Slate Venture Capital closes €132 million debut fund to accelerate scalable European climate innovations

Slate Venture Capital has completed a €132 million first close for its debut growth fund aimed at scaling European companies that marry environmental gains with commercial performance, according to EU-Startups and other reporting.

The Paris-based firm, founded in 2023 and regulated by the Autorité des marchés financiers, will concentrate on B2B firms working on energy transition, low-carbon industrial processes and materials, circularity and climate resilience. SlateVC says it will back 15 to 20 companies showing strong commercial traction and readiness for international expansion. “In a complex fundraising environment, this first close affirms a clear market signal: climate impact requires scale, and scale requires industry-leading competitiveness. We are looking to back European B2B companies where environmental performance drives superior unit economics, specifically in energy transition, low-carbon industrial processes, and circularity,” Slate VC said in a public statement.

Publicly disclosed limited partners in the close include the European Investment Fund, Bpifrance, the Fonds National de Venture Industriel (FNVI) , managed by Bpifrance and endowed under France 2030 , and BNP Paribas; several outlets also report participation by family offices. Industry coverage describes the fund’s typical ticket size differently: one report says SlateVC will write cheques generally between €5 million and €40 million and take board seats to work closely with portfolio teams, while other coverage states the firm may offer up to around €15 million for growth rounds.

SlateVC is led by four partners whose backgrounds combine entrepreneurship, venture investing and industrial strategy. The founders are Clément Buyse, co‑founder of PeopleDoc and former vice-president of France Digitale; Chloé Giard, a former investor at IdInvest and Eurazeo; Sébastien Léger, who previously led McKinsey’s Energy and Climate practices; and Renaud Visage, co‑founder of Eventbrite and a former venture partner at Index Ventures and Point Nine Capital. The team says it has been involved in more than 150 venture investments.

The first-close comes amid a period of continued fundraising for European climate and transition strategies. EU-Startups and peer reporting point to a cluster of contemporaneous raises, including Copenhagen’s Footprint Fund I, Munich’s Ananda Impact Ventures, London’s 2150 Fund II and Barcelona’s SC Net Zero Ventures I, together with other Northern European vehicles; collectively these announcements represent roughly €900 million to €1 billion in disclosed commitments to climate-focused venture strategies during 2025–early 2026, underscoring persistent institutional interest in scalable decarbonisation solutions.

SlateVC has already taken stakes that illustrate its thesis. In 2025 the firm co‑led Fairmat’s Series B and led Resourcify’s Series B. Reporting in Gide’s client announcement and other outlets provides further detail on the Fairmat transaction: the carbon-fibre recycling company secured about €51.5 million in financing, comprising €26.5 million of Series B equity co‑invested by SlateVC and Bpifrance and €25 million of debt from the European Investment Bank. Gide says it advised SlateVC and Bpifrance on the fundraising. Fairmat develops recycled carbon‑fibre composite materials intended for construction, automotive and sports applications and plans to expand industrial recycling capacity to produce a lightweight, high‑performance material.

Resourcify, a German firm offering an AI‑enabled SaaS platform to help global corporations optimise circularity programmes, was the other highlighted deal; TechFundingNews and other outlets reported SlateVC led a roughly €12 million Series B for the company.

SlateVC frames its strategy around backing businesses where environmental improvement aligns with superior unit economics , for example through lower operating costs, productivity gains or greater resilience for industrial customers , at the stage when technology is proven but the business model must scale. The fund will target hardware, software and AI solutions and intends to lead or co‑lead Series A through C rounds across Europe.

Observers note the timing of the close reflects a selective shift among investors toward climate strategies that demonstrably deliver financial returns as well as impact, after a wider reassessment in the venture market. SlateVC’s first close, supported by public and private institutional backers, signals continued appetite for growth capital in climate technologies that can reach industrial scale.