Visa Foundation and Village Capital Invest in 14 Women-Led Startups Supported Through The Greentech Europe 2022 Program

14 companies to receive $150,000 in grant funding

Washington, DC (26 January, 2023) — Visa Foundation and Village Capital have announced the close of the second cohort of the Greentech Europe 2022 program, the organisation’s first ever program featuring all women-led ventures. 14 startups creating sustainable economic, environmental and social solutions across Europe will receive funding totalling $150,000.

The program supported two all-female founder cohorts who benefited from a wide range of services including training, networking opportunities and access to industry experts, mentors, and investors to scale their impact.

“A growing body of work reveals that women are disproportionately affected by climate and environmental issues, and as such, they play a key role in responding to them,” shared Ben Younkman, Village Capital’s Regional Director for Europe. “This program is a testament to our commitment to rethinking how we approach the challenges of creating a more sustainable and inclusive system, in which ideas and models for our sustainable futures are developed and supported more effectively through improved gender equality. We’re proud to have supported a stellar second cohort of the Greentech Europe 2022 program, which features women-led ventures from across Europe.”

“Visa Foundation is working to develop sustainable solutions for women entrepreneurs to build their enterprises and establish financial safety nets while also advancing leadership skills and financial capabilities” shared Graham Macmillan, Visa Foundation’s President. “We are thrilled to have supported the Greentech Europe 2022 program, providing a cohort of women entrepreneurs with a wide-range of resources to enable their business to thrive and prosper.”

The 14 companies who will receive funding are as below. The grant money was distributed through Village Capital’s pioneering peer selection process, whereby cohorts perform peer due diligence throughout the acceleration program and then rank each other on investability, with the top ranked companies receiving the most grant funding. Ranking order and grant amounts are as below. 

Startups that received USD $30,000 are:

  • SINERGY FLOW (Italy, Milan): A sustainable, low-cost and highly efficient redox flow battery for long-duration energy storage applications.
  • Ormex (France, Paris): Ormex is a digital voluntary marketplace of agricultural carbon credits.

Startups that received USD $15,000 are:

  • Climate Proof (UK, London): Carbon Ripple is the world’s first B2B payment system protecting carbon offset transactions.
  • Sustie (Norway, Oslo): Sustie empowers and inspires users to make sustainable decisions when shopping online.
  • Endangered Wildlife OU (Estonia, Tallinn): Endangered Wildlife is an ESG SaaS company that is contributing towards solving the climate crisis by using technology to demonstrate the financial value of biodiversity.

Startups that received USD $5,000 are:

  • Fibre Lab (UK, London): FibreLab is a hyper-localized textile shredding and recycling service which collects, shreds and recycles pre-consumer textile waste from the manufacturing process using a custom-built, small-scale shredding machine.
  • Grand Bequest LTD (UK, Glasgow): Grand Bequest transforms empty and derelict buildings into ESG impact investments.
  • Junee (UK, London): Junee is building a decentralized model to service the growing demand for reusable food and beverage packaging.
  • ReLi (Germany, Darmstadt): ReLi manufactures sustainable, affordable and reliable energy storage solutions by refurbishing batteries from electric vehicles.
  • RediGo (UK, London): Redigo is the go-to sustainability platform, motivating businesses to have a more positive environmental impact.
  • Seeds of Colour (UK, London): Seeds of Colour is turning green waste into pigments for color cosmetics.
  • Surova (Iceland, Reykjavik): Surova is a high-tech company developing autonomous farming solutions for food retailers that increase profit margins and unmet supply of local produce in import-reliant countries.
  • Twipes (UK, London): Twipes is a brand of biodegradable and flushable wet wipes that break down in water within three hours, and in landfill in seven days.
  • The 0-Mission (Denmark, Copenhagen): The 0-Mission is a marketplace connecting developers of renewable energy projects with climate-conscious corporations.

For more information, reach out to Eva Waweru at Village Capital (eva.waweru@vilcap.com).

About Village Capital

Village Capital is reinventing the system to back the entrepreneurs of the future. Known for its groundbreaking approaches to supporting founders who are building solutions to emergent social, economic, and environmental challenges, VilCap unlocks critical social and financial capital for early-stage companies to maximize business and impact growth.

Village Capital has operated in Europe since 2016 by running over 12 accelerator programs for European entrepreneurs from more than 25 countries in the region. VilCap has supported more than 160 startups from all over Europe, working in sectors such as climate change, data privacy, financial health, and refugee-tech. Learn more at www.vilcap.com and follow @villagecapital.

About Visa Foundation

Visa Foundation seeks to support inclusive economies where individuals, businesses, and communities can thrive. Through grant making and investing, Visa Foundation prioritizes the growth of gender diverse and inclusive small and micro businesses. The Foundation also supports broader community needs and disaster response in times of crisis. Visa Foundation is registered in the U.S. as a 501(c)3 entity.