Growth Equity Fund · European Cleantechs · Series A&B

Where proven technology meets missing capital

Victory is industrial

Nikaïa Capital finances European cleantechs at the precise moment growth capital is structurally absent — from first industrial contract to full market deployment.

Our Approach Meet the Team →
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About

The name behind the mission

Νίκη · Nikaïa

"Victory" — from the Ancient Greek nikē (νίκη)

◈

A name rooted in the Mediterranean

Nikaïa is the ancient Greek name for Nice — a city born on the shores of the Mediterranean, where the gold of mimosa meets the deep blue of the sea. These two colours, carried through the centuries, are the very colours of our identity.

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Victory — the real kind

For us, victory is not a metaphor. It means succeeding in the industrial transition — financing the scale-up of European cleantechs at the precise moment when capital is most needed and most scarce. Every company we back is a step toward that victory: a cleaner, more sovereign, more resilient European economy.

€100M
Target fund size — first close 2026
10–15
Target portfolio companies
Series A&B
Preferred entry stage
3
Complementary sector pillars
In one minute
01

Why this fund

European cleantechs are not short of technology. They are short of the right investor at the right stage. Most funds arrive too early — or too late. Nikaïa Capital operates at the precise inflection point where technology is proven, the first industrial contracts are signed, and growth capital is the only missing variable. That is not a gap we stumbled upon. It is the gap we were built for.

02

Why this team

Xavier, Ibrahim and Yoann met at HEC Paris — long before Nikaïa Capital existed. They have sat across the table from each other as lawyers, financiers and operators. That shared history matters: it means alignment on the hard decisions, not just the easy ones. Around them, an advisory board with rare industrial credibility: EPC programmes up to €1.4 billion, direct access to the world's largest energy groups through OGCI, and 15 years of decarbonisation projects delivered on the ground. We do not just understand these industries. We have worked in them.

03

Why now

History does not repeat itself — but it rhymes. The steam engine did not save the planet. It transformed how the world produced, moved and traded. The electrification of industry did the same. What we are witnessing today is not a political agenda or a compliance exercise. It is the third great industrial revolution — driven by economics, by resource constraints, and by the sheer scale of capital flowing into new production systems.

We are not impact investors. We are investors who have read the industrial cycle correctly. In 2025, European cleantech fundraising contracted 41% — not because the opportunity disappeared, but because generalist capital retreated. The companies that will define the next industrial era are raising today, under conditions that favour disciplined, specialist investors. The window is open. It will not stay open.

04

Why sustainable

We chose discipline over scale. Three senior investment professionals full-time, a lean cost structure, and operational experts brought in at the intensity each situation demands — not carried permanently on the fund's expense ratio. This is not a constraint. It is a deliberate alignment of interest: we grow when our portfolio companies grow. Not before, not regardless.

The gap, documented

The numbers
speak for themselves

Sources: Banque de France · DG Trésor · France Invest · Bpifrance

−41%
European cleantech fundraising in 2025
France Invest / PitchBook
60%+
of industrial scale-ups reporting critical financing difficulties
Banque de France
2,900
French greentechs ready to industrialise — structurally underfunded
DG Trésor / Bpifrance
€150Bn+
annual investment needed in Europe to meet 2030 climate targets
European Commission

This is not a cyclical dip. It is a structural gap, documented by public authorities across Europe. The capital is not there — and the window for disciplined, specialist investors has rarely been wider.

Investment Thesis

Bridging the scale-up gap in European cleantech

The cleantech financing market is structurally asymmetric: capital concentrates at both ends of the lifecycle — seed and late stage — leaving the industrialisation phase chronically underserved. Nikaïa Capital was built specifically to fill this gap, with a minority, active, and complementary approach to other market participants.

'The competitive landscape is highly fragmented, but overwhelmingly focused on pre-seed and late stage. The scale-up phase remains structurally underserved — bridging this gap is our founding mission.'

The return logic

Investing at Series A–B in companies with proven technology and first industrial contracts is, historically, the most favourable entry point in the venture-to-growth continuum: technology risk is behind them, but institutional capital has not yet repriced the asset. Add to this a market moment where generalist capital has retreated — compressing entry valuations further still. That gap between real risk and perceived risk is where returns are built. Our industrial expertise is not a marketing argument. It is the analytical tool that allows us to quantify that risk more precisely than a generalist fund can — and therefore to price it correctly, move with conviction, and hold with confidence.

01

Minority positioning

Minority stakes from Series A onwards, preserving founders' control while providing a hands-on industrial partner with real sector credibility.

02

Differentiated industrial expertise

A team combining financial rigour with operational understanding of energy, aerospace, maritime and heavy industry — not just capital, but informed conviction.

03

Cross-portfolio value creation

Active synergy strategy across holdings: technology transfers, client introductions, and industrial pooling across the fund's three pillars.

04

Proprietary origination network

Privileged deal flow access built on 25+ cumulative years of activity across France and across Europe — relationships that generate opportunities before they reach the market.

Sector Strategy

Three pillars to decarbonise the real economy

Three sectors. Not three bets — one thesis.

The industrial transition requires three things to happen simultaneously: intelligent components to make it possible, clean energy to power it, and decarbonised industrial processes to deliver it at scale. Remove any one of the three, and the transition stalls.

These pillars are not independent markets. They are a value chain — and our portfolio is built to reflect that. Each investment we make in one pillar creates a potential client, supplier or technology partner for the others.

They are also the sectors our team knows from the inside: as lawyers in M&A transactions, as aerospace engineers, as EPC directors, as energy strategy advisors. We did not choose these sectors because they are fashionable. We chose them because we can read them.

01

Electronics & Robotics

The enabling technologies of the industrial transition: semiconductors for cleantech factories, robotics and automation for energy efficiency, AI applied to decarbonised production processes. Supported by the EU Chips Act (€43Bn in public and private investment by 2030).

Semiconductors Robotics Industrial AI
02

Decarbonised Energy

High scale-up potential decarbonised energy sources: green hydrogen (France targeting European leadership by 2030), Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF — 65% of aviation emissions reductions per IATA), and next-generation nuclear technologies (SMR).

Green Hydrogen SAF Nuclear SMR Biomass
03

Industrial Applications

Decarbonisation of carbon-intensive sectors: aerospace and maritime mobility, hybrid propulsion, heavy manufacturing. Markets facing inevitable transformation, driven by tightening regulation and strong institutional demand.

Aerospace Maritime Hybrid propulsion Industry
Why invest with Nikaïa Capital

Four reasons to invest in our fund

A structural — not cyclical — opportunity

The scale-up financing gap is not a market correction. It is a structural feature of European cleantech capital markets, documented by public authorities and confirmed by our own origination. The entry window is rare, lightly contested, and durable.

De-risked technology, high growth potential

We invest in companies that have already proven their technology and secured early customers. The venture risk is largely behind them. What lies ahead is the industrial scale-up — where our team's operational expertise creates the most value.

Impact and returns, structurally aligned

The companies we back are not making a trade-off between financial performance and decarbonisation impact. They are building the industrial infrastructure that makes both possible — and regulation is making the market come to them.

A portfolio built as a system

Our three pillars are not independent bets. They are designed to generate cross-portfolio synergies — a robotics holding that optimises a hydrogen plant, a semiconductor company that enables cleaner propulsion. The portfolio compounds. The returns reflect that.

Our Edge

Four differentiators that LPs don't find elsewhere

Most cleantech funds compete at the same stage, with generalist teams, across the same geographies. Nikaïa Capital was designed around four deliberate choices that together define a genuinely differentiated position.

01

The scale-up stage — exclusively

We do not invest at seed. We do not invest at late stage. We operate in the Series A–B window where technology risk has been largely de-risked by early investors, but industrial scale-up capital is structurally absent. This is not a compromise — it is a deliberate focus on the highest-conviction segment of the cleantech lifecycle.

02

European cleantechs — with a home court advantage

We invest exclusively in European companies, in markets we know deeply: France and the broader EU regulatory landscape. This is not a constraint — it is an edge. Our network, our deal flow, and our ability to open doors for portfolio companies are all grounded in relationships built over decades in these markets.

03

A coherently constructed portfolio

Our three pillars — enabling technologies, decarbonised energy, and industrial applications — are not independent silos. They are designed to generate cross-portfolio synergies: a robotics holding that optimises a hydrogen factory; a semiconductor company that enables cleaner aerospace propulsion. The portfolio is built as a system, not a collection of bets.

04

A team shaped by the industries it invests in

Our management team and advisors come directly from the sectors we back: nuclear energy, aerospace, maritime transport, industrial decarbonisation and climate strategy. They have run large-scale infrastructure projects, directed procurement and supply chains for major energy groups, built corporate venturing platforms, and managed complex programmes across multiple geographies. This is not sector familiarity — it is sector fluency. It means we assess what a team can truly deliver, stress-test assumptions a financial investor would take at face value, and create value that capital alone cannot.

Market traction

Active pipeline across all three pillars

Nikaïa Capital is currently raising its first fund, with a first close targeted for 2026. Our pipeline of 17 companies — built through direct origination and proprietary relationships with major corporate venture arms — reflects the breadth and depth of the European cleantech scale-up landscape. We go to the market ourselves, before opportunities reach intermediaries.

17
Companies under active review
8
Priority opportunities (TRL 8–9)
4
Countries represented
3
Pillars covered
Pillar 1 · Electronics & Robotics
Programmable electromagnetic surfaces for SATCOM · Semantic 3D perception for LiDAR · Miniaturised on-site gas analysis · Massively parallel AI processors · Space debris tracking
Pillar 2 · Decarbonised Energy
Synthetic fuels (SAF) from CO₂ and green hydrogen · Hydrogen & ammonia cracking membranes · Helium and hydrogen production · Flash sintering for advanced materials · Lithium-ion battery systems for electric aviation
Pillar 3 · Industrial Applications
Second-life EV battery storage (BESS) · Real-time industrial energy optimisation · Hydrogen-electric propulsion for regional aircraft · Hybrid propulsion for UAVs and light aircraft

All companies anonymised. Full pipeline details available under NDA to qualified investors upon request.

Management team

A team built on industrial experience

Nikaïa Capital is raising its first fund. Our team is built around a deliberate choice: practitioners before investors. Xavier has held board mandates across 50+ transactions at Bridgepoint, one of Europe's leading private equity firms. Ibrahim brings 20 years of senior finance and transformation leadership across international organisations. Yoann scaled a €30M aerospace portfolio at Expleo with 100% revenue growth in two years. They have run the industries we now invest in — and our advisory board extends that depth further still.

Law · Finance · Engineering
Three disciplines, one team — covering the full investment lifecycle
Practitioners first
Every member has operated in the sectors we back — before investing in them
Xavier De Cillia
Xavier De Cillia
LinkedIn
Founder & CEO

Two decades at the intersection of investment decision-making, M&A and fund structuring across France, Germany and Luxembourg. At Bridgepoint, one of Europe's leading private equity firms, Xavier held board mandates and senior legal counsel roles across more than 50 transactions spanning France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and beyond — in sectors ranging from industrial technology to healthcare and business services. His experience covers the full investment lifecycle: deal structuring, portfolio governance and exit execution, including transactions such as Calypso, eFront, Evac, Primonial and Vitamin Well. His experience bridges the legal, financial and operational dimensions of private equity that most fund managers separate.

Executive MBA HEC Paris (Energy) · Qualified lawyer, France · M&A Certificate, HEC
Ibrahim Boodhoo
Ibrahim Boodhoo
LinkedIn
CFO & Investor Relations

His background spans audit, consulting and large-scale corporate transformation — including senior finance, IT and compliance roles at Dentsu International across multiple geographies. At Nikaïa Capital, this translates directly: the companies we back are not just raising capital, they are undergoing rapid organisational transformation. Ibrahim's experience in steering complex programmes through that kind of inflection point is precisely what our portfolio companies will need.

Paris Sorbonne · ESSEC · HEC Paris (EMBA)
Yoann Fauchon
Yoann Fauchon
LinkedIn
VP Aerospace

Executive leader with 20 years in Aerospace & Defense Business Development and Operations. At Expleo Group, scaled a €30M portfolio with +100% revenue growth in two years (200 FTEs, 31% gross margin). Earlier roles include BU Director at Segula Technologies and Senior Account Manager at Cobham Aerospace (Thales). Currently leading a Search Fund to acquire and scale a high-potential SME/ETI in the Aerospace & Defense manufacturing supply chain, while serving as venture advisor and mentor to aerospace deeptech start-ups.

Executive MBA HEC Paris (Energy) · MSc Computer Aided Engineering, Cranfield University · MSc Mechanical Engineering, ESTIA Grande École
Advisory Board

Senior advisors with sector authority

Our advisory board brings deep operational expertise across energy, industrial decarbonisation, mobility and climate strategy — sector leaders who have run programmes, directed organisations, and shaped policy across Europe and beyond.

Vincent Bourdier
Vincent Bourdier
LinkedIn
Industrial Executive & Energy Advisor

At Nikaïa Capital, he brings the investor community what most advisory boards lack: a leader who has actually built, commissioned and turned around capital-intensive industrial systems — and knows how to assess whether a cleantech can survive contact with reality.

Engineer and HEC Paris EMBA graduate (Energy, ESMT Berlin & HEC Doha) with over 20 years of international leadership in energy, nuclear and complex infrastructure. Held full P&L responsibility across EPC programmes and industrial portfolios in Europe, Asia and Africa — including programmes up to €1.4B and portfolios exceeding €3B. Currently CEO of the Decarbonisation & Energy Transition Division at Groupe Galilé (37 SMEs, €250M revenue). Former roles: BU Director at ADF Nucléaire, Executive Project Director at CNIM (ITER nuclear fusion, 30% margin delivered), Programme Director at Alstom Power (Flamanville EPR, Bulgaria €1.4B EPC, India & China).

EMBA HEC Paris (Energy, ESMT Berlin & HEC Doha) · MSc Engineering, CESI Bordeaux · HND Electrotechnics, Saintes
Mehdi Gaboune
Mehdi Gaboune
LinkedIn
Mobility & Decarbonisation Advisor

What Mehdi brings to Nikaïa Capital is rare in investment circles: a practitioner's understanding of how mobility systems actually transform — from infrastructure constraints to procurement cycles and public-sector decision-making.

Advisor to investment funds and public sector organisations focused on the decarbonisation of energy and mobility systems. Brings 15 years of experience in transport and mobility, with expertise in infrastructure, large-scale transformation programmes, and operational performance improvement across Europe and the Middle East. Supports leadership teams in translating strategy into execution and delivering sustainable, future-ready mobility solutions.

Engineering Degree, ENSEEIHT · Executive MBA HEC Paris
Julien Perez
Julien Perez
LinkedIn
Climate & Energy Strategy Advisor

Julien brings Nikaïa Capital a vantage point few advisors hold: strategic insight into how the world's largest energy companies are translating climate commitments into investment decisions — and what that means for the cleantechs that want to become their partners. He acts in a personal capacity, independently of his institutional roles.

Managing Director of OGCI and OGDC, responsible for overall strategy, execution and institutional relations across both organisations. Previously headed Climate & Energy Services at EY, coordinated climate change actions at TotalEnergies, and managed environmental liabilities at Aecom. A recognised expert in low-carbon strategy design and implementation for major corporations and public institutions.

Environmental Engineering, AgroParisTech · MSc Energy & Climate Economics, Dauphine · Advanced degree, Yale · EMBA HEC Paris
Investor Relations

Investing in Nikaïa Capital

We have built Nikaïa Capital around a clear conviction: European cleantech scale-ups are chronically underfinanced at the moment they need it most. Our fund is designed for investors who share this conviction and want exposure to the energy and industrial transition through a disciplined, hands-on growth equity strategy.

Series A–B
Preferred entry stage
10–15
Portfolio companies targeted
7–10 yrs
Investment horizon
Fund strategy
  • →Minority growth equity positions
  • →Three complementary sector pillars
  • →Cross-portfolio value creation approach
  • →Proprietary origination, no intermediaries
LP terms & governance
  • →Quarterly reporting with direct management access
  • →Co-investment rights available on select deals
  • →Returns in line with mid-market cleantech PE
  • →Open to family offices, funds of funds, corporate venture companies & public investors
Family Offices

We offer direct access to the management team, co-investment rights on select deals, and a relationship-first approach to investor reporting.

Corporate Venture

We actively structure co-investment opportunities alongside our portfolio companies — giving corporate partners privileged access to deal flow before it reaches the broader market.

Anchor Investors

We are seeking one or two anchor LPs to shape the fund's governance alongside the management team. Anchor commitments may receive preferential economics and a seat at the advisory committee.

Contact

contact@nikaia-capital.com
Request a meeting →
For founders & startups

Are you a European cleantech scaling up?

We invest in companies that have proven their technology and are ready to industrialise. If you are raising a Series A or B in energy, deeptech, aerospace, maritime or industrial decarbonisation — we want to hear from you. We bring more than capital: operational expertise, industrial networks, and a team that understands your sector from the inside.

What we look for
  • ✓European company, Series A or B stage
  • ✓Technology validated — now scaling production or commercial reach
  • ✓Operating in energy, mobility, deeptech or industrial decarbonisation
  • ✓Looking for a minority partner with genuine sector expertise
What we bring
  • →Growth capital without loss of control
  • →Sector engineers who understand your technology
  • →Industrial network for market access and partnerships
  • →Cross-portfolio synergies with complementary holdings

Send us your deck

contact@nikaia-capital.com
Submit your pitch deck →

Our investor base includes corporate venture arms from leading industrial groups — giving our portfolio companies direct access to potential clients, partners and co-investors from day one.

All submissions treated confidentially.

News & Insights

Sector intelligence from the front lines

Press coverage and sector insights curated by the Nikaïa Capital team — tracking the energy transition, deeptech scale-up and industrial decarbonisation across Europe.

We read widely. Below is a selection of articles and reports that have shaped our thinking on the European cleantech scale-up landscape — from financing gaps to industrial policy, from sovereign semiconductors to the decarbonisation of mobility.

Energy Efficiency
Sector 13 April 2026

OGCI publishes report on heat pump applications to improve energy efficiency in oil and gas

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative explores how heat pump technologies can capture and upgrade waste heat in oil and gas operations — turning energy losses into reusable resources and reducing the need for additional energy input, in support of net zero by 2050.

OGCI Read article →
ESG
15 April 2026
Guide de bonnes pratiques de collaboration entre co-investisseurs sur les enjeux de durabilité

France Invest et KPMG publient un guide opérationnel pour structurer la collaboration entre co-investisseurs sur les enjeux ESG dans les opérations de capital-investissement et de dette privée.

France Invest / KPMG Read →
Cleantech
2 April 2026
5e édition de l'Observatoire des Greentech françaises de Bpifrance

L'écosystème Greentech français compte 2 900 startups et a inauguré 46 nouvelles usines en 2025 — malgré une contraction des levées de fonds à €1,3Md, en repli de 41% par rapport à 2024.

Bpifrance Read →
Sector
3 February 2026
Horizon Europe: Helping Turn European Support Into French Innovation Success

Bpifrance, as National Contact Point, bridges French innovators and the €95.5bn Horizon Europe programme — aiming to close the gap between France's 17% EU budget contribution and its 11% share of Horizon funds.

Bpifrance Read →
Sector
1 October 2025
Venture capital: in 10 years, Bpifrance has made a major contribution to the growth of the French start-up financing ecosystem

Over a decade, Bpifrance invested €10.5bn in 500 start-ups directly and 180 partner funds — helping multiply French start-up fundraising nearly ninefold, from €0.9bn to €8.3bn between 2013 and 2023.

Bpifrance Read →
Semiconductors
1 August 2025
Thales, Radiall et Foxconn s'allient pour une usine de semi-conducteurs en France

Thales, Radiall et Foxconn unissent leurs forces pour créer en France un site OSAT (assemblage et test de semi-conducteurs) visant 100 millions de System In Package par an d'ici 2031 — un investissement de plus de €250M soutenu par le Chips Act européen.

Inspire France Read →
VC & Growth
June 2025
Activité 2024 des acteurs français du Venture & Growth — France Invest

Dans un contexte encore complexe, les investissements venture & growth français ont rebondi de 38% en 2024, atteignant €5Md — portés par une reprise des opérations de grande taille. Les levées progressent de 34% à €6,8Md, malgré une baisse du nombre de fonds.

France Invest Read →
Finance
September 2025
Situation financière des start-up françaises en 2024 — Banque de France

Malgré une baisse des levées de fonds de 7%, l'écosystème start-up français reste dynamique : chiffre d'affaires en hausse de 13% à €25Md, trésorerie préservée à €11Md, et déficit d'exploitation en réduction de 17% — avec 107 800 emplois au total.

Banque de France Read →
Industriel
7 November 2024
Les difficultés d'accès au financement des start-up industrielles laissent présager des défaillances

Plus de 60% des start-up industrielles déclarent avoir de grandes difficultés à lever des fonds, et plus d'une sur deux dispose de moins de six mois de trésorerie — un état de santé qualifié de "préoccupant" par Start Industrie, qui fédère 2 500 jeunes pousses.

Le Journal des Entreprises Read →
Policy
February 2021
Capital-risque et développement des start-ups françaises — Direction générale du Trésor

La DG Trésor documente le phénomène de "vallée de la mort" des start-ups françaises : les financements se concentrent aux stades early et late, laissant la phase d'industrialisation chroniquement sous-capitalisée — le segment précis qu'adresse Nikaïa Capital.

DG Trésor Read →

Spotted a relevant article? Send it to contact@nikaia-capital.com and we may feature it here.