French VC firm Daphni launches €250m climate and science fund – aims to invest in 40 firms

Daphni has already made a name for itself in Europe’s impact sector, with investments in French companies such as Airthium (focusing on AI-driven energy storage solutions) and Moonwatt (developing AI-powered solar energy technologies).

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The Paris-based VC fund has also invested in London-based Epigene Labs, a company with a focus on AI-driven drug discovery and biotechnology.

Now Daphni has announced it wants to expand its climate and science tech portfolio. It has raised €200m to be invested in the sector, and plans to raise a further €50m in capital by the end of 2025.

"Europe is home to world-class research, but too often, groundbreaking scientific innovations don’t make it beyond the lab," the company wrote on Linkedin on Tuesday. "We believe that science is the next driving force in the climate transition".

The money will go towards funding 40 startups tackling sustainability challenges, and leveraging science and innovation.

"New generations of researchers are stepping into entrepreneurship, and we’re here to back them," added Daphni in its LinkedIn post.

Already a social impact advocate

The VC fund is also doubling down on its social impact investments.

Earlier this month its partner Anita de Voisins told Impact Loop that the VC firm was in the middle of raising funds for an initiative targeting underrepresented founders in France, named Time4. The aim is to raise about €100m and later this year begin targeting 100 early-stage startups founded by people from the kinds of socio-economic backgrounds in France that often get overlooked by investors.

"There are talented entrepreneurs who are still [overlooked] by the venture capital system, especially in France, for many different reasons," de Voisins told Impact Loop.

VC is partnering with three other organisations, the non-profits Live for Good and Les Déterminés, as well as the prestigious HEC Paris business school, to provide a support programme to underrepresented founders.

This dual focus on social and environmental sustainability was underlined in the firm’s LinkedIn post about its new climate fund on Tuesday. "We can foster the emergence of global champions capable of addressing tomorrow’s social and environmental challenges," the company wrote.