Planet A Ventures

INCREDIBLE ENERGY deep in the heart of Zurich’s world-class robotics ecosystem! 🏔️🦾 Thank you to ETH Entrepreneur Club for inviting Sam to talk about one of our favourite topics: what it takes to scale deeptech startups “from promise to proof” with two absolute experts on the matter: Gilles Retsin and Brett Bivens, at last week's Launch conference. AND a pleasure to team up with our friends ellipsis the night before to bring together top minds forging at the frontier of robotics and AI. 🍷 Our Infinite Machines dinner explored the status quo: actual value-adding use cases of robotics today, where robots can and will transform legacy industries, what’s holding back deployments today and how we make it happen. 🦾 PLUS, getting under the hood with physical AI: how we get the real-world data we need to unlock genuinely capable foundation models. Thanks Yariv, Matthias and Robert for being such great co-hosts! 💥 Our impression? If you are looking for top European robotics and AI talent, this is the place. Kim D., ETH Entrepreneur Club, Automated Architecture (AUAR)

GO Mondra! 🥬🚚 £10m Series A to galvanise food supply chains and slash emissions with groundbreaking product-level AI. → Customers include Lidl, Aldi, Tesco & Co-op → Previously hailed by Satya Nadella as “game-changing” technology → Next: European expansion into Germany, France & the Netherlands Congratulations Jason Barrett and team! Few challenges are as urgent as fixing the global food system — proud to lead this round with AlbionVC. And welcome, officially, to Planet A! WHY IT MATTERS.  Volatile supply chains and climate shocks are threatening food affordability and availability. Companies are under pressure, forced to balance supply resilience with decarbonisation and biodiversity protection. Mondra’s digital twin technology helps the world’s leading food companies de-risk and decarbonise global supply chains. Product-level data, planet-level scale.💥 Great to invest alongside AlbionVC, Swisscom Ventures, PeakBridge, Ponderosa Ventures and Green Circle Foodtech Ventures. Read more in The Grocer: https://lnkd.in/e68NXkqg

LET'S TALK PHYSICAL AI 🏭🦾 Physical AI is redefining how robots understand and operate together — a CRITICAL piece of the puzzle unlocking sustainable, competitive, production at scale. The promise (and hype) is real, but 3 key misconceptions are currently holding the industry back: ❌ Synthetic data is enough ❌ Open source isn’t defensible ❌ Autonomy in specific use cases = generalised model Our own Sam teamed up with Jan Erik Solem and Søren Halskov Nissen to explore how adopting a new mindset can help catalyse physical AI and galvanise our industrial base in Europe. Dive into the full piece here, and let us know what you think! https://lnkd.in/dP5Ry2FD PS. Heading to ETH Launch this week? 🤖 Catch Sam in conversation with Automated Architecture (AUAR) co-founder Gilles Retsin and production capital expert Brett Bivens talking deeptech startup capital: from promise to proof. ETH Entrepreneur Club ETH Zürich

ON THE AGENDA: European companies developing sustainable critical resources, platform technologies and interstellar infrastructure underpinning the next economy. 🇪🇺🦾 Trump 2.0 marked an inflection point. An isolationist(ish) and unpredictable US exposed just how dependent Europe is on its partners for critical technologies, resources, and capabilities. THE GOOD NEWS? We aren’t starting from zero. From groundbreaking physical AI that truly unlocks sustainable production at scale, to recreating rare metals using advanced nano materials - founders are busy building solutions that are exponentially better than what came before. In Sifted, our GP Christoph talks about why Milvus Advanced, Gama and Staer are companies to watch right now. Read the full article here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dFHc8AEK

CONGRATULATIONS to PROJECT EADEN, Arsenale Bioyards, traceless materials and Carbon Re, all named part of this year’s Norrsken Impact / 100! 🏆🎊 From pioneering new materials, to industrial AI that helps factories cut emissions AND costs in real time - these teams are taking promising ideas to planet-level scale. Big up Massimo, Gordana, Niels, Matteo, Arnaud, Anne, Jan, David, Buffy, Josh, Daniel and your incredible teams for making the cut from 1,400 nominations. 👉 Read more in Sifted: https://lnkd.in/etn5htTb 👉Full list: https://lnkd.in/dS6RnpDB

COME WORK AT PLANET A! 🦾🔥 We’re looking for a DATA ENGINEER to take our game to the next level. We’re looking for someone special, who combines technical expertise with customer-centric thinking and an entrepreneurial spirit. Want to play a hands-on role in backing breakthrough solutions the world cannot afford to ignore? This could be for you. Read on! WHAT’S THE DEAL? 👾 Good quality, well-modelled and accessible data is at the heart of everything we do at Planet A, driving everything from investment decisions to portfolio support. You’ll play a pivotal role in unlocking data for the team, building automations, and helping us integrate data into our processes and culture. The role is a blend of hands-on technical work and process-oriented collaboration. If you’re excited about building robust data systems, driving adoption across teams, and making a concrete impact, we’d love to hear from you! SOUND GOOD?  Read more and apply here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dgYqmPwH

CONGRATULATIONS TO Automated Architecture (AUAR), now live in the US with their first two robotic micro-factories! 🦾🇺🇸 This is a big milestone for the team as they accelerate their mission to re-write the rules of construction today - and solve one of the top challenges on the planet. Check out their partner Rival kicking off construction on the next generation of sustainable, beautiful homes!  ICYMI 🪜 AUAR automates construction of timber houses. Their proprietary building system, design software and robotic micro factories deliver a low CapEx, highly adaptable solution for urgently needed residential construction. A win for developers, contractors, consumers, and the planet. Amazing work Mollie, Gilles and the entire unstoppable team! 👀 Sound like something you want to be part of? AUAR IS HIRING a new US Growth & Partnerships Lead. Apply now!👇 https://lnkd.in/d8AZWD9f (Video credit Rival)

ENERGY.🔥 The single most powerful lever to reshape industries, economies, and societies — and unlock systemic change at scale. For the first time in history, affordable, accessible, and sustainable energy for everyone, everywhere, is within reach. But complex challenges demand dazzling solutions. That’s why we’re excited to back companies turning key systemic challenges into once-in-a-generation opportunities.  🔹 From unlocking baseload energy with GA Drilling 🔹 To building flexibility and resilience into the grid with Podero These are just two examples of the critical innovation happening right now. In Sifted, our GP Lena highlights three more startups to watch: from modular fire-brick thermal energy storage, to digital energy procurement for heavy industry. Check out the full list here! https://lnkd.in/eFAgx-gz Barocal avoltra EPYR

42 STARTUPS RE-INVENTING INDUSTRIES - And why they matter. 🔥🦾 The foundations of the next industrial era are already being built - from Milan to Cambridge to Søborg. It's clear the companies that will define it aren’t offering incremental upgrades - they are driving real systemic change by fundamentally re-imagining how critical industries operate. The key challenge? Time. In a new article for ClimateHack, Christian spotlights 3 groundbreaking teams accelerating breakthrough technologies from promise to commercial proof. 🟢 Arsenale Bioyards* → WHY: Arsenale’s technology paves the way from the fossil to the bio-economy: the biggest transformation in how we produce goods at scale since the industrial revolution. Arsenale slashes biomanufacturing costs by up to 90%, making precision fermentation commercially viable across industries like food, cosmetics, and materials for the first time. 🟢 Carbon Re* → WHY: Carbon Re is building the AI operating system that will accelerate the systemic transition across global industries like cement, steel and glass, and master the production of zero-carbon materials at scale. Carbon Re’s digital twins cut costs, energy use and emissions, one factory at a time. 🟢 NitroVolt → WHY: Decentralised, sustainable ammonia production to cut emissions in the fertiliser production industry - and totally transform modern agriculture. Farmers produce their own ammonia fertiliser on demand, on-site, using just renewable energy, water and air. The system is easily scaled to demand, from a few hundred to thousands of kilograms of ammonia. Check out the full list with https://lnkd.in/d8Wf-E_r *Proud investors! 

EVENT @The Drop: PHYSICAL AI FOR ROBOT FLEETS 🦾🤖🏭 MEGA happy to team up with Jan Erik Solem, who just peeled the lid off Staer, and Søren Halskov Nissen, co-founder of Yaak, for an open discussion at The Drop. 👋 In Malmö next week? Join us Tuesday, September 16 2pm - 3.30pm! AI, ROBOTS & THE FUTURE OF AUTOMATION It’s clear robots and AI will underpin the next industrial era. Building systems that can adapt and operate reliably in the real world is key. BUT UNDER THE HOOD? It’s anything but simple. Hosted by our own deeptech expert Sam Baker, we’ll dig into what it takes to generate real value with robots powered by physical AI — with two of the Nordic’s absolute top experts on the topic. → Jan Erik built two pioneering technologies that underpin Apple and Meta products, and is now building physical AI for autonomous mobile robot fleets with Stær.  → Søren is building Yaak, a no-code robotics platform designed to allow AI and robotics developers to develop spatially intelligent robots. WHO SHOULD COME? → Robotics founders & engineers shaping next gen AMRs → Investors + CVCs exploring autonomy, AI, and robotics  → Industry leaders from agriculture to manufacturing → Researchers and anyone exploring how AI moves from the digital into the physical world LIMITED SPOTS - snatch yours while you can! https://luma.com/xpxa30qr!!