In 2025, Europe’s cleantech investment landscape remains uncertain. Venture and growth capital fell nearly 18% in the first quarter to €1.8 billion, while deal volumes dropped from 182 to 153.
The energy and power sector continues to dominate, fuelled by rising demand for AI-powered data centres, which now account for more than half of all early-stage investments.
TFN attended the 13th edition of The Business Booster (TBB) in Lisbon, where over 1,700 participants from 52 countries gathered to showcase Europe’s clean energy future. The event featured more than 110 innovations and over 3,500 business meetings to accelerate industrial-scale climate solutions across Europe.
Here’s what it was like!
The US slowdown, European opportunity
The US cleantech market has entered a downturn, with weakening incentives and grant-dependent business models faltering. That shift has redirected American capital toward Europe.
In an exclusive conversation with TFN, Elena Bou, co-founder, Executive Board Member & Innovation Director at InnoEnergy, shares: “We saw the US market, because we also have a team there … So suddenly, what has happened? I say, hey, there is no market anymore there. So drag the brake.”
Now, “investors in the US … need to go on investing in fintech. So the good opportunity for Europe has been … to attract US capital to the European ecosystem, and to European companies.”
Despite strong investor interest, fundraising can still take 12 to 18 months. Liquidity exists, but caution is slowing deployment. As Olivia Nestius, CEO of Graphmatech, tells TFN, “The market takes a longer time now than it did a couple of years ago to close the funding round. I think that is true for a lot of companies raising money.”
Data centres and the AI demand surge
The AI-driven data centre boom has emerged as an unexpected catalyst for cleantech adoption. Bou explains, “Data centres are the new market. They’re driving energy demand and will increasingly become customers for the technologies showcased here.”
This new demand is opening opportunities for European startups to deploy market-ready solutions that enhance energy efficiency and optimise grid flexibility. For instance, Sunwafe secured €670 million from the Spanish government to produce silicon wafers for up to 20 GW of photovoltaic panels.
Meanwhile, FertigHy, a €1.3 billion green hydrogen and fertiliser initiative backed by InnoEnergy and Heineken, aims to decarbonise EU agriculture.
The other startup that caught my attention was Candam Technologies. Based in Barcelona, it is tackling waste management with modular recycling systems. CEO Alessandra Marsaglia shares with TFN: “We develop modular solutions to improve the recycling, focusing on the collection point and on changing behaviours.”
She adds, “We give a lot of importance, first to the engagement or the people who need to deposit things in the right places, like the plastic, and then to the importance of traceability, and now, the capability of tracking who is recycling, what, where and when.”
The other Spanish startup that redefines the sector is Energiot. It is developing IoT devices for grid infrastructure monitoring, including AI-enabled cameras that detect and deter birds from power lines.
Pablo Ribeiro, Partner & CBO, shares with TFN, “Birds are a huge problem for utility companies… so we have two solutions to keep birds out of the infrastructure, one of which is an active solution, which is an AI camera that’s able to see if birds are approaching, and then it plays a sound to scare the bird off.”
Other startups showcased technologies spanning battery reuse, silicon energy storage, offshore wind platforms, wind turbine recycling, and carbon capture.
What about the diversity gap?
Despite impressive technical progress, gender disparities persist. “The female founders, on average here in Europe, are about 6% … We have 11% in Indo energy, and we have supported 2500 female founders and entrepreneurs… teams with female components. This is a lot,” Bou tells TFN.
Research confirms that there is no competency gap between female and male entrepreneurs. Bou elabprates, “In terms of competencies, the female entrepreneur and the male entrepreneur are driven more in terms of competencies, no difference.”
Instead, the barriers are systemic: lack of visible role models, challenges in accessing finance beyond face-to-face networks, and structural biases. “I think that instead of complaining, it is a question of taking each of us’ actions to make it more visible, to facilitate the funding aspect and to support this distinctly,” adds Bou.
The road ahead
With its new 2030 Vision and refreshed brand announced at TBB 2025, InnoEnergy breaks its mission into three pillars: Innovation + Investment + Industry = Impact. The Business Booster remains a meeting point for billion-euro ambitions, frontier technologies, and sustainable industry building.
But the true test lies ahead: mobilising €160 billion in investment, achieving 2.3 gigatons of CO2 reductions, and ensuring that the energy transition transforms not just how we generate power, but how we live, work, and build industries for generations to come.
