Lisa-Marie Fassl and Nina Wöss are proud to announce yet another investment of their Fund F VC, the European venture fund that backs gender-diverse founder teams.
From the perspective of our very own Fund F by Female Founders,
“We knew from our first interaction that Anastasia and the team are dreaming big. We couldn’t have found a better founder-market fit at this early stage. It was clear that Sirius is an essential- must-have solution to support the transition to a low carbon world” – Nina Wöss, Managing Partner, Fund F.
- Sirius is reshaping the metals and mining industry with its innovative AI ‘sustainability twin’, simplifying the management, sharing, and analysis of sustainability data for companies.
- This technology boosts efficiency and aligns with the needs of sustainability teams in a sector critical for the energy transition.
- With a EUR1.2M funding boost from Fund F, BlackWood, WEPA Ventures, Techstars, and select angels, Sirius is set to transform the metals and mining industry.
Sirius, addressing a sector often overlooked by tech, has raised an oversubscribed EUR1.2M pre-seed round, bringing new energy to the traditionally ‘unsexy’ metals and mining industry. This funding accelerates the rollout of their AI ‘sustainability twin’, designed to simplify and reduce time spent on sustainability data management by 80%. The metal sector, essential for the green economy, is embracing this significant transformation, driven by increasing stakeholder demand. Sirius, led by a team that has over 20 years of industry experience, is committed to eliminating the challenges that have previously prevented sustainability teams from implementing effective and impactful changes.
Empowering sustainability leaders in the metal sector
To support the green economy, metal production needs to increase six-fold, especially for lithium, cobalt, and nickel which power the low carbon economy. At the same time, the industry contributes around 12% of global CO2 emissions and faces environmental, social, and ethical challenges. Lagging in technological advancement, the industry needs solutions like Sirius. The platform enhances sustainability team efficiency, automates data sharing, and offers insights into stakeholder needs, speeding up the sector’s transition to sustainable practices.
Combining deep industry knowledge with cutting-edge tech
Sirius has assembled a stellar team combining expertise in metals, mining, technology, and sustainability, coupled with a track record of developing solutions alongside Tesla and the World Economic Forum.
Anastasia Kuskova, CEO and co-founder of Sirius: “This product grows out of my personal frustration during my tenure as a Sustainability Officer. In the complex industries like metals, mining, and manufacturing, sustainability professionals lack tools that are specifically tailored to us. It’s a huge underserved space, powering the energy transition and desperately yearning for change. So, we decided to be this change, bringing a new wave of cool and effective solutions to our forward-looking clients”.
“We are thrilled to invest in Sirius for a second time. The team’s performance during our three-month accelerator program, and its impressive trajectory thereafter, truly stand out. They’ve not only made significant progress but also won global champions as customers. What sets Sirius apart is their deep industry knowledge and their development of a unique, forward-thinking product that fills a significant gap in the market. They are addressing a massive and escalating problem, and we firmly believe that they are the best team with the best product to tackle it. Sirius is not just a company; it’s a game-changer in its field,” – said Martin Olczyk, Managing Director, Techstars
“Being a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) at an industrial company nowadays comes with great opportunities and, at the same time, an even bigger responsibility. We believe the Sirius team and their state-of-the-art product offering are at the forefront of reshaping how CSOs drive value and enable them to focus on what really matters in today’s transformation towards robust sustainability in all facets of a company. Therefore, we are sure that Sirius will be a key pillar in the sustainability enterprise software stack,” – said Carl-Luis Rieger, Managing Director, WEPA Ventures
“Sirius echoes our own commitment to innovation with purpose. Anastasia Kuskova and the team at Sirius have not just identified a gap in the sustainability space—they’ve stepped up to fill it with a tailored solution that speaks directly to the core needs of this ‘hard-to-abate’ industry. We are incredibly happy to be a part of it.” – said Bastian R. Larsen, CEO, BlackWood Ventures
About Sirius
Sirius, founded in 2022 by Anastasia Kuskova, Sergey Tyan, and Seva Martynov, is an Amsterdam-based cleantech startup focused on the metals and mining industry. The unique AI ‘sustainability twin’ improves how companies handle sustainability data. The founders’ experience in metals, mining, and advanced computing drives Sirius’s mission to address the industry’s sustainability challenges.
About Fund F
Fund F is a pan European early stage investor with a focus on investing in gender-diverse founding teams that are solving the biggest problems of our era through technology. We are true believers in the power of diversity. It leads to better results, better performance and a more inclusive future.
About Techstars
Techstars is the most active pre-seed investor in the world having invested through its accelerators in more than 4,000 companies. Founded in 2006, Techstars believes that entrepreneurs create a better future for everyone and great ideas can come from anywhere. Now we are on a mission to invest in an unprecedented number of startups per year enabling more capital to flow to more entrepreneurs around the world. We do this by operating accelerator programs and venture capital funds, as well as by connecting startups, investors, corporations, and cities to help build thriving startup communities. www.techstars.com
About WEPA Ventures
WEPA Ventures is a German-based Family Venture Capital firm investing in European early-stage start-ups that are driving innovation in areas such as circular economy, sustainability software or renewable energy and water technologies.
About BlackWood
BlackWood is a pan-European network- and technology-driven Venture Capital firm headquartered in Copenhagen. Founded in 2021, the company focuses on supporting visionary entrepreneurs at the pre-seed and seed stages across Europe.