The opportunity
We are excited to announce our latest investment opportunity, an SEIS fund focused on returns with purpose, building and backing early-stage businesses addressing
earth’s vital life support systems.
This fund, Carbon13's 7th SEIS fund portfolio, will invest in pre-seed companies that are expected to be eligible for SEIS, and enable investors to claim a suite of tax reliefs such as 50% income tax relief on up to £200,000 invested, and 50% exemption from capital gains that arise in the same year. Tax reliefs are subject to status and change.
- Portfolio of six to ten companies.
- Seeking an exclusive £1.2m.
- Minimum investment of £10,000.
- Seeking to deploy in 24/25 tax year.
In an era where the need for urgent climate action is paramount, Carbon13 stands as a beacon for investors seeking both financial gains and to make a profound impact on the planet. Grounded in the vibrant tech hubs of Cambridge and Berlin, Carbon13 seeks to meticulously craft investment portfolios that not only navigate the complexities of high-emission sectors but also propel the groundbreaking ventures of tomorrow.
At Carbon13 we believe in the forward-thinking of entrepreneurship, the power of innovation to re-invent the rules, and the art of the venture studio to accelerate startups.” – Dr Nicky Dee, Co-founder of Carbon13
Carbon13's approach
Carbon13 launched its first programmes in 2021 to select, support and invest in founders committed to building scalable ventures that can engage the latest commercial opportunities and deploy innovations to protect the earth’s vital systems.
Their Cambridge origins have taught them the importance of commercial, carbon and scientific understanding, and their expansion to Berlin has fuelled their ecosystem of domain expertise, investors, and partners. Depending on the nature of the work of each portfolio company, the impact may stem from avoiding or removing CO2e, adaptation to climate change or other environmental solutions which contribute to protecting the earth’s vital systems.
Carbon13 companies have gone on to raise up-rounds totalling more than £38m. The average age of their cohort participants is 37, a quarter hold PhDs and 63% of their teams are mixed gender.
Their portfolio now has 71 ventures across five key sectors: chemicals and materials, energy, food systems, enabling platforms and the built environment. The image below shows their full portfolio to date.
Carbon13’s Venture Builder Programme
Typically Carbon13 receives around 600 applicants to each of their “Venture Builder” programmes from individuals who are exceptional in their field and committed to building a scalable and impactful business. They carefully select around 80 founders to join each new programme.
After six months, ventures pitch for pre-seed investment. Those who get backed also get exposed to stakeholders capable of supporting their next steps – from technical, professional services, through to investors, as well as opportunities to showcase their venture, including with Carbon13’s industry-leading corporate partners Barclays, Siemens Energy, Arm, and Herbert Smith Freehills and additional contributions from Google Cloud Credits, PEM, TechSpace, Geovation, Honda Innovations and many others.
Carbon13 offers opportunities to speak to investors during the programme and showcases to pitch to a wider audience of investors and stakeholders. Some of their current co-investors include Ada Ventures, Cambridge University, G-Force, Pale Blue Dot, Climate VC, Octopus Ventures, Zero Carbon Capital, AgFunder, Plug & Play, DCVC and many more. Carbon13 is an Investor Partner with Innovate UK and assists companies to leverage non-dilutive grants.
Case studies
Carbon13 has run its venture-building programme for six cohorts of companies. Below is a small sample of the companies that have received investment after completing the programme.
Cocoon
We will need more steel and cement over the next 40 years than ever before. However, these two materials represent 15% of global emissions. Cocoon are capturing CO₂ into industrial waste and upcycling this into a green cement alternative with the aim of decarbonising the steel and cement industries. This mineralisation process has been the focus of their Chief Scientist Officer’s research and they are now commercialising to commercialise at scale.
Investment details:
- Carbon13 Cambridge Cohort 5
- Current post-money valuation: $17m
- MOIC: 7.24x based on latest fundraise
Key achievements so far:
- Nov 23 - End of the 5th Cambridge Venture Builder Programme, from which Cocoon emerged
- Dec 23 - Joined SOSV‘s HAX accelerator and raised first investment
- Jan 24 - Successfully won an InnovateUK Smart grant for £369k
- May 24 - Closed $5m pre-seed from a US VC
Also supported by:
- SOSV (Accelerator VC)
- Wireframe Ventures
Kita
Kita’s vision is to be the world’s first carbon insurance company. The climate crisis requires carbon removal solutions to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Many carbon removal solutions rely on revenue from selling carbon units on the voluntary carbon markets. However, these units lack tailored insurance products for their key risks, particularly under-delivery on pre-paid contracts. Kita seeks to remove this “carbon delivery risk” from sellers and buyers in the market, using insurance products that guarantee the quality and delivery of carbon units and carbon removal solutions.
Investment details:
- Carbon13 Cambridge Cohort 2
- Current post-money valuation: £20m
- MOIC: 7.24x based on latest fundraise
Key achievements so far:
- May 22 - End of the 2nd Cambridge Venture Builder Programme, from which Kita emerged
- June 22 - Kita raises £250k from InsureTech Gateway and ClimateVC
- March 23 - Kita joins Lloyd's Lab cohort 8
- March 24 - Nominated for Earth Shot Prize for the second year in a row
Also supported by:
- Insuretech Gateway
- Octopus Ventures
- Chaucer
Nium
Nium eliminates emissions by delivering hydrogen as a more efficient energy vector. Their novel nanotechnology revolutionises the Haber-Bosch process and enables the synthesis of truly green ammonia. With two patents filed, Nium helps build the Nium can be described as “clean ammonia on demand”. The company addresses the challenges of ammonia production for fertilisers and extends its applications to the hydrogen economy. They want to eliminate emissions by delivering hydrogen as a more efficient energy vector. Their novel nanotechnology revolutionises the Haber-Bosch process and enables the synthesis of truly green ammonia. With two patents filed, Nium helps build the infrastructure and network for a cleaner future of food and fuel.
Investment details:
- Carbon13 Cambridge Cohort 3
- Current post-money valuation: £11m
- MOIC: 1.6x based on latest fundraise
Key achievements so far:
- Dec 22 - End of the 3rd Cambridge Venture Builder Programme, from which Nium emerged
- June 23 - $3m seed round from AgFunder and DCVC.
- June 24 - £1M grant from the UK government’s Resource Efficiency for Materials and Manufacturing initiative
- March 24 - 7,500 sq ft of research and development space to fast-forward their plans of decarbonising ammonia production
Also supported by:
Carbon13's team
Dr Nicky Dee, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Nicky has pioneered many activities in the sustainability space to scale up impact from startups, including work with UNEP, Nesta, European Projects, Climate KIC, DfID and UK Gov. She has been an entrepreneur as well as worked directly with entrepreneurs and those who support them.
Michael Langguth, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer
Michael is a serial entrepreneur. His most recent start-up, Poq, is a London-based software-as-a-service platform for mobile shopping, powering the apps of some of the largest retailers in the world. The company started out of UCL where Michael holds an MSc in Technology Entrepreneurship. He is also an active angel investor.
SEIS tax relief
The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) is a government scheme that offers investors a suite of tax relief to incentivise investment in startups at the pre-seed or seed stage.
The tax reliefs available to SEIS shareholders are:
Income tax relief of up to 50%
A £100,000 investment can result in a £50,000 reduction in your income tax bill for that year. To benefit from this, you need to have enough income tax liability and hold the shares for a minimum of three years. You can invest up to £200,000 a year.
Maximise relief with carry back
You can apply relief to the previous year if you still have the allowance available. By using the allowances for both years, you could invest up to £400,000 at once. This also allows you to apply the tax relief to the previous year's tax bill, potentially reclaiming taxes you've already paid.
Reduce your overall capital gains bill
Capital Gains Reinvestment Relief allows you to reduce your Capital Gains Tax (CGT) by up to 50% when you invest in SEIS-qualifying companies, provided you have claimed income tax relief in the same year.
Tax-free capital growth
You normally don't pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when selling SEIS shares if you claimed income tax relief on them and the companies still meet the requirements.
Inheritance Tax Relief
SEIS investments qualify for relief from inheritance tax under current legislation, provided that the investment has been held for at least two years, it is still held at time of death and remains unlisted.
Loss Relief
In the event of negative performance, there is some return on the downside through loss relief, on a per Investee Company basis.
The net amount of the loss (i.e. after deducting any income tax relief obtained on making the investment) can be offset against taxable income in the year in which the loss is made (or can be carried back to the previous tax year). If the loss is to be offset against a separate gain, this can be done in the tax year in which disposal occurs, or (in full or in part) in a subsequent tax year.
Fees
Please see a breakdown of fees to investors below:
Setup Fee: 2% + VAT, drawn upfront from Subscription.
Annual Management fee Years 1-3: 2% + VAT, retained upfront. Years 4-7: 2% + VAT, deducted from distributions to Investors. Years 8-10: 0.75% + VAT deducted from distributions to Investors.
Performance fee: 20%, with no hurdle on a deal by deal basis.
Adviser Fees for authorised financial advisers can be facilitated on Application, as agreed with Investors, and in line with COBs rules.
VAT Will be applied where required by prevailing laws.
After you invest and contact us
SyndicateRoom, as Investment Manager, will have ultimate responsibility for managing Investments over their lifetime and for ensuring that there is:
Care for client money and assets in keeping with the FCA’s CASS Client Money & Assets rules and other requirements.
Monitor the portfolio of investee companies, including seeking rights to appoint a board member and observer rights.
Ongoing reporting.
An online 24/7 dashboard through its website with real-time information on performance and SEIS3 forms.
9-5 weekday customer care and access to information.
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