Heavy truck manufacturer Scania and emerging EV battery powerhouse Northvolt have developed a battery for electric trucks that they say will last as long as the vehicles themselves — about 1.5 million kilometres.
The lithium-ion battery is the product of a five-year partnership between the two Swedish companies that began in 2017. At the time, Scania was on the lookout for more robust, cost-efficient, and sustainable battery cells for its heavy-duty trucks and buses — and Northvolt was poised to deliver.
“Northvolt’s mission to build the world’s greenest batteries perfectly matched Scania’s purpose to drive the shift towards sustainable transport,” said Scania’s CEO Christian Levin in a statement.
The lithium-ion cell was produced at Northvolt’s Ett gigafactory in north Sweden, which opened last year and runs entirely on renewable hydro and wind power. As a result, the partners estimate the battery has a carbon footprint of approximately one-third that of a comparative industry equivalent.
The cell’s long lifespan also makes it one of the most durable and long-lasting batteries in the electric vehicle industry. Most EV batteries on the market today are only estimated to last between 150,000-300,000 km.
“At the outset of this partnership, Northvolt and Scania agreed to an ambitious timeline for the development of a high-performance battery cell which would enable their plans for electrifying heavy transport,” said Peter Carlsson, CEO and Co-Founder of Northvolt. “To have proceeded through extensive development and validation phases, and now be delivering cells from Northvolt Ett which exceed our initial expectations in terms of performance is a tremendous accomplishment for everyone involved.”
Northvolt’s Ett gigafactory in Sweden’s icy north made Europe’s first ever domestically produced lithium-ion battery in 2022. The factory, which employees around 500 people, covers an area three times the size of the iconic Pentagon building in the US. Credit: Northvolt
Northvolt will start mass production of the truck batteries at its Ett gigafactory imminently. Over the next few years, Northvolt aims to increase capacity at Ett to 60 GWh to supply clients like Volkswagen, BMW, Volvo and, of course, Scania.
In addition, Scania will open a new battery factory in Södertälje, Sweden, next year, where Northvolt’s battery cells will be assembled into battery packs for the start of production of heavy-duty electric trucks.Developing long-lasting batteries is seen as an important milestone on the company’s electrification roadmap, which aims for electric vehicles to make up 50% of sales by 2030.
Other automakers in the EV heavy vehicle space include Tesla, which is developing an electric semi truck imaginatively dubbed ‘Tesla Semi’, and Volvo, which is already distributing its electric trucks to customers throughout Europe. Swedish startup Einride, considered a competitor to the Tesla Semi, is taking the tech a step further with its plans to roll out fully autonomous electric trucks.
While electric heavy vehicles only made up 0.6% of sales in Europe last year, accounting firm PWC predicts that they will account for one-third of all truck sales in Europe by 2030, and 70% by 2035, due to tightening regulations on fossil fuel-powered vehicles and the falling costs of cleaner alternatives.
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Despite the tech startup funding landscape appearing gloomier than in many years, there are a few potential bright spots. Long-term climate targets in Europe and beyond are creating new opportunities for cleantech developers and investors.
While there may be a recent dip in activity, funding has practically catapulted in the past couple of years. In order to recover from our addiction to fossil fuels, it is going to take a fundamental shift of the current paradigm. And there are significant amounts of money being thrown at the problem.
As reported by Bloomberg, the total global investment into the energy transition, private and public, reached $1.1 trillion in 2022. This was up from a mere $214 billion ten years prior, and the numbers have positively skyrocketed since 2020.
The last couple of years have seen an unprecedented investment in climate tech. Credit: BloombergNEF
Specifically, the total of VC funding in climate tech last year hit $70.1 billion – a rise of 89% compared to 2021 in an otherwise bleak year for investments.
While the US leads the global climate tech VC investment race with $26.8 billion, Europe sits firmly in second place with $17.9 billion, which represents an increase by over 100% from the year before.
Most of European climate tech investment is local
A report put together by Dealroom and Talis Capital late last year found that in 2021, the European climate tech ecosystem was worth over $100 billion: a value that has also more than doubled since 2020. The majority — 70% — of European climate tech investment stems, thus far, from local investors.
The overall value of the European climate tech ecosystem more than doubled between 2020 and 2021. Credit: Dealroom.co
“What we find fascinating about climate tech companies is that – as opposed to the great venture stories of the last decade like Uber and Airbnb – they aren’t creating new markets,” said Matus Maar, co-founder and managing partner at Talis. “Instead, they’re approaching some of the largest existing markets and reinventing them with sustainable alternatives.”
Energy storage tops the list for cleantech investors
Meanwhile, it is not a matter of simply throwing more money at already existing clean technologies. Previously, venture capitalists may have chosen to mostly fund startups in, for instance, solar power and EVs. As these technologies have matured, the trend is shifting towards other innovations such as decarbonising food production, or carbon capture and sequestration. However, energy storage technologies, including batteries, are seeing the highest levels of investment.
According to Bloomberg, mobility funding still ranks high on the list of total amount invested globally with ($11.4bn), but has been surpassed by storage ($18.4bn), and is closely followed by food and agriculture ($9.5bn). The other main sectors are renewables ($8bn), circular economy ($6.2bn), carbon markets ($5.4bn), built environment ($4.9bn), resources ($4.7bn), data and finance ($1bn), and biosphere ($0.6bn).
When looking at the top five of number of deals closed, mobility only came in as the fifth sector (334), beaten by storage (559), food and agriculture (537), circular economy (508), and renewables (417).
In the words of the authors of the Bloomberg report that presented the figures, for early-stage investors, “solar panels and electric vehicles are so 2011.”
However, according to fresh data, even the climate tech sector is not immune to the diminishing investment trend. VC and private equity flows fell 12.8% in Q1 compared to the rolling four-quarter average.
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Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on deeptech, startups, and government policy. Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on deeptech, startups, and government policy.
It’s been a tough start to the year for tech investments. According to a new report, European VC fundraising is on pace for its lowest annual total since 2015.
Research by PitchBook, a financial data firm, found that European VC funds raised over €20bn in each of the past four years — but only €3.4bn in Q1 2023. Total VC deal value fell 32% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) to €11.8bn. Deal count, meanwhile, dropped 19%.
Pitchbook called the quarter “the first substantial decline” from the pace set in the past four years.
“The VC ecosystem could finally be displaying the effects of the challenging fundraising conditions,” the study authors wrote. “Capital investment into startups has slowed, and if muted exits markets persist, returns will be stifled and long-term capital commitments could be harmed.”
The analysts found that exit activity had also plummeted. Amid adverse macroeconomic conditions and weaker valuations, substantial VC exits effectively ceased in Q1. Pitchbook expects the activity to remain quiet for the next few quarters.
In Q1, the preferred route to exit was via mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Four out of the five largest exits in the quarter were through M&A. Such exits tend to be smaller, but they offer increased security and synergies — which can be crucial for startups facing economic uncertainty.
Public listings, meanwhile, have lost appeal due to the dangers of choppy markets. According to Pitchbook, they’re unlikely to pick up until inflation cools, interest rate hikes cease, and business confidence re-emerges.
In Q1 2023, European VC activity generated only €1.6 billion in exit value — a 69.6% QoQ decline.
Pitchbook’s report echoes the findings of other analysts. According to research by Dealroom, just over 2,300 European funding rounds closed in Q1 2023 — the lowest number since 2016.
The decline comes amid concerns over high inflation, monetary policy tightening, and the stability of the financial system. In these challenging economic times, investors and operators are prioritising capital efficiency and robust paths to profitability.
With focuses shifting from growth to cost bases, layoffs became extensive in Q1. Pitchbook expects this trend to continue as companies seek to extend runways during 2023.
Despite the gloom, there are signs of hope in emerging areas of tech. Notably, Europe surpassed the US in private spacetech investment during Q1, while quantum computing raised a continental record $220m, according to Dealroom.
Pitchbook is also confident about the prospects for the resurgent energy sector. Near-term interest and long-term climate targets in Europe are creating new opportunities for backers and startups in the industry.
“We believe deal activity in the clean energy subsector will continue to grow as renewable energy sources are developed globally,” said Pitchbook’s analysts.
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Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on deeptech, startups, and government policy. Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on deeptech, startups, and government policy.
The UK has been told it won’t have to pay for the two years it had been out of the EU’s Horizon research programme — removing a big barrier to rejoining the €95.5bn scheme.
Britain had been locked out of Horizon because of a post-Brexit dispute over trade in Northern Ireland. The recent Windsor Framework deal had opened the door to reentry, but talks have stalled over the financial terms.
The British government argues that its contributions to the seven-year innovation scheme should be cut, because its late entry has reduced the potential returns.
A key concern involved the payments for 2021 and 2022, when the UK was blocked from Horizon. Officials were reportedly concerned that Britain would still have to pay for those two years. According to the European Commission, that will not be the case.
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“We are not being unreasonable. We are not asking them to pay for the years they were not associated,” an EU official told the Guardian.
“We are ready to work on it very quickly. But there is still that doubt about the willingness of the UK to take part.”
More at stake than money
Despite the EU’s officials, there may be further roadblocks ahead. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is said to be “sceptical” about Horizon’s value. The British government has also unveiled a backup R&D funding scheme, which will be activated if negotiations to rejoin the EU programme fall apart.
However, among UK scientists and technologists, support for rejoining Horizon is widespread. In addition to €95.5bn funding pot, they point to the benefits of international collaboration, common rules, and established research cycles.
“The government must also remember there is more at stake here than money,” Tony McBride, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at the Institute of Physics, said last week.
“Should it be needed, any alternative to Horizon must also make up for the loss of the established networks, partnerships, and infrastructure the UK has benefitted from over many, many years, as well as for the disruption and uncertainty caused by these years of delay.”
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Seeking to modernise the UK’s energy system and maximise the potential of renewables, the British government has awarded £30 million to three pioneering companies to develop new energy storage technologies.
According to the government, accelerating the uptake of these technologies will not only save billions of pounds in energy costs, but also help balance the National Grid, and increase the country’s energy security.
The funding will help the businesses test and prepare their technology for the market, encourage private investment, and create new jobs across the UK.
The selected companies are the following:
Invinity Energy Systems
The battery maker will receive £11 million to build the largest grid-scale battery ever manufactured in the UK.
The 30MWh system power battery system will be capable of delivering more than 7MW of power on demand — with a capacity equivalent to the daily energy use of approximately 3,500 homes for over two hours.
The system replaces lithium with vanadium: a malleable transition metal, discovered in 1801. The company claims that vanadium’s use results in higher-performance batteries: they’re inflammable, non-degrading, and over 97% recyclable, while they last for 25+ years.
Invinity Energy Systems will build the battery at its factory in Scotland, and will integrate it with the existing power infrastructure of the National Grid to alleviate pressure during peak times.
SynchroStor
SynchroStor will construct a Pumped Thermal Energy Storage (PTES) grid-connected demonstration plant. The system stores energy as heat, based on a closed-cycle Brayton loop, and converts heat to electricity when needed.
The facility will have a 1MW capacity and will be capable of charging, storing, and discharging energy for a period of 10 hours — outperforming current battery technology.
To realise the facility’s construction, the government has awarded SynchroStor £9.4 million.
Cheesecake Energy (CEL)
The startup will receive another £9.4 million to test their FlexiTanker technology which stocks electricity using a combination of thermal and compressed air storage.
Cheesecake Energy will install a set of pilot systems in a new mixed-use development in Colchester, which is being set up as a microgrid to handle local grid constraints.
The site will also have an 8MW solar farm and a central heat pump that will provide district heating to nearby residents and businesses. CEL’s system will collect surplus energy generated from solar power, which can then be used when demand is high.
“Storing energy for longer periods is vital to build a robust and secure energy system, and ensure that renewable energy is used efficiently,” said Graham Stuart, Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero.
“Fortunately the UK has a wealth of pioneering businesses that are making their mark on this industry. [The selected companies] will go on to play a role in our country’s energy security,” he added.
The £30 million funding is part of the Longer Duration Energy Storage Demonstration competition, which has awarded £69 million as part of the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio.
For the first time ever, Europe has surpassed the US in private spacetech investment, according to new research.
A study by Seraphim, a leading spacetech VC firm, found the European sector attracted $565m in the first quarter of this year. The whole of North America, meanwhile, raised $456m. Asia followed, with investments of $306m, while the rest of the world totalled around $29m.
The figures made Europe the world’s biggest market for private spacetech funding.
The quarterly investment in Europe hit almost 50% of the entire previous year. In contrast, US investment has fallen further compared to 2022. Asia was the only region that experienced growth last year, but could not maintain that trend last quarter, and lost its lead over Europe.
US investments have shrunk dramatically since 2021, but Europe is on track to exceed 2022’s funding. Credit: Seraphim Space
Serphim’s findings represent a rally in European investments — and a dramatic dip for the US.
Over the previous year, the economic downturn had pushed funding down to levels last seen before 2021. According to Seraphim, growth investors have shifted towards earlier-stage deals to avoid high burn rates and capital requirements.
Growth-stage startups have also delayed fundraising. Instead, they’ve sought alternative financing sources and tried to extend runways until economic conditions improve.
Despite these challenges, Seraphim gave cause for optimism about spacetech funding. For one, investment and deal numbers remain well above historical norms.
Although funding has shrunk from the record highs of 2021 and 2022, those peaks were largely driven by mega-rounds from sector giants such as SpaceX, OneWeb, and Virgin Galactic. After adjusting for these outliers, Seraphim ranked Q1 2023 as the fifth-highest funding quarter to date.
Q1 growth was particularly strong in the UK, which accounted for a quarter of all spacetech deals in Europe. Credit: Seraphim
Overall, activity in the space economy appears sustained. Rob Desborough, Managing Partner at Seraphim — and a speaker at last month’s TNW València — pointed to a “very significant rebound” this year — particularly in Europe.
“Investment was up 75% on last quarter with the highest number of deals [128] ever recorded,” Desborough told TNW. “As a global investor, what’s really exciting for us to see is the growth of activity in Europe.”
One reason for that excitement is found in spacetech’s biggest deals. European companies secured five of the top 10 investments last quarter — including the largest of them all: a $165m round closed by Isar Aerospace. The German rocket maker is the first European company to lead Serpahim’s rankings since OneWeb in Q3 2021.
In total, $1.4bn of international investment went into private space startups — up 75% from $801m in Q4 2022. Credit: Seraphim Space
As calls grow for European launch services to compete with US rivals, Isar can be upbeat about future funding opportunities. Indeed, the continent’s entire spacetech sector has been boosted by a push for sovereign capabilities.
“European governments have put an enormous focus on space sovereignty in launch, constellations, and communications in 2023, which is really catalysing investment,” said Desborough.
For investors, sovereign support for startups in emerging geographies can reduce their perceived financial risks. If the backing yields results, European spacetech could continue expanding across the cosmos.
For 16 memorable years, TNW Conference has been at the center of Amsterdam’s tech ecosystem, but on March 30 and 31, TNW València brought — for the very first time — the heart of tech to Spain’s east coast.
But we didn’t choose Valencia simply for its bright blue sea, delicious paellas, or sunny weather. The vibrant city is Spain’s fastest-growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, and has the most startups per capita of anywhere in the country — transforming itself into Mediterranean’s startup powerhouse.
“Valencia’s tech ecosystem is a breath of fresh air,” says Myrthe van der Erve, TNW’s CEO.
At València’s marina, the conference brought together over 300 startups, 90 exhibitors, 100 speakers, and 75 investors to discover what’s next in tech and connect with industry pioneers, C-level executives, department heads, and product developers.
Aerial view of the conference’s venue.
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During the two days, over 2,000 attendees enjoyed inspirational talks, networking events, deals, pitches, and the same festival vibes as our Amsterdam flagship. Across 105 meetings and 50 mentoring sessions, the event also delivered real business outcomes.
Here are some of our favourite moments:
1. The official opening ceremony and party
The fun started on March 29, a day before the conference’s agenda kicked off. At our opening party at Zeus València, we enjoyed drinks, bites, and networking right by the sea — dancing the night away with like-minded tech enthusiasts.
The success recipe for an opening party: sea, sun, drinks, tech enthusiasts, and industry leaders.
Our guestlist also contained an array of the city’s most influential politicians. These included Diana Morant, Spain’s Minister of Science and Innovation; Sandra Gomez, Deputy Mayor of València; Arcadi España García, Minister of Finance of the Generalitat Valènciana; and Borja Sanjuán, Deputy Mayor of Economic Development at the City of València.
The conference’s ribbon-cutting ceremony during the opening party.
2. Unmissable speakers
We assembled a sensational line-up of keynote speeches, fireside chats, panel discussions, and workshops.
These featured inspiring founders, such as Vivino’s Heini Zachariassen and Zeleros Hyperloop’s David Pistoni; influential investors such as Speedinvest’s Jullian Blessin and BMW i Ventures’ Marcus Behrendt; and key representatives of the Valèncian tech ecosystem, including Guillermo Sánchez, Project Manager at Invest València, and Lucia Calabria, Deputy Director of Entrepreneurship at València Activa.
Andrii Degeler, Head of Media at TNW, spoke with Janneke Niessen, Founding Partner at CapitalIT, and Katica Roy, gender economist and CEO & founder of Pipeline Equity, about the importance of innovating for inclusion, equality, and equity.
Amongst the many highlights, Jen Carter, Global Head of Technology at Google.org, talked about how technology is being harnessed to help nonprofits; Katica Roy, award-winning gender economist and founder of Pipeline Equity, explained how companies can increase their profit by closing the gender equity gap; and Alex Roca, who recently became the first person with a 76% physical disability to complete a marathon, spoke about the importance of resilience and self-confidence.
Alex Roca, speaking at TNW València.
3. The FT Power Hours
The Financial Times, our beloved parent company, brought some of their brightest minds to València. At a series of sessions called FT Power Hours, they talked about tech’s latest business trends with industry leaders, including Teresa Parejo Navajas, Head of Sustainability and Social Corporate Sustainability at IBERIA, and Juan Manuel Diez, Strategy & Innovation Director at Port Authority of València.
Panelists discussed topics including sustainable tourism.
4. The Startup Pitch Battle
In a fiery TNW València pitch battle, eight of Europe’s hottest startups survived a series of knockout clashes to reach the contest final on March 31.
Following 10 minutes of nail-biting voting, our audience and all-star jury selected a winner: Crowmie. The València-based startup has developed the first investment platform in tokenised renewable energy projects.
Fernando Dávila Ponce de León Gámez, co-founder and CEO at Crowmie (left), with our MC for the event, Oison Lunny.
Crowmie won an array of amazing prizes, including a 4 square-meter exhibitor’s booth at TNW València 2024 and two business passes for TNW Conference in Amsterdam on June 15-16. But the best of all the prizes? A full profile feature on TNW’s website by our beloved media team.
5. The closing party
It goes without saying: a proper tech festival needs an unforgettable closing party. Attendees and TNWers alike ended the conference with a blast, on a dreamy VIP boat right next to the event venue.
Yes, this is the party boat.
6. The Ferris wheel
It wouldn’t be a TNW festival without our emblematic Ferris wheel. There’s no better way to savor fun rides and breathtaking city — or simply trap your interlocutor for a private meeting.
Looking back,TNW València 2023 — powered by The Financial Times and in collaboration with Ajuntament de València — was even better than we could have imagined!
The TNW team at València.
After such a successful first edition, we are set to bring the heart of tech to the bustling Mediterranean city again in 2024! Good news, folks, you can already pre-register here.
And for those of you who (justifiably) can’t wait that long, join us in Amsterdam for TNW Conference, Europe’s leading tech festival, on June 15 and 16.
Don’t miss out on TNW València 2024! Our conference is in high demand, and already sold out this year. By pre-registering now, you’ll be the first to know about our early bird tickets and secure your spot for next year’s event.
Some of Europe’s hottest startups arrived at TNW València last week to develop ideas, expand networks, create new leads, and — and most importantly of all — fight.
Not in the physical sense, of course, but in a fiercely-contested TNW València pitch battle. After surviving a series of fiery knockout clashes, eight of Europe’s most electrifying startups were selected for the contest final on Friday.
València provided the perfect stage for the showdown. The region is Spain’s fastest-growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, with the most startups per capita in the country. It was also bathed in glorious sunshine — but this was no vacation for the contenders. With thousands in attendance, an all-star jury on the front row, and a springboard to success on the line, the stakes were high for all the startups.
To the victor goes an array of spoils, including a 4 square-meter turnkey booth at TNW Valencia 2024 and two business passes for TNW Conference in Amsterdam on June 15-16. But best of all the prizes — and I say this without a scintilla of bias — is a full feature on TNW’s wonderful website by our marvellous media team.
Before we reveal the winner, here are the eight elite finalists who pitched for first place.
Internxt
Internxt was the first startup to qualify for the final battle. Credit: TNW
Many of today’s biggest internet companies are essentially data mining companies. Google, for instance, generates over 80% of its revenue from advertising, which it amasses by leveraging user data for ad targeting.
Internxt has created an alternative model: data storage that respects user privacy.
The València-based startup provides an end-to-end encrypted cloud storage service, which means nobody can see your files. Founded in 2020, the company has positioned itself as a privacy-centric competitor to Google Drive.
“We provide an easy way to manage, share, and store user data in a completely private way,” says Joan Mora, head of data and analytics at Internxt.
Users can get 10GB of free storage. If they need more, premium subscriptions that provide from 20GB to 2TB are available for as little as low as €0.89 per month.
Sophie’s Bionutrients
Eugene Wang founded Sophie’s Bionutrients after his daughter suffered an allergic reaction. Credit: Sophie’s Bionutrients
Sophie’s Bionutrients has reimagined protein production. It’s the first company in the world that uses microalgae to develop 100% plant-based and sustainable alternative protein.
The microalgae is cultivated inside bio-reactors and harvested within days. This rapid process also minimizes the quantity of energy and water that’s required.
Both the idea and name for the company came from the daughter of Eugene Wang, the co-founder and CEO of Sophie’s Nutrients.
“Sophie is allergic to shellfish,” says Wang. “That’s how the whole thing started — I was looking for a way for people to get nutrition from the ocean without using the animals.”
The startup began life in Singapore, before moving its headquarters to the alt-protein hotspot “Food Valley” in the Netherlands. Wang now plans to take the product around the world, in a B2B business model that will first target small and medium-sized food manufacturers.
CAPS
CAPS wants to make urban flights a daily routine. Credit: CAPS
CAPS is developing a product that seems futuristic: an urban aircraft for single passengers. Yet the company expects the tech will soon be available to the public.
“My strong belief is that you will be experimenting with flights in urban areas within the next 10 years,” says Paul Cass, CEO of CAPS. “For that to properly be done, it has to be quiet, safe, and affordable.”
The startup’s founders got the idea after growing sick of their long commute to college. In a garage, they began to assemble a more convenient alternative: a flying car.
Their concept evolved into a driverless aircraft for single-passenger trips in urban areas. Both small and entirely-electric, the vehicle is built for a quiet flight with optimum security. In case of technical trouble or emergencies, a professional driver in the company’s operating centre can remotely control the aircraft.
CAPS is confident that the design offers the safety, affordability, and practicality needed for mass adoption. With the world’s electric air taxi network scheduled to launch in 2024, the vision could be closer to reality than it first appears.
Wenalyze
The Wenalyze team is led by CEO Carlos Albo (second from right). Credit: Wenalyze
In tricky economic times, these companies face mounting challenges. Insurers can provide a safety net, but bad information is reducing the security. According to Wenalyze, insurance companies have 47% of their data wrong, leading to underinsurance and premium leakage.
The Spanish startup wants to reduce the risks. The company uses open data analytics to correct, update, and enrich SME information. As a result, insurers, banks, and financial institutions can offer their clients the right coverage.
To access the enhanced insights, users only need to enter the name and address of the SME. Wenalyze’s system will then analyse open data sources and deliver real-time results.
“By protecting SMEs, we protect our economy,” says Carlos Albo, CEO and co-founder of Wenalyze.
Therminer
Therminer has an unusual recycling plan. Credit: Therminer
Amid a global energy crisis, the vast electricity consumption of data centres has become a pressing concern. But even greater harm to our climate comes from heating, which comprises half of the world’s total energy consumption. That’s roughly the same imapct as electricity and transportation combined.
Therminer has created a system that addresses both concerns: a cooling solution for servers that reduces their energy consumption and recycles the wasted heat to warm buildings.
According to Gonzalo García, CEO and co-founder of Therminer, the system cuts 95% of the energy consumed to cool servers — and recycles 90% of the heat they release. “Our competitive advantage from the data centre perspective is that we can reduce operational costs and our data centres are more sustainable,” he says.
From its base in València, Therminer produce the hardware, installs it in homes, and manages the data centre services. The initial target for the system is single-family homes.
“They can use our waste heat and we can create a decentralised network of data centres and then sell hosting power,” says García.
Chaise Longue
Affordable comfort is an elusive pleasure on flights. Credit: Chaise Longue
Flying economy is rarely a pleasurable experience, but Chaise Longue believes comfort doesn’t have to cost a fortune — and has the chair to prove it.
The Madrid-based startup has created a double-decker airplane seat configuration. The design increases comfort, reduces cabin weight, and provides at least the same passenger capacity. Best of all, it’s made for economy class.
The extra space comes from maximising the cabin’s verticle volume. Overhead luggage compartments are removed, with bags instead stored in bays under seats. The result is bigger recline angles, extended leg room, and more overall space.
The modular structure is designed for swift integration into existing aircraft. According to Alejandro Núñez, Chaise Longue’s founder, CEO, and designer, most leading airlines are interested in the system — and planes are just the start.
“We are also moving into other industries such as trains, buses, and ferries — for the lowest class and for the cheapest tickets,” says Núñez. “We are trying to improve that experience for everyone.”
Nightstream
Nightstream has spotted a big gap in Twitch’s business model. Credit: Nightstream
Twitch enjoyed explosive growth during the pandemic, and still consistently doubles its pre-COVID audience numbers. Many advertisers, however, remain wary of entering the market, which can appear too large and complicated. Nightstream wants to help these brands to grow alongside smaller streamers.
The startup found that brands currently use just 250 streamers to advertise. That means that oer 1.5 million daily viewers — and 95% of streamers — are being overlooked. Nightstream’s software is designed to capitalise on these opportunities.
The company’s tools and services allow brands to connect with streamers that will reach their target audience. Streamers, meanwhile, get the chance to build their audiences, earn money, and win prizes.
Brands are given data dashboards and analytic tools to analyse the performance of each player in the ecosystems. Nighstream also picks moderators for each streamer and brand, which further strengthens the partnership. To increase the streamers’ audiences, the startup rewards viewers as they become part of the communities.
“With our API and software, they can develop and connect directly with brands that don’t have enough money to connect with the biggest streamers,” says Luis Ruiz Climent, co-founder of Nightwatch.
Crowmie
Crowmie uses blockchain to decentralise energy investment. Credit: Crowmie
Crowmie has invented a unique approach to sustainability: the first investment platform in tokenised renewable energy projects.
The concept aims to turbocharge the adoption of renewable energy, while democratising investment in the sector. At present, the vast majority of the market is controlled by large energy generators, which are financed by the traditional banking system. Crowmie allows the public to make their own contributions — and get returns.
After registering, the user can invest a minimum of just €100 in any asset on the platform. The user receives tokens in return. These entitle them to monthly rents for the electricity generated and sold by the energy project. Users can also sell the tokens to another investor at any time.
The investment is used to build facilities that produce electricity. Once built, the projects generate renewable electricity that’s sold to the grid. Profits from this sale are distributed among investors according to the number of tokens they hold.
“We have completely changed the way of investing in traditional assets, accelerating the energy transition, supporting the business fabric, and allowing anyone in the world to invest from just 100 euros,” says Fernando Dávila, CEO and co-founder of Crowmie.
The future of tech was on display throughout TNW València. Credit: TNW
The winning pitch
All eight finalists would make worthy champions, but there can only be one winner of the pitch battle. To find who our all-star jury chose for the grand prize, follow our coverage of TNW València next week.
For those of you who couldn’t attend the event in-person, we hope to see you next year, for more pitches, talks, learning, networking, and festival vibe in beautiful València.
Ladies and gentlemen, the moment has almost arrived: TNW València is next week!
In case you’ve been living under a rock (or frequenting another tech site, you traitor), we’re taking our cherished festival on the road. After 16 glorious years in Amsterdam, we’re bringing the show to Spain’s Mediterranean coast — and you’re all invited.
We’re not only there for the sun, sea, and sand — far from it, in fact. València has the fastest-growing innovation ecosystem in Spain, and the most startups per capita in the country. On March 30th and 31st, we’ll showcase the best tech in the region to over 2,000 guests.
Across the two days, attendees will enjoy inspirational talks, networking events, learning opportunities, and the same festival vibes as our Amsterdam flagship. The entire editorial team will also be there, awaiting your company, ideas, and, of course, abuse.
València is one of the world’s most exciting tech hubs.
In total, we’re hosting over 100 speakers, 75 investors, 90 exhibitors, and 3,000 meetings. Admittedly, this has created one big problem: you simply can’t catch them all. To help find your way through the jam-packed agenda, here are eight highlights at TNW València.
1. The official opening ceremony and party
While the main agenda kicks off on March 30, the fun starts a day earlier, at our opening party.
Our guestlist contains a range of political heavyweights. They include Diana Morant, Spain’s Minister of Science and Innovation; Sandra Gomez, Deputy Mayor of València; Arcadi España García, Minister of Finance of the Generalitat Valenciana; and Borja Sanjuán, Vice Mayor of Economic Development at the City of València.
Join them (and us) for drinks, bites, and networking from 19: 00 at Zeus València. To register for the party, click here.
2. A game of padel
The opening party is one of 10 side events, offering a healthy mix of learning, networking, and partying. On March 31, you can even join a padel tournament at the València Tennis Center. I’ll be waiting on the court, so you better bring your F-game.
3. Unmissable speakers
We’ve assembled a dazzling array of keynote speeches, fireside chats, panel discussions, and workshops. With more tech luminaries than a PayPal reunion, it’s hard to rank the speakers — but here are five of my favourites:
Heini Zachariassen, Founder and CEO of Vivino
Zachariassen built the world’s most-downloaded wine app and largest online wine marketplace. His company has made wine more accessible — and I speak from experience. My use of Vivino has become alarmingly frequent, but at least it’s finding me quality plonk at bargain prices.
Our speakers will shine lights on sustainability, AI, deep tech, and much more.
Katica Roy, Founder and CEO of Pipeline Equity
An award-winning economist and former Global 500 executive, Roy founded Pipeline Equity in 2017. At València, she’ll discuss how to close the innovation gap.
Miguel Ángel Leal, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at LaLiga
As a digital chief at LaLiga, Ángel injects innovation into a legendary football league. His role combines the best of both tech and sports, which sounds like a dream job for me — other than my position at TNW, of course.
Jen Carter, Global Head of Technology at Google.org
Carter leads the pro bono initiatives at Google.org, the Big G’s philanthropic arm. Having spent six years at the organisation, and a decade in Google’s Trust and Safety team, Carter has a unique understanding of using tech for good.
Alex Roca, Ambassador at FC Barcelona
It’s not only tech leaders that are taking the stage. One of our most intriguing speakers is Alex Roca, who recently became the first person with a 76% physical disability to complete a marathon. At TNW València, he’ll give his first public speech since achieving the feat.
4. The FT Power Hours
Our beloved overlords at the Financial Times are bringing their best brains to València. At a series of sessions dubbed FT Power Hours, they’ll discuss tech’s hottest business trends with industry leaders.
5. The Startup Pitch Battle
It’s not all fun and games. While we don’t condone violence at TNW, we do love a pitch battle — and this one’s sure to be fiery. Some of the world’s most exciting startups will be presenting their ideas to our distinguished jury.
The startup stakes will be high.
The challengers will compete for the attention of top investors, a collection of prizes, and — most importantly of all — a profile by your favourite editorial team. I mean us, by the way.
And if you need to sharpen your skills, check out the startup pitching workshop at 12: 30 on Thursday.
6. A ride on the TNW Ferris wheel
It wouldn’t be a TNW festival without our cherished Ferris wheel. As well as offering fun rides and stunning views, the carriages are the perfect place for private meetings — partly because your interlocutor can’t leave.
7. A stroll through the business floor
Our exhibition floor has racked up a vibrant mix of ideas and products.
The 92 organisations in the business hall encompass big brands such as Mercadona, Hubspot, and Helloprint; Valencian tech players like Sesame HR, Social Nest, and Delivers.AI; and government agencies including Spain Up Nation, Valencia Activa, Generalitat, Invest in Valencia.
There’s a lot to see, but our floor plan can smooth your route through the space.
The arena is dotted with stages, exhibitors, and lounges
I could go on and on, but my schedule is already bursting at the stems. Hopefully, these seven tips are enough to help your enjoy the festivities.
If they’re not, feel free to give me feedback at the bar. I’ll have an Aigua de València, por favor.
Recently, we asked if it was possible for Europe to have a dominant smartphone again. The answer was simple: no, not unless there’s some sort of miracle.
The reason behind this is multifaceted, but the core point is that because Asia hosts the majority of the world’s mobile manufacturing facilities, it’s borderline impossible for European companies to create a good enough phone at a low enough price to succeed.
But, here at TNW, we had another question: could Europe launch its own mobile operating system?
Why do we need a European mobile OS?
On first inspection, it’s an excellent idea. A European operating system could wrestle some of the power back from Silicon Valley behemoths iOS and Android. Also, it wouldn’t require the use of factories or raw materials, as the software could be developed in the continent itself.
Then let’s not forget that Europe has been at the forefront of digital privacy regulation, with initiatives like the GDPR and strict data-scraping laws enforcing citizens’ rights against data-hungry US tech giants.
A European mobile operating system, then, could be used to ensure privacy at the highest level for people and extend an element of control over the tech ecosystem. That latter point is particularly important, because not only do Apple and Google have control over the apps that appear on their platforms, they also take huge revenue cuts from publishers. That’s a staggering amount of power and income — all of which the EU could make use of.
But… is a European OS even possible?
To find out, I got in touch with several experts. One of them was Jan Stryjak, an associate director at Counterpoint Research. He leads the analyst firm’s research in Europe, and has over 13 years of experience in the telecommunications, media, and tech industries.
The first thing he told me was that there was no space on the market for a new European — or any other, for that matter — mobile operating system. “Two is enough,” he says, referring to iOS and Android. There were attempts in the past to make Windows a third dominant mobile OS, but these failed. While Windows Mobile and Symbian had their days in the sun, Android and iOS edged both out.
“It doesn’t work,” Stryjak tells me about the possibility of another operating system joining Apple and Google’s mobile operating systems. Well, there goes that dream.
When I pressed Stryjak further on the chances for such a thing, the only potential he saw was something for “the really niche tech population who care about privacy.”
Let’s talk about the third option
This topic of privacy is something I discussed with Wayne Huang, VP of Product Operations at Fairphone. His company creates devices that aim to be sustainable and climate neutral, with the goal of making repairable devices that give power back to the consumer.
One of Fairphone’s core customer segments is precisely the tech niche that cares about privacy. When I asked him how this option was expressed on their devices, Huang pointed me towards Fairphone’s partnership with the /e/ Foundation, specifically its Linux-based /e/OS mobile operating system.
In 2020, /e/OS was chosen as an alternative operating system for the Fairphone 3.
Users of Fairphone are able to install the privacy-first /e/OS, which is an open-source operating system that doesn’t track user data. Despite this, Android apps can still be used on the platform and /e/OS will warn you about any built-in trackers they provide.
Huang was unable to give me numbers on how many people use /e/OS on Fairphone devices. The closest figure I found came from Gaël Duval, the creator of the system. In 2021, he claimed there are “between 25,000 and 35,000 users of /e/OS” in total.
What we’ve found, then, is a pretty hard ceiling for a privacy-focused mobile OS. Currently, this is a niche option for niche devices. Yes, it could potentially grow and attract a healthy number of users, but this approach is unlikely to challenge the dominance of Android and iOS.
Instead, as Stryjak explained to me, at best, a new OS on mobile devices will likely be similar to Linux on desktop computers: something that attracts a devoted fanbase, but fails to make it into the mainstream.
Ending things there though is boring. We need to run this thought experiment through to its logical conclusion and truly work out what would happen if Europe developed its own mobile operating system.
Time to pretend
Let’s say that several EU member states disregard the above. They think the experts are misguided: there is room for a third major mobile operating system and they should be the ones to make it. What happens then?
Well, one thing’s for certain: it won’t be plain sailing.
“I’ve been on a number of calls with European Commissioners… where they’ve brought up a Linux system and asked if they can create something like this,” Huang tells TNW. “The challenge is that it’s difficult to bring everyone together to work towards this goal.”
Let’s not forget that the EU consists of 27 individual nations, all with different cultures and agendas. Getting countries that are more sceptical about big government and censorship on board with a European operating system will be a hard sell.
But let’s pretend that, somehow, the EU manages to get each nation to agree that a European mobile operating system is actually a fantastic idea. The topic leapfrogs the invasion of Ukraine, sustainability, gas prices, and inflation to become the pressing matter in the European parliament. What then?
The technical tribulations
Stryjak from Counterpoint tells TNW that the first big problem a European mobile operating system would face is how it would isolate the continent from the rest of the planet.
“The world is getting bigger, but closer at the same time,” he tells TNW. For almost every function in modern society, “you need to have interoperability within Europe and other markets.” In other words, software needs to work with other software, or things come tumbling down.
Stryjak has worked in European telecoms for more than 15 years.
If a European mobile OS was created, it’d require an unbelievable amount of work to make it function with existing apps and functionalities across the world.
Let’s think of it this way: would you switch to a phone that didn’t have a native Gmail app? Or Twitter? TikTok? Instagram? It would take an inordinate amount of time just for those companies to port over their software — and they’re some of the best-resourced organisations in the world.
Imagine how long it’d take for smaller businesses to port over all the apps you may need for work or life. It’d be an undertaking of galactic proportions.
Achieving the “same functionality of Samsung and Apple [phones] would take many iterations to get to,” Stryjak continues. And honestly? People aren’t willing to wait that long for software to get good. They want it to work and they want it to work now.
And then we have the political problems
Continuing on this thought experiment, let’s say this magical European mobile OS manages to overcome these development hurdles, and gets every engineer and coder alive to focus on making their software and hardware work perfectly with this new system. What then?
“If there’s a Europe-specific OS, can it operate in Russia or China?” Stryjak asks. The focus of this system would likely be enforcing GDPR and digital privacy, so could it operate in places where those regulations aren’t as stringent?
The answer, likely, is no.
You only need to look at the privacy uproar around HarmonyOS and Huawei’s tribulations with the US to get a feeling for how countries outside of Europe would react to a state-backed operating system. In short, badly.
If the EU somehow managed to get its member states to agree to create a mobile operating system, the likelihood is that it’d end up under-supported, struggling for users, and banned in various countries across the world.
To put that another way, it’d be pretty useless.
But is there any need for a European mobile OS?
Circling back to the crux of the piece, the answer is similar to hardware: no, not really.
The EU has been one of the biggest drivers in the digital privacy push and, although it could do even more if it had control over its own OS, the reality is that it’s already had a huge impact on technological privacy. As long as the bloc contains such a huge and affluent user base, it will continue to hold some sort of sway over Silicon Valley.
In a dream world, a European mobile operating system could improve a lot of things, but in reality? Pointless.
Ah, the joys of pitching. Your entire masterplan squeezed into a few sentences, a room of powerful strangers with your future in their hands, and mere seconds to impress them. Who doesn’t love a quick dip in a shark tank?
Quite a lot of people, unfortunately. Luckily for them, pitching coach David Beckett is here to help.
Beckett has spent decades mastering the art of public speaking. He first honed his skills through over 1,000 corporate presentations across 16 years at Canon, before switching to the crisper craft of startup pitches.
In 2013, Beckett founded Best3Minutes, which provides in-person and online training in his method. The techniques have now been taught to more than 1,800 startups and scaleups, which have gone on to raise over €420 million between them.
“My goal is not to tell people what to say,” Beckett tells TNW. “My goal is to give them a framework to find their story, practice it, and make it land with their audience.”
At TNW Valènciaon March 30, Beckett will provide his latest pitching workshop. Ahead of the session, he shared some of his top tips for startups.
1. Tune in to your audience
Your pitch needs to align with the desires of your audience. Who are they? What’s important to them? How can you impress them?
Imagine you’ve created a crypto-powered parking app. You could expound on the benefits of storing driver data on a distributed ledger, but few people enjoy torture by blockchain.
”When we work on something day in, day out, we often just want to tell people about what we’ve built — but the audience might not care at all,” says Beckett.
“The execution comes from your product, process, and team.
A more powerful pitch will illustrate a real-world impact. You could say (if it’s true, of course) that people waste 20 minutes every day finding a parking space. With the click of a button, your app cuts the time down to 60 seconds.
That example, however, may not enthral everyone. To make your audience do what you want, you need to know who they are.
2. Focus on the problem and solution
Your pitch needs to focus on pain and gain. This should fit into a simple statement that reveals what you can do for customers.
A human problem makes the issues more relatable. What does the pain result in? How big is the problem? Will people pay to solve it? How have you validated that? Investors want these answers.
“Things that especially trigger them are the size of opportunity and execution against that opportunity,” says Beckett. “And the execution part is product, progress, and team.”
3. Establish a clear objective
A successful pitch results in action. The ultimate target is often a set investment, but startups normally need to take a different first step. It could be a follow-up meeting, an introduction, or scanning a QR code that shows the audience further information. The most important outcome is maintaining a connection.
Beckett’s former students range from furniture giant to Dutch startup Lalaland.
Whatever your objective, make it clear and memorable. You may only have a few minutes to convince your audience to take action.
“Of course, you can’t communicate all the details in that time, but that’s not really the goal,” says Beckett. “The goal of the pitch is getting to the next step.”
4. Use post-it notes to organise your thoughts
Once you’ve got an objective, you need a strategy to reach it. Beckett advises using post-it notes to get the ideas out of your head and into a storyline. To shrink the prep time, he also recommends downloading his Pitch Canvas, a free storytelling tool for structuring your pitch.
“It’s really difficult to deliver the pitch with certainty and passion when you haven’t got the story straight,” he says. “Once you’ve got the story straight, you can start going into the delivery part.”
5. Demonstrate your value
Investors want to see evidence that you can execute your plan. If you’ve got customer traction, explain who’s using the product. If you’ve got a demo, show the product working. When time is short, a screenshot can suffice.
“If you can convince them that it’s a business, not a concept, they’ll think differently about it,” says Beckett. “And what convinces people it’s a business, not a concept, is a working product and customers.”
“Once they say things out loud, they often find what they wrote is too technical.
If your product is still a concept, there are other ways to demonstrate your value. One is showing you have the passion to put in the hours. Another is any funding that you’ve already raised.
“There’s a couple of things that come from that. Firstly, people trust you. Secondly, you’ve been through a due diligence process, so they’re unlikely to get surprises.”
6. Captivate them with your opening
You need to quickly gain the interest of your audience. Investors can see up to 1,000 pitches a year and are always short on time. To capture their attention, your opening has to stand out.
If it doesn’t land, says Beckett, their support “is almost certainly going to be a no-go.”
7. Polish the delivery
Once you have a prototype pitch, it’s time to verbalise it. Practice saying it out loud in front of an audience, and use their feedback to fine-tune your delivery. You can then take a step back and reassess the clarity, focus, and rhythm.
“Once people start saying things out loud, they often find out what they wrote is quite technical, and want to make it more direct,” says Beckett.
Beckett’s masterclass isn’t the only TNW València session on pitching. Startups will also take the stage for a pitch battle.
Your delivery should emphasise the words that matter. Beckett uses the example of a fictional delivery startup. In a pitch, the founder plans to say, “We deliver a sustainable and energy-boosting doughnut to meetings near you.”
If their focus is proximity, they can stress that doughnuts are delivered “to a meeting NEAR YOU.” If their USP is sustainability, they can emphasise that “we deliver a SUSTAINABLE and energy-boosting doughnut.” If they’re selling the energy effects, they can accentuate that it’s a “SUSTAINABLE and energy-boosting doughnut.”
Your delivery must also connect on a human level — a crucial element of pitching. Just one moment that shows your passion for the project can make an enormous difference.
8. Manage your time with a script
In discussions about public speaking, the relative merits of spontaneity and planning are endlessly debated. For Beckett, the best balance depends on your allotted time.
In a half-hour corporate presentation, you might only need to memorise the opening. In a short pitch, however, you’ll probably need a full script.
“For a three-minute pitch, the pressure is too much for most people’s brains to manage,” says Beckett. “If they don’t make a proper plan, they forget to say the things they really want to say, and spend too much time on things that are not so important.”
9. Time to perfection
Beckett has done extensive research on our listening and speaking capacities. He’s concluded that you should pitch a maximum of 150 words per minute.
“If you speak faster than that, people can’t follow,” he says. “It’s best to speak a bit slower so that people can process it. Get a bit of air around the key messages, but with enough energy and speed.”
Those 150 words will fit into approximately nine sentences. A three-minute pitch, therefore, will typically comprise around 27 sentences. If you’re struggling to structure your story, those rough boundaries can help allocate the time.
And if that doesn’t quell the anxieties about being judged in a few minutes, just remember: it will all be over in a few minutes.
David Beckett will be speaking at TNW València, which takes place at the end of March. If you want to experience the event, we’ve got something special for our loyal readers. Use the promo code TNWVAL30and get a 30% discount on yourconference business pass for TNW València.
The British tech sector can rest a little easier tonight after the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was sold to HSBC for just £1.
The intervention followed last week’s collapse of the subsidiary’s California-based parent company. The Bank of England (BoE) intervened over fears that mass withdrawals in the US would spread to the UK business.
Many of SVB UK’s 3,300 customers, which include numerous VC investors and startups, warned they would go bust if their deposits were lost. The BoE had initially planned to put the bank into insolvency, which would have only guaranteed protection for deposits worth up to £85,000, or £170,000 for joint accounts.
The deal with HSBC supersedes the insolvency plan. Customer deposits can now be protected without requiring taxpayer support.
“This action has been taken to stabilise SVB UK, ensuring the continuity of banking services, minimising disruption to the UK technology sector, and supporting confidence in the financial system,” the BoE said in a statement.
After the deal was announced, SVB UK said it was resuming normal operations.
Following the announcement that @HSBC_UK has acquired SVB UK, we’re resuming normal operations from today. Our clients should not notice any significant changes, however, there may be short delays across the next few days as we return to business as usual. Thanks for the support
TechUK, an industry lobby group, said the sale will be a relief for the British tech ecosystem.
“Without access to their deposits these companies faced the prospect of not being able to pay staff or rent or suppliers — in short many would also be facing insolvency and the many thousands of people working in this part of the tech sector would be very worried about their jobs!” said techUK CEO Julian David.
For HSCB, the acquisition of all SVB UK’s assets for a nominal £1 could be an extremely good deal. The Bank of London, which had also submitted a rescue bid, described the sale as a “missed opportunity.”
“It cannot be right that once again the heritage banks that have provided a poor service to UK entrepreneurs over many years benefit from their already dominant position,” the clearing bank said in a statement.
Legal experts are already pointing to the lessons for startups. Charles Fletcher, a partner at law firm Mishcon de Reya, recommended several steps that businesses can take to avoid the risks that SVB UK has exposed.
“Key actions include keeping corporate accounts with more than one bank, having an emergency funding plan to avoid cashflow squeezes, separating funds from different sources and taking a strategic approach to managing currencies,” said Fletcher.
“These should accompany fundamental business planning and management steps, such as a detailed risk register and crisis management protocols.”
