Nicola Colombo

Did you know that fertilisers emit more GHGs than aviation? Time to fix that (with a "precision sniper approach")! 🎯 The century-old Haber-Bosch process is a wonder, making synthetic nitrogen fertilisers (SNFs) possible and feeding billions, while driving industrial growth. But it comes at a massive cost: 🌍 SNFs cause 2% of global GHG emissions 💨 8M tonnes of nitrous oxide (N₂O) per year—300x more potent than CO₂ 🌱 Soil degradation, biodiversity loss, rising costs for farmers NetZeroNitrogen has developed a novel biofertiliser (bioinoculant) using endophytic bacteria that colonise plants from the inside, cutting the need for SNFs while increasing yields. 💪 Early field trials are very promising 💪 "This is a precision sniper approach," Justin Hughes, co-founder and CEO of NetZeroNitrogen, told TechCrunch. 🎯 "In contrast to fertiliser, where you spread it all over the field and effectively hope some hits the target, a kind of shotgun approach." ❌ And it doesn't need genetic modification ✅ Is fully EU-compliant 🚀 And has huge global potential With World Fund, we're proud to co-lead the $6.6m seed (😅) round in NetZeroNitrogen, together with Azolla Ventures, and have fantastic co-investors on board, including Revent, Zero Carbon Capital, Kibo Ventures, Innovate UK, and Ananke. We're thrilled to support this exceptional team—Justin Hughes, Gary Devine and Alan Burbidge—on their journey to decarbonise agriculture. Welcome to the World Fund family! 🌍 💚

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ClimateTech is heating up. These five startups just secured major funding to supercharge their growth. 1️⃣ encentive GmbH → helps industrial companies reduce energy costs and CO₂ emissions 💰 Funding: €6,3M 🤝 Investors: General Catalyst, Summiteer, SIVentures (prev. Smart Infrastructure Ventures), Vireo Ventures, helloworld, Stefan Mueller, Bernhard Niesner 📍 Sector: Energy 2️⃣ Renewcast → provides superior performance in renewable power short-term and day-ahead forecasting 💰 Funding: €1M 🤝 Investors: 2C Ventures 📍 Sector: Energy 3️⃣ SuperGround → provides the food industry with the technology to produce more food from the same resources 💰 Funding: €3.65M 🤝 Investors: Hatch Blue, CHECK24 Impact GmbH, Propeller 📍 Sector: FoodTech 4️⃣ florrent → creates the next generation of high energy density supercapacitors 💰 Funding: $9,5M 🤝 Investors: MassVentures, Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, MassMutual, Boston Impact Initiative, Sky Foundation, Elbezius, Maroon Venture Partners Fund 📍 Sector: Energy 5️⃣ Xampla → creates natural materials for commercial applications 💰 Funding: $14M 🤝 Investors: Emerald Technology Ventures, BGF, Matterwave Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners, Horizons Ventures 📍 Sector: Materials 💬 Seen any standout ClimateTech deals recently?

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Low-speed electric scooters should be banned to save the EV industry. They’re a loophole pretending to be a solution. I know they were introduced to make EVs more affordable. But in reality, they’re putting lives at risk, disrupting traffic systems, and damaging the reputation of the entire EV ecosystem. Here’s what’s really happening: 1. No safety. No accountability: These scooters are often used without helmets, licenses, or registration. No number plates. No insurance. No training required. When accidents happen, there’s no way to track or penalize anyone. Traffic police can’t enforce rules, and violators walk free. They’re misused in gated societies, high-traffic zones, and even by delivery fleets. 2. Rules are being exploited: Dealers and OEMs modify these scooters to exceed the 25 km/h limit. This bypasses safety standards like AIS, CMVR, ARAI & even ICAT certification They silently blend into city traffic without proper testing or approval. This isn’t innovation...it’s misuse of policy loopholes. Letting kids drive them. 3. Poor build. Poor trust: Most are low-quality imports, often from China. They’re not built for Indian roads or long-term use. No reliable brakes. Weak chassis. Exposed wiring. Many still use lead-acid batteries, adding toxic waste to the mix. No support network. No warranty. No after-sales service. They’re cheap to buy, but expensive in every other way. They are ticking bombs on streets. The result? Consumers lose trust in EVs. Kids ply them unsafely on roads without DL. Real players who follow the rules are forced to compete with unsafe alternatives. Urban traffic becomes more chaotic. Safety takes a back seat in the name of affordability. This isn’t how we can build an trusted EV-first India. We need stricter policies. Better enforcement. And a clear line between innovation and compromise. It’s time to clean up the space. Ban low-speed EVs. Let safety and quality lead the way forward. 3 years back, Zypp decided to stop putting any low speed EVs in our fleet, it was tough, but business is built only by taking tough, compliant and right calls. I request OEMs to stop making & selling these. I request government to quickly regulate these with test norms and number plates asap.

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