Venture Capital for Start-ups using Fraunhofer technologies

FTTF

The L-Bank is committed to ensuring a high-performing economy, a high quality of life and a secure future. For individuals who want to gainfully employ their strengths or need support to develop them. For businesses that create jobs through their commitment and for communities seeking to improve the quality of their inhabitants' lives. In short: for Baden-WÃ¼rttemberg.

L-Bank

OHB Venture Capital is a corporate venture capital company of OHB SE, specializes in start-up and early stage investments.

OHB Venture Capital

Next Humanity Venture invests in the future of planet & humanity across Europe with focus on Deeptech

Next Humanity Ventures

Lakestar is a venture capital firm investing in technology companies led by exceptional entrepreneurs. Early investments included Skype, Spotify, Facebook, and Airbnb. Since raising the first fund in 2013, Lakestar manages an aggregated volume of over EUR 1bn across three early-stage funds, and more recently a growth fund.  The company has expanded and broadened its portfolio and holds investments in the likes of Opendoor, Oscar, GetYourGuide, Glovo, Sender, Eigen, Five, Revolut, and Hometogo to name a few. Lakestar has a presence in Berlin, Zurich, and London. Lakestar helps companies to identify new markets and expand into them rapidly, with a focus on the US and Europe. The team advises and supports portfolio companies in business development, recruitment, technology, and marketing. The investments range from early-stage companies to those in their growth stage.

Lakestar

Vsquared Ventures invests in early-stage deep-tech companies that are tackling society's most pressing challenges, with a focus on quantum and novel computing, green energy, robotics, AI/ML, new space, synthetic biology, and healthcare. It is committed to a partnership and will go to any length to help accelerate and scale vision, unlocking all seemingly impossible possibilities.

Vsquared Ventures

In-Q-Tel identifies and partners with companies developing cutting-edge technologies to help deliver these solutions to the Central Intelligence Agency and the broader U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) to further their missions.

In-Q-Tel

Seraphim Capital is dedicated to financing the growth of companies operating in the space ecosystem. They are an ambitious team with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences in Venture. Collectively they have over 100 years’ experience, investing in over 180 early and growth stage businesses, returning more than £750 million to their shareholders. They are also fortunate to have one of the world's leading entrepreneurs and experts in Earth Observation on board.  They work closely with their portfolio companies and always strive to create meaningful value and endeavour to ensure that the full value of their network and partners is utilised. The backing of leading global corporates in the Space sector and the leading Space related Governmental Agencies in the UK and Europe brings significant value. They are able to leverage their capital, industry leading knowledge and networks, creating an ecosystem that delivers real results for your business. From roots to market, sales and marketing, partnerships, follow-on capital, and M&A they can deliver value creation across the company growth cycle globally.

Seraphim Space

EIT Food is a consortium of partners driving consumer confidence and improved global health.

EIT Food

Investing in radical solution for global food supply and visionary founders on a mission.

Amathaon Capital

Natural Ventures will contribute to accelerating the change to a more sustainable and cost-effective supply of clean water. It takes an impact-driven strategy to invest, focusing on solving the interconnected issues posed by climate change, global population expansion, and the transformation of the world's water system.

Natural Ventures

Karista is an early-stage venture capital firm created in 2001. We funded 90+ companies over the past two decades and support tomorrow’s game changers in the field of Health, Digital, Tech, and NewSpace. We have always worked to provide more than cash and partnered with entrepreneurs whom we share a common vision with.

Karista

Einstein Industries Ventures bridges financial gap of space startups.

Einstein Industries Ventures

constellr

Constellr creates imaging technology for the agriculture industry to evaluate soil health, vegetation, and industrial monitoring, using proprietary space infrastructure. Constellr supports food security by enabling high-precision smart farming services across the globe. The company specializes in tackling climate change with accountability and monitoring data for multiple markets.

Constellr is a German deep-tech startup founded in 2020 that operates at the intersection of Earth observation and agriculture. The company is developing a satellite-based system to provide high-precision global water monitoring for the agricultural sector. Constellr's technology utilizes thermal infrared imaging to measure land surface temperatures and derive critical data on crop water stress, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture. This information enables farmers and agricultural companies to optimize irrigation, detect potential crop risks earlier, and improve overall resource management.

Thermal data startup constellr raises 17 million euros

Revolutionising Resource Accountability

This startup wants the agriculture sector to use satellites to tackle the food security crisis. Here's the 12-slide pitch deck Constellr used to raise a $10 million seed round.

German space tech startup Constellr raises €10 million to protect the global food supply with water monitoring system

Constellr acquires ScanWorld to reinforce beyond

ConstellR launches first agricultural water monitoring system

NewSpace Startup ConstellR

Space4Water Portal

NanoAvionics to supply Constellr with two satellites to help saving 60 billion tons of water globally

Constellr acquires hyperspectral firm ScanWorld in move set to disrupt smart farming data industry

Constellr: Advanced Agricultural Monitoring

German NewSpace Startup, ConstellR, launches their first agricultural water monitoring system into orbit.

Technology for a regenerative future in agriculture

Regenerative Agriculture Platforms

Constellr is a German deep-tech startup spun out of the Fraunhofer Institute, Europe's largest organization for applied science. The company operates at the interface of Earth observation and agriculture, dedicated to supporting global food security amidst climate change. Constellr offers precise and plot-level water monitoring for the agricultural sector worldwide through a proprietary space infrastructure with unique sensing capabilities.

Constellr Acquires Hyperspectral Firm ScanWorld in a Move Set to Disrupt the Use of Beyond-Visual Data in Smart Farming Worldwide.

ScanWorld (and SPACEBEL) join ConstellR to optimize sustainable farming worldwide

Deriving insights from uncommon data streams

Alternative Data

A Look At How Constellr Is Measuring Surface Temperatures From Space

Constellr is a German deep-tech startup founded in 2020 that operates at the intersection of Earth observation and agriculture. The company is developing a satellite-based system to provide high-precision global water monitoring for the agricultural sector. Constellr's technology utilizes thermal infrared imaging to measure land surface temperatures and derive critical data on crop water stress, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture. This information enables farmers and agricultural companies to optimize irrigation, detect potential crop risks earlier, and improve overall resource management.
The company's proprietary satellite constellation will employ microsatellites equipped with advanced thermal sensors capable of delivering daily imagery with 30-meter resolution for land surface temperature data. Constellr claims its technology can detect signs of water stress in crops up to two weeks earlier than conventional methods, allowing for more timely interventions to prevent crop damage and reduce water waste. In February 2022, Constellr successfully launched its first thermal infrared Earth observation system, called LisR (Longwave Infrared Sensing demonstratoR), to the International Space Station as a precursor to its full constellation planned for deployment starting in 2024.
In April 2022, Constellr acquired Belgian hyperspectral firm ScanWorld to enhance its capabilities and expand its product offerings. This acquisition allows Constellr to provide comprehensive monitoring across water, carbon, energy, and crop health parameters. The company aims to help save up to 40% of water used in agriculture while reducing the risk of crop loss, potentially saving 60 billion tons of water and avoiding 14 megatons of CO2 emissions within five years of full deployment.

Croptimal is an Israeli agricultural technology company that provides real-time and accurate testing services for plant tissue, soil, and water directly in the field. The company's innovative solution significantly reduces the time for analysis from the traditional 10 days to just 10-60 minutes, revolutionizing the agricultural testing methodology. Croptimal's technology is based on Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (ED-XRF) spectroscopy, which it adapted for precision agriculture applications. The company offers a comprehensive service that includes sample collection, preparation, analysis, and agronomist-reviewed recommendations, all delivered to farmers within a day. This rapid turnaround enables farmers to make timely decisions on fertilizer application and crop management.
Croptimal's service aims to optimize crop nutrition by analyzing macro and micro elements in plant tissues, soil, and water. The company employs an automated sampling process that follows a strict protocol, ensuring consistency and eliminating human error. The collected samples are tested in either mobile or regular laboratories, with all data sent to a cloud database. This database also incorporates meteorological information from local weather stations. An algorithm then correlates weather and fertilizer data to produce customized protocols adapted to the grower, region, and local conditions.
Key customers and partnerships
Croptimal works directly with farmers, offering seasonal agreements that cover sampling and testing frequency, types of tests, and precise sampling locations. The company has partnered with Netafim, a global leader in irrigation solutions, recognizing the potential benefits for growers worldwide. Croptimal's services are particularly valuable for farmers dealing with unstable weather conditions and rising production costs, as it allows them to calculate optimal fertilizer quantities and timing based on accurate, real-time data.

Croptimal

Regen Farmer specializes in developing regenerative agroforestry systems. The company engages in various projects aimed at implementing sustainable agricultural practices that combine trees and shrubs with crops or livestock. This approach to farming seeks to enhance biodiversity, improve soil health, and create more resilient ecosystems. Regen Farmer collaborates with a diverse range of clients to design and implement these agroforestry systems, tailoring their solutions to meet specific needs and environmental conditions. The company's work contributes to the growing field of regenerative agriculture, which focuses on restoring and improving the natural resources used in farming while maintaining productive agricultural systems.

Regen Farmer

SmartCloudFarming is a company that provides advanced soil intelligence services to agricultural businesses worldwide. The company utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to create detailed 3D soil maps, offering insights up to 30 cm deep. These maps include comprehensive information on minerals, soil organic carbon, and texture. SmartCloudFarming's technology allows for accurate carbon stock measurement at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional soil lab alternatives, reportedly at just 0.1% of the price per hectare. The company offers two main solutions: LAIM for local analysis and GEAIM for global analysis, both capable of providing soil perspectives within 24 hours, depending on the location and area fragmentation. In addition to soil mapping, SmartCloudFarming's services include retrospective organic soil carbon analysis and site-specific analytics. The company's technology enables farms to optimize pesticide application, adjust crop distribution, and create customized fertilizer plans. SmartCloudFarming was founded in early 2019 by plant biotechnologist Michele Bandecchi, with the aim of revolutionizing sustainable farming and soil intelligence. The company has since developed and patented deep-learning models that form the core of its services. Looking ahead, SmartCloudFarming plans to expand its product offerings to include crop yield forecasting and soil biodiversity analysis, with the broader goal of enhancing agricultural supply and ensuring food security.

SmartCloudFarming

Teralytic offers a technology platform for farmers to obtain detailed soil quality data through a single probe. The company's device is equipped with 26 sensors that provide information on soil moisture, salinity, and NPK (nitrogen/phosphorus/potassium) levels at three different depths. Additionally, the probe measures aeration, respiration, air temperature, light, and humidity. As of January 2022, the company aimed to consolidate its offerings into a single device capable of adapting to changing requirements.

Teralytic

Agrology is a Predictive Agriculture technology company that offers a comprehensive platform to help farmers monitor and manage various aspects of their agricultural operations. The company's flagship product, the Agrology Platform, utilizes machine learning to provide real-time data and insights on soil carbon, smoke taint, drought, irrigation optimization, nanoclimate threats from extreme weather, and pest and disease outbreaks. In March 2023, Agrology launched the Arbiter Carbon Monitoring System, which continuously monitors and quantifies soil carbon flux for farmers. This system allows growers to track soil carbon sequestration, soil composition changes, and receive alerts for significant soil or atmospheric events that impact carbon levels. The Agrology platform also covers other critical areas such as heat waves, soil health, regenerative practices, and greenhouse gas monitoring. The company emphasizes ease of use, with sensor nodes that can be installed in under 10 minutes and data accessible via a mobile app. Agrology operates on a subscription-based model, which includes installation and warranty replacement of sensors, real-time monitoring, and secure data access. As of March 2023, the Arbiter Carbon Monitoring System subscription started at around USD 600 per month. Agrology is structured as a Public Benefit Corporation, with a mission to advance equality in agriculture, reduce environmental impact, and secure the global food supply in the face of climate change.
Key customers and partnerships
Agrology's customer base includes several prominent names in the agriculture and wine industry. Braga Fresh, a leading organic grower, announced in March 2023 that they were using the Agrology Arbiter System to track and quantify soil carbon in real time, having installed it in July 2022 as part of a regenerative trial program. Additionally, Silver Oak and Emeritus Vineyards were reported to be trialing the Arbiter system at that time.

Agrology

Platforms using IoT devices and machine-learning algorithms to measure and analyze soil carbon levels

Platforms using IoT devices and machine-learning algorithms to measure and analyze other key soil parameters, such as fertility, moisture content, temperature, and nutrient concentrations

Platforms providing farm planning, landscape designing, and consultation services to create awareness of the transition to regenerative agriculture

Platforms using AI and machine learning to monitor regenerative practices such as cover cropping, crop rotation, and no-till operations. Certain platforms also support farmers financially via carbon credits to adopt regenerative practices

Platforms supporting the process of promoting soil health through soil carbon removal (soil carbon sequestration) via photosynthesis or by employing live microalgae

Platforms connecting farmers, investors, resource providers, and other stakeholders related to regenerative agriculture

Regenerative agriculture platforms use AI and ML for soil analytics

IoT-enabled sensors are used in for soil analysis

Uses data analytics and sensors and related technologies to provide soil insights

Provides solutions to maximize efficiency in regenerative agriculture value chain

Constellr is a German deep-tech startup spun out of the Fraunhofer Institute, Europe's largest organization for applied science. The company operates at the interface of Earth observation and agriculture, dedicated to supporting global food security amidst climate change. Constellr offers precise and plot-level water monitoring for the agricultural sector worldwide through a proprietary space infrastructure with unique sensing capabilities.
Constellr's mission is to enable efficient water use for every field on the planet by providing a scalable, commercial water monitoring service for smart agriculture. The company's patented space-based technology employs microsatellites to measure the Earth's surface temperature and chemical composition. This data allows for the derivation of crop water need and water availability globally on a daily basis, identifying changes in crop health days to weeks before visible signs appear.
Unlike existing satellites limited to visual imaging, Constellr's microsatellites leverage beyond-visual sensing, including thermal infrared and hyperspectral imaging. This advanced monitoring system can detect stress symptoms before crops are damaged, enabling farmers to take early mitigative actions such as targeted irrigation. Constellr's technology optimizes water consumption, reduces crop loss risk, and drives sustainable resource management across agri-food supply chains.
In February 2022, Constellr successfully launched its first thermal infrared payload, LisR, onto the International Space Station as a precursor to its full constellation planned for late 2023. The company has also acquired Belgian hyperspectral firm ScanWorld to augment its data fusion capabilities, unlocking a range of use cases from irrigation optimization to soil organic carbon assessment.
Constellr anticipates generating billions of Euros in gross benefits for farmers within five years while helping save 60 billion tons of water (about 40%) and avoiding 14 megatons of CO2 emissions. The startup is currently working with major agri-food, agrichemistry, and smart irrigation organizations.

Neudata is a leading fintech firm that provides data intelligence services to asset managers, private equity firms, venture capitalists, consultancies, and corporations globally. It specializes in scouting, sourcing, and evaluating alternative datasets across various industries and domains. Neudata's core offering is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that houses a catalogue of over 6,900 dataset reports, enabling users to search, manage, and compare data sources effectively.
The company's strength lies in its unbiased and objective approach to data assessment, as it does not buy, sell, or take commissions from data vendors. Instead, Neudata evaluates datasets based on over 100 unique factors and delivers metadata reports and advice to clients for a fee. This neutral stance ensures that clients receive tailored intelligence aligned with their specific strategies and goals.
In addition to its SaaS platform, Neudata provides expert insights through its team of data scouting professionals based in London, New York, and Shanghai. The company also offers a service called AltDating, which facilitates connections between data buyers and sellers, streamlining the process of finding and acquiring relevant datasets.
Neudata has expanded its offerings to include specialized products like Neudata Scout ESG, launched in February 2022. This tool helps organizations identify and manage alternative data sources related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, enabling them to comply with regulations and build their own ESG evaluation models.
The company has established itself as a prominent player in the alternative data ecosystem, hosting influential events like the London Data Summit, where industry leaders gather to explore the past, present, and future of data. Neudata's commitment to innovation and its collaborative approach have positioned it as a trusted partner for firms seeking to unlock the value of alternative data.

Neudata

Orbital Insight is a leading geospatial intelligence company that provides AI-powered analytics solutions to help organizations gain insights and understand trends from geospatial data. The company's flagship product, the Orbital Insight Go platform, combines multiple data sources such as satellite imagery, anonymized location data, ship GPS, and IoT data to deliver actionable insights through machine learning algorithms. Orbital Insight's technology enables customers across various industries, including government agencies, corporations, and non-profits, to monitor supply chains, analyze land use patterns, detect illegal activities, and make data-driven decisions.
In February 2022, Orbital Insight secured a contract from the US Department of Defense to develop a platform for identifying intentional Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) interference and manipulation operations worldwide. This technology leverages the company's multisensor data stack and AI capabilities to alert analysts about potential jamming and spoofing events, presenting risks to national security and commercial operations.
Orbital Insight has established partnerships with leading Earth observation companies like Satellogic to enhance its data capabilities. In April 2022, the company announced plans to integrate Satellogic's high-resolution satellite imagery and full-motion video into its platform, providing customers with access to higher quality data, improved revisit rates, and lower-cost analytics.

Orbital Insight

<div>
 
 Planet is a startup based in San Francisco and founded by former NASA employees that collects information about its changing planet via a fleet of compact, highly capable Earth-imaging satellites. The broad coverage and high frequency of Planet's satellite imagery will enable customers with unprecedented access to global and local insights that currently are either impossible or cost-prohibitive to obtain. It designs, builds, and operates the largest fleet of satellites, as well as online software, tools, and analytics needed to deliver data to users. Planet offers a diverse selection of imagery and analytic solutions, all made available online through our platform and web-based tools. They provide geospatial insights at the speed of change, equipping users with the data necessary to make informed, timely decisions. In addition to California, Planet has offices in Germany and Canada where they deliver market-leading geospatial imagery to a global network of customers and partners in over 100 countries. The Planet's mission is to image the entire Earth every day and make global change visible, accessible, and actionable.
 
</div>

Planet Labs

Premise is a market intelligence platform that enables organizations to obtain real-time, granular insights from a global network of contributors. By blending machine learning with human intelligence, the company's proprietary methodology allows clients to gather and analyze local insights quickly and efficiently from almost anywhere in the world.
Premise transforms client questions into tasks distributed through its mobile app marketplace. Contributors perform these tasks, capturing data through images, surveys, or on-site observations. The collected data undergoes rigorous quality control, including location verification, image analysis, and fraud detection algorithms, ensuring accuracy and reliability. Verified insights are then presented to clients through customized dashboards or exported in various formats for integration into existing systems.
Premise caters to diverse industries, including consumer goods companies, international development organizations, and public sector entities. Its solutions provide actionable intelligence for execution monitoring, consumer behavior analysis, community understanding, and supply chain optimization. With a global reach spanning over 140 countries, the company facilitates data collection from even the most challenging regions.
Premise distinguishes itself through rapid insights gathering, unparalleled data granularity, and stringent quality assurance measures. As of 2024, the company recorded over 25 million submissions per year, garnering trust from industry leaders.

Premise

PriceStats is a company that specializes in transforming data into meaningful tools for economic analysis. The company's primary focus is on developing global, real-time economic statistics using online data. PriceStats produces daily inflation statistics and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) series, which are utilized by various financial institutions and policymakers worldwide. The company's technology leverages online retail prices to reveal offline street price changes, often weeks before official numbers reflect inflation trends. This approach allows for more timely and accurate economic insights, potentially enabling policymakers to better prepare for economic fluctuations.
PriceStats has continuously expanded its product offerings since its inception in September 2010. The company has developed inflation series for numerous countries, including the US, UK, Brazil, Germany, France, Canada, Mexico, Poland, and China, among others. In addition to country-specific inflation indices, PriceStats also produces global inflation series, including World Inflation, Food Inflation, and Fuel Inflation series. The company launched its PPP Series in May 2014, providing charts on real exchange rates, relative prices, and over/undervaluation for various countries compared to the US dollar. In January 2024, PriceStats released the China Aggregate Inflation Series, further expanding its coverage of major economies.
Key customers and partnerships
PriceStats distributes its daily inflation statistics and PPP series through an exclusive partnership with State Street Global Markets and State Street Global Exchange. This partnership, established in May 2011, brings PriceStats' indices to the financial sector. Target clients include hedge funds, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and other financial institutions interested in accessing high-frequency inflation and PPP measures. State Street provides access to these indices through its proprietary research website, Insights.
In addition to its commercial partnerships, PriceStats has demonstrated a commitment to social responsibility. Since early 2020, the company has provided its indicators for free to 16 central banks worldwide to help navigate the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. In May 2022, PriceStats began distributing its Global Food Inflation series to the public on a complimentary basis through its partnership with State Street, aiming to assist policymakers in addressing rapidly rising food prices and supply shortages driven by global events. The company has also collaborated with statistical offices, offering item-level data free of charge to institutions such as the UK Office for National Statistics and the Central Statistics Office of Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic.

PriceStats

Generated by sensors. Satellite imagery captures objects on the ground (e.g., cars in a parking lot and ships at a port), lights, pollution, and particulate matter in the air.

Generated by sensors. Collected by a variety of sensors and has many uses including agriculture and other commodities sensitive to the weather.

Generated by sensors. Data gathered from the GPS, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth signals on mobile phones or other electronic devices, which can be used to track consumer movement such as high footfall areas, time spent at specific locations, and routes.

Generated by individuals. Includes website usage (e.g., time spent on a website, actions, and volume of queries), mobile app usage, social sentiment (based on social media posts, news, videos, and online interactions on social media), product reviews, and surveys.

Generated by individuals. E-receipts gathered from consumers on an opt-in basis provide data on user purchases and product demand. Data are anonymized and provided to corporations for targeted marketing.

Generated by businesses. Credit/debit card transaction and POS system data are structured and sought after and are used to track retail and business spending (e.g., sales volumes and prices).

Generated by businesses. Data sources used to assess consumers' creditworthiness such as income and employment information, consumer banking data, payments to specialty lenders, utilities payments, rental payments, and peer-to-peer lending records. Other data types include local prices, business banking records, commercial transactions (e.g., shipping container receipts), supply chain data, and government and corporation data.

Firms that acquire individual data streams and bundle them for sale to investors or structure/analyze the data to create data products for sale to investors.

Alternative data personalizes products/services by leveraging geolocation, social media, and transaction data for businesses

constellr

Sources

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless