London’s AP Ventures closes €269.62 million third fund to back early-stage industrial and energy tech startups

AP Ventures, a London-based independent VC firm investing in early-stage industrial and energy technologies, today announced the final close of AP Ventures Fund III LP (Fund III). 

The VC firm has raised €269.62 million ($300 million) in commitments for Fund III from a “diverse group” of existing and new institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds, corporates, pension funds, and family offices. Since its initial close in 2024, Fund III has backed 13 portfolio companies developing technologies focused on industrial and energy systems.

“This final close reflects the confidence our existing and new investors place in AP Ventures’ ability to identify and support exceptional technology companies. Strong support from returning investors, alongside new institutional partners, allows us to keep backing the technologies industry needs to operate more productively and securely, from the materials it depends on to the processes and data that run it,” said Andrew Hinkly, Founder and Managing Partner at AP Ventures.

AP Ventures began as part of Anglo American Platinum’s PGM (Platinum Group Metal) Investment Programme, and in 2018 it launched as an independent venture capital fund to invest in PGM applications. As cornerstone investors, Anglo American Platinum and South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC) each committed $100 million to AP Ventures.

Anglo American Platinum Limited is a member of the Anglo American plc Group and is the world’s leading primary producer of platinum group metals, whereas the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is a public asset management firm wholly owned by the South African government, with the Minister of Finance as the sole shareholder representative of the government.  

Led by Hinkly and Kevin Eggers, AP Ventures invests globally in early-stage technologies reshaping the industrial economy, including advanced materials, industrial processes, and energy systems.

According to the firm, this fundraise comes as demand accelerates for high-performing infrastructure across energy and industry. It notes that development and operations of industrial and energy systems are being reshaped by rising power demand, tightening supply chains for critical minerals and materials, and the growing role of AI, data and automation in industrial operations. This creates a growing opportunity for technologies that boost productivity and strengthen supply security, AP Ventures says.

Fund III invests in early-stage technology companies and works alongside founders through commercialisation, industrial deployment and scale-up.  Its strategic focus spans low-carbon molecules, including hydrogen, across production, storage, transport and end use; carbon capture and utilisation; and circularity and advanced recycling, with applications in energy-intensive, hard-to-abate sectors such as chemicals, steel, aviation and heavy mobility.

Its present portfolio of 13 companies includes: 

Teragen Energy: a Southborough-based startup that develops metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells that can provide clean, on-site power for data centres and other critical infrastructure.

Aether Fuels: a Chicago-based startup that converts industrial waste gases, biogas and waste biomass into drop-in liquid fuels, giving aviation and shipping a new, locally sourced fuel supply.

CREW Carbon: a US-based startup whose mineral-based process replaces conventional wastewater treatment chemicals, cutting operating costs and supply-chain exposure for water utilities while generating high-quality carbon removal credits. 

Rosy Soil: a US-based sustainable soil company which sells patented, peat-free potting soils from biochar, replacing a finite, increasingly restricted raw material while improving plant health and sequestering carbon.

Reclinker: a Cardiff-based startup which harnesses the Electric Arc Furnace process used in steel production and recycling to convert used cement into on-specification Ordinary Portland Cement.

Lydian Labs: a Boston-based startup which uses modular, load-following reactors to convert electricity, water and carbon dioxide into synthetic fuels, enabling flexible, distributed fuel production that tracks variable power supply.

Rubi Laboratories: a San Francisco-based startup which converts carbon dioxide into high-purity cellulose for textile fibres such as viscose and lyocell, giving brands a feedstock independent of forestry and agricultural supply chains.

“We focus on backing technically differentiated companies that solve real operational problems across the industries and value chains in which we invest. Whether improving energy efficiency, resource productivity, safety, environmental performance or supply-chain resilience, this combination of technical rigour and commercial pull is what continues to define AP Ventures’ approach,” said Eggers, founder and Partner at AP Ventures.

Headquartered in London, with offices in Johannesburg and San Francisco, AP Ventures initially invests at Seed and Series A stages and works closely with founders to help them navigate technical and commercial milestones and connect them with a global network of financial and industrial partners. 

The firm connects its Limited Partners and portfolio companies to a specialised network that draws on the collective expertise of its team, investors, and broader industrial community.

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