Milan, 19 November 2025
Algebris Climatech, the Article 9 venture capital fund of Algebris Investments focused on technologies for decarbonisation and climate resilience, announces an investment of approximately €3.5 million in Biocentis, a life-science company developing next-generation genetic solutions for sustainable insect control with broad applicability in agriculture and beyond.
The deal marks Algebris Climatech’s first investment outside of Italy, while maintaining a strong Italian link through Biocentis’ research and development hub in the country.
This €11 million seed round was co-led by Algebris Climatech, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment and Grantham Environmental Trust. The two Grantham entities are two of the world’s most prominent philanthropic institutions supporting climate and environmental science to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and toxicity.
Additional investors include Neurone, a tech-focused investment group that has already made significant investments in Italy, as well as several Italian heritage entrepreneurial families and tech founders. This underscores the growing collaboration between investors in the European deeptech climatetech ecosystem and the continent’s emerging technology landscape.
Founded as a spin-out of Imperial College London and operating between London and Milan, Biocentis builds on more than fifteen years of research in the field of genetic pest control, which attracted substantial academic and institutional funding. The company’s proprietary platform applies precision genome engineering to create insects that reduce fertility within targeted populations, controlling harmful species without affecting other organisms or ecosystems.
“The global pesticide market already exceeds $45 billion and continues to grow, while the biopesticide segment is expected to triple in value by 2032, driven by increasingly stringent regulations and the EU Farm-to-Fork goal of halving chemical pesticide use by 2030,” said Marco Turchini, Managing Partner at Algebris Climatech. “Biocentis sits at the intersection of these trends, offering a biological alternative with measurable benefits for emissions reduction, soil health and biodiversity.”
“We are thrilled to have Algebris Climatech among our lead investors,” added Giorgio Rocca, CEO and co-founder of Biocentis. “Their long-term vision and expertise in scaling climate-impact technologies will be instrumental in bringing our genetic platform from the lab to real-world agricultural applications.”
By replacing chemical pesticides with biology-based control methods, Biocentis’ technology helps mitigate one of agriculture’s largest indirect emission sources: the production and use of synthetic inputs. Its first commercial application in agriculture targets Drosophila suzukii, a fruit fly responsible for severe losses in soft-fruit and high-value crops across Europe and the Americas.
With this investment, Algebris Climatech brings the number of transactions completed in 2025 to three, further consolidating its strategy to support European deeptech innovations with direct CO₂ reduction potential.
Since its inception, the fund has deployed around 20% of its committed capital, which currently totals approximately €70 million, and aims to reach €100 million by 2026.
