Next-gen European computing innovators making breakthroughs in race for green computing as AI demand explodes, new report reveals

White Paper from World Fund, Ignite and Dealroom.co shares exclusive data and market research  - and reveals 54 European Green Computing startups have raised $970M since 2019

• AI-related demand for computing power doubles every three to four months. Switching data centres to green power is not enough - we must redesign how we compute to secure a sustainable, AI-powered future.
  
  
• A new White Paper from World Fund, Ignite, and Dealroom about Green Computing in the AI Era: Innovations tackling computing’s carbon impact, identifies the European innovators making breakthroughs in the future of computing space.
  
  
• These companies are developing computing technologies, material advancements, and software improvements that will reduce the carbon footprint of AI and modern computing – which is essential given that the AI industry is projected to reach a market size of $1.8tn by 2030.
  
  
• The report features new and exclusive market data from Dealroom and detailed market mapping of key investment opportunities – and reveals that 54 European next-gen computing startups with significant climate performance potential have raised $970m since 2019, with $305m raised in 2024 alone.
   

The White Paper is available to read here.

Munich, April 1, 2025: World Fund, Ignite - the renowned startup program established by Intel - and Dealroom today published a timely White Paper exploring the latest developments in the future of computing, including semiconductor (chip) material advancements, computing innovations and software improvements with the power to reduce the carbon footprint of AI.

The White Paper, Green Computing in the AI Era: Innovations tackling computing’s carbon impact, outlines how these technologies can be transformative and identifies the European innovators making great strides with new data and detailed market mapping.

Dealroom data shows funding for European AI soared 32% year-on-year in 2024 to nearly $13 billion, and AI-related demand for computing power is doubling every three to four months. Switching data centres to green power is not enough – we must redesign how we compute to secure a sustainable, AI-powered future.

Semiconductor materials, like traditional silicon-based chips, are reaching their limits in efficiency, heat management, and power consumption. Without new computing solutions, energy costs, carbon taxes, and emission targets may render current computing models unsustainable. The White Paper explains why, unless we invest in such solutions and scale them in the near future, it will be impossible to achieve decarbonisation.

The White Paper highlights three key investment opportunity areas in this space:

• Semiconductor Material Innovations: Leveraging new materials like Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC) to enhance efficiency
• Computing Technology Innovations: Investing in quantum computing, neuromorphic computing, and optical computing to drive energy efficiency
• Software Architecture Improvements: Optimising software to reduce energy consumption through advanced algorithms and data management techniques

As revealed in the White Paper, the underlined 65 green computing startups have already raised $1.5b. The report also unveils that 54 European next-gen computing startups with significant climate performance potential have raised $970m since 2019. Most of these computing startups are at an early stage, with over half launched in the last five years and 12 launched in the past year alone. Additionally, figures shared in the report show that 2024 was the best year for European green computing startup fundraising, with $305m raised by early and breakout-stage companies. This new data exemplifies how green computing is an emerging and rapidly developing sector that deserves greater attention – and shows that Europe is a leader in this field.

European companies identified include, among others, GaN Systems, Space Forge, IQM, and Black Semiconductor. View our interactive map on Dealroom here. 

Daria Saharova, General Partner at World Fund:  “We face an urgent challenge: delivering a decarbonised, AI-powered future. We must develop and finance widely applicable new computing technologies that can be commercialised rapidly and capture sufficient market share. European companies are making great strides and deserve wider recognition. We must act decisively to support these innovative solutions.”

Markus Bohl, Ignite Managing Director Europe: “Driving Innovation requires a healthy ecosystem of startups, corporates, investors and supporters. Europe needs to catch up and Ignite, the deep tech startup growth program for disruptive technologies drives exactly such close collaboration of all stakeholders. Many innovations at Ignite indirectly contribute to sustainability, saving energy, and thus reducing emissions. “

Lorenzo Chiavarini, Head of Research at Dealroom:  “The massive rise in investment into the race for AI means we need to develop next-generation computing hardware and software. We’re seeing innovation in this sector growing significantly, with many new startups launching and investors pouring hundreds of millions into promising companies in Europe alone. These companies are key to decarbonisation, and they must be supported to scale if Europe is to claim a significant share of this huge emerging market.” 

‍ENDS

*DISCLAIMER: this article has been produced utilising third-party data sources, linked above in the white paper.‍

‍About World Fund:

‍World Fund is the leading Europe-focused climate venture capital fund established by Daria Saharova, Danijel Višević, Tim Schumacher, and Craig Douglas. World Fund invests in scalable businesses with significant climate performance potential (CPP). The focus is on the sectors with the greatest need for decarbonisation technologies: energy, buildings, manufacturing, transport, food, agriculture, and land use. World Fund is backing those entrepreneurs who are building tech for a regenerative world.‍

About Ignite
Ignite was originally established as Intel's global startup program and is now expanding to include other leading players from the semiconductor industry. Ignite is one of the world’s leading accelerators for early-stage deep tech startups developing IP-heavy breakthrough innovation.. The program has a strong focus on the future of computing, specifically AI, ML, chip design, advanced manufacturing, security & privacy, and data, cloud & edge infrastructure. While being non-dilutive, acceptance to the program is highly selective (< 3% acceptance rate). Since the program’s launch in 2019, the 187 participating startups have raised a combined $2.6b in funding after the program, and exited for more than $1.3b.

About Dealroom‍

Dealroom.co is the global startup and venture capital intelligence platform. The platform is the foremost global data provider on startup, early-stage and growth company ecosystems. Founded in Amsterdam in 2013, it works with many of the world's most prominent investors, entrepreneurs and government organisations to provide transparency. Dealroom.co tracks the most promising companies, technologies and ecosystems, and its clients include many of the world’s foremost organisations. Dealroom partners closely with local tech ecosystem development agencies and enablers, to create a comprehensive multidimensional blueprint of the tech ecosystem, including capital, talent, innovation, entrepreneurship and overall economic dynamism.