🌹Méi W.

Female Founders are an important part of the start up ecosystem but only receive limited funding; even in areas like FemTech, where the market value of the global FemTech industry is projected to exceed $103 billion by 2030. In 2023, only 1.4% of total capital investment went to FemTech. In fact, until 2023, FemTech startups founded by all men raised more money per year than FemTech startups founded by all women (though they perform better over time). These are data points that need to get more attention - thanks to Kimberly Klayman from Ballard Spahr LLP to writing an article highlighting this! To learn more, read her article; What female founders need to know about investment and fundraising trends; https://lnkd.in/eZ5KyEUG

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Growth through impact - great interview by Bedrock Group with Giant Ventures about the state of impact investing and how investors balance profit and purpose. Some key points from the article: 1. The impact investing movement continues to grow – marked by a shift from scepticism to recognition of its potential for both profitability and purpose. 2. Top-tier returns can coexist with meaningful impact – through ensuring pragmatism and mission alignment in founders. 3. Frameworks provide necessary standardisation and objectivity – needed for impact assessment and evaluation of companies contributions to societal and environmental goals. 4. Investors tend to favour developed markets over emerging ones – opportunities currently exist for clearer liquidity routes in developed markets, however as more impact-first business models prove successful in developed markets, they may be replicated in emerging ones, mitigating business model risk. Link to the full article in the comments. Happy monday ✨ CC: Cameron McLain

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Today, a staggering 94% of products sold are new, contributing to 80% of the carbon emissions in the digital hardware industry. This is huge! By 2040, the digital industry is projected to account for 14% of total global emissions—surpassing even the entire aviation industry. In 2014, Back Market was founded to spark a revolution in refurbished products, break the chain of #overconsumption, and empower people to do more with what we already have. At that time, refurbished products were not an obvious choice, but that didn’t deter the three incredible co-founders of Back Market—Thibaud Hug de Larauze, Vianney Vaute, and Quentin Le Brouster—from steadfastly believing in this revolution. For the second track of our EP, Thibaud has taken the lead to loudly (and musically) declare the urgent need for the industry to shift from a linear to a circular economy, where buying refurbished tech is just as thrilling as buying new products. The track is called “Saboter, saboter, saboter,” one of Back Market mottos since DAY 1! You can check out the video below and listen on all platforms here:https://lnkd.in/eArw9gJq. Join us throughout the summer for our musical saga, featuring tracks that will take you on a journey through the future of tourism, reuse, artificial intelligence, and French ingenuity. Each song opens doors to new horizons and possibilities 😎. 👏 Aurelie van Peteghem Sophie de Champs

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Christian Dorffer, Founder and General Partner of Defiance Capital, noticed a trend among European LPs. 👉They’re often risk-averse and less enthusiastic about venture capital. 👉Venture seems to rank only 4th or 5th in their list of attractive asset classes. This means there's very little capital for emerging managers here. But here's the thing - 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤. If you have a contrarian strategy and are an emerging manager, investor conferences might not be your best move. Instead, leverage your community of trusted investors. Grabs LPs' attention and piques their curiosity. Raising a fund isn’t a binary outcome. You can decide to raise one if you’re committed. But be prepared for a journey that demands 100x more ingenuity and hustle than you might expect. Tune in on EUVC | 🎧 Link in comments. #EUVCpodcast #venturecapital #angelinvesting #startupfunding #europe

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🌎 Let's talk #FOAK (first-of-a-kind) climate tech and the funding structures that are enabling their deployment. Swedish startup H2 Green Steel has made headlines by securing €4.2 billion in funding this year—despite not yet delivering its low-carbon steel product. How? By securing billion-dollar “offtake agreements” with major companies like IKEA, Mercedes-Benz, and Scania Group, eager to future-proof their supply of greener steel. Offtake agreements are crucial for capital-intensive climate tech, acting as a signal that the startup is providing something the industry needs. Here's the scoop, courtesy of Sarah B. Söding & Freya Pratty: 🚦 Talk to potential offtakers from day one (at flex pilot/prototype stage): “Identify the first movers within the industries, read through the sustainability reports, understand their decarbonisation targets and understand whether you fit into that mission,” she says. 🚦Targeted networking: less procurement folks (they want proven, available and cheap tech), but think R&D, strategy or sustainability roles. 🚦Find a sponsor in a large company who could advocate for you internally. Sebastian Peck 🚦Not a one-size-fits-all, there are different levels of commitment. Conditional agreements - MOUs, LOIs - trigger a binding agreement only once performance milestones are met. They can provide a helpful sandbox environment to test in an industrial setting, pre offtake agreement. 🚦Once signed, don't overpromise: The effect of failing to deliver can have huge ramifications. @Sam Baker suggests factoring in time to build up inventory before shipping product. 🚦For the signer, offtakers are an inherently risky deal, being pre-product, and often inefficient on scale and quality. They are one-to-one, between one offtaker and one solution provider. ➡ Sarah is championing "#risksharing" - a commitment pool shared between offtakes and the respective climate tech opportunities. Hedging the risk an obvious benefit. [Frontier fund pooled $925mil for advanced offtake agreements with early-stage carbon removal companies.] Offtakers are the solution- wider deployment drives down price. “Industrial incumbents have the mandate to help bridge the gap from uncompetitive climate techs to on a par with fossil fuels.” Sarah B. Söding #ClimateTech #StartupFunding #OfftakeAgreements #VentureCapital

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As we step into the second half of 2024, the venture capital landscape is evolving rapidly, bringing both challenges and opportunities for LPs. Recent discussions with LPs, including insights from Sweden, reveal key takeaways: - LPs are becoming more selective in the fundraising environment, showing caution amidst the tech sector's downturn. - VCs with successful track record have no issues raising money 2024 while those without have issues. - European LPs, such as those from Sweden, remain committed to long-term investment strategies, supporting portfolio fund managers like Skandia. - Some LPs view the current market downturn as a chance to capitalize on opportunities by negotiating better terms and increasing allocations in high-potential funds. - Swedish LPs are increasingly focused on sustainability and impact investing, aligning with the global ESG criteria trend. - Data and analytics are crucial for LPs in 2024, aiding in decision-making processes to assess fund performance and identify risks. In navigating 2024, LPs, including those in Sweden, must balance caution with strategic opportunism. Prioritizing long-term relationships, leveraging data, and focusing on sustainable investments are key strategies for success. If impact investing is here to stay and will be as effective as promised, we need to wait and see. Stay tuned for more insights shaping the venture capital landscape this year. #VentureCapital #LimitedPartners #InvestmentStrategies #Sustainability #DataDriven

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👣 Two major steps towards European Health Assurance ⭐ We are thrilled to support both Doccla and Neko Health expanding their footprint across Europe this week. These two businesses are taking major steps to advance preventative care, critical for the delivery of Health Assurance. At General Catalyst, our European Health Assurance thesis is to build scaled businesses at the intersection of healthcare and technology across geographies. The health aspirations and care needs are the same for consumers and the vulnerabilities of the health systems are similar. However, the build is not easy; each country presents a unique set of challenges—distinct regulatory frameworks, differing care infrastructure, diverse payment models, and legacy technologies – that add complexity. But for the most ambitious, mission-driven European entrepreneurs, complex problems are the greatest opportunities! Born in Sweden, Doccla and Neko were built by Martin Ratz, Dag Larsson, Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne respectively with big visions to scale across borders. While they operate at opposite sides of the acuity spectrum and have different approaches to reimbursement, they share an obsessive focus on building consumer-centric, technology-enhanced platforms that engage people in primary, secondary and tertiary preventive care. Just as most of the successful companies of the last decade have radically changed consumer behaviour, Doccla and Neko are standard bearers in a movement that will fundamentally transform how people approach their health. Since our investment, Doccla has scaled to serve over half of the NHS trusts, reducing emergency department visits by up to 60%. With a £35M Series B funding round, Doccla are primed to bring their virtual hospital solutions to France and Germany, bringing the same hospital-grade care to patients in the comfort of their home as in the UK. Neko has facilitated thousands of full body scans in Sweden and uncovered critical health issues that have spared many individuals. Now, with their expansion into the UK, they are cementing their position as the leading destination in Europe for consumers to gain a comprehensive understanding of their health. At General Catalyst, we are committed to creating, investing, partnering and operating to enhance the resilience of European healthcare. We see tremendous value in catalysing this European movement and invite founders, investors and traditional healthcare leaders from across the continent to join us in the pursuit of Health Assurance. The existing 'sick' care system is in a precarious state and can only be transformed into a more proactive, affordable and accessible one if we work together! Hemant Taneja, Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, Paul Kwan, Alexandre Momeni

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The Antler Sustainability Toolkit has some updates! 🌍 ✨ The toolkit is a comprehensive guide as you embark on your sustainability journey with your early-stage company. Check it out in the link in the comments or the Antler post below!

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Just landed in Denmark and now off to my first The Drop conference in Malmo, Sweden. First up in a few hours is an event I am co-organizing on distributed power and storage on the grid with 🟣 Chris Bernkopf of Podero with fellow cohosts Marcus Jacobsson of Sunshine Fund, Fredrik Rosenqvist of Qvantum International and Victor Nilsson of E.ON Sverige We will be organizing breakout sessions to discuss the following topics - The Heat Pump revolution: Fredrik Rosenqvist - Role of manufacturers, DER optimization from utilities vs. manufacturers, levers to drive heat pump adoption, challenges in installation capacity and expertise, heat pumps in single family homes and apartment complexes - VPPs and Utilities: Viktor Nilsson - Role of utilities, DER optimization from utilities vs. manufacturers, Virtual Power Plants (VPPs), the needs of consumers, giving users control over their energy, the challenge for utilities to transform into digital energy companies - DER Financing: Marcus Jacobsson - Key prerequisites for bankable projects (grid connect, permits, insurances, PPAs), latest financial engineering strategies to accelerate DER adoption, IRA vs European Green Deal - challenges and opportunities in the EU vs U.S. - Storage as the Holy Grail: Josh Felser - Role of battery storage on the grid, decentralized and non decentralized approaches, the role of utility and non-utility scale solutions, vehicle to grid, difference between EU and US in DERs and electricity markets - Energy Optimization: Chris Bernkopf - Decentralized energy flexibility and energy trading - different types of storage, how to use storage effectively, flexibility trading, local grid optimization, pathways to 100% green electricity If you just happen to be in Malmo at 15:00 today, come join us! Free coffee!

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The Magnificent 7 "invest nearly $400 billion annually into frontier tech (comparable to the GDP of Norway), of which $20–30 billion is in VC rounds (comparable to UK’s total VC investment)." 🤠💰 Good stuff here from Dealroom.co on the tech giants. Their market caps are big, and there's a good chance they'll all just keep getting bigger. That greatly impacts R&D, CVC, M&A, HR, etc. in deeptech globally. https://lnkd.in/ehExX8sa #vc #venturecapital #tech #technology #innovation #deeptech #ai #artificialintelligence #nvidia #facebook #apple #microsoft #tesla #amazon #google #startups #entrepreneurs #entrepreneurship #money #business

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Swiss company Climeworks are a global leading player for direct air capture (DAC) CO2 removal. They are a unicorn company (startup with >€1Bn valuation) having raised $650M equity investment in a single round in Q2-22. Their new 'Mammoth' plant near Reykjavik will process 36KT CO2/yr. Only 4 DAC plants process >1KT anywhere on the planet today. Massive fans suck in & condense CO2. This is dissolved in huge water tanks & pumped underground to dissolve minerals into solid locked-up deposits. Local geothermal heat drives this energy-hungry process. One strength is speed, with >95% of CO2 mineralised in <2 years. It currently costs $1000/T of CO2 captured, which comes from selling carbon-offsets of clients. Demand is high, with 1/3 of Mammoths total lifetime capacity already sold. The order list includes Microsoft, JP Morgan Chase, Shopify & Lego. Climeworks aim to quickly reach $300-400/T & will establish a 1MT plant. The US site in question will break ground in 2026. It's proponents argue it is a key part of the toolkit towards climate neutrality & reversing past damage. However, much remains to be done. Work so far is a drop in the ocean vs the c40 billion tons of CO2 released globally each year. Some critics also say it's far easier & more efficient to pinpoint the highest CO2 concentrations by removing CO2 directly at smokestacks. Alexander Novitskiy, Stefano Vittor, Paul Webber, Andrea Mangel Raventos, Francesca Boscolo Bibi, PNO Consultants Ltd (UK)

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💊 Did you know? Most illness-related causes of death are preventable. Multimodal discovery & development (including #AI) has already led to major advancements in #healthcare & #longevity, according to my (former) Singularity colleague Peter Diamandis, who has doubled down on this domain. In the 2030s (which I’ve dubbed the #ThrillingThirties), we’ll have lots of #abundance - of life, health, energy, connection, products & services. Which areas are you most excited about, and contributing to? 👇 #innovation #entrepreneurship #investing

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Stockholm’s Journey to Becoming an “Impact Capital”: Vision in 2022 vs. Reality in 2024 🇸🇪 In 2022, Agate Freimane from Norrsken VC painted a clear picture of Stockholm’s climate tech future Here’s what she anticipated: 1️⃣ Becoming a Global “Impact Capital” Stockholm aimed to position itself as a global impact capital 2️⃣ Agate pointed to companies like Northvolt as sparks igniting a broader ecosystem. She believed that one climate tech success story could inspire a wave of startups across many areas 3️⃣ Transition from Tech to Impact Tech With a well-established tech sector already in place, Agate saw Stockholm transforming into an “impact tech” hub, where climate-focused companies could flourish 👉The Reality in 2024: 1️⃣ Stockholm is now a top destination for impact investment in Europe. The city leads the Nordic region, underscoring its role as a central player in sustainable finance 2️⃣ More startups are emerging in areas like electric vehicles and sustainable materials, building a robust climate tech network. 3️⃣ Stockholm’s climate tech ecosystem is expanding into areas like green steel, industrial decarbonization, and next-gen battery storage—exactly the kind of innovation that Agate envisioned. Stockholm is now a thriving climate tech hub, showing the world what’s possible when investment, innovation, and sustainability align 💡 Let’s hope more cities adopt this vision #sustainability #impacttech

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In the Norrsken Accelerate Fund we have made 20 investments this year in super exciting impact tech startups that are tackling some of the big issues on the planet.🌍 I’d like to the spotlight on the amazing founders behind these companies. 📸 First out are Sébastien Fiedorow and Steven Bardey, PhD who are the founders of Aerleum. What they are doing is defossilizing heavy industries which is crucial for reducing GHG emissions globally. Sectors like shipping, road transport, and aviation need clean fuels with high energy density, cost-efficiency, and supply chain compatibility. How they address this is be having a unique technology that produces e-methanol from captured CO2 and low-carbon hydrogen. It burns cleanly, has high energy density, and integrates with current supply chains. By doing this they strive to remove giga-tons of carbon dioxide from the air and transform it into clean alternatives for fossil-based products which will be massive win for the planet.💚 Read more about Aerleum here: https://www.aerleum.com/ and ping me if you want to get in touch with them.

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Together with three #impactinvestors we did a lot of work on Impact Investing over the past twelve months. And there's a lot more happening this summer. Catch up with it here: https://lnkd.in/eiHy8FGD

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