EUVC E706 | Jo Slota-Newson & Marc Sabas, Almanac Ventures: Systemic Deep Tech for Industrial Decarbonisation
Industrial systems are responsible for 75% of global emissions, yet only a quarter of climate-focused VC money flows into them. Not because investors don’t care — but because these systems are hard. They’re interconnected. Capital-intensive. Slow-moving. Technically dense. And deeply under-innovated.
Almanac Ventures is built to change that.
In this episode of the EUVC Podcast, Andreas Munk Holm sits down with Jo Slota-Newson and Marc Sabas, co-founders of Almanac Ventures — a new European seed and pre-seed deep tech fund laser-focused on unlocking decarbonisation in industrial systems through scientific breakthroughs and commercial discipline.
This is a pitch episode — a chance for the EUVC LP & GP community to hear directly what Almanac stands for, how they invest, and why the next decade of industrial innovation will be shaped by specialist deep tech funds with true scientific and financial edge.
Here’s what’s covered:
00:49 | What Almanac Ventures is — a European seed/pre-seed deep-tech fund backing scientific breakthroughs applied to industrial systems
01:31 | The founding team — Jo’s nanoscience PhD + 18 years commercialising deep tech, Marc’s finance → CVC → impact VC journey (and Jo’s 37km Channel swim)
03:52 | The complementary edge — technical rigor meets financial/commercial structuring, evidenced through 45 investments and a 2.3× MOIC track record
05:22 | The industrial innovation gap — 75% of emissions come from industry, yet only ~25% of climate VC targets it (because the systems are hard, complex, and interconnected)
06:11 | Why industry is ripe for deep-tech disruption — 20th-century inefficiencies, high value pools, and the need for performance + cost + decarb together
10:17 | “Deep tech works for venture—if you know where to look” — how to identify capex-efficient, scalable industrial technologies vs. science projects that need different capital
12:25 | Case study: Hot Green — a new compressor architecture enabling industrial heat pumps for 200–400°C processes (F&B, manufacturing) with electrification upside
13:49 | Case study: ReClinker — Cambridge spinout recycling cement inside steel arc furnaces, piggybacking heat, removing the CO₂-heavy chemistry step
15:19 | Do you need to be an operator to invest in deep tech? — why complementary experience (science + venture + corporate + some ops) beats any single “must-have”
18:35 | Investment strategy — first-check investor at TRL 4–7, pan-Europe, €300k–€1M tickets, aiming for a 25–30 company portfolio with follow-on capacity