World Fund

Power infrastructure is emerging as one of the defining constraints of the energy transition. Rising demand from AI, data centres, and electrification is putting pressure on systems that have seen little innovation in decades. This is the problem Hyperscale Power is addressing. We are pleased to see our recent investment Hyperscale Power featured in Startupticker.ch following their €5 million seed round, which we co-led. Read more in the links in comments.

Earth's hidden hydrogen: Could natural reserves unlock a new era of clean energy? We're back with our next Knowledge Series deep dive, this time into the quickly developing sector of geological hydrogen. World Fund Partner Craig Douglas, Principal Dr.-Ing. Mark Windeknecht, and Investment Research Analyst Sebastian Lindner-Liaw explore the science behind natural hydrogen, the compelling economics, and the companies racing to prove it out. In theory, natural hydrogen could be produced below €1/kg, cheaper than even fossil sources, with an emissions intensity over 90% lower. Academic estimates suggest enough could be present in the subsurface to satisfy global demand for over 1,000 years with just a 2% recovery rate. Despite its potential, only about 20 wells have ever been drilled specifically to find it. But things are changing quickly. There are now over 40 companies actively exploring, up from just 10 in 2020. At World Fund, we see enormous potential in this space but are waiting for the commercial breakthrough. Seeing sustained flow rates from a purpose-drilled well or stimulated hydrogen results that translate from lab to field would be the step-change we are looking for. We expect the next 12–18 months to be decisive. Check out the full article in the comments.

Every European battery cell manufactured on European soil is a unit of sovereignty. Every megawatt of renewable energy generated domestically is a barrel of oil not purchased from a petrostate. Every critical mineral recycled from end-of-life products is a supply chain that cannot be weaponised against us. Every semiconductor grown in European orbit is a chip that no foreign power can embargo. World Fund General Partner Danijel Višević writes about European tech sovereignty and climate in Leading Britain's Conversation (LBC). Read the full piece: link in comments

Last week, we hosted the latest edition of our World Fund & Friends Dinner, which is quickly becoming one of our favourite traditions at World Fund. This time, we had the privilege of gathering in a truly special setting, VÆRIDION’s electric aircraft hangar in Munich. As Daria Saharova and Ivor van Dartel highlighted in their opening remarks, with sufficient capital, Europe’s technical prowess can, and is, being transformed into the next generation of industrial champions. If Europe wants to strengthen its position on the global stage, it needs to keep backing exactly these kinds of innovations. We all eagerly took our turns in the cabin and in the pilot's seat, getting a hands-on look at what short-haul electric aviation could look like in the near future. A big thank you to everyone who joined us for an evening of conversation and shared ambition around what we need to build in Europe. Special thanks also to the VÆRIDION team for graciously opening their hangar doors, and congratulations again on the recent inauguration of the facility! Cc Ivor van Dartel, Bozhena H., Julia Maier, Lukas Wollenburg, Johannes Hemmelrath

Excited to support DeepTech Ripples at 1E9 & Festival der Zukunft 2026, initiated by The Drop, together with Vsquared Ventures, DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF), and Pale blue dot. Looking forward to high-signal, participant-led discussions on Europe’s toughest DeepTech challenge, and to the founders and investors who will shape them. 📅 July 2, Munich 🎟️ Link in comments to propose and join a Ripple

Climate venture capital isn't only about reducing emissions. World Fund General Partner Danijel Višević shares his views on LP attitudes to climate tech with HackSummit. LPs are increasingly assessing climate and deep tech through the lens of energy security, supply chain resilience, and industrial sovereignty. In this context, climate technologies are no longer viewed purely as decarbonisation solutions, but as core infrastructure for economic competitiveness. At the same time, expectations have sharpened. LPs are focusing more directly on differentiation, capital efficiency, and credible exit pathways, with less emphasis on narrative alone. This is our ecosystem maturing, and it’s a good thing in our view. The full article is linked in the comments.

World Fund’s Daria Saharova has been featured in Dealroom.co's 30 of the most influential people shaping Europe’s deep tech ecosystem right now! It’s our view at World Fund that Europe is the best place to build and develop a deep tech startup. The best founders, builders, doers, funders are here. This list proves it. Daria is featured alongside some of the best from the deep tech ecosystem, including Jan Goetz from World Fund portfolio firm IQM Quantum Computers, and industry heavyweights like Yann LeCun, Francesco Sciortino, Taavet Hinrikus, and many more. Thank you to Lorenzo, Orla and the Dealroom.co team for the feature! Full details in the comments.

Closing the Series B funding gap is one of the most critical challenges if Europe wants to turn promising startups into global industrial champions 🚀 That was the focus of our event in Zürich this week, bringing together investors, founders and ecosystem leaders to discuss how Europe can scale its most promising companies. A few key takeaways from the conversation: 📉 Europe’s growth funding gap is real. Around 37 deep and climate tech companies don’t receive the growth investment they deserve year after year because of conditions in Europe, highlighting the structural challenges founders face at the scale-up stage. 🚀 Europe has the talent and technology, but exits matter. Switzerland and Europe have passionate, visionary people and world-class research, but we need to prove that large exits can happen here. 🖊️ At the same time, narratives are evolving: climate tech is increasingly framed around supply chain independence, industrial resilience and European sovereignty. A big thank you to our speakers Sylvie Mutschler - v.Specht, Dr. Sara Marquart , Michelle Tschumi, Christian Sarwa, moderated by World Fund’s Danijel Višević , as well as our co-host Swisscanto, for an insightful discussion. And thank you to everyone who joined and contributed to the conversation! Check out our report, which breaks down how Europe can overcome the Series B funding gap, in the comments below👇

Growing electrification and surging AI use demand updated power infrastructure ⚡️ Until now, transformer technology has not kept up the pace - long lead times, large footprints, and efficiency losses are increasingly a binding constraint for AI data centres, EV charging, and essential large-scale renewable projects. Today, we’re excited to announce that we’re investing in a company pioneering a solution to that problem: Hyperscale Power. We’re thrilled to have co-led Hyperscale Power’s €5M seed round alongside our friends at Vsquared Ventures. Through developing solid-state transformers that are up to 10 times smaller and 10x lighter than conventional systems, with energy-conversion efficiencies of up to 98.5% – Hyperscale Power is reimagining traditional solutions. Deployed at scale, these small efficiency gains can translate into millions of tonnes of CO₂ savings. Faster deployment and lower material use achieved through Hyperscale Power’s SST will also ease infrastructure constraints. As Hyperscale Power’s CEO and co-founder Daniel Rothmund, said today, Hyperscale’s mission is to “rethink how power is delivered to the systems driving the next industrial revolution”. We’re so excited to be supporting Daniel and co-founder Sami Pettersson as they grow their team and commercialise their proprietary technology. Thank you to Tim De Chant at TechCrunch for covering this! Link to the article in comments.

This International Women’s Day, it’s great to see women from the World Fund ecosystem recognised among those shaping tech and venture capital. There are encouraging signals. In 2025, 1,307 female-founded startups raised €7.5B, a 19% year-on-year increase according to the Female Innovation Index 2026, slightly ahead of the overall VC market's 18% growth. But the gap remains significant: female-only founding teams still make up just 6% of the VC market, and funding for them has largely stagnated over the past decade. That’s why it’s important to highlight those who are pushing the ecosystem forward. A special shoutout to some of the incredible founders and colleagues featured in the Tech Funding News article: ♻️ Evoléna de Wilde d'Estmael 🌱 (Faircado): building the infrastructure for circular e-commerce 🔋 Lilian Schwich (cylib GmbH): closing the loop on lithium-ion batteries with next-gen recycling 🍫 Dr. Sara Marquart (Planet A Foods): reinventing chocolate without cocoa 💡 Morgan Sheil and Dr. Nadine Geiser: part of the World Fund team backing the next generation of climate tech founders A special mention to Daria Saharova, whose leadership continues to push both our team and the broader European climate tech ecosystem forward. World Fund is proudly co-led by Daria, and today, 45% of our team are women. Also, a big shoutout to all the women at World Fund and across our portfolio building companies, backing founders, and helping build the climate technologies that will underpin the next generation of industrial and economic leadership. Thanks to Tech Funding News for putting this spotlight together. Full article in the comments 👇