Ireland has always been green, but now it’s getting efficient. The Dublin startup ecosystem is currently producing some of the most pragmatic Climate Tech companies in Europe. Driven by a national mandate to reach 80% renewable electricity by 2030 and a massive agricultural sector needing decarbonization, local founders aren’t just building apps they are building the hardware and infrastructure for a net-zero future.
From ocean robotics to AI-driven energy grids, these companies are moving the needle on global emissions. Here are the 10 Dublin-based Climate and ESG startups you need to know in 2025.
1. CoolPlanet
Led by serial entrepreneur Norman Crowley, CoolPlanet is bringing industrial decarbonization at scale to sectors that are notoriously hard to clean up. Their proprietary Clarity software combines real-time IoT data with deep human engineering expertise to optimize heavy equipment like mining trucks, industrial chillers, and manufacturing boilers. Unlike passive ESG reporting tools that just track emissions, CoolPlanet actively intervenes in operations to reduce consumption, often cutting energy bills by 30% without slowing production. With $31 million in funding from heavyweights like Tikehau Capital, they are turning energy efficiency into a profitable, investable asset class for global industrial giants.
2. SuperNode
Renewable energy has a massive transmission problem because the best wind is often far out at sea, and moving that power to cities using copper cables results in huge energy losses. SuperNode, founded by the “father of wind energy” Dr. Eddie O’Connor, is solving this with revolutionary superconducting cable technology. Their cryogenically cooled cables can transmit massive amounts of power over long distances with zero electrical loss which is a feat impossible with current infrastructure. Backed by Aker Horizons with over €30 million invested, they are building the critical “interconnectors” required to link Europe’s offshore wind farms into a single, unified supergrid.
3. XOCEAN
Building offshore wind farms requires mapping the ocean floor, a task traditionally performed by diesel-guzzling survey ships with large crews. XOCEAN, founded by James Ives, has replaced these vessels with Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs) robot boats the size of a car that operate 24/7. Controlled remotely by pilots in Ireland via satellite, these drones collect ocean data while emitting 1,000x less carbon than traditional ships. Having secured multi-million euro contracts for six Dutch offshore wind farms, XOCEAN has rapidly become the sustainable standard for ocean data collection, operating in waters as diverse as the Canadian Atlantic and the North Sea.
4. UrbanVolt
Commercial buildings are often massive energy wasters, but the capital expenditure (CapEx) required to retrofit them stops most owners from acting. UrbanVolt, founded by Kevin Maughan, removed this barrier with a Solar-as-a-Service model. They install solar panels and LED lighting on commercial warehouses for free, maintaining ownership of the hardware while selling the generated power to the tenant at a discount. This model allows logistics giants to go green instantly without touching their balance sheet. Armed with an €80 million funding facility, they are aggressively covering the rooftops of Europe’s supply chain, turning idle roof space into distributed power plants.
5. GridBeyond
As we add more intermittent wind and solar to the grid, supply becomes volatile, increasing the risk of blackouts. GridBeyond uses AI to act as the ultimate grid balancer. Their platform connects to industrial assets like cold storage units, batteries, and generators and turns them up or down in seconds to help the national grid maintain frequency. By turning a factory’s energy consumption into a flexible resource, they allow businesses to earn revenue for supporting the grid. With €55 million in Series C funding raised in 2024, they provide the digital intelligence layer that makes a 100% renewable grid physically possible.
6. Positive Carbon
Commercial kitchens throw away tonnes of food, often without knowing what, why, or how much it costs them. Positive Carbon, founded by Aisling and Mark Kirwan, solves this visibility crisis with fully automated food waste sensors. Using LIDAR and AI cameras installed above bins, their system logs every scrap of food thrown away, identifying the item (e.g., “lasagna”) and its weight. This granular data allows chefs to adjust purchasing and prep, cutting food waste by up to 50%. It’s a perfect example of AI solving a messy, physical problem, saving kitchens thousands of euros while preventing methane emissions.
7. Davra
You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and in the world of ESG, “estimates” are no longer good enough. Davra, founded by Paul Glynn, provides the industrial IoT platform that gathers “truth data” for sustainability reporting. They connect directly to sensors in mines, factories, and cities monitoring everything from water usage to air quality in real-time. By providing a “single pane of glass” for environmental data, Davra enables companies to prove their sustainability claims to regulators and investors with hard data rather than spreadsheets, ensuring compliance in an era of strict ESG mandates.
8. Gazelle Wind Power
The best wind resources are located in deep waters where traditional fixed-bottom turbines cannot be built. Gazelle Wind Power has designed a revolutionary floating platform to unlock this frontier. Their “hybrid” platform is lighter, cheaper, and more stable than existing floating designs, using a unique mooring system that moves with the waves rather than fighting them. This drastically reduces the steel required and the cost of energy. With €25 million in funding and pilot projects launching in Portugal, Gazelle is positioned to be the structural backbone of the next generation of deep-sea wind farms.
9. MyGug
For rural businesses and schools, food waste is often a logistical nightmare involving smelly bins and collection trucks. MyGug, founded by Fiona Kelleher and Kieran Coffey, turns that waste into an on-site asset. Their egg-shaped micro-anaerobic digesters take food scraps and convert them into biogas for cooking and liquid fertilizer for growing. It is a complete circular economy system in a box, eliminating the need for waste transport while generating free renewable energy. This decentralized approach empowers communities to manage their own waste footprint independently.
10. Openvolt
Accessing energy data from smart meters has historically been a technical nightmare for developers, blocking innovation in the energy sector. Openvolt, founded by Dave Curran and Don O’Leary, is building the “Plaid for Energy” API to fix this. Their platform allows apps to easily pull granular energy usage data from smart meters across Europe, handling the complex integrations in the background. This infrastructure layer is enabling a new wave of climate apps from EV charging optimizers to home energy management systems to exist, removing the technical barrier to building software for the energy transition.