THOSE BACKERS

MEET us

Financing the transition to a decarbonised global economy.

As a climate tech VC, we are driven by tackling the climate crisis and only invest in technologies with scalable businesses and significant emissions savings potential.

We back founders who see decarbonisation as a value driver and are building scalable technologies for a regenerative global economy.

DANIJEL VIŠEVIĆ

General Partner

DARIA SAHAROVA

General Partner

TIM SCHUMACHER

General Partner

CRAIG DOUGLAS

Partner

DR. NADINE GEISER

Principal

DR. MARK WINDEKNECHT

Principal

LARISSA SKARKE

Principal

JAN SCHIERLE

Chief Financial Officer

MORGAN SHEIL

Head of Impact

VERONICA FRESNEAU

Communications Director

TOBY LOVETT

General Counsel

NIKLAS OETTLE

Senior Finance Analyst

ROBIN NEFF

Investment Manager

NICOLE KEATING

Impact Analyst

OPHÉLIE LAURIN

Investment Associate

CARA REUNER

Investment Associate

LAURA FORERO

Investor Relations Officer

SEBASTIAN LINDNER-LIAW

Investment Research Analyst

HANNAH HEDBERG

Executive Assistant

CHLOE LE

Junior Fund Controller

DANIEL VALENZUELA

Venture Partner

PAWEL MICHALSKI

Venture Partner

CHRISTIAN KROLL

Venture Partner

MARIANNE ABIB-PECH

Venture Partner

ANDREAS SLETTVOLL

Venture Partner

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those ADVISORS

Prof. Dr. Veronika Eyring

Lead IPCC Contributor, DLR & Uni Bremen

Prof. DR. Dietmar Harhoff

Director, Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition

DR. Sabine Erlinghagen

CEO, Siemens Grid Software

Dr. Gregor Hagedorn

Academic Director, Natural History Museum, Berlin

Simone Kaiser

Deputy Head of Responsible Research & Innovation Unit, Fraunhofer Institute

Hannah Wickes

Former CMO Ecosia & Board Executive

Prof. dr. Kai Bühler

Professor for Digital & Sustainable Entrepreneurship & Serial Entrepreneur with 3 exits

Andreas Kuhlmann

CEO, Christ & Company

Chad Frischmann

CEO, RegenIntel & Research Director, Project Drawdown

Filmon Zerai

COO, Holtzbrinck Digital

Andreas Rickert

CEO, Phineo

Dr. Eckart von Hirschhausen

Scientists for Future, Doctors for Future
& best-selling author

Prof. Thomas Bendig

Chief Innovation Officer, adesso SE

Pieter van Midwoud

Chief Planting Officer, Ecosia
Backed by leading institutions

This operation benefits from support from the European Union under the InvestEU Fund.

FURTHER partnerS

Leading research institutes, think-tanks
and universities

your questions

our answers

What is climate tech?

At World Fund, we view climate tech as any technology with the potential to make a significant contribution to decarbonisation. 

Climate tech spans sectors such as energy, industry, food and agriculture, transportation, and the built environment, and increasingly includes key enablers, including advanced computing, data centres, and critical materials. Despite their diversity, these technologies share common benefits: while enabling systemic decarbonisation, they advance energy sovereignty, secure our food systems, and develop frontier technologies at home. This i show Europe reduces its reliance on foreign entities and its vulnerabilities.

Why is now the perfect time to invest in climate technology?

At World Fund, we believe that in a world that is increasingly complex and uncertain, measuring climate impact is not only crucial for the planet but also essential for identifying the next unicorns. As resilience becomes a strategic imperative in Europe, climate tech emerges as a critical enabler. Our investments to date have a 70% overlap with the EU’s 10 critical technologies identified to promote European resilience and sovereignty. 

What is our investment approach?

Our investment approach is rooted in science and evaluates every opportunity through its Climate Performance Potential (CPP), a metric that assesses whether a technology can deliver significant annual emissions reductions at scale. CPP aligns with leading global methodologies and emissions measurement frameworks and is audited by RegenIntel, our third-party validation partner. 

We want to invest in transformational technologies that can redefine industries and, at scale, make Europe more sovereign, resilient, and regenerative. Our guiding principle is to assess the system with and without the climate solution measured over time. This includes assessing a technology’s product sales, target market, influence on that market, climate footprint, and relationships with other solutions.

What sectors within climate technology do we focus on?

We are a sector-agnostic climate tech fund and invest anywhere where technology can help decarbonise our economies. Often this means investing in the following verticals: Energy, Food & Agriculture and Industry. Each of our focus areas represents a vital pillar of European resilience and sovereignty.

In which stages does World Fund invest (e.g., pre-seed, seed, Series A)?

World Fund backs companies from seed rounds through Series B, with initial ticket sizes typically between €1-15m and significant capacity for follow-on rounds. We support founders as their tech moves from lab to market and from pilot to scale, helping bridge typical early- and mid-stage funding gaps in climate tech. 

What are the key evaluation criteria when considering an investment?

World Fund invests in exceptional teams building scalable technologies with measurable CO₂e reduction potential, strong technological differentiation, and venture-scale market opportunities where climate impact and financial returns go hand in hand.

What support do you provide to portfolio companies beyond capital?

World Fund is an active, long-term partner to its portfolio companies, supporting founders well beyond the first cheque. With a collaborative, founder-first approach, we work closely with founders on strategy, hiring, communications, and scaling challenges, particularly those specific to climate and deep tech businesses. 

Additionally, our investment strategy reserves significant capital for follow-on rounds to help companies scale beyond early stages, especially through the challenging Series B funding gap in climate tech. You can read more about the gap in our report here.

What is World Fund’s track record and performance to-date?

In 2024, World Fund closed its first climate tech fund at €300 million, making it the largest debut climate VC fund in European history at that time. 

This closing drew support from major institutional investors, including the European Investment Fund (EIF), KfW Capital, BPI France, PwC Germany, NRWbank, and several pension funds such as the UK Environment Agency Pension Fund and Wiltshire Pension Fund. 

World Fund has made more than 20 initial investments, with 11 uprounds, including unicorn IQM Quantum Computers, into market-leading climate tech companies across energy, food, manufacturing, buildings, and more.  Check out our portfolio to explore the full range of companies we invest in.