As Europe races to decarbonise its economy, one Paris startup is betting that private investors should not be left on the sidelines. Homaio, founded in Paris in 2023 by Valentin Lautier, has raised €3.6 million to widen access to the markets shaping the energy transition, starting with carbon allowances and moving into a broader suite of climate-linked assets.
The round brings together new backers, including RAISE Ventures, Groupe Eren and strategic business angels, alongside existing investors XAnge and Redstone, both of which increased their participation. With this latest raise, Homaio’s total funding now exceeds €5 million.
The new funding will be used to accelerate platform development and expand the product offering beyond European allowances. Homaio is preparing to launch new financial products linked to international emissions pricing systems, energy markets, the electrification of industry and transport, and other sectors tied to industrial decarbonisation.
Opening a market long reserved for institutions
Homaio’s pitch is that some of the most important markets linked to decarbonisation have traditionally been accessible only to institutional funds, large industrial players, energy producers and transport groups. The company wants to change that by giving retail investors a way into them.
Its first move has been in European carbon allowances, a market central to the EU’s climate framework. These allowances, known as EUAs, put a price on greenhouse gas emissions and sit at the heart of Europe’s effort to cut emissions while strengthening industrial competitiveness and energy sovereignty.
This matters because the transition is not only an environmental challenge. For Europe, it is also strategic. Reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels has become an economic and geopolitical priority, and the markets linked to emissions, energy and industrial transformation now channel billions of euros in capital.
By making the carbon allowance market accessible to individuals, Homaio is opening the door to an asset class that has historically been difficult to reach. The company argues that broader participation can also improve market liquidity and efficiency.
Building beyond carbon allowances
Since its public launch in September 2024, Homaio says it has attracted thousands of users in more than 30 countries and now manages several million euros in assets under management. That early traction has given the company room to think bigger.
The wider ambition is to build financial infrastructure that channels private capital into the systems underpinning the energy transition. In practice, that means offering investors access to liquid products linked to long-term shifts in climate policy, industrial strategy, and geopolitics, rather than relying solely on traditional banking and investment products.
Homaio structures financial securities physically backed by carbon allowances, allowing investors to subscribe in minutes, move in and out of the market freely, and monitor both financial and environmental performance in real time.
To support that model, it works with established institutional partners. Aether Financial Services acts as a security agent to protect investors from counterparty risk, while the European Registry, where the allowances are held, is administered by Caisse des Dépôts.
“The energy transition is first and foremost a question of capital allocation. Capital flows determine the pace of industrial transformation. Homaio exists to open private investors’ access to the markets shaping this transition, markets that offer return opportunities uncorrelated with traditional asset classes,” stated Valentin Lautier, founder of Homaio.
“Homaio has built an innovative financial platform for a complex, regulated market and shown it can scale internationally. That’s why we doubled down and why we believe it can become the defining capital markets infrastructure for the energy transition,” noted Richard Würl, Principal at Redstone.
“Homaio is opening private investors’ access to strategic markets for the energy transition, previously reserved for institutional players. We are convinced that this democratisation will play a key role in mobilising more capital toward the decarbonisation of the economy,” Cyril Bertrand, CEO & Managing Partner, XAnge, added.
