Here's what Carbon13 SEIS Fund VIII backed and why.

450 million tonnes. That's the potential CO₂e reduction per year — at scale — across Carbon13's entire portfolio. Fund VIII adds six more ventures to that number. Each one built around hard science, large markets, and founders who have already attracted serious commercial interest before taking their first external investment.

The bar for a Carbon13 cohort is not "interesting technology." It's deployable technology — founded by people who understand both the science and the commercial reality they're navigating. Since 2021, Carbon13 has supported over 1,500 founders and helped build over 300 climate tech startups. Those companies have gone on to raise more than £47m in follow-on funding. Fund VIII is the continuation of that track record.

You can hear about the Fund VIII portfolio companies directly from Carbon13 by watching the webinar below, or read on for a description of each company.

Below is a look at what this cohort is building, and why we backed these companies.

The six companies

Auralytica

Auralytica is making chemistry visible — without dyes or electronics. Its holographic hydrogel sensor platform embeds directly into food packaging, giving producers real-time data on whether food is actually safe, fresh, and sellable. The UK food industry loses billions annually to static use-by dates set blind to what's happening inside the pack. Auralytica has been accepted into the Founders at the University of Cambridge Accelerator Programme.

Cooloop

Cooloop has secured Letters of Intent from BP, Shell, Johnson Matthey, INEOS Oxide, and Brenntag — before taking external investment. The team is commercialising CO₂ utilisation through a proprietary catalyst platform that converts captured CO₂ and green hydrogen into valuable chemicals and fuels. Chemical manufacturing is one of the world's largest CO₂ emitters. Cooloop's platform offers a direct route into the existing industrial supply chain.

Pure Capture Innovations

Pure Capture Innovations is replacing coal-based carbon filtration in drinking water treatment. Its biochar-based composites deliver up to 7–8x greater adsorption capacity than conventional granular activated carbon — and cut embodied carbon by 65–80%. The target: PFAS 'forever chemicals,' which affect 94% of UK utility water supplies. Letters of Intent are already in hand from Thames Water, Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, and South West Water.

TeraSort

TeraSort is solving recycling with software, not civil engineering. Its fully robotic, modular recycling unit uses low-cost robotics and an AI vision system to reduce capital expenditure by up to 10x and operating costs by up to 5x versus conventional infrastructure. Two Innovate UK grants totalling £190,000. Three MVP Letters of Intent from leading UK waste players. Target: 29 million tonnes of CO₂e reduction by 2035.

White Lotus Energies

White Lotus Energies converts CO₂ and water into green methanol in a single step — eliminating the costly electrolysis stage. The target market is maritime and aviation: sectors that cannot electrify at scale and face a forecast 75% green methanol supply gap in Europe by 2031. The team has already secured a UK Department for Transport grant, filed a patent, and demonstrated photocatalytic performance exceeding the highest result in academic literature. Six Letters of Interest across maritime, energy, and heavy industry.

Nendo

Nendo is building a clay-based subsurface irrigation system that delivers water directly to plant roots — no evaporation, no plastic, no high pressure. Agriculture wastes up to 60% of water through surface delivery. Nendo's engineered ceramic pipes are designed for long-term deployment wherever climate volatility and outdated infrastructure collide: farms, airports, highways, public landscapes. Backed by Carbon13, Innovate UK, and the Henry Royce Foundation.

Why this cohort matters

Three of the six ventures are female-founded. Five of the six have at least one PhD in the founding team. All six have demonstrated commercial traction — Letters of Intent, grants, or accelerator acceptance — before their first institutional cheque.

That's not a coincidence. It's what Carbon13's venture builder programme produces. The programme doesn't just select founders — it helps build the founding teams, sharpen the thesis, and stress-test the path to scale. The rigour happens before the fund invests.

What comes next?

Carbon13 and SyndicateRoom have now developed three funds together.

The next Carbon13 SEIS fund is in development. If you want to be among the first to hear when it opens — and understand the opportunity before capacity fills — the best move is to register your interest now.