Key Takeaways
- €4M seed round closed by Berlin-based deep-tech startup Level Nine, led by Visionaries Tomorrow, with participation from Zero Carbon Capital
- Total funding reaches €6.5M (including prior grants and equity), up from a €1M pre-seed raised in late 2023
- The company develops “nanozymes” — modular, synthetic enzyme-mimicking catalysts that can replace fossil-fuel-based chemical processes at industrial scale
- The global chemicals industry generates ~880 million tonnes of CO₂ annually (IEA), making Level Nine’s tech relevant to one of the world’s top-three emitting sectors
Quick Recap
Berlin-based green chemistry startup Level Nine has officially closed a €4M seed funding round, according to an announcement reported by Tech Funding News on March 17, 2026. The round was led by Visionaries Tomorrow, a deep-tech VC firm focused on Europe’s pre-seed and seed landscape, with co-investment from Zero Carbon Capital — the UK-based climate fund that first backed Level Nine at the pre-seed stage. This latest raise brings Level Nine’s total funding to €6.5M, inclusive of public grants from Investitionsbank Berlin and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
What Level Nine Is Actually Building?
Founded by Dr. Emily Sheridan (CTO) and Seadna Quigley (CEO), Level Nine emerged from Humboldt University’s innovation ecosystem in Berlin. The company’s core technology revolves around nanozymes — synthetically engineered catalysts that mimic the function of biological enzymes but are far more robust, cost-effective, and industrially viable.
Natural enzymes are nature’s precision chemical machines, refined over billions of years — but they are notoriously fragile under the high temperatures, pressures, and solvents typical in industrial manufacturing. Level Nine’s nanozymes bridge this gap: they offer enzyme-level precision and selectivity with the stability and scalability of metal catalysts. Using quantum chemistry simulations and AI-guided design, the team engineers these catalysts from first principles rather than modifying natural proteins.
Level Nine’s initial commercial focus is on converting lignin — an abundant, complex agricultural byproduct — into BTX aromatics (benzene, toluene, xylene), high-value chemicals that currently rely almost entirely on fossil-derived naphtha. This pathway could make bio-based BTX commercially competitive for the first time, enabling chemical manufacturers to hit sustainability targets without sacrificing margins.
The seed capital will be deployed to:
- Scale up nanozyme R&D and the proprietary computational design platform
- Advance pilot demonstrations to industrial-scale manufacturing
- Expand the technical team and deepen industrial partnerships
Why This Matters Now?
Green Chemistry at an Inflection Point
The timing of Level Nine’s raise is no accident. The global chemical industry is under unprecedented regulatory and market pressure to decarbonize. The European Union’s Green Deal, tightening CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) rules, and rising corporate sustainability mandates are forcing chemical companies to seek alternatives to petroleum-based feedstocks at scale. The IEA estimates chemical production accounted for 880 million tonnes of CO₂ in 2018, ranking it third globally among industrial emitters.
Yet the existing solutions are inadequate. Traditional catalysts are cheap but blunt; biological enzymes are precise but fragile and expensive. This gap has kept green chemistry economically unviable for most producers — until now. Level Nine’s modular approach, described as the “Lego for catalysts” by Tech Funding News, allows chemical firms to slot their nanozymes into existing infrastructure without costly overhauls — a critical adoption advantage. The company was selected as a Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge finalist in 2025, a major validator of its deep-tech credentials.
Investor momentum in the space is building: Visionaries Tomorrow — which recently also co-led Nyxium’s £2.4M pre-seed — is actively building a portfolio of European industrial deep-tech companies. Zero Carbon Capital’s involvement marks its first continental European investment, a clear signal of cross-border confidence in Level Nine’s platform.
Competitive Landscape
Level Nine enters a field populated by well-funded but differently positioned rivals. The two most directly comparable companies at the early-to-mid stage are EnginZyme (Sweden) and Solugen (USA) — both working at the intersection of biocatalysis and industrial chemistry.
| Feature / Metric | Level Nine (Berlin, DE) | EnginZyme (Stockholm, SE) | Solugen (Houston, TX) |
| Core Technology | Synthetic nanozymes (AI + quantum chemistry design) | Cell-free biomanufacturing using natural enzymes in packed-bed reactors | Chemi-enzymatic platform (engineered enzymes + metal catalysts) |
| Funding Stage | Seed — €6.5M total (Mar 2026) | Series B — ~$35.7M total (last round Dec 2022) | Series D+ — $855.8M total (including $213.6M DoE loan, 2024) |
| Primary Focus | Lignin → BTX aromatics; green building-block chemicals | Sustainable manufacturing of fine chemicals, mRNA ingredients, specialty products | Carbon-negative industrial chemicals from sugar/bio-feedstocks |
| Key Investors | Visionaries Tomorrow, Zero Carbon Capital | Sofinnova Partners, Bunge Ventures, Almi, SEB GreenTech | GIC, Baillie Gifford, Temasek, Kinnevik, Lowercarbon Capital |
| Regulatory Recognition | Humboldt Innovation, ERDF, Hello Tomorrow finalist | WEF Technology Pioneer, Global Cleantech 100 | CNBC Disruptor 50, $2B valuation (2022) |
| Industrial Scale | Pilot-scale proven; targeting commercial scale | Targeting large-scale global commercialisation post-Series B | Commercial-scale Bioforge plants operating in the US |
| Geography | European-first, Berlin-based | Nordic/Europe-centric, global ambition | US-headquartered, scaling globally |
Level Nine leads the pack in design-from-first-principles innovation — its AI + quantum chemistry platform gives it a uniquely defensible moat compared to EnginZyme’s protein-based cell-free approach. However, Solugen dominates on commercial execution and capital depth, with a $2B valuation and carbon-negative chemistry already at industrial scale — making it the benchmark every catalyst startup must measure itself against. For European industrial partners seeking a local, ERDF-backed solution with modular flexibility, Level Nine may be the most compelling near-term bet.
Bayelsa Watch’s Takeaway
I think this funding round is a quietly big deal, even if the headline number — €4M — might look modest next to the billion-dollar raises that dominate the feed.
Here’s what strikes me. Level Nine is not building another biotech wrapper around an existing enzyme database. They’re reimagining catalysis from quantum-level first principles, using AI and nanotechnology to do something that frankly nature never bothered to optimize for: industrial-scale, harsh-condition chemical production. That’s a rare approach, and the fact that Visionaries Tomorrow — which has real industrial LP backing — chose to lead this round, not just follow, tells me the smart money believes the platform is genuinely novel.
In my experience covering deep-tech and green infrastructure deals, the companies that win in hard-tech aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest war chests early on. They’re the ones with a technology that is inherently modular and can slot into existing infrastructure. The “Lego for catalysts” framing isn’t just a marketing line — it’s the adoption strategy. Chemical companies aren’t going to rebuild their plants. They will, however, swap out a catalyst if the economics work.
I’d call this one cautiously bullish for the green chemistry sector and a strong signal for European deep-tech. The risk — scaling production from pilot to industrial at commercially competitive costs — is real and well-documented. But with €6.5M in total capital, a proven pilot, and the EU’s regulatory tailwinds at their back, Level Nine has the runway to prove it out. Watch this space closely heading into 2027.
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