VC firm 2150 closes €210M fund to target urban climate challenges

European venture capital firm 2150 has closed a €210 million second fund to back startups addressing climate and resource challenges in urban environments. The new vehicle brings the firm’s total assets under management—defined as the total market value of investments managed by a firm—to €500 million. Co-founder and partner Jacob Bro described cities as resource-intensive hubs that aggregate the world’s prosperity but also its waste and emissions, noting that they generate 80% of the world’s GDP but are responsible for 70% of emissions.

According to co-founder and partner Christian Hernandez, the fund has secured 34 limited partners, which are investors in a venture capital fund. These backers include institutional investors and family funds such as Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker, Church Pension Group, the Danish sovereign fund EIFO, fund of funds Carbon Equity, Novo Holdings, Islandbridge Capital, Security Trading Oy, and Viessmann Generations Group.

The firm has already deployed capital from the new fund into seven companies, with plans to eventually back 20 companies total. Most of these startups will be raising Series A rounds, with checks expected to total around €5 million to €6 million per company. The fund’s active investments from this vehicle include:

• AtmosZero, a developer of industrial heat pumps;
• GetMobil, an e-waste recycling startup;
• Metycle, a marketplace for scrap and recyclable metals; and
• MissionZero, a direct air capture startup.

Three other portfolio companies have not yet been publicly announced.

The firm’s partners are targeting opportunities in industrial automation and data centers. This focus is driven in part by demographic shifts and resource bottlenecks. Hernandez noted that Europe is expected to lose 100 million people between now and 2040 due to an aging population, pointing out that the Netherlands already has 50% of its population over the age of 50. In this context, the partners view industrial automation as a tool to maintain productivity, generate GDP, and fund pensions. Bro noted that cities are ultimately supplied by large or small industries, making industrial efficiency a core focus. Bro added: “Sustainability, if done well, is just better business, right? It’s cheaper, faster, and more independent from geopolitics.”

Over its four years of operation, 2150’s portfolio companies have mitigated one megaton of carbon emissions, which Hernandez cited as evidence of the firm’s commercial and environmental traction.

Why it matters

2150’s strategy highlights a shift toward viewing urban climate challenges as industrial efficiency problems, specifically targeting automation and data centers to address resource bottlenecks and demographic shifts in Europe.