companies. Seaya raised its first funding in 2013 and currently manages over €650 million across five early-stage venture funds. Seaya accelerates the growth of startups by leveraging the founder’s strategic vision, providing them with Seaya’s global platform, its extensive network of founders, investors and multinational corporations, as well as all its experience in the global expansion of companies such as Glovo, Cabify, Wallbox (NYSE:WBX), Clarity AI, Clicars, Alma and RatedPower.
The Seaya brand has grown organically to become a trustworthy VC firm in the Spanish ecosystem. Not only did it bet early on three unicorns – Wallbox, Glovo and Cabify – it is also one of the few Spanish VCs which offers Series A+ funding.
About Beatriz González
Before founding Seaya in 2013, Beatriz González worked in Morgan Stanley in London and private equity firms, Excel Partners in Spain and Darby Overseas Investments in the US. She then became a director of Telefonica’s pension fund, leading its alternative assets programme.
González holds a finance degree from CUNEF University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
