Weekly funding picks, November 2–8: three energy deals
Return finances German grid batteries, Candi Solar signs a facility for Indian businesses, and 6K gets a conditional loan offer for a Tennessee cathode plant.
Return secured €835 million in portfolio financing on November 4, underwritten by Deutsche Bank and Rabobank. The framework lets it finance several German storage sites under one agreement. The first three, totalling 117 MW, are already under construction. Energy companies can contract for capacity across the sites without owning a battery themselves.
Candi Solar’s customers can buy power without buying panels
On November 5, Candi Solar signed a $50 million financing partnership with Pentagreen Capital, which manages the Green Investments Partnership. It targets approximately 400 MWp of solar and storage projects in India. Candi builds and operates the installations; business customers pay for the electricity generated rather than funding a system upfront.
6K gets a conditional loan offer for a Tennessee cathode plant
On November 5, the US Office of Strategic Capital conditionally committed up to $250 million for 6K’s proposed plant in Jackson, Tennessee. Final financing and disbursement depend on appropriations, due diligence and other approvals. The plant would use microwave plasma to make cathode material for lithium-ion batteries.
The three financing announcements
Sources
All rounds in this edition
| Company | Amount | Round | Sector · country | Investors | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lazzaro One Lazzaro One builds intelligence software that turns fragmented maritime and commercial data into operational insights. | Undisclosed | Pre-seed | Enterprise software · Germany | B# | |
| Supa Supa acquires local property management firms and equips their teams with technology for maintenance, service charges and building compliance. | £21M | Seed financing combining equity and debt | Proptech · United Kingdom | 2150 (lead), OpenOcean (lead), Kompas VC | |
| Transtreams Technology Transtreams Technology develops video-processing chips and AI hardware for cloud platforms and edge-computing applications. | CN¥1B | Series B | Hardware · China | Anhui Wenlv Investment, CDH Baifu, Guotai Haitong Kaiyuan, Mingshi Capital, Beigong Investment, Yizhuang Guotou Yitang Shenghe Fund (lead), HKSTP Venture Fund, Jinduo Investment, Huakong Fund, Xiamen Hengxing, Guoshou Changsanjiao Kechuang Fund, Beijing Shunxi, Peikun Capital, Chaohui Capital (lead), Jiuzhi Capital, Qiming Venture Partners (lead), Longxin Venture Capital, Stony Creek Capital, CCB Investment Funds Management, Waterwood Investment Group | |
| Active Intelligence Technologies Active Intelligence Technologies develops implantable brain-computer interfaces to help patients regain communication, movement and sensory function. | CN¥464M | Angel+ | Healthtech · China | China Internet Investment Fund, Yunqi Partners, Shanghai STVC Group (lead), Dalton Venture, Shanghai Sci-Tech Innovation Center Capital, Guotai Haitong, Minjin Investment, BGI Songhe Life Science Fund, Gaorong Ventures (lead), SSCI Leading Fund (lead), Bayland Capital, Guangyao Capital, Pudong Chuangtou, Inno Angel Fund | |
| bit.bio Creates functional, human-relevant cells and models for research, drug discovery, and development | $25M | Series D | Biotech · United Kingdom | M&G Investments, Jonathan Milner | |
| Return Return develops and operates battery storage infrastructure and energy flexibility services across Europe. | €835M | Portfolio debt financing framework | Climate tech · Netherlands | Deutsche Bank, Rabobank | |
| Helium Health Foundation Helium Health Foundation develops maternal healthcare programmes using AI risk identification and links to clinical care. | $2.5M | Google.org grant for HeliumMum — funding confirmation | Healthtech · Nigeria | Google.org | |
| Pliant Pliant provides business payment infrastructure combining commercial cards, payment accounts, foreign exchange and spend management. | $80M | Series C | Fintech · Germany | Motive Partners, Speedinvest (lead), Seaya Nova (lead), Molten Ventures, Illuminate Financial | |
| Sentra Sentra provides enterprise data security software that discovers sensitive information, maps access and governs what people, applications and AI agents can reach. | $150M | Series C | Cybersecurity · United States | Key1 Capital, Zeev Ventures, Capital One Ventures (lead), Bessemer Venture Partners, Munich Re Ventures, Standard Investments | |
| Nooks Nooks develops software that helps sales teams prospect, manage deals and grow customer accounts with AI agents. | $500M | Growth capital commitment | Enterprise software · United States | General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF) | |
| mamun mamun connects businesses and investors through a Shariah-compliant platform for short-term trade finance. | $3M | Seed | Fintech · Oman | Phaze Ventures Oman Fund (lead), Jasoor Ventures | |
| Biograil Biograil develops oral capsules designed to deliver biologic medicines through the stomach wall, offering an alternative route for treatments given by injection. | €20M | Financing round | Biotech · Denmark | HTGF Opportunity, Megatrend Invest, Verve Ventures | |
| Peppermint Robotics Peppermint Robotics builds autonomous robots for commercial floor cleaning and specialised material transport. | Undisclosed | Pre-Series B primary and secondary transaction | Robotics · India | Asiana Fund, Pi Ventures (lead), Crane Venture Partners (lead) | |
| OneStack OneStack provides digital banking, payments and compliance infrastructure for smaller financial institutions. | ₹125M | Equity financing | Fintech · India | Shepherd’s Hill, Pentathlon Ventures, AVNM Ventures | |
| JawBuddy JawBuddy develops guided jaw-exercise software for people managing jaw tension, teeth grinding and related discomfort. | €818K | Pre-seed | Healthtech · Germany | Marc Scheidegger, Christophe Barriolade, Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Sachsen, Jens Kosche, Siegfried Marquardt, Aldrich Huang, HALBZEIT (lead), Guido Sigron | |
| Titan OS Titan OS develops an independent connected-TV operating system and advertising platform. | $46M | Equity financing and credit facility | Media & gaming · Spain | Mangrove Capital Partners, Highland Europe | |
| enza enza provides payments infrastructure for banks and fintech companies in Africa. | $6M | Seed+ | Fintech · United Arab Emirates | 4DX Ventures (lead), Algebra Ventures, Quona Capital, British International Investment | |
| Shortgun Games Shortgun Games is an Indian studio developing original PC and console games, from cooperative indie titles to cinematic action adventures. | Undisclosed | Strategic investment | Media & gaming · India | Mahesh Babu | |
| PowerUp Money A mutual fund advisory platform that helps Indian investors review portfolios, select funds and plan rebalancing. | $10M | Funding extension | Fintech · India | Kae Capital, Blume Ventures, DeVC, 8i Ventures, Accel, Flourish Ventures (lead), Peak XV Partners | |
| Quint Computing Quint Computing develops superconducting quantum processors that suppress errors in the hardware, aiming to make fault-tolerant quantum computing practical for industrial users. | €9.1M | Initial funding | Hardware · Germany | Vsquared Ventures (lead), Quantonation, Faber, Mikko Möttönen, Vanagon Ventures, ZOHO.VC, Nucleus Capital | |
| fal fal provides model APIs and GPU infrastructure for developers building image, video and audio generation into applications. | $1.3B | Series F | AI · United States | Bessemer Venture Partners (lead), NVIDIA, Sound Ventures, T. Rowe Price | |
| CyberKord CyberKord develops AI software that investigates security alerts, simulates fixes and carries out approved actions. | €2.7M | Pre-seed | Cybersecurity · Italy | Plus Partners, Vento, Addendum Capital, 360 Digitaly (lead) | |
| Multipolitan Multipolitan combines private client mobility services with technology for managing travel, residency and cross-border documentation. | $2M | Seed | Travel tech · United Arab Emirates | EmergentX (lead) | |
| The Croffle Guys The Croffle Guys operates quick-service restaurants serving sweet and savoury croffles, a combination of croissants and waffles. | ₹140M | Funding | Foodtech · India | N.A.N Partners, V3 Ventures (lead) | |
| Zhengzhou Qixiang Culture Zhengzhou Qixiang Culture produces and distributes comics, motion comics and animation, using AI tools in its production workflow. | Undisclosed | Equity investment | Media & gaming · China | Guangxi Tencent Venture Capital Co., Ltd. | |
| Quint Computing Quint Computing develops superconducting quantum processors that suppress errors in the hardware, aiming to make fault-tolerant quantum computing practical for industrial users. | €2.2M | EIC Pathfinder grant (disclosed November 3) | Hardware · Germany | European Innovation Council | |
| Hoxton Wealth International wealth management combining financial advisers with a digital planning platform. | $135M | Strategic minority investment | Fintech · United Arab Emirates | Aspirity Partners I | |
| MOVIN MOVIN develops LiDAR-based motion capture hardware and AI that turn human movement into real-time 3D data. | ₩10B | Series A | AI · South Korea | Industrial Bank of Korea, Atinum Investment, NAVER D2SF, Voyager Ventures (Korea), Schmidt, IMM Investment (lead) | |
| iSAGEBOT Builds mobile and multi-arm industrial robots that automate assembly, inspection, packaging and material handling. | Undisclosed | Pre-B | Robotics · China | JIC Investment Co., Ltd., Yunqi Partners, Nantong Investment Management | |
| Traversal Provides AI-powered site reliability engineering for enterprise-grade SRE | $120M | Series B | AI · United States | Redpoint Ventures (lead), Kleiner Perkins (lead), Sequoia Capital, Battery Ventures, Khosla Ventures (lead) |