NUNOS, a German agritech startup based in Hürth, raised €570,000 in a pre-seed funding round on September 22, 2026. The company turns cattle manure and biogas leftovers into better fertilizer, using technology first built for space missions to the Moon and Mars.
Who Is NUNOS?
NUNOS is a German agritech company founded in 2024 by Tim Paulke and Fabian Mielbach. It’s based in Hürth, near Cologne, and started out as a spin-off from the German Aerospace Center (DLR). That’s actually the interesting part of the story – this isn’t a typical farm-tech startup that grew out of agriculture. It grew out of space research.
The team took technology that was originally built for lunar and Mars bases and found a way to use it here on Earth, in a much more down-to-earth setting: farms.
How Much Funding Did NUNOS Raise?
NUNOS raised €570,000 in a pre-seed round. Here’s how the money breaks down:
- €300,000 from NRW.BANK, through its NRW.SeedCap program
- €270,000 from German business angels
The round closed on September 22, 2026.
Before this round, NRW.BANK had already been backing NUNOS since 2024 through convertible loans worth €200,000, under a different program called NRW.SeedCon. Those loans got converted into company shares as part of this new round.
What Does NUNOS Actually Do?
NUNOS builds systems that process cattle manure and fermentation residues (leftover material from biogas plants) into higher-quality fertilizer. Basically, it takes waste that farms already produce and turns it into something more useful and valuable, instead of it just sitting around or being spread as low-grade fertilizer.
The technology comes from work originally developed for space exploration – specifically, systems designed to process waste and resources on lunar or Martian bases, where nothing can go to waste and everything needs to be reused efficiently. NUNOS adapted that same thinking for farms and biogas facilities here in Germany.
Why Does This Matter for Farmers?
Farms and biogas plants produce a lot of manure and fermentation residue, and dealing with it isn’t always simple. If NUNOS can turn that waste into better fertilizer, farmers get more value from something they already have, and biogas plant operators get a way to process leftover material more usefully.
That said, the real test isn’t the space-tech origin story – it’s whether farmers actually see a clear economic benefit day to day. Cool technology doesn’t matter much if it doesn’t pay off on a working farm.
What Will NUNOS Do With the Funding?
The company plans to use the money mainly to:
- Prepare for its first real market entry
- Grow marketing and sales efforts
- Keep testing the technology under real farm conditions
- Build two more pilot facilities on farms before the end of 2026
- Run planting trials in 2027, testing the fertilizer on different crops
- Sell its first commercial systems in 2027
So this isn’t a company jumping straight to big sales. It’s still in the testing and proving phase, with actual commercial sales planned for 2027.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Company | NUNOS |
| Location | Hürth, Germany (Cologne area) |
| Founded | 2024 |
| Founders | Tim Paulke, Fabian Mielbach |
| Funding round | Pre-Seed |
| Amount raised | €570,000 |
| Funding date | September 22, 2026 |
| Sector | Agritech / fertilizer processing |
| Lead investor | NRW.BANK (via NRW.SeedCap) |
| Other investors | German business angels |
| Origin | Spin-off from German Aerospace Center (DLR) |
Frequently Asked Questions
How much money did NUNOS raise?
NUNOS raised €570,000 in a pre-seed funding round announced on September 22, 2026.
Who invested in NUNOS?
NRW.BANK invested €300,000 through its NRW.SeedCap program. German business angels contributed another €270,000.
What does NUNOS make?
NUNOS makes systems that process cattle manure and biogas fermentation residue into higher-quality fertilizer, using technology adapted from space exploration research.
When was NUNOS founded?
NUNOS was founded in 2024 by Tim Paulke and Fabian Mielbach as a spin-off from the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
When will NUNOS sell its first product?
The company plans to sell its first commercial systems in 2027, after running pilot facilities and crop trials through 2026 and 2027.