altrove’s Post

Thibaud came to Entrepreneur First after exiting his first startup because he wanted to contribute to solving some of the most critical problems of our time and build a transformational company. altrove is fulfilling this ambition by creating new materials and allowing various industries to meet their climate targets. The world can't meet its Net Zero goals with the current supply of critical rare earth materials. Recent AI advancements make it possible to computationally predict the structure of hundreds of thousands of new stable materials. Among them, we can find alternatives to rare earths and overcome the current supply bottleneck. But figuring out the structure of new materials is not enough. In order to deliver alternatives that meet the requirements of specific industry applications, we need to iteratively discover the recipe of these materials in the real world. That's where Joonatan steps in! Thanks to his expertise in material characterization and lab automation, altrove has the opportunity to create new materials that are actually viable. Unfathomably ambitious, desperately needed : it's what we love to see at EF. Thibaud, Joonatan, it's been a joy to work with you. I'm extremely impressed by your pace of execution and excited to see what you're going to accomplish in the next few months! Congrats for your seed round with Contrarian Ventures & Emblem.

Yesterday, we celebrated the annual gala of the Suomen startup-yhteisö. One of the key highlights was a greeting from the President of the Republic, Alexander Stubb. As someone with a background rooted in politics and social sciences, observing firsthand the impact of startups has been a valuable learning experience, particularly from a political standpoint. The profound influence of the community members on Finland's economy is evident. They are significant employers, contributing to wealth creation and economic expansion. Notably, they also play a substantial role in the nation's international presence, with nearly 90% of their business being exported. In my daily work, I regularly observe how solutions such as new technologies can influence our operations, drive us to seek fresh solutions, and push the boundaries of scientific exploration. With a collective aim to achieve a €10 billion turnover by 2030, the community is well on track to meet this target, given its current growth trajectory. It's inspiring to witness how innovation is actively shaping our societies. I believe that by leveraging our entrepreneurial ecosystem, the support of venture capitalists, the credibility to innovation provided by government backing, and the principles of democracy, we can foster a mission-driven capitalism Lastly, cheers to my wonderful table mates Anni Anttonen, Teemu Kivimäki, Tuomas Pahlman and Kaj Hagros (in the video), with whom I had the chance to discuss sustainability and its financing, the intersection of geopolitics and business, and experience the wonders of technological advancement with GlamBot! #FinnishStartupCommunity #StartupGala #FinnishInnovation #EconomicImpact #Innovation #SuomenStartupYhteisö #InnovationPolicy #VC #VentureCapital

Today, 4 months after having completed the globe circumnavigation, I am delighted to announce the founding of BluKap, a venture capital firm targeting investments in outstanding entrepreneurs and impact startups of the Blue Economy. With co-founders, Patricio Jutard, Klas Johansen and Jean-Francois Trecco, three of us being circumnavigators, we share a deep passion for the Ocean and a track record spanning from creating unicorns, exiting ventures to Fortune 500 firms, developing fast growth strategies and scaling companies at the global level. Our group also boasts over a decade of business angel and panelists expertise within the international network of the Blue Economy. Together we want to unlock the Ocean's potential by investing with a global mandate along four verticals: Blue Nutrition, Blue Technology & Data, Blue Transportation and Blue Biotechnology. The Ocean is a fascinating place. It covers 71% of the Planet and harbors 95% of all living organisms, playing a vital role for our planet. It also absorbs over 90% of excess planetary heat and produces half of atmosphere oxygen. As a standalone economy - the Blue Economy – it is worth an estimated 2.5 trillion USD annually, ranking seventh largest in the world. The Blue Economy has historically been characterized by sluggish technological innovation and a disregard for the environmental consequences of its activities. It is time for a change – Driven by visionary entrepreneurs, a burgeoning global venture capital sector, strategic alliances, and a favorable regulatory environment, the Blue Economy is undergoing a transformative shift - and BluKap is riding this wave. BluKap is incorporated in the US with local hubs in Buenos Aires, Miami, Paris & Stockholm. Follow our journey at www.blukap.vc or reach out for more information on this new adventure! #blueeconomy #oceaneconomy #oceantech #venturecapital #innovation #sustainability

Connecting blue startups and investors is one of our most important tasks. Our Investor Day is coming up and more startups and investors from abroad are joining.

🌊🌍 Treeconomy is proud to announce that we have joined Katapult Ocean as part of the 2024 Accelerator cohort this fall! 🚀 After going through a rigorous diligence process, Treeconomy represents the top 1% of over 2,000 candidates assessed for the Accelerator Program this year. 🌱🌟 In total, startups from 6 continents and over 60 countries were screened, with the selected 12 companies representing 7 countries across 3 continents! 🌎🌍🌏 Described as “the most intense and fulfilling MBA you could ever undertake,” the program will guide us through workshops, online meetups, mentor sessions, pitch training, and investor presentations—all designed to get us ready for scaling. 📈💡 Our CEO & co-founder, Harry Grocott commented: “We’re very happy to welcome Katapult as an investor and to join their accelerator programme over the next few months, particularly as we build tools and services for mangrove restoration projects. “ We’re beyond excited to start this journey with Katapult Ocean! 🙌 👉 Learn more about Katapult Ocean and their incredible program here: https://katapult.vc/ocean/ Emily Houston #Treeconomy #UnlockingNaturesValue #KatapultOcean #AcceleratorCohort #Sustainability #Innovation #ClimateAction #OceanTech #ScalingUp #Greentech

Today, 4 months after having returned from our circumnavigation, I am delighted to announce the founding of BluKap, a venture capital firm targeting early-stage investments in outstanding entrepreneurs and impact startups of the Blue Economy. With co-founders, Patricio Jutard, Henry Gazay and Jean-Francois Trecco - three of us being circumnavigators - we share a deep passion for the Ocean and a track record spanning from creating unicorns, exiting ventures to Fortune 500 firms, developing fast growth strategies and scaling companies at the global level. Our group also boasts over a decade of business angel and panelists expertise within the international network of the Blue Economy. Together we want to unlock the Ocean's potential by investing with a global mandate along four verticals: Blue Nutrition, Blue Technology & Data, Blue Transportation and Blue Biotechnology. The Ocean is a fascinating place. It covers 71% of the Planet and harbors 95% of all living organisms, playing a vital role for our planet. It also absorbs over 90% of excess planetary heat and produces half of atmosphere oxygen. As a standalone economy - the Blue Economy – it is worth an estimated 2.5 trillion USD annually, ranking seventh largest in the world.  The Blue Economy has historically been characterized by sluggish technological innovation, and a disregard for the environmental consequences of its activities. It is time for a change – driven by visionary entrepreneurs, a burgeoning global venture capital sector, strategic alliances, and a favorable regulatory environment, the Blue Economy is undergoing a transformative shift - and BluKap is riding this wave. BluKap is incorporated in the US with local hubs in Buenos Aires, Miami, Paris & Stockholm. Follow our journey at www.blukap.vc or reach out for more information on this new adventure! #blueeconomy #oceaneconomy #oceantech #venturecapital #innovation #sustainability

What strategies would you recommend for a company to effectively demonstrate market interest in its technology to a potential acquirer? Navigating different European markets can be daunting for many Medtech startups. In this panel, Filip Pintelon, Investment Partner at Capricorn Partners, makes a few suggestions to companies aiming to demonstrate their value to potential acquirers: • Align your technology within existing reimbursement schemes • Focus on 2-3 markets demonstrating commercial traction • Validate the efficacy and prove that the business model works The full panel, “Continental Capital: Dissecting Innovation & Investment Dynamics & Trends Across Key European Geographies” is now available on our website and YouTube channel. Featured Panelists: • Alessio Beverina — Panakes Partners (Moderator) • Sylvain Sachot — Asabys Partners • Anke Cassing — HTGF | High-Tech Gründerfonds • Filip Pintelon — Capricorn Partners Registration for LSI Europe '24 on September 16-20 in Sintra, Portugal is open. Secure your spot today while our room block at the Penha Longa Resort | The Ritz-Carlton is still available.

I’m excited to continue my Scandinavian overview of private market activity, this time focusing on Sweden 🇸🇪 After diving into the data, I’ve identified the 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 6 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴. Seeing how these firms drive growth and support innovation across the Swedish startup landscape is inspiring. Here they are: 1. EQT Group - 9 rounds, led by Christian Sinding 2. Creandum - 8 rounds, led by Staffan Helgesson 3. Chalmers Ventures - 7 rounds, led by Pontus Ottosson 4. Norrsken VC - 6 rounds, led by Niklas Adalberth 5. Kinnevik - 4 rounds, led by Georgi Ganev 6. Industrifonden - 4 rounds, led by Peter Wolpert 🇺🇦 7. Volvo Group Venture Capital - 4 rounds 8. NEA Partners - 3 rounds 9. Pale blue dot - 3 rounds 10. Subvenio Invest - 3 rounds 11. Luminar Ventures - 3 rounds 12. Trill Impact - 3 rounds 13. J12 Ventures - 3 rounds 14. Investment AB Latour - 3 rounds 15. Stena Sessan - 2 rounds 16. Swedfund International - 2 rounds 17. Sound Bioventures - 2 rounds 18. Adelis Equity Partners - 2 rounds 19. Mudcake - 2 rounds 20. Wellstreet - 2 rounds As always, you can find this & much more data in our 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺. It provides all the insights you need to: 📍 identify targets 📍 evaluate risk and potential 📍 make confident investment decisions Stay tuned for more updates! 🔎 #dealpotential #privatemarkets #scandinavianinvestments

My entrepreneurial journey with Thibault Demoulin begun after I registered to the Innosuisse initial coaching and STARTUP CAMPUS Switzerland. I learnt during the lectures and coaching, about crafting and bringing a tech innovation into business world. I therefore recommend to Swiss entrepreneurs, graduating with technical, scientific background to attend the STARTUP CAMPUS Switzerland classes and apply for the Innosuisse coaching program. In fact, besides the technical business knowledge, I will recommend it for 5 soft reasons:  1️⃣ Listen: to learn the vocabulary of the newbies entrepreneurs: canvas, pitch deck, business plan, customers acquisitions and more. 2️⃣ Critical thinking: to discuss in lengthen and decide on mistakes you will do anyway such as problem solution fit, product market fit, customer feedback, and execution process. 3️⃣ Decide: to identify and define action plan to bypass mistakes you would like to avoid at all cost such as taking money from wrong partners or investors, debt, legal, complex business structure and more, 4️⃣ Prove: to validate your technical initial idea with a pool of skeptic, experts, optimist, believer and more... 5️⃣ Team trust: to find a good, trustable, experience coach and ecosystem to develop, grow your business idea and yourself. It is not a straightforward journey, be prepared keep your energy, effort, and commitment as high possible. Most importantly, don't discourage ✅ It won’t be easy but it is worth it .  ✅ Don’t be too impatient, take the ride one step at the time, and persevere. ✅ Celebrate the quick win (still difficult for us to do), it keeps you and your team motivated. This quote of Nelson Mandela summarises my entrepreneur journey so far: "After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb". Great thank to the Oxara team and our supporter 🙏

👏Meet our speakers 👏 We look forward to welcoming these frontrunners from the Nordics and Japan on the stage for a discussion on How to Build Startup Ecosystems for a Better World 🌍 🚀Antti Sonninen has been involved in the Japanese startup ecosystem for 10 years: first as the country manager of Finnish Rovio Entertainment, then co-founder of Slush Tokyo, and now as the Founder & CEO of Takeoff Tokyo, a Pitch Event for Entrepreneurs with Global Ambitions. 🚀Tobias Mathiasen has experience as a venture capitalist in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Beijing, and has been working at Swedish Katalyst Venture for the last 5 years. Being passionate about challenging himself where he could make a bigger impact, this year he founded SKB.vc, an early-stage focused venture capital to connect Japanese early-stage world-class potential innovation with global investment. 🚀Amina Sugimoto, DrPH, is the CEO of fermata, Inc. the largest femtech platform in Asia which provides market entry services and sales channels focusing on women’s health. Prior to founding fermata, Amina worked as Healthcare Innovation Producer at Mistletoe, Inc., a social impact-focused VC based in Singapore. 🚀Shintaro Ishida is the COO of Urchinomics Japan. Urchinomics is a Norwegian based startup tackling to restore the deforestation of the sea. They do this by removing overgrazing sea urchins and cultivating them until they are ready to be sold to premium restaurant. Their technology is developed at Nofima, The Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research. Prior to joining Urchinomics, Shintaro has been working for Ajinomoto and Sumitomo Corporation. 🚀The session will be moderated by our own Community Director Niklas Karvonen Join us on June 11 at 17:00 (JST)! 🎟️Registration: https://ow.ly/x8wm50S1tFO This Nordic Talks Japan is jointly hosted by the Royal Danish Embassy in Tokyo, the Embassy of Finland in Tokyo, the Embassy of Iceland in Tokyo, the Norwegian Embassy in Tokyo - ノルウェー大使館, the Embassy of Sweden in Tokyo, The Finnish Institute in Japan, Nordic Innovation House Tokyo, and Moon Creative Lab. Nordic Talks is supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers. #TheNordics #NordicMade #NordicTalks #NordicTalksJapan #InspireToAct #ActToInspire #Denmark #Finland #Iceland #Norway #Sweden #Japan #StartupEcosystem #Innovation #OpenInnovation