Elbow Beach Capital

2024 was a year of incredible progress for our investees. We’re pleased to share some of the key highlights. 🤝 Commercial Engagements Our investees formed some key partnerships across the year with leading industry names. Munro Vehicles partnered with The AA to champion EV support, Allye partnered with JLR, Roadchef, Aerovolt and SYNETIQ to advance the roll out of their innovative off grid energy storage solutions and Fieldwork Robotics partnered with Australia’s largest berry grower Costa Group and leading manufacturers of autonomous robotic bases Burro AI. 💰 Funding Success Many of our portfolio companies have raised additional funds this year despite a tough market. To name a few: Anaphite’s $13.7m Series A as well as £1.6m of grant funding earlier in the year, WASE‘s £8.5m raise, and Barton Blakeley Technologies’ £2.4m funding round. Our portfolio also collectively secured significant grant funding from institutions such as Innovate UK, providing key support for their scale up development. It was a privilege to lead and partake in our portfolio companies’ funding rounds this year, as well as to work with great co-investors. The funds raised will be transformative in scaling up and commercialising the fantastic technology these companies are developing to solve some of the planet’s biggest climate challenges. 🌍Global Expansion This year marked the first time our portfolio companies ventured beyond the UK. Notable achievements include Fieldwork Robotics’ launch of their Portuguese subsidiary and opening of an office in Portugal which is a strategic market for the company. Munro Vehicles was awarded the Department for Business and Trade’s ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’ award recognising market presence across 16 countries. UPP have signed contracts with farmers in California to produce plant-based protein from wasted crop. Additionally, Anaphite attended conferences and events across Europe as well as the Climate First roadshow in Japan – key opportunities in forging new partnerships. 🚀 Product Innovation Products launched by our portfolio this year include: Fieldworker 1: A new robotic harvester by Fieldwork Robotics, with advanced AI capabilities. UPP’s AI-enabled Automated Selective Harvester. The Allye MAX Power Unit: A faster, more powerful solution driving efficiency for Allye customers. Congratulations to every one of our investees and their teams for their hard work in 2024. They have all achieved some amazing traction and recognition and are all making significant strides in progressing on their scale up journeys. We’re excited to see what’s in store for them – and for Elbow Beach Capital – in 2025. #ClimateTech #VentureCapital #ScaleUpSuccess

Fantastic to see how Energy Sparks, a charity Elbow Beach Capital supported in 2024, has helped schools across the UK to save energy this year! Thanks to the charity, UK schools enrolled in their programme have collectively saved £7million and 8,500 tonnes of CO2. Energy Sparks’ online energy analysis tool and energy education programme helps schools reduce their carbon emissions through the analysis of smart meter data. They also educate young people about the impact of climate change, helping them make a real contribution to addressing the climate crisis. We are proud to have supported such a great initiative that is making a positive impact on communities across the UK and helping to address the climate crisis. #Charity #Education #EnergySparks

Sifted Energy Storage Briefing 2024 An insightful analysis from Freya Pratty and the Sifted team covering European startups scaling up energy storage solutions. The report highlights some of the key trends and themes expected as the next generation of energy storage systems are developed and deployed. Elbow Beach Capital investees Allye and Anaphite were mentioned as two of the 60 ‘startups to watch’ across the continent. Both companies are developing essential battery technology that will be integral to a clean energy transition. We’re pleased to see their technology noted by Sifted. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/ev-Q6T7g #EnergyStorage #VentureCapital #ClimateTech

Portfolio Update It’s been another exceptionally busy period for Elbow Beach Capital portfolio companies, with successful founding rounds, new technology launched, award wins, and senior new hires, amongst other news. We’re pleased to share some of the highlights: Fieldwork Robotics launched their new robotic model, the Fieldworker 1, and also agreed collaborations with Australian berry grower Costa Group and developers of autonomous robotic bases Burro. They strengthened their senior team with the appointment of Micki Seibel as NED, an experienced Silicon Valley executive leader. Anaphite successfully raised a $13.7 million Series A round, led by World Fund and Maniv. Energy & Environment Investment and Nesta joined as new investors, and Elbow Beach Capital followed on.  WASE’s CEO and Founder Dr. Thomas Fudge attended the Climate First roadshow in Japan, an opportunity for the company to establish partnerships with important players in the Japanese ecosystem. Barton Blakeley Technologies became one of our portfolio members, following a £2.4m funding round, led by Elbow Beach Capital. The company also recently appointed Volker Beckers CBE FEI as Chair, who has outstanding experience in the energy sector, including as former Group CEO of RWE npower. UPP completed successful field trails of their technology in Scotland with the next version of their AI-enabled Automated Selective Harvester. The company was also nominated as one of Agri-TechE’s startups to watch in 2024. We look forward to what 2025 will bring for all our portfolio companies! #PortfolioNews #VentureCapital 

Elbow Beach Capital has led a £2.4m funding round into carbon utilisation company Barton Blakeley Technologies. Carbon utilisation is one of our most effective tools for reducing emissions, and Barton Blakeley has developed a chemical process which permanently removes industrial CO2 emissions and efficiently converts them into clean energy and cheaper, decarbonised synthetic silica, providing supply chain security in a $500bn global market. With this funding, Barton Blakeley will be able to deploy its first system to industry. Within the next four years, each system deployed will be permanently removing 1 kilo-tonne of carbon per year from the atmosphere, the equivalent of 200 commercial aircraft flights from London to Washington DC. Press release: https://lnkd.in/ecmGkax3 Thank you to Tech Funding News for covering the news: https://lnkd.in/eHtBZVZA #VentureCapital #CarbonCapture #CleanEnergy

Elbow Beach Capital’s Chief Technical Officer Tom Hardy recently participated in the Accelerating Green Investment panel at the Faraday Battery Challenge’s Cohort Networking Day. Discussions focused on the UK VC battery investment landscape and the current challenges and opportunities of the sector. The need for more capital to support start-up growth to commercial stages was raised as a current key issue, as well as the need for more VCs to consider longer-term, high-risk investments. Despite these challenges, the UK ranks 4th globally for EV Battery VC investment, and Elbow Beach Capital continues to back startups like existing portfolio company Anaphite who are part of this evolving community focusing on battery innovation. Thank you to Isabella S., Jonathan Heybrock, Jennifer Channell and Shelley De Souza for an engaging and insightful panel discussion!

Infrastructure investment in mature sectors like renewable energy has led to stable and decreasing electricity costs in the UK, with investors making fair returns. Yet more complex and emissions-intensive sectors such as battery manufacturing require strategic advancement.  Our CEO Jonathan Pollock examines the key opportunities that early-stage climate technology presents for decarbonising complex infrastructure across these emissions-intensive sectors and supply chains. Elbow Beach Capital targets investment in start-ups which are developing exactly the kind of technologies that we need to unlock net zero across these complex industries whilst also improving the economics of the sector. Read JP’s thoughts here: https://lnkd.in/e9hHshsP #NetZero #EnergyTransition #CleanEnergy 

Infrastructure investment in mature sectors like renewable energy has led to stable and decreasing electricity costs in the UK, with investors making fair returns. Yet more complex and emissions-intensive sectors such as battery manufacturing require strategic advancement.  Our CEO Jonathan Pollock examines the key opportunities that early-stage climate technology presents for decarbonising complex infrastructure across these emissions-intensive sectors and supply chains. Elbow Beach Capital targets investment in start-ups which are developing exactly the kind of technologies that we need to unlock net zero across these complex industries whilst also improving the economics of the sector. Read JP’s thoughts here: https://lnkd.in/e9hHshsP #NetZero #EnergyTransition #CleanEnergy 

Elbow Beach Capital recently hosted our third Catalyst Dinner on the theme of Industrial Decarbonisation, held in partnership with Climate Connection. It was an excellent evening with fantastic insights shared from an engaged and diverse group of stakeholders on the challenges of decarbonising heavy industry and its role in net zero strategies. We also heard from Dr. Thomas Fudge, CEO of WASE, and Christopher Barton, CEO of Barton Blakeley Technologies, who shared insights into how technology developed at their companies is playing a part in industrial decarbonisation. Debates focused on two key topics: “Industrial decarbonisation relies on consumers paying for the green premium.” There was strong agreement in the room that current tax policies are inconsistent, creating a patchwork approach that discourages greener choices. The importance of developing and backing technologies that offer both environmental and economic benefits was highlighted by many as key to encouraging investment, adoption, and scaling. “What are the barriers to scaling technology and how can we overcome these and who can help?” A key barrier identified was the UK’s relatively conservative risk appetite, which can slow adoption of emerging technologies. Lack of long-term policy certainty was also flagged as an issue as investors and companies need clear governmental direction. Thank you to all who attended for making the evening such an interesting event! #EnergyTransition #NetZero #ClimateTech #Decarbonisation #ClimateConnection Catriona Hyland Christopher Barton David Coombs Eleanor Gibbon, MA (Cantab) Georgia Ware Josie French Jonathan Pollock Juliette Devillard Liv Andersson Lucy Boreham Meredith Fisher Nia Bell Nick Charman Rachael Reid Raphaëlle Vallet Rebecca Rosling Richard Kershaw Rowan Bird Dr Stafford Lloyd Thomas Butler Dr. Thomas Fudge Tom Hardy

We had a fantastic day as lead sponsors of Net Zero Investor’s Annual Conference!   Interesting and insightful discussions were facilitated throughout the day on the future of net zero investing and the opportunities that the energy transition brings for investors and green finance solutions.    Click here to read a summary of the day: https://lnkd.in/eEpeDX3Y   #NetZero #EnergyTransition #CleanEnergy