Eric Weber

#NRWStartupReport2024: The NRW startup ecosystem at a glance | The latest #NRWStartupReport provides deep insights into our regional startup ecosystem. In collaboration with Startup Genome, Dealroom.co and KPMG, the Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Industrie, Klimaschutz und Energie des Landes NRW has conducted a data-based analysis and drawn a portrait of the mood in the #NRW startup ecosystem. Important highlights from the data-based analysis: ➕ The NRW startup ecosystem is growing: From 2020 to 2023, 2,335 startups were founded; 534 of which were launched in 2023. ➕ The highest growth rates are recorded by the urban centers and research clusters in #Aachen, Münster and East Westphalia. ➕ On average, seed rounds in NRW are larger than in most other German states and are internationally competitive; in international comparison, NRW startups also receive early-stage funding sooner. ➕ More and more international VCs invest in NRW startups. ➕ The majority of NRW startups pursue solutions in climate action and environmental sustainability. ➕ The proportion of startups with female founders or female C-level executives has grown. ➕ The global increase of funding for #deeptech startups promises great potential for NRW's focus on deep-tech industries and the high degree of specialization of its #university research clusters. Key insights from the mood portrait: ➕ The majority of participants perceive the NRW startup ecosystem positively and rate it as "very good" or "good", appreciating the large number of good networking and funding opportunities. ➕ Most participating startups took advantage of state or federal funding offers like the incubation programs of the Exzellenz Start-up Center.NRW and the Gründungsstipendium.NRW or the EXIST-Transfer of Research and EXIST-Business Start-up Grant. It is rewarding to see the NRW startup ecosystem grow and become a competitive player in the national and global startup scene. We are proud to contribute to this development by facilitating the translation of cutting-edge research from RWTH Aachen University and Uniklinik RWTH Aachen into innovative startups with societal and economic impact. One of these startups is our #RWTHspinoff cylib. In the mood portrait, CEO Lilian Schwich recalls the beginnings of the battery recycling startup at the IME Process Metallurgy and Metal Recycling. Yet, there is still a lot of room for improvements. The report also points to remaining and new challenges for founders and uncovers negative trends in the NRW startup ecosystem that require further action on various fronts. Therefore, the NRW Startup Report 2024 is a strong incentive for us to keep supporting researchers in turning their groundbreaking ideas into impactful startups and paving the way for research-based innovation. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/epFg6NcE #ESCNRW #technology #transfer #innovation #startups #entrepreneurship #deeptech

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🔎 Market Insights Venture Capital for climate tech: Have we reached the turning point? Two recent reports by the German Startup Association (Startup-Verband) and Bitkom reviewing H1 2024 show that fundraising in Germany remains challenging. However, climate tech related topics are on top of the agenda. The findings also show that startups struggle to achieve prominence in the broader market or create an impact. Despite this unused potentials we already see positive signals in Q3. According to KfW VC investments in German startups have been surpassing the benchmark of 2 bln EUR in Q3 – first time since more than a year ago. 💵 Fundraising is still challenging: More than half of the start-ups think that fundraising is difficult to realize. As we have highlighted already prior to this: Early stage founders should plan with longer gaps between Series A and Series B. 🤝 An increasing number of start-ups claim that the possibility for cooperation with the established economy is very poor. According to German Startup Association, only 37.5% perceive the link between the two as good. With Future Energy Ventures we have specialized to matchmake startups with corporate partners – arranging 44 partnerships for the startups in our first fund. 💡 In a challenging VC environment climate tech related business models have good chances to raise capital (compared to other verticals): Experts interviewed by German Startup Association estimate that among the health and the educational sector, energy (37,2%), industry (33,8%) and mobility (30,5%) are the most promising sectors for future innovation. Most of our portfolio business are in energy, industry or mobility! 🌱 The German Startup Association emphasizes that founders are primarily driven by social and ecological impact. Almost half of them identify as social entrepreneurs (45.6%). An increasing number of German start-ups identify with the green economy (48.1%), as reported by the German Startup Association. At Future Energy Ventures we go one step further and monitor the ESG impact of our portfolio businesses via a specific model per half year! 🌎 The huge challenge remains an environment of uncertainty, which is shaped by the huge macro-economic developments such as global wars and conflicts, interest rates and the upcoming US election The good news: Founders navigating their teams through these times may be well-positioned for growth once uncertainty passes. We must foster cooperation between emerging start-ups and the corporate economy to create impact! 🚀 #climatetch #startups #marketinsight #fev4climate

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🤔 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸? 🧬💊💉👩‍⚕️🧪🩻 This has been our topic at today‘s panel discussion at the invest.austria conference 2024. Together with my co-panelists Sophie Ehrlich (from EIT Health), Christian Bouda (from bloomblisser.com) and our moderator Markus Wanko (from xista) we‘ve been elaborating on: ✅ The various healthcare verticals and respective risk profiles ✅ Public vs. Private Funding and the need for a closer collaboration between these two ✅ Brining start-ups and SMEs closer to each other to accelerate innovation ✅ Current PE and VC environment ✅ Healthcare deal activity and outlook going forward Conclusion on the initial question: 𝗬𝗲𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗲𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸! 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵?! 1️⃣ „𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗛 𝗜𝗦 𝗪𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗛“ - it is our „duty“ to allocate capital and to invest into our own health through supporting innovation and the relevant infrastructure 2️⃣ Healthcare investing is „𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗦𝗖𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘“ driven investing -> less emotions, more facts 3️⃣ Healthcare is only at the very beginning of it‘s innovative disruption and the convergence between disciplines (e.g. life sciences and (deep) tech) will turbocharge this upcoming disruption -> 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 => 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗥𝗨𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 Besides that, there have been great discussions and stimulating thoughts, mainly around the political environment and the „𝗗𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗙𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗦“ concept = TOPIC OF THE DAY And we also saw insightful discussions on the foodtech, space investing markets, discussions on the democratization of the investment industry and - since we‘re in #vienna - the CEE investment environment. Thanks Daniela Haunstein, Nikolaus "Niki" Futter, Arnaud Béasse for organizing. Fantastic event 👏 Ps.: the #privateequity asset class still remains a little underrepresented in Austria. 🇦🇹 Room to improve ↗️ PPs.: It‘s been a pleasure meeting and catching up with fantastic people like Bernadette Ules, Csanad Daniel, Niklas Pichler, Patrik Cesky, Rudolf Kinsky, Heinz Brasic, Floyd Plettenberg, Stephan Freudl, Florentina Spindler, Karl Lankmayr, Tim Lammar, Zuzana Jahodníková, Michael Hähnle, Christian Bacher, Günter Leonhartsberger, Johannes Cech, Marko Mitrovic … #healthcaredeals #mergersandacquisitions cc: VINC - Healthcare Advisory, ISP HEALTHCARE GmbH

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🧠 As L3S Research Center, it's crucial for us not only to offer the next gen of #AI researchers + practitioners a first-class university #education, but also to provide them with optimal support on their #development path. That's why we're are involved in European networks such as the outstanding AI Grid (with mentors like Marius Lindauer, Prasenjit Mitra, Daniel Kudenko... as well as mentees like Theresa Eimer, Dren Fazlija, Hassan Hussein (M.Sc.), Hailay Teklehaimanot, Olatunji Iyiola Emmanuel (李白) and many more). 🕸 The AI Grid aims to promote professional and personal exchange and synergies between young talents and renowned AI researchers. 👇 Find out more in my recent interview with Franziska Peters.

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"Strategie der Bundesregierung für Künstliche Intelligenz Umsetzungsplan 2024" ("Federal Government Strategy for Artificial Intelligence Implementation Plan 2024"), published now in November 2024 by the Bundeskanzleramt Österreich, Bundesministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Energie, Mobilität, Innovation & Technologie & Digital Austria. 👇 This report provides an overview of Austria’s #ArtificialIntelligence Mission Austria 2030 (AIM AT 2030) implementation plan. The document details 47 actions across twelve federal ministries, either in progress or planned since 2024, to advance Austria’s national #AI strategy. Link: https://lnkd.in/dSJwa7eq #artificialera #web3 #web4 #web5 #fintech #digitalera #digitaltransformation #ailaw #machinelearning #deeplearning #generativeAI #trustworthyAI #explainableAI #aiethics #artificialintelligence #explainableAI #responsibleAI #foundationmodels #GPAI #GAI #LLMs #NLPs #GenAI #frontierAI #narrowAI #AGI #ethicalAI #adversarialAI

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🔹 🔷 🔹 Can Industrial AI be a cure against the gradual deindustrialization of Germany? 🔹 🔷 🔹 The Pioneer, one of the leading German political and economic media, has released an article I wrote about the potential impact of Industrial AI yesterday. Germany with its rich tradition in engineering and industrial solutions is well placed to leverage AI to fuel the next wave of industrial innovation. A race that is still not run - as opposed to GenAI that is dominated by the large US tech giants and LLMs that are already commoditizing. A race that will likely leave room for several new German unicorns that can add to the industrial innovation process - ideally in a cooperation with established industrial players such as BMW, Mercedes, Siemens or Bosch. But it will require a significantly better availability of venture capital all the way from inception to a profitable business as well as a targeted industrial development policy to leverage this opportunity. Time for the industrial giant Germany to shed the sluggishness of recent years and remember the entrepreneurial spirit of its industrial forefathers such as Benz, Siemens, Bosch, Zeiss or Bayer. For those interested to read a little more - you can find the article on The Pioneer here (in German - have Google translate it for an English version): https://lnkd.in/eW9FWnzA (For those of you that do not yet have access to The Pioneer here is pdf-link: https://lnkd.in/er4_mVrV)

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#fundingalert 💼Company: SmartLoC - Smart Letter of Credit 💰Funding: €1.8 Million ⚡Round: New Round 👥Investors: HTGF | High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Loggerhead Ventures, Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Sachsen mbH and several business angels. SmartLoC is a pioneering startup focused on developing a modern and fully digital B2B payment solution tailored for international trade. Leveraging advanced #technologies such as IoT, blockchain and AI, it aims to streamline and digitize the process of cross-border transactions, empowering businesses with a seamless, secure, and efficient payment platform. It’s innovative cloud platform aims to streamline and digitize the #cumbersome process of B2B payments in international trade, providing businesses with a seamless, secure, and efficient solution to manage cross-border transactions. Britta Balden, Martin Möllmann, Evangelos Kosmidis, Rajesh Kaul, Britta Balden, Alessandro Vaglini, Thomas Kuhlke, Stelios Ntouvos Read more - https://lnkd.in/gKZ4GXmC To share your startup story write us on - [email protected] #SmartLoC #blockchain #B2Bpayment #IoT #AI #fundingnews #news #startup #startupnews #startuprise

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Stepping into a leadership role as a co-founder has been one of the most transformative journeys of my life. It has pushed me to confront my inner doubts, beliefs, and limitations in ways I never imagined. The path hasn't been easy – it has required deep introspection, vulnerability and a willingness to grow in profound ways. But through this process, I've discovered a newfound sense of confidence, self-belief and passion that has empowered me to embrace this role wholeheartedly. And you know what? It feels incredibly fulfilling and rewarding to finally look in the mirror and feel proud of the person you are becoming. It's a weird, almost surreal feeling that I'm still getting used to. This experience has reinforced my belief that personal growth is intrinsically linked to professional growth and impact. How we view and treat ourselves inevitably shapes how we lead and influence others. Which is why at tech2impact, nurturing the personal development of innovators is just as crucial to us as fostering innovation itself. Having witnessed my husband's entrepreneurial journey firsthand, I've seen the immense challenges founders face. That's why I'm so passionate about empowering visionary innovators to not just realize their groundbreaking ideas, but to fully actualize their potential as leaders and catalysts of change. So as we relaunch tech2impact with a renewed focus on purposeful innovation, I'm honored and excited to play a key role in supporting fellow innovators on their personal growth journeys. Because when we invest in ourselves, we can then invest wholeheartedly in our world-changing missions. I invite you to read more about our new direction in this feature from Brutkasten. Here's to growth, impact and daring to embrace our highest callings! #personalgrowth #innovation #tech Photo credit goes to multi-talented Karol Walter Nuhn

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Thank you, Dr. Rapp, Julia Bahlmann, and FERI Cognitive Finance Institute, for challenging my perspectives on 2024's takeoff of tokenization. Your insights have been invaluable in exploring our future financial market infrastructure. The year 2024 marks an important milestone in the development of #tokenization and the transition to the #token economy. This is not least the result of the groundwork laid in 2023, which has created a solid foundation for concrete results on the blockchain. Major financial players are increasingly entering the market and driving the development of a token economy. Tokenization enables a sophisticated digital financial market infrastructure that overcomes numerous limitations of the existing economic and financial system. It goes beyond a simple technological upgrade and has the potential to fundamentally transform traditional financial markets and other economic sectors.

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How to measure success in restructuring key business units, functions or transformations? By Thomas Kessler Managing Partner at Integration Success GmbH and Atlantic M&A Partners | Pioneer in AI and M&A Integrations | I was recently pinged by Sofoklis Yiannacou, FCCA with a very interesting question following one of my posts: "How do you measure restructuring of key business units or functions or transformation?" My answer: Measuring the restructuring or transformation of key business units or functions requires a comprehensive approach that combines quantitative and qualitative metrics. Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as: + Financial metrics (e.g., revenue growth, cost positions), + Operational efficiency measures (e.g., productivity rates, process efficiency and technological, service, and product differentiators), + Customer-related metrics (e.g., satisfaction scores, retention rates) provide a quantitative foundation. These are complemented by project-specific KPIs that track milestones, budget adherence, and timeline compliance. A perfect tool to drive performance in transformation is the GE 9Box Matrix. Maybe long forgotten and yet still tremendously powerful to drive success in transformations. My answer also has to highlight - the importance of the human-centric aspects - of restructuring! This involves explaining the changed purpose and ensuring people buy-in to the picture painted for the joint future. The success of your new strategic direction can be measured by tracking employee metrics like engagement scores, turnover rates, and time-to-hire for new positions. Additionally, qualitative assessments through surveys and interviews can gauge employee sentiment, cultural alignment, and adoption of new processes or technologies. Leadership effectiveness in guiding the transformation, fostering open communication, and addressing employee concerns is another vital human-centric factor to evaluate. Leadership effectiveness is also achieved if the leadership team is fully aware of its strengths, motives and desires. The use of psychometric tools like motivationfinder.com, and https://lnkd.in/giRU__bs have been tremendously helpful for my clients when used in transformation projects. By balancing hard metrics with these human-centric approaches, measuring the success of organizations is one approach that has proven to be massively helpful in the restructuring or transformation process. They help to measure, progress and adjust the course taken all while making informed decisions and adjustments to ensure success. What is your point of view on measuring success in restructuring key business units, functions or transformations?

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👍 It my pleasure to announce that I will be joining the the 37th MKK - Münchner Kapitalmarkt Konferenz on April 24th/25th, 2024. This is a unique opportunity to delve deep into the realms of corporate venture building, startup venturing, portfolio investments, & strategic cooperations. 🌱 Connect - Learn - Share: Lets explore innovative strategies and share insights on navigating the startup ecosystem for sustainable growth and portfolio success. Whether you're an entrepreneur, investor, or startup enthusiast, I would love to connect & discuss how we can drive progress together. Looking forward to seeing you there and exchanging groundbreaking ideas! REHAU New Ventures #WeEnhanceLives #CorporateVentureBuilding #Startups #BusinessCooperations #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #Investing

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In a recent @Brutkasten article, I shared my view on the @European Union's Nature Restoration Law, and I'm proud that inoqo and Triple Impact Ventures stand with 375 Austrian companies supporting this initiative! The law aims to restore 20% of the EU's land and marine areas by 2030 and address all ecosystems in need by 2050. It's a bold step to revitalize our planet. A big thank you to Leonore Gewessler for taking a bold step and making this important law a reality! @Blühendes Österreich - BILLA gemeinnützige Privatstiftung non-profit foundation has launched a business initiative to support the law's implementation in Austria. Here the link to the article: https://lnkd.in/dF6JkCa7   ✍️Show your support and sign here: https://lnkd.in/dTjSbVYt #Sustainability #EU #NatureRestorationLaw #EnvironmentalProtection #Austria #SustainableDevelopment #Ecosystems

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//#RESEARCH UPDATE No. 3 #CVC #ventureclient #openinnovation Last but not least, let's deep dive in the third one of our recent #conference papers from Research Group Strategic Entrepreneurship at HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management and venture.idea at the @25th Conference of Continuous Innovation Network (CINet) in September. This paper is titled "To invest or not to invest? Leveraging external corporate venturing for strategic renewal" and was written together with Philipp Frey, Louisa Heiduk and Dominik K. Kanbach. It compares the organizational characteristics of #Corporateventurecapital (CV Capital) and #corporateventureclienting (CV Clienting), as these are two distinct form of working wioth startups to create new business for an existing organization #openinnovation: - CV Capital is the established tool of investing in novel startups through a corporate venture capital fund to gain access to new technologies/business models and possibly achieve positive financial returns - CV Clienting ist a rather emerging form of very structured start-up cooperation in which the corporates becomes an early client of a startups. This does not involve any investment but allows to test and possibly shape the value proposition of novel startups for the corporation. Both are usually managed from dedicated #corporateventuring units, which we investigated to see how they are organized and which characteristics they represent that are crucial to contribute to the #strategicrenewal of the mother company. The results: - Both CV Clienting and CV Capital show *some* of the crucial characteristics for strategic renewal (i.e. dynamic capabilities, ambidexterity), however with clear differences in their strength - CV Capital focuses more on the exploration of future competitive advantages while CV Clienting helps to sustain competitiveness in the current core business - The combination of both tools (by running them in a parallel, but interlinked way) allows for full scale external "strategic corporate venturing"! What is your experience with #CVC or #Ventureclient ? Let me know in the comments and feel free to pm me or download the full article!

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I talked to the famous #energy expert Daniel Yergin about what the #AI boom means for the energy transition. And you might not like what he has to say. “AI is a very hungry caterpillar” and it will take longer than planned to get rid off fossil fuels. He also has some advice for #Germany... Energie-Koryphäe Daniel Yergin: „Fossile Brennstoffe werden bis 2050 auf keinen Fall verschwinden“ -

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𝗜𝘀 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗩𝗖? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂. Michael Treskow from Eight Roads Ventures said recently on #startupland powered by deutsche-startups.de that we're already playing in the big leagues. But are we? Let's dive into some numbers. Germany's venture capital scene is booming, but how do we compare globally? 1. In 2022, Germany attracted €11.3 billion in VC investments. Impressive, right? 2. Yet, the US still leads with €150 billion. The gap is significant. 3. But here's a twist: Germany is closing the distance fast. Growth rates are higher than many expect. So, what's behind this momentum? → A strong startup ecosystem that fosters innovation. → Government initiatives supporting tech ventures. → A cultural shift towards embracing entrepreneurship. But challenges remain. The focus is now on creating an inclusive environment where diverse voices, especially from the HR sector, can thrive. To truly lead, we must leverage untapped potential, like the 50+ generation and women in STEM. Germany's VC landscape is evolving, and the future looks promising. Yet, we must continue pushing boundaries to maintain our upward trajectory. What are your thoughts on Germany's VC potential? Are we ready to lead globally?

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#EurekaLabs ist ein Mensch/KI-Cyborg-Bildungs-Startup von Andrej Karpathy, Miterfinder von GPT, und ein sehr kluger und sympathischer KI-Erklärer & -Didaktiker via YouTube und Blog. Wenn ich sowas jemandem zutraue, dann Karpathy. "The teacher still designs the course materials, but they are supported, leveraged and scaled with an AI Teaching Assistant who is optimized to help guide the students through them. This Teacher + AI symbiosis could run an entire curriculum of courses on a common platform. If we are successful, it will be easy for anyone to learn anything, expanding education in both reach (a large number of people learning something) and extent (any one person learning a large amount of subjects, beyond what may be possible today unassisted). Our first product will be the world's obviously best AI course, LLM101n. This is an undergraduate-level class that guides the student through training their own AI, very similar to a smaller version of the AI Teaching Assistant itself. The course materials will be available online, but we also plan to run both digital and physical cohorts of people going through it together." https://eurekalabs.ai/

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📰 My Cofounder is featured in two leading newspapers this morning!👏👏 My cofounder at Footprint Technologies, Carolin Kleinert, gave two interviews for #Sueddeutsche and #Tagesspiegel about a recent study of Startup-Verband that investigated the socio demographic background of #startup founders. It clearly proofs founders typically are originating from families with academic backgrounds or from parents who are entrepreneurs themselves. The majority - but not all of them. Carolin is a great example of this minority who also made it without academic parents or without entrepreneurial role-models within their core families. I am sharing a similar family background, both of my parents do neither have an academic education, nor are they entrepreneurs themselves. It is possible, but it needs more visibility and sharing of such positive examples, so that more and more #Arbeiterkinder are considering becoming entrepreneurs as a career option. This would be a benefit for themselves as well as for our society and economy! For that reason I am celebrating the two articles about Carolin's personal story! 😍 👏 👉 Please check the articles and share them! 🙏

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Jan Lozek, and I shed light on the importance of collaboration between climate tech start-ups and corporations in Business Insider last week. Here are the key takeaways: 1️⃣ Digitalization can slow down climate change: As our electricity grids transform, digital tools are crucial. In Germany alone, 2.6 million photovoltaic systems will be on residential roofs by summer 2023. This ecosystem can only be managed effectively with automated, digital tools, like Amperecloud, node.energy and metergrid GmbH are working on. 2️⃣ Unity for Climate Goals: To meet climate goals amid significant macroeconomic challenges, collaboration between startups and corporations is essential. Startups bring innovation and new technologies, while corporations provide resources, market access, and scaling capabilities. At Future Energy Ventures, we foster collaboration by bringing together innovative climate tech startups and experienced corporations to maximize impact in climate technology. 3️⃣  Decarbonization Goals: Decarbonization is still progressing far too slowly: According to a recent study by PwC, the world needs to decarbonize seven times faster to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Urgent action is needed. It's time to unite and collaborate! Together, we can spearhead impactful shifts towards a future devoid of carbon, guaranteeing value for every stakeholder right from the beginning. #ClimateTech #Innovation #Decarbonization #EnergyTransition 

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