Behind the fund: How this VC built one of Europe's hottest energy startups from scratch
13 Jul 2026
06:00
What do you do when the startup you want to back doesn't exist? You create it, of course.
German VC First Momentum Ventures has developed a hands-on model for pre-seed climate and deep tech investments that avoids some of the downsides of a venture studio.
In this instalment of Behind the Fund, we break down:
→ The thesis behind a €35m fund built by two former students
→ How First Momentum underwrites engineering risk instead of revenue
→ The incubation of one of Europe's hottest energy tech startups, step-by-step
German VC First Momentum Ventures has developed a hands-on model for pre-seed climate and deep tech investments that avoids some of the downsides of a venture studio.
In this instalment of Behind the Fund, we break down:
→ The thesis behind a €35m fund built by two former students
→ How First Momentum underwrites engineering risk instead of revenue
→ The incubation of one of Europe's hottest energy tech startups, step-by-step
First Momentum Ventures had a thesis and nowhere to put the money.
The German climate and deep tech investment firm believed Europe needed more clean baseload power, and that geothermal deserved a place alongside nuclear and fusion.