Uplift360 Secures €7.4 Million Seed Round to Strengthen European Supply Chains Through Advanced Material Regeneration
- thryschiamarasigan
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 06 February 2026
Bristol, United Kingdom and Luxembourg: Uplift360, the advanced materials start-up transforming how aerospace, defence and industrial sectors recover and reuse high-value composite waste, announced today the successful close of its €7.4M seed funding round.
The round was led by Extantia, one of Europe’s leading deep tech venture funds, with significant contributions from the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), Promus Ventures and Fund F. This constitutes a significant milestone for deep-tech dual-use investments in advanced material resilience.
Advanced materials like carbon fibre and aramids underpin defence, aerospace and manufacturing and are critical to Europe’s ability to revitalise industrial capabilities more broadly. However, these materials currently face severe supply-chain bottlenecks due to geopolitical pressure and limited virgin fibre availability and, as they are built to last, contribute to a fast-growing global waste stream.
Uplift360 can help address this challenge through its proprietary technology, a chemical process that recovers advanced composite materials, resulting in the same quality output as inputted. Unlike recycling, Uplift360’s regeneration process is non-degenerative, giving them a true second life.
This seed funding will scale Uplift360’s proprietary technologies, enabling the regeneration of hard-to-treat advanced composite materials such as carbon fibre, aramid (e.g., Kevlar®) and hybrid laminates from aerospace, defence, wind energy and high-performance automotive sectors.
Quotes
Sam Staincliffe, CEO & Co-Founder of Uplift360, said:
“This investment is a clear signal that Europe intends to lead in sustainable advanced-materials manufacturing. Our technology turns what is currently burned, buried or exported into a reliable, high-quality feedstock stream, strengthening supply-chains for primes, OEMs and government customers. With Extantia and the NATO Innovation Fund behind us, we’re now positioned to scale with urgency.”
Joern-Carlos Kuntze, Partner at Extantia, said:
“High-performance composites underpin strategic sectors critical to Europe's reindustrialisation, yet remain notoriously difficult to recycle. Uplift360 is changing that: transforming end-of-life materials into high-quality feedstock while building resilient circular supply chains in the process. We're proud to back Sam, Jamie, and the team as they build the circular backbone of the composites industry.”
Sander Verbrugge, Partner at the NATO Innovation Fund, said:
“Durable, high-quality advanced materials are of strategic importance to securing the future of NATO nations. Uplift360’s platform is exactly the kind of dual-use innovation Europe needs — tackling a real supply-chain vulnerability, reducing carbon emissions and bolstering the resilience of the sectors that underpin European industrialisation and competitiveness.”
Carina Roth, Investment Manager at Fund F, said:
“Uplift360 stands out due to Sam and Jamie’s exceptional synergy, deep industry expertise and drive to create an impact. Their team perfectly bridges deep-tech innovation with the operational maturity needed to scale, positioning them uniquely to turn composite waste into a sovereign industrial strength.”
Accelerating Deployment Across Europe
This financing enables Uplift360 to:
Commission its first pilot-scale processing line in the UK in 2026 to enable higher volumes, real-world validation, and customer integration
Expand partnerships with major aerospace, defence, automotive and energy OEMs
Increase R&D into regenerated-fibre performance enhancement and new applications
Build a distributed, scalable model for composite circularity across Europe
Uplift360 already works with major industrial partners such as Babcock on Eurofighter Typhoon end-of-life materials recovery, Leonardo on turning Merlin helicopter blades into UxV components, and a project with Rolls-Royce. As part of Europe’s growing ecosystem of dual-use and strategic-materials innovators with a strong presence in both the UK and Luxembourg, Uplift360 is incredibly well-positioned to secure and strengthen supply chains across Europe.
Ends
About Uplift360:
Uplift360 is an advanced materials startup developing chemical regeneration technologies for critical industrial materials such as carbon fibre and aramid. Our vision is to lead the way in circular economy innovation, creating a future where advanced materials are never wasted. Backed by the UK Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), Luxembourg Government Directorate of Defence, and Innovate UK, we enable circular and secure supply chains for high-performance sectors. Recent partners include Babcock and Leonardo, and we were named one of Tech Nation's Top 25 Climate Tech Companies to Watch in 2026.
About Extantia:
Extantia is a venture capital fund backing pioneers building a resilient future. Grounded in science and deep technological understanding, we support climate-aligned companies addressing Europe’s biggest challenges, from energy security to industrial sovereignty to critical infrastructure. We partner with exceptional founders building category-defining businesses through breakthrough technologies and innovative business models.
About NATO Innovation Fund:
The NATO Innovation Fund is a €1 billion venture capital fund, backed by 24 NATO Allies, that invests in deep tech to address challenges in defence, security, and resilience. The fund invests independently, with 24 nations supporting its portfolio’s success and helping provide deep tech entrepreneurs with access to both commercial and government markets.
Participating NATO Allies are: Belgium; Bulgaria; Czechia; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iceland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Slovakia; Spain; Sweden; Türkiye; United Kingdom.
About Promus Ventures:
Founded in 2012, Promus Ventures invests in early-stage deep-tech startups solving complex problems to advance everyday lives worldwide. From offices in Chicago, San Francisco, and Luxembourg, Promus Ventures has invested in over 100 early-stage startups in the US, Europe, the UK, and New Zealand. Our leading portfolio investments include Rocket Lab (Nasdaq: RKLB), Whoop, Spire (NYSE: SPIR), Mapbox, and numerous others.
About Fund F:
Fund F is an early-stage VC fund backing the most promising gender-diverse founding teams across Europe. We invest cheques of up to EUR 600k in pre-seed & seed companies with at least one female co-founder. Portfolio companies include be-Sirius, Senvo, AI-BOB, KOA and The Blue Box. Fund F originated out of Europe’s leading community for female entrepreneurs, Female Founders, with 85k members across the continent.
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Thryschia Marasigan - Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Uplift360