Projects
What Volcano is building, right now.
These are the projects Volcano is building today, one by one. For each you will see which phase of the path it is in, its technical (TRL) and commercial (CRL) maturity, which financing round it is in, and whether it is under way or waiting for capital. The projects the team carried out before Volcano are not here: they live in Who we are.
The selection of new projects gives priority to water, food and energy security solutions; the current portfolio also includes the projects opened before that criterion.
A project is the logical container of an R&D phase, not the company that sells it: that is the startup, and the difference is explained on the home page. A project has a beginning and an end, and a very specific focus: a single technical question, attacked until it is resolved. When the R&D phase ends, the knowledge it has produced passes to a startup, new or already existing. That is why one startup may end up with several products born of different projects, and that is also why there are projects that exist to renew a product already on the market.
A Volcano project ends by delivering, not by closing: when conditions are not right it is not abandoned, it waits. That is why the list below has two groups and not one.
- In progress: actively moving
- On hold: waiting for the right conditions
- Converted: TRL8 or above, or already an active startup
- XX-00 Code: two letters per market domain, and a sequential number within that domain. Today's 29 domains:
- AG AgriTech
- AS AI for Science
- AT AgeTech
- AV Agrivoltaics
- BG Wellbeing/GovTech
- CS Cybersecurity
- CT CleanTech
- DS Home automation/Security
- ES Energy storage
- FD Food delivery
- FR Food retail
- FT Food tech
- GP Precision livestock
- IM Property
- LG Logistics
- LP Logistics/Packaging
- LT LegalTech
- MA Mobility analytics
- MP Mobility/Public sector
- MS Mobility/Insurance
- MT Media tech
- PT Pet tech
- RT Retail tech
- SC Smart city
- SH Smart home
- SP Health/Pharma
- TT Travel tech
- UM Last mile
- WT Water tech
How each project is financed
Seven rounds, following the CRL ladder.
What opens a project's financing is not the technology, but the market. CRL 1 (a verified problem and a hypothesis of who would pay to solve it) activates the first round before any TRL exists. From there, each rung of the CRL ladder is a round, with its technical objective (TRL), its phases of the path and its typical instruments, taken from the funding line of the diagram. And the rounds continue after TRL 9, because commercial risk is removed stretch by stretch until the business is bankable (CRL 9). The size of each round comes from the diagram's cumulative cost curve, that of the house's median project. Each project's complexity scales it, and the simulation of the cost of the services shows how. The sum of the seven rounds is the whole curve. The private investor's convertible note is subscribed in a round and converts when that round is completed: the rounds, one by one.
| Round | Commercial maturity · technical objective · phases | Size (median curve) | Typical instruments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 0 · Discovery | CRL 1 to 2 · before TRL 1 · F1 and F2 | ≈ 0.22 M€ | Volcano and partners; visionary angels |
| Round 1 · Concept and proof | CRL 2 to 3 · TRL 1 to 4 · F3 to F5 | ≈ 0.53 M€ | Tax Lease; grants; FFF; angels; the convertible note |
| Round 2 · Prototype and MVP | CRL 4 · TRL 5 to 8 · F6 and F7 | ≈ 0.70 M€ | Tax Lease; angels; convertible note; pre-seed and seed |
| Round 3 · Traction | CRL 5 · TRL 9 · F8 | ≈ 0.40 M€ | Seed / Series A; revenue-based |
| Round 4 · Fit and revenue | CRL 6 to 7 · technology on the market · F9 | ≈ 0.35 M€ | Series A |
| Round 5 · Replication and profitability | CRL 8 · technology on the market · F10 and F11 | ≈ 0.70 M€ | Series A/B; venture debt; bank debt; growth |
| Round 6 · Scale | CRL 9 · technology on the market · F12 and F13 | ≈ 0.30 M€ | Growth equity; project finance; M&A; secondary |
Each card states which round the project is in and how much remains, on that same curve, until the round closes. The operations open to private capital, with their real amounts (certified cost, tax capital, note needed, tranches and closing calendar), are presented after qualification. How private capital comes in and what it receives in return: the convertible note.
In progress
Actively moving.
Validating a problem, in development, or actively looking for a specific kind of capital.
Each project states its phase of the thirteen phases of the path, with its TRL as the technical equivalent.
AG-01
Multispectral vision for agriculture
AgriTech · Low-cost multispectral sensors for precision agriculture, with a far wider spectral range than current alternatives.
CT-01
Volume and quality sensor for used cooking oil
CleanTech · Measures the exact volume of used cooking oil handed in and analyses its quality with proprietary multispectral sensing, at the very moment of delivery.
RT-02
Modular smart trolley
Retail tech · A retrofit module that turns any existing shopping trolley into a smart trolley.
MP-01
Certification of the public transport service
Mobility/Public sector · Independently certifies the actual delivery of the public transport service, against fraud in compensation payments.
CT-02
Collection totem for used cooking oil
CleanTech · A collection point for high-footfall public spaces, with verification of the user and of the volume handed in.
CT-03
Smart containers for used cooking oil
CleanTech · Collection containers with user recognition, in household, industrial and communal variants.
CT-04
Intelligence kit for collection vehicles
CleanTech · An onboard system that re-checks oil quality during collection and traces the transport in real time.
CT-05
Multi-actor apps for the circular economy
CleanTech · Specific applications for each profile in a network that collects and processes a waste stream.
CT-06
Light sensing with AI-inferred quality
CleanTech · Low-cost sensing which, combined with machine learning, estimates the quality of a waste stream even before it is collected.
On hold
Waiting for the right conditions.
The problem is still valid, but something specific is missing in order to move on: almost always, capital. The portfolio has grown faster than the capital deployed so far: this is how we got here.
FR-01
Fresh food e-commerce with visual inspection
Food retail · Online fresh food retail with visual inspection of the individual item before dispatch, to reduce returns and waste.
LT-01
Notarial anti-deepfake camera
LegalTech · Audiovisual capture with authenticity guaranteed from source, designed for notarial and corporate governance contexts.
CS-01
Unconditionally secure communicator
Cybersecurity · Encrypted communication with proven mathematical security, resistant even to quantum computers.
AG-02
Optical fibre for agricultural radiometry
AgriTech · Continuous monitoring of the radiation crops receive, using optical fibre laid in the field itself.
UM-01
Delivery robot with dedicated mailbox
Last mile · A robotic delivery system coupled to a dedicated mailbox, designed to solve the final stretch of the delivery.
RT-01
Smart shelf for retail
Retail tech · A shelf that recognises products and gaps in real time, giving chain visibility to both the shop and the brand.
SP-01
Vision for microbiological risk
Health/Pharma · Continuous assessment of environmental microbiological risk, without depending on after-the-fact laboratory analysis.
AV-01
Adaptive photovoltaic canopy
Agrivoltaics · A solar canopy that gives priority to the light needed by the living things beneath it, generating electricity only from the surplus.
SC-01
Self-powered bicycle parking
Smart city · Self-powered bicycle parking, with integrated security and charging, requiring no civil works.
FT-01
Food freshness sensor
Food tech · Determines the real freshness of a food by vision, without chemical sensors or smart packaging.
ES-01
Compressed air storage
Energy storage · Seasonal-profile energy storage using compressed air, for domestic solar self-consumption.
SH-01
Household waste sorting
Smart home · Recognises the type of each household waste item and indicates the right bin at the moment of disposal.
WT-01
Water extraction from air
Water tech · An autonomous system that extracts water from the atmosphere with efficiency far above conventional systems.
PT-01
Interpreting animal communication
Pet tech · Interprets an animal's behaviour and vocalisations to infer its emotional state and its needs.
MA-01
Anonymous origin-destination matrices
Mobility analytics · Measures the real journeys of public transport users, in aggregate and without ever identifying anyone.
GP-01
Precision grazing guidance
Precision livestock · Locates and actively guides grazing livestock, reducing animal stress compared with current systems.
AT-01
Fall detection for older people
AgeTech · Detects falls and monitors essential vital functions in older people, without ever identifying them.
DS-01
Smart door viewer
Home automation/Security · A digital door viewer that assesses a visitor's intent, designed above all to protect older people and children.
TT-01
Universal baggage tracking
Travel tech · Tracking and recognition of a suitcase's rightful owner throughout the whole journey.
LG-01
Tracking of stacked containers
Logistics · Monitoring of the position and condition of cargo even with the containers stacked.
MT-01
Personalised viewing of sports events
Media tech · Lets each viewer choose their own framing, resolution and distance in the live broadcast of a sports event.
MS-01
Roundabout camera for accidents
Mobility/Insurance · Objectively reconstructs the dynamics of a traffic accident and detects speed and right-of-way offences.
SC-02
Street-lamp camera with anonymisation
Smart city · Open urban streaming, with real-time anonymisation of faces and number plates.
FD-01
Visible order preparation
Food delivery · Lets you watch the real preparation of a food order placed online, before it leaves the premises.
LP-01
Containers for grocery delivery
Logistics/Packaging · Reusable containers designed to preserve a home grocery order through the last mile.
CT-07
Blockchain infrastructure for waste traceability
CleanTech · An immutable record of a collection network's data, to guarantee the integrity of traceability from source.
CT-08
Orchestration platform for collection networks
CleanTech · Processes a collection network's data in real time and adjusts its operating parameters through machine learning.
CT-09
B2B marketplace for recoverable waste
CleanTech · A digital market where collected and processed waste is aggregated and sold to the highest bidder among industrial buyers.
CT-10
Value tokenisation system for the circular economy
CleanTech · Digitally represents the value generated by a collection network, making it easier to circulate among participants.
CT-11
Logistics optimisation for collection routes
CleanTech · Optimises the routes of a waste collection fleet in real time, according to the volume and locations available.
CT-12
Dynamic adjustment for processing plants
CleanTech · Adjusts the parameters of an industrial processing operation in real time, to maximise yield and constant quality.
CT-13
Predictive maintenance for collection networks
CleanTech · Anticipates failures in the devices of a collection network, minimising downtime.
CT-14
Carbon credits for the circular economy
CleanTech · Certifies and monetises the positive environmental impact generated by a waste collection and processing network.
CT-15
Premium environmental impact certification
CleanTech · Environmental impact certification for companies that need to prove it to clients and administrations.
CT-16
Environmental impact displays for shops
CleanTech · Point-of-sale screens showing in real time the certified environmental impact of a participating shop.
CT-17
Community and social impact for recycling
CleanTech · Turns sustainable behaviour into a shared experience, to encourage its organic adoption.
CT-18
Training academy for recycling operators
CleanTech · Certified, standardised training to scale a network of operators into new markets.
CT-19
Domestic micro-cogeneration from biodiesel
CleanTech · Converts biodiesel into electricity and heat in the home itself, closing the cycle from waste to household energy.
CT-20
Biofuel from optimised organisms
CleanTech · Biofuel generation from organisms optimised to maximise energy yield, without competing for farmland.
BG-01
Wellbeing-oriented governance platform
Wellbeing/GovTech · An AI platform that measures the wellbeing of humans and of the rest of life, and guides the allocation of public resources auditably.
AS-01
Autonomous scientific discovery platform
AI for Science · An AI platform that accelerates the cycle of scientific discovery, always keeping the human researcher at the centre of the decision.
IM-01
Property digital twin: capture and modelling
Property · Capture, structuring and a navigable three-dimensional model of a residential property, with the proprietary instrumentation needed to gather the data.
IM-02
Ecosystem of AI agents for property analysis
Property · Specialised AI agents (valuation, architecture, regulation, legal risk, finance) that interpret a property's documentation.
IM-03
Operating platform for technical networks and transactions
Property · A platform coordinating a network of affiliated technicians, a shared document space and a sales panel for the owner.
IM-04
Recurring services on documented property
Property · An ecosystem of services resting on an already documented property: predictive maintenance, letting, refurbishment, insurance and aggregated data.
AC-01
Fish biometrics in aquaculture
AgroTech · Continuous estimation of biomass and sizes in cages through stereoscopic vision, without handling the fish.
WQ-01
Online water quality
Water tech · A continuous, low-cost spectral monitor for desalination plants and water networks, where sampling today goes to a laboratory.
HM-01
Food waste in hotel catering
Food tech · Vision-based volumetry of what comes back from the buffet: measuring waste in order to reduce it, tray by tray.
CU-01
Automatic cubing in logistics
LogTech · Instant volumetric measurement of parcels and pallets: billing is by volume, measuring is by eye.
FE-01
Spectral monitoring of fermentations
AgroTech · The scanning optical sensor applied to wineries and dairies: the agri-industrial process reported continuously.
TA-01
Collection network for mineral oils
CleanTech · The reverse logistics of used cooking oil, replicated on the oils of workshops and machinery.
EI-01
Autonomous island agri station
AgroTech · Energy, water and data in a single off-grid module, for isolated farms: several proprietary technologies converging.
«Everything you can imagine is real.»
Do you have what an open project is looking for?
Start with the qualification: we tell you whether it fits.
John F. Kennedy, 1962