EQT proudly says it wants to make the world a better place with every investment. That means every portfolio pick matters. Let’s meet the EQT Ventures-backed companies who are set on making the next 30 years matter.

Eco-friendly travel

Candela is a Swedish startup that uses hydrofoil technology – the same method that makes windsurfers at the beach look like they’re floating a few feet above the water – to make faster and more efficient ships and crafts. The Candela P-12 is a 30-person passenger ferry that, by hovering above the surface of the water, uses 80% less energy than traditional ships.

Einride is also focusing on transportation. The Stockholm-founded startup helps shipping companies drastically reduce their emissions through a first-of-its-kind electric ecosystem, which includes electric, autonomous fleets, a digital operating system, and intelligent charging networks. Einride has made history before, being the first company to successfully put a self-driving heavy-duty electric vehicle on a public road in 2019.

Heart Aerospace, meanwhile, aims to make the greenest, most affordable and accessible form of transport on the planet. Case in point: the planned ES-30 plane has a range of 200km, while producing zero – yes, zilch – emissions while it’s in the air.

Going a little further up in the sky, The Exploration Company believes that space travel shouldn’t just be a vacation option for the likes of Elon, Jeff, and Richard. That’s why the company is working to build the future of space travel in an accessible, sustainable, and cooperative way. Namely, by creating reusable spaceships that bring cargo and humans to and from space.

Food, glorious food

Supplant focuses on, as it calls it, “the second half of the harvest” – overlooked crop leftovers like corn cobs, oat hulls, and rice stalks. It turns those often wasted foods into useful ingredients, the first of which is a pioneering foodstuff capable of reducing sugar across mainstream food products.

Formo has assessed the many problems with the dairy industry, and come up with a solution: precision fermentation technology. By “milking the teeny udders of microorganisms”, Formo reprograms the DNA of certain enzymes to make proteins effectively identical to those of our traditional cheeses.

Insempra unveiled an exciting ingredient innovation this year: an intense, pure, natural raspberry aroma made using biotechnology. This product would usually be chemically manufactured using synthetic processes, starting from petrochemical-derived compounds, which are detrimental to the environment.

The world of work

Handshake sees nepotism and networks as a major issue. So to rewrite the mantra “it’s not what you know, but who you know”, the startup’s app has removed many of the barriers that students face when applying for their first jobs and internships, allowing their skills and accolades to speak for themselves.

On the other end of the process, Beamery has used AI to create a talent platform, designed to help recruiters and companies hire candidates faster, improve employee retention, and tighten up organizational efficiency.

Juni is a neobank for modern commerce. Tired of complicated, time-consuming and poorly designed financial tools, the company’s two Swedish founders built an all-in-one solution that levels the playing field for mid-market businesses, giving them access to the financial tools they need to operate globally.

Payrails, meanwhile, noticed that it’s cumbersome for businesses to navigate complex international regulations when it comes to taking global payments. The platform simplifies the process by empowering high-growth businesses to easily accept payments and disburse payments from around the world, while streamlining their financial operations via a unified platform.

Lenus Health has built a platform that helps health and fitness coaches easily blitz through their admin tasks, giving them more time to focus on improving the wellness of customers. Lenus is already on the national radar: the company raised Denmark’s biggest-ever Series A round in 2021.

Generative Engineering allows engineers to plug in CADs, models, and data sets to quickly unlock hundreds of alternative options for developing their projects. The cutting-edge algorithm should make it faster, cheaper, and easier for engineers to put concepts into action, allowing them to react faster to the evolving needs of the world.

For more high-adrenaline work, Varjo uses retinal-resolution headsets to create virtual and mixed-reality simulations. These mimic high-pressure work environments, so workers can hone their skills at home instead of taking on the risk of practicing in real life. This includes sessions for fighter pilots, racing drivers, nuclear power plant operators, and medical practitioners.

Frontify turns everything “brand” – think brand guideline documents, examples, and legacy learnings – into customized portals. By streamlining the process, Frontify helps companies create stronger brand images, and counts Uber, Microsoft, and Kia among its customers.

Kive has created an AI-powered library that helps teams manage the visual side of pitching, so they can communicate their ideas in the most memorable way possible. The library is designed to make it easier to discover creative assets, find inspiration, and pitch creative ideas.

Qevlar uses AI to improve cyber security for in-house operations teams. The technology can analyze all types of potential attacks and detect malware, eliminating redundant tasks so securing teams can focus on responding instead.

evroc is building a secure, sovereign, sustainable hyperscale cloud based in Europe, allowing the region to reduce its dependency on overseas cloud computing solutions. The reason: Europe’s good at wine and cheese, says evroc, but the infrastructure to create equally smooth and indulgent tech could push the region forward in the coming years and decades.

Personal finance

Cleo understands that real people don't think about money in terms of jargon, spreadsheets, or equations. The US-based startup has created a platform that makes finance accessible and empowering, and also a little entertaining thanks to a sassy, human tone of voice.

With a focus on debt, Anyfin has created a sequence of clever services that help borrowers lower their interest rates on loans and credit card repayments, so they can clear debts faster while learning more about their wider financial health.

Treecard helps shoppers help the planet as they shop, with a tree planted for every $50 spent. The company is also making it more rewarding to live an eco-friendly life: a tree is planted for every 10,000 steps taken by a customer, and rewards are earned for taking the bus and shopping with certified B Corps, to name a couple of examples. The mission is epitomized by the sustainably-sourced wooden debit card.

Life improvements

Parloa aims to fix a common irk of modern-day life: customer care services. Using AI, the company endeavors to help consumers find solutions faster when they call customer service, while streamlining conversations and making the whole process smoother. Parloa will also make work more pleasant for the agents at the other end of the line.

Instabee tackles the other annoying problem that unites millions: the frustration of missing a parcel delivery. Instabee’s sustainable solutions like parcel lockers and smart delivery networks – powered by biofuel and electricity – help thousands of online merchants reach over 45 million customers across Europe, offering more reliable solutions than the “promise” of ringing the doorbell sometime between 9 and 7.

Nothing is following the North Star of making “tech that just works”. No buzzwords, no silly device names, no murky privacy agreements. Nothing’s technology is intuitive, natural and human, even as it gets increasingly high-spec. Take their Phone (2), which does everything your smartphone should do, while minimizing screen time, distractions and irritations.

Natural Cycles is a leading women’s digital health company that developed the world’s first birth control app. The NC° app is powered by an algorithm that uses body temperature to determine each user’s daily fertility status. As a medical device, the NC° app is cleared by the FDA in the United States and certified to be used as a contraceptive in the UK, EU, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and South Korea.

Finally, in the daunting pursuit of unlimited learning, Sana is building an AI-bolstered learning platform and knowledge assistant – services that are trusted by the world’s most pioneering companies, from Electrolux and Merck to Alan and Svea Sola.

Climate change and waste

Verkor believes that low-carbon batteries should be the power source of the future, especially when set against the climate issues in the transport industry. The pan-French startup is taking immediate steps to create both local and large-scale battery production sites.

ViridiCO2 is an anti-waste startup, which aims to capture unused CO2 before it’s released into the atmosphere. Then, the startup uses it to make much-needed chemicals – a process usually run on fossil fuels. The technology should ultimately lead to cheaper manufacturing costs for chemicals, higher productivity, and a greener production process.