Climate tech is booming thanks to troubles in the European energy sector. Still, the proportion of investments in climate tech has to grow from very low levels, said Sebastian Heitmann, co-founder, and partner at Extantia Capital.

“The goal is to significantly increase this over the coming years,” Heitmann said. “In our world, the current situation is an acceleration. And we see more interest than before.”

Berlin-headquartered Extantia Capital invests primarily in startups developing technology for renewable baseload power sources or carbon capture.

Learn more about:

• Conviction and frustration behind founding Extantia
• Why energy is crucial for climate change
• Will nuclear/fusion solve climate change
• Why carbon is in focus for the fund 

“At the end of the day, CO2 is a molecule. We cannot blockchain it away,” Heitmann said.

In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, we talk with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.

Follow NatureBacked across platforms:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Twitter | Instagram

Advertisers:

Making great cheese is the holy grail of plant-based milk products. This company is certain it has found the solution.

"The product is identical to what the cow is producing," Sheriff Will Van den Tweel said in an interview on the sidelines of the Startup Day Festival in Tartu, Estonia.

Those Vegan Cowboys is a Dutch-founded Belgian startup where some 25 people are working on replacing cows in the dairy industry. The company's founders sold their previous startup Vegetarian Butcher to Unilever in 2018. 

Learn more about:

• How a farmer and a politician founded the two companies
• Can cowboys switch to farming herbs?
• How can cheese be like cheese when the cow is removed from the production 
• How much of the milk is replaced by plant-based alternatives already
• When will they launch?

"We, as people, need to have some pain to change. And I think if you also look at what is happening in the environment, you ask yourself - going further like we are doing now probably doesn't make it easier for children, and we need some changes. And that's what we want to contribute to," Van den Tweel said.

"There are a lot of investments going into this area and also venture capital going into these types of businesses," he said.

In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, we are talking with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.

Follow NatureBacked across platforms:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Twitter | Instagram

There's a good hype around climate tech, and some related sectors, like food tech, remain hot despite the downturn,  said Helen Lin, a partner at Silicon Valley-based At One Ventures.

"When there is an economic downturn, investors typically take a flight to safety. So the more you look ... like a brick of gold to an investor, that is, a stable store of value that is not going to be hugely volatile, the more they will actually flock to you," she said.

At One Ventures is backing early-stage disruptive deep tech companies that have the potential to upend the unit economics of established industries while dramatically reducing their footprint on the planet or pioneering industries that are actively regenerative. Since its 2020 launch, the firm has made 28 investments.

Learn more about:

• How dying Hawai coral reef created the fund
• How startups could revamp old, massive industries
• Cows methane emissions
• When will carbon capture become interesting for investing

"Carbon is important. It's also not the only variable in a very complex equation of fixing all the problems the planet has right now," Lin said.

In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, we are talking with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.

Follow NatureBacked across platforms:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Twitter | Instagram

Advertisers:

"Startups do not fail because they run out of cash. They run out of cash because the leaders fail," said Patrick Flesner, partner LeadX Capital Partners and author of the bestseller book FastScaling.

Learn more about:

• How fast is too fast scaling? Should you build a plane while flying or before taking off?
• How investors should separate good and bad cash burn
• Is 2 million profit per year enough for a startup?
• Growing from founder to leader: when to leave decisions to staff?
• Why Netflix startup series Kings of Stonk is worth watching
• The secret sauce of writing a bestseller

Patrick's next books, The Leadership House and Leading Effectively, are due later in 2022.

In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, we are talking with investors about the vision of the new green world.

Follow NatureBacked across platforms:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Twitter | Instagram

Nordics and Baltics boast one of the highest concentrations of unicorn startups, and several deeptech firms are set to follow the first unicorns, which have been digital software companies, said partner Juho Risku from investment firm Butterfly Ventures.

"Those digital companies were made 10 years ago, 15 years ago, or even longer. I think there are quite a few in the making at this very moment," said Risku.

The 2012-founded Butterfly Ventures unveiled in the summer of 2022 a new 100 million euro seed entry capital fund, which focuses on science-based deep tech and hardware startups in the Nordics and Baltics, focusing on megatrends like climate change and the aging population.

Learn more about:

• Why over 20 multiples are more likely among deeptech startups
• The critical factor in the VC-entrepreneur relationship
• How to raise a fund through COVID and war
• Impact of Santa on Nordic innovation in Finland

In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, we are talking with investors about the vision of the new green world.

Follow NatureBacked across platforms:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Twitter | Instagram

Scooters and carbon accounting firms grab a major share of climate-related startup investments, said Nina Gunell from Helsinki-headquartered investment firm OpenOcean.

"Definitely there are areas that are getting a lot of investments, although there maybe doesn't need to be that many solutions in the end," she said. 

OpenOcean was founded in 2009 by the founders and early investors of database firm MySQL. Sun bought MySQL for $1 billion in 2008, just before Oracle acquired Sun in January 2010. 

Learn more about:
* when should software startup start to think about its emissions and ESG
* how should startups survive 2022 
* why it matters if trees grow 20 years longer in forests 
 * log rolling

In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, we are talking with investors about the vision of the new green world.

Follow NatureBacked across platforms:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Twitter | Instagram

Startups focusing on food, agriculture, biodiversity, and forestry offer some of the best opportunities to impact global carbon emissions significantly, said Max Bauchau, who runs Startup Wise Guys Sustainability program.

The 2012-founded SWG has invested in around 300 startups over the years. Bauchau said the accelerator-investor, which boasts an 80% survival rate, will start a new sustainability program in October 2022 in Copenhagen.

Learn about:

• Why Denmark is home to SWG Sustainability program
• Why do carbon investors focus on food? 
• How can 80% of early-stage startup investments survive?
• How to apply for SWG Sustainability program 

In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, we are talking with investors about the vision of the new green world.

**

A few key takeaways from Max Bauchau:

**

Food and agriculture …. represent, according to different studies, around 24-25% of all CO2 emissions in the world. So this is a segment that needs to be tackled, that needs to be worked on. 

**

We believe that Denmark is a fantastic sandbox for those kinds of companies. We have some very large companies active in Denmark's agriculture and food. And therefore creating innovation can really be a great sandbox for those companies to create to partner with those larger companies, and to really figure out what's the best way to approach this or this client, and how to create a sustainable solution that really has an impact on the world.

**

It is no surprise that Scandinavia is one step ahead of the rest of the world regarding sustainability. So a lot of the mentalities are already changed here. Investment is going towards sustainability; it is going towards impact startups.

**

Ideally, we have companies with small recurring revenues, so there is validation from the market. And we are also looking for great teams. That is, again, a very important factor. We could invest in pre-revenue businesses. That is fine, too, if we strongly believe in the team.

**

Follow NatureBacked across platforms:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Twitter | Instagram

The $450 million Kiko Ventures became the first evergreen climate fund when it launched in June 2022, said Founding Partner Arne Morteani.

When IP Group launched Kiko Ventures, it said it plans to invest $240 million in climate tech startups over the next five years.

Learn about:

• focus areas of the fund
• benefits of evergreen fund structure vs VC funds
• lubrication-as-a-service
• a triple whammy for a climate tech investor

In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, we are talking with investors about the vision of the new green world.

**

A few key takeaways from Arne Morteani::

**

There's lots of stuff that needs to happen, from carbon capture to next-generation solar, you name it. And all of these things need investors that are patient and can be there for the whole ride. All things equal, every entrepreneur should want full lifecycle investors that you can be with an evergreen structure. 

It allows you to invest without doubt of running out of time and money in the way you would be doing within the traditional fund. And without this 10-year fixed mandate investment mandate that you would have in a traditional fund, you get an enormous amount of flexibility. 

**

We just invested in what really is rocket science as far as heat pumps go. I mean, it literally is rocket science.

**

Cleantech, in many ways, is much more diverse and much more generalist than the actual generalist funds. And so a strategy where you just do everything a little bit, but focusing on stage isn't a logical strategy. 

So we want to flip it on its head and say we're thematically focused first, and stage second.

**

Follow NatureBacked across platforms:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts

Twitter | Instagram

Single.Earth has minted the first tokens from the work nature does to owners of lands in Brazil and Europe, and has started to roll out MERIT tokens to the market, co-founders Merit Valdsalu and Andrus Aaslaid said in this special episode of the NatureBacked podcast.

Learn about:

• the first over-the-counter deals
• upcoming consumer-launch
• the impact of crypto-winter 
• how to grow a team 10-fold in half a year
• is there an ICO coming?

**
In the NatureBacked podcast we are talking with investors about the vision of the new green world.

Follow NatureBacked across platforms:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Twitter | Instagram

Sustainable technologies and sustainable business models are often intervened in today's world,, said Shahin Dashti, an investor at Frankfurt-based Futury Capital which is working on launching a new sustainability-focused fund.

Learn more about the impact of market turmoil on startup investments and about the unique roots of sports and regional policies on the back of Futury. We had a rare chance to speak also about football in this episode!

In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, we are talking with investors about the vision of the new green world.

**

A few key takeaways from Shahin Dashti:

**
It's happening anyway if we want it or not because those are the laws of the market. Often sustainability is not only about the business model, which is sustainable for the planet, but also the sustainable business model itself. And that it's not only dependent on short-term trends but can last for a long time.

**
If you look at how many funds have been raised in the last years or months, this money has to be deployed contractually. So it means those fund managers, in the end, have to make the investments. There is no alternative to that other than giving the money back to the investors like the LPs, which I think will not happen that likely. So they have to make investments.

**
You could argue that now there's some headwind on the fundraising market. But as I said, I see this as an opportunity. And it means that all the good ones will survive.
**
Follow NatureBacked across platforms:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Twitter | Instagram

Companies of the future will naturally focus on the environment and impact to be able to make a business for hundreds of years, said Alex Felman from Felman Family Office.

Learn more about family offices and what makes the investment firms of family wealth different from venture capitalist investors from the episode recorded on the sidelines of the TechChill conference in Riga.

In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, we are talking with investors about the vision of the new green world.

**

A few key takeaways from Alex Felman:

**

I believe that most companies moving forward will have to be very impact- or environmentally-oriented with how they do business. 

**

For example, we tend to invest to exit. And, I mean, that could be five years, it can be 15 years, it could be 20 years.

Generally speaking, you probably want to have an investor who, once they're on the ride, is there until the ride runs out. It's probably an investor you want. 

**

Looking at more environmental sustainability issues, we are actually looking at problems of these longer timeframes that may not fit into a more standard kind of VC timeframe. 

**

If you're only trying to optimize for financial gain, it puts a very narrow perspective on your investment space. But suppose you're maximizing for other things or multiple things. In that case, it gives you much more flexibility to consider investment opportunities that you wouldn't consider otherwise. 

**
Follow NatureBacked across platforms:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Twitter | Instagram

Many startups are working on climate adaptation, but there are less-crowded opportunities around climate mitigation, said Dama Sathianathan, partner at Bethnal Green Ventures.

London-headquartered Bethnal Green Ventures has invested for 10 years in #TechForGood companies like Fairphone and over 100 other firms.

Learn more about open opportunities in the climate tech sector from the episode recorded on the sidelines of the Latitude59 conference in Tallinn.

In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, we are talking with investors about the vision of the new green world.

**
A few key takeaways from Dama Sathianathan:
**
I would love to see more (startups) around climate mitigation, like how do we think about disaster risk reduction in zones prone to natural disasters?
I'd love to see more climate mitigation products and services.
**
The number of times I see carbon offsetting platforms or ESG data platforms, I'm like, Okay, now calm down. We have seen 100 over the past year. Perhaps there is something else that needs addressing and looking into.
What are some of the needs we need to solve? There are loads around sort of conservation, biodiversity, even more, sustainable farming and agriculture practices, looking into increasing the security of our supply chains, when it comes to food supply chains, there are loads and loads of opportunities in this space.
**
There are so many amazing ideas out there. You just need to look. Go and find them.
**
Follow NatureBacked across platforms:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Twitter | Instagram

A giant wave of purpose-driven founders, coupled with consumers raising interest in the environment, and the availability of climate-focused capital, should enable a rosy future for the climate tech sector,  said Madelene Larsson, an investor at Giant Ventures.

London-headquartered Giant Ventures has invested in some 20 companies and plans to invest a billion dollars over 2020s. It had just started to raise its second fund when we recorded the podcast in late May 2022.

**

A few key takeaways from Madelene Larsson:

**
Of course, it was a better environment to raise the fund before we saw the market pullback that we're currently seeing. We're not going to shy away from that. But we do hope there is fundamental support for purpose-led technology and climate tech. Right. So we are kind of progressing well with our fundraising.
**
I think this was sure increasing focus on the sector. And when investors start to focus on the sector, you also kind of automatically see more startups in the space, and, you know, people are coming up with new ideas because they see that the funding is there.
**
I think climate tech is quite a hot space at the moment. And there's for sure, you know, a lot of capital following that sector. So you see a fair amount of startups trying to greenify, if you will, are trying to be maybe more climate-friendly than they are.
**
I think there are some big opportunities to be had in-home electrification and kind of EV enablement. As I mentioned, I think consumers will be pushed to kind of going green, and they will be more affordable going green than it kind of has ever done before.
**
Follow NatureBacked across platforms:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
Twitter | Instagram

Startups should focus on their cash burn and seek to build a 36-month runway as the downturn in markets and economies has started, but it's a great time to be investing in deep tech as founders are increasingly keen to tackle world-changing challenges, Outsized Ventures' general partner Isabel Fox said in an interview on the sidelines of the Latitude59 startup conference in Tallinn in late May 2022.

London-headquartered Outsized Ventures is a 2021-founded deep tech investment firm that invests in Seed+ rounds in founders that are going to have a big impact on the world for the better.

**

A few key takeaways from Isabel Fox:

**

I think people want to do stuff that's going to have a purpose and an impact. So you're finding more and more great talent wanting to address some of the world's greatest challenges.
The first thing you'll see is more founders wanting to find solutions to our problems. So we definitely see an increase in fabulous people trying to work through whether that's carbon counting, whether it's sustainability projects, which they think can get off the ground. 
**

I still think more money will come into the area. It sort of leads with the quality of the founders and the ideas, and what they're trying to build, and the money will be there for great founders, as you know, and I think that's starting to happen. But we need to obviously speed up what we're doing in order to save our planet.

**

You definitely hear from corporates that they're looking at it. But I don't think many of them actually even have a strategy. They're working through the plans with the consultants, and when you start to look at the costs of going carbon neutral by 2030, they've got to make a significant investment to get there. Of which I see sort of the start, but I'm probably like you: I'm not seeing them make that full, big commitment of quite a few 100 million, in some cases to sort of drive that. So I think, I think it will be right, I think there'll be panic right at the end. And people then want to sort of see how they can get out of it, rather than necessarily fulfill that obligation.

**

So my advice to founders has been: to watch the cash burn, get prudent on that, and try to increase your runway to 36 months. So you have the luxury of time, and hopefully, the world may have stabilized sooner than we think. 
I think being tight, and being focused is not a bad thing. I always think that it's about being savvy, it's about being prudent and nimble. 
**

I think the stuff that we're backing and the stuff that you like are big plays that have a huge impact on the future of society. That's not going to change much. For me, actually, in deep tech, I think it's a great time to be investing. We still got the problems in the world; we still need to solve them. And these opportunities are so huge that even if we have a bad two-year period now in the macro economy, they're going to come through the other side, very, very strong.

Startups creating new materials, including for food industries, can have a significant climate impact, making them interesting targets for the Nordic investment firm Inventure,  partner Tuomas Kosonen said in an interview on the sidelines of the TechChill startup conference in Riga in late April 2022.

Inventure is a Helsinki-headquartered seed-stage investor, known for its investments in companies like Wolt and Swappie.

**
A few key takeaways from Tuomas Kosonen:
**
We are not an impact investor. We are a pure financial investor, but in the past years, all ESG-related topics have raised their meaning, coming from all also from the portfolio and from LPs. We have to be very aware of all these topics.

**

That's something that is like super important on the agenda of pension funds, insurance companies, and public money. And, of course, it is super nice to see what kind of impact money can make. So if the big money or institutional investors would not care for it, most of the investors, at least, wouldn't put that much effort into that one. But actually, you might not even qualify for the money, like the LP commitment, if you're not part of that.

**

Especially what we have done in the past is on new materials, so like, plastic replacement, or like carbon nanotubes. That's something that has a huge environmental impact. So that's something we are now looking for in the coming two years. 

**

Food-related companies will have a direct impact line quite fast, much faster, some material technologies. And then the food, I guess, is superheated as well. Yes, and we have looked at meat replacement companies; unfortunately not invested single one of them yet. There have been some quite interesting ones.

The companies that will deliver the highest climate impact will also provide the highest financial returns, was the founding thesis of World Fund, said Alexis Caporale.
"And now we're seeing it, and it's just incredible. They just do better, they're more resilient, their customers are more engaged, and their teams are more engaged," he said.
World Fund is a 350-million euros climate-focused VC, which has unveiled seven investments so far, including Treecard, Juicy Marbles, QOA and Space Forge.

**
A few key takeaways from Alexis Caporale:
**
The companies that will deliver the highest climate impact will also be the ones delivering the highest financial impact - that was the founding thesis of the fund. And now we're seeing it, and it's just incredible. They just do better, they're more resilient, their customers are more engaged, and their teams are more engaged. I mean, talent is probably one of the most complicated things that a company faces when they need to scale and purpose mission-driven founders are able to attract better talent, and for that, they remain in the company. 
**
We see that those companies which focus on the energy transition, so basically, electrification and beyond, are getting lots of inbound from the market because everyone is trying to understand how to stop depending on Russian commodities. So for those companies focusing on electrification, there are more opportunities, but you have to you also have to be very careful because some of these opportunities can be just short-lived.
**
Everyone is gonna be tweeting about the economy, VCs, and how valuations were crazy, and how we're never gonna do that again.
**
For Barcelona, climate tech is really, really, really moving a lot. Spain has some characteristics in some industries, like food, for example, or agriculture. 
There are lots of things going on in Barcelona; you will see Barcelona becoming a hub for climate tech. Sooner rather than later.
**
Check out the following Barcelona-based climate tech startups: Wallbox, Heura, Submer, FlexiDao, Holaluz.com and TAPP Water.

Stockholm-headquartered Norrsken VC is on a mission to find not just unicorns but impact unicorns, startups valued at over $1 billion which at the same time can impact the lives of more than 1 billion people, Agate S. Freimane said on the sidelines of TechChill startup conference in Riga. 
The VC firm was born out of Norrsken Foundation – a non-profit foundation founded in 2016 by Niklas Adalberth, co-founder of Klarna -  with the belief that entrepreneurs building rapidly scalable businesses are our best bet to solving the hardest and biggest problems of our time.
**
A few key takeaways from Agate S. Freimane:
**
"Why we coined the term unicorn was because it was so rare. And these days, it's not that rare anymore. The bar has lowered, though, I think, impact unicorn is still pretty rare ... it's a really high bar."
**
"Even if you have a very deep, meaningful impact, if you don't have a strong business model, you're not able to attract capital - you're not able to grow. So hence, you don't really scale your impact."
**
"Maybe someone says that there are just not enough startups in this space. It's also because a lot of entrepreneurs thought that there's no point starting these businesses, that there is no capital, and it's kind of what comes first, you know, exactly the chicken or egg. Do the startups come first or capital? Maybe at the moment, there is a lot of capital, but that's just going to inspire more entrepreneurs to dare to actually start businesses in these sectors."
**
"I think Europe is at the forefront of the climate tech movement globally. What I see right now is that Europe is at the forefront of the public sector and the regulatory environment for taxonomy. And so we see in Europe, more so than anywhere else in the world regulation pushing big old school businesses on the path of sustainability. But the reality is that a lot of these businesses don't have the tools to achieve this. And then, it's up to the startups to fill that gap to enable the industries to shift."
**

Speedinvest was among the first European early-stage VC firms when its founders started to take Silicon Valley's getting-hands-dirty practices from their own entrepreneurs' journey to the Old Continent, said investor Andreas Schwarzenbrunner.

Vienna-headquartered Speedinvest has invested in some 250 companies, including 20 investments in climate tech startups. The firm manages assets of about half a billion euros.

**

A few key takeaways from Andreas Schwarzenbrunner:

**

"I think there's a gap between the software digital-focused climate tech companies versus ones that are really into more development of new ideas, R&D, infrastructure, and hardware."

**

"I think there the investor scene needs to adapt because if you're serious about climate tech, and if you are serious about decarbonization, and reducing emissions, the investor scene, including us, has to realize that there is no way around hardware.

At the end of the day, if you really look at the hard problems in climate tech, there are so many things that can't be solved otherwise. It's about reducing emissions when you use concrete and steel; it's about new ways of electrified mobility and charging infrastructure.

If you look at energy storage and hydrogen solutions, there's no way around building the storage facilities and all those things. Investors need to adapt and realize that if you're serious about it, you have to tackle these problems."

**

"We also see that this climate tech is basically a maturing asset class ... you can see the rise of investors in climate tech, money that goes into that space. And for us, we also want to double down on this, and we want to continue to invest and even invest more in climate tech companies over the years to come."

**

Carbon13 backs early-stage climate founders in launching their business ventures, says co-founder Michael Langguth, making it one of the first climate-focused accelerators.
The next showcase day of Carbon13 teams is held on 24 May 2022 in Cambridge.
**
A few key takeaways from Michael Langguth:
**
"There are still a lot of climate tech startup investors that will only invest in software. And I think that's, that's a bit of a fallacy. You can't; you can't be a climate VC and just invest in software; you have to do some of the hard problems, as well."
**
"If you think of the math, it's not possible for us to sequester so much carbon through nature-based solutions, or things like direct air capture, that we don't have to reduce the other bits. The truth is, we're not going to be able to do this. There are a lot of very hard-to-decarbonize sectors, like concrete, steel production, and others."
**
"The other big thing is that we will be launching a Berlin cohort next year, we do see some inertia in European or EU-based founders coming to the UK, or generally, it's, I guess, some people want to start a business where they are. So we're coming to Berlin, to where we see a huge potential in terms of the number of people wanting to work on climate solutions."
**

Sustainable transformation and overall net climate impact are in focus for Rainer Sternfeld, managing partner at a 100 million euro fund Japanese investment Nordic Ninja when he seeks investment opportunities among Nordic and Baltic startups.
Sternfeld was the founder of climate data startup PlanetOS, bought by Intertrust in 2017.
**
A few key takeaways from Rainer Sternfeld:
**
"I am still very optimistic that Europe is still the best place for cleantech, Europe is still the best place to talk about clean energy, and we can figure it out rather easily. We don't have that many disagreements as maybe in other sectors, and we can afford it."
**
"You have a massive amount of energy going towards moving atoms, as we say, at Nordic Ninja. That 'moving atoms' means moving people, moving goods. And so when you move atoms, we have, by the way, I think about 40% of the capital allocated in our fund so far into reducing the amount of energy that is spent moving atoms or, or getting rid of moving atoms altogether, like in the case of Veriff, which is an exception." 
**
"I don't eat meat, but I know that obviously, a lot of people eat meat, and they will be eating meat in the next decades to come, even though that is going to be reduced, reducing in terms of percentage share, they still will do that. So if we are going to have people eating meat, it should be done as efficiently as possible. Like, what if there was a way to reduce methane emission of cows, like 80%?
Of course, I would support doing that even though I don't eat meat, right? It's still a net impact."
**

The public sector could boost climate tech development when many funds struggle with fitting climate into their 10-year lifecycle, says investor Rodrigo Sepúlveda Schulz, who was co-founder of impact investment firm Expon Capital and an early investor in companies like GetAround and Glovo.
In the podcast interview, Sepúlveda Schulz also outlined the 12 questions startups have to answer to raise venture capital.
**
A few key takeaways from Rodrigo Sepúlveda Schulz:
**
"There are a number of new funds coming up, focusing exclusively on Climate Technologies. It has a number of challenges, but it has to be done. First is the 10-year timeframe for a fund to return the money is maybe too short for those guys; maybe we need to go to a 15-year timeframe."
**
"What do you do with all the old equipment? Do you throw it away or just reuse it? I repair most of my stuff. And if something's I don't buy new stuff, you know, I love brands such as Patagonia, which you could go and take your jacket repaired for the rest of your life. We just need to be more conscious of what we do in our choices. I think the younger generation gets it, but it might be too late for them."
**
"In my personal time, I spend a lot of time with wine. So people think it's like a funky hobby, but in wine, we've seen in the past 10, 15 years, harvests happening two to four weeks earlier than they used to historically. It's not a joke. When Donald Trump says global warming is a joke, it's not a joke."

We spoke with Yrjö Ojasaar, co-founder of Change Ventures, about the investment firm's focus on founders from Baltic countries and he shift in global trends towards climate tech.
Change Ventures has raised two funds totaling around 50 million euros, and its investments include companies like Veriff and Printify.
A few key takeaways from Yrjö Ojasaar:
**
"There's been overall world trend where we have externalized the environmental issue, to where we don't take into account, what is the effect, the long term effect on society on carbon on availability of materials on prices on any of that. It's sort of been accepted as well, that we'll put that down for a zero. And that's why virgin materials ... has been price competitive, we have now realized that the cost is not zero."
**
"We've been really hooked on this cheap energy, but it's been like getting energy from coffee. Instead of sleeping, exercising and eating well, I'll just have one more espresso. One more espresso. You get this quick boost. And then you need another quick boost, and you need another quick boost. But how long can you keep going without changing the fundamentals?"
**
"I think solar, wind, those technologies are going to have a much faster rollout, and more energy, more investment, more attention dedicated to them. And they're going to be much faster in scaling. So there are going to be positive impacts in the long run. And, of course, with electric vehicles and alternative energy vehicles, and even, you know, cold fusion and things like that. They're all going to get a boost from trying to unhook ourselves from the traditional petrochemical type of industry."

We spoke with Hampus Jakobsson, co-founder of Pale Blue Dot, on how climate problems could be fixed and what are the biggest challenges.
Malmö-headquartered Pale Blue Dot raised 2021 a fund of 87 million euros for investments in climate-focused startups.

A few key takeaways from Hampus Jakobsson:
**
"I would love governments to say: you have to solve this problem. And we have to decide how hard that solving is. And if you haven't done it, if you're the CEO of an oil company, you will go to jail in 2030. But we're going to be super nice. We're not going to throw you to jail now, 2022. So we're just gonna say for the coming years, there are fines, and the fines are going to increase in the scale, but in 2030 you will go to jail. So you go to jail, your biggest shareholders go to jail, your board goes to jail."
**
"I always try to tell people that for me, the climate - we have to start looking at it like, like child pornography, pedophilia, or child labor or something. If somebody comes to you and says, Hey, I'm going to pitch you this great idea: it's a carpet factory I'm running in Bangladesh, and I'm giving all the kids mittens, and now it's great because they don't hurt their fingers so much anymore. And it's really interesting because they actually can work slightly longer. So we get more revenue out of it, but it's like a double bottom line ...  more profitable, but also actually better for the kids. We all would be like, can you go? Can you please leave this room? I don't want to ever talk to you again, you're a horrible person, I'm going to call the police now."
**
"I think you can actually say we want this change faster. And you can say, we will go from fines to jail on some of these things, and I think that the third one is on people and culture, we can just say we don't accept mittens on child laborers."
**
"I think that that's the way we should approach some of these problems, saying no, no, no, no, I'm not after that best child labor camp. I'm after no child labor. And I think that that's a requirement you can actually ask."

We spoke with Alex Konoplyasty, co-founder of Flashpoint Ventures, about big global trends, the possible implications of the war in Eastern Europe, and why it's still early days of greentech investments in the region.
London-headquartered Flashpoint manages assets worth 450-500 million and is known for investments in the firms like Chess.com and Guesty. 
A few key takeaways from Alex Konoplyasty:
**
"In this type of environment, we recommend our portfolio companies raise money as soon as possible. If they're raising money now, they should like to keep raising. If not, they should go out and start rasing right now, as fast as they can. Valuation is less important; I think it's more important to capitalize yourself for the next couple of years to make sure you have capital."
**
"We don't know how the consumer is going to adjust to this, like the terrible shock that is happening around the energy. Maybe they adjust in the way that we don't expect today, then maybe it's not going to be so bad as we expected, right? And we've seen historically people do adjust in shock situations - when it's gradual, it's sort of okay, but when it's like shock, people tend to change their behavior."
**
"In 2015, after Crimea, I decided that I didn't want to do anything with Russia. At all. We don't do any business in Russia. Like, we didn't do anything there after 2015. It was a very strategic decision for us."

We spoke with Shikha Ahluwalia about the climate's role in all investment decisions, Balderton's own green strategy, and how to invest in climate-friendly companies across the sectors. 
London-headquartered Balderton has raised around 5 billion US dollars for its funds, and is known for investments in startups including Revolut and Betfair.
A few key takeaways from Shikha Ahluwalia:
**
"We're definitely not doing enough to tackle climate change.  As investors, and the investing scene in general, we have a unique responsibility to address the issues of the next well, not even 50 years, the next eight years until 2030."
**
"Ultimately, we all need to learn to be less greedy and think about the world we're building for generations to come. And that's not five generations down the line. I'm talking about our children: my children, your children, and it's very, very near. So I think that the idea that investors need to be doing much, much more is super important. Returns in terms of impact on the planet, in terms of impact on the climate, need to be measured alongside financial returns."
**
"We should be asking, how do we set up a process in a way that it becomes top of the agenda to invest into climate-friendly companies as part of investment decision making?"

We spoke with Terhi Vapola about climate tech, energy transition, and Helen Ventures' investments in the fields like EV charging and power grid optimization. 
A few key takeaways from Terhi Vapola:
**
"What we want to do is work with the most innovative startups ...  working with people who don't just talk, I think there's plenty of talking and has been for a long time. What we need to do is actually get those things done."
**
"If you think about the existential crisis that we are dealing with, we need to find the solutions. And then at the same time, if you look at the regulatory changes, and ... Green Deal and the amount of public support into making money available for for the actions, which can help us to address it, I think it's a fantastic thing. "
**
"The bi-directional charging is a great opportunity ... those pilots are taking place as we speak ...  of course, you need to have the adoption of the EV charging taking place even further to really balance it. But the steps into that, are like real today already."
 

We spoke with Natasha Jones from London headquartered Octopus Ventures about the intersection of climate change and fintech startups, the booming collaboration in climate tech, and the challenges of  ESG investing.
Here are some of the key takeaways from Natasha Jones:
**
"The data is really clear - if you can move your pension to a green and sustainable pension, it's 27 times more effective than going vegan, which, as someone who tried to go vegan and failed, it seems a lot easier to just select a green pension provider."
**
"I think what's super interesting is now the regulatory push to clamp down on greenwashing. And that's tied to consumer distrust as well. I think in France a survey said 60% of consumers distrust green labeling from banks. I think for our space, that creates a kind of an opportunity."
**
"I think the first thing to note ... just a huge amount of collaboration. I think other sectors tend to be a bit more cagey on sharing IP, on collaborating between different stakeholders, from entrepreneurs all the way to policymakers and investors in between. Climate tech is really different in that sense. Everyone's very keen to collaborate to find different solutions. And I think that's what makes it really optimistic space to be in."

We spoke with Leo Caprez about the urgent need for innovation in the climate tech sector as the world is facing increasing challenges from accelerating climate change.
A few key takeaways from Leo Caprez:
**
"A lot of also very smart and driven people have woken up to the issues that we are facing: we have very, very little time to solve a massive problem. The decarbonization that obviously has to happen first, is so massive that nobody knows how we actually can get there. So we need all the innovation that we can get right now in a very short period of time. It's a frenzy right now."
**
"Lots of those technologies are available now that can be used in this space,  just think about remote sensing with satellites and drones and machine learning capacities that only since a few years are available, and the costs are coming down. Actually now it's viable economically, to analyze vast areas of forests on their carbon content. It's still pretty tricky. Actually, there are lots of startups that are attracted to tackling this issue right now."
** 
"For any kind of VC player, it's not easy to navigate this space, because there are lots of shiny things also."

We spoke with Aleksi Partanen from Icebreaker.vc about the opportunities created by climate change, the urgency of the current situation, and (of course) about breaking the ice.
A few key takeaways from Aleksi Partanen:
**
"People are becoming more aware of the issue we're facing that this planet will not be able to, to hold us all, or at least not stand everything we do or would like to do. And that, on the other hand, brings a massive amount of opportunities."
**
"Let's look at Nasdaq IPOs. How many are actually impact-driven? I can't come up with one."
**
"This planet is running out of time. The faster we try to help as many people as possible, the higher the likelihood that some of these will turn into actual change."

Single.Earth CTO and cofounder Andrus Aaslaid speak about why Single.Earth was founded and how the company plans to monetize ecosystem services.
A few key takeaways from Andrus Aaslaid:
"All we have done so far in the world ... as a humanity, we have been optimizing the economic processes quite a lot to be able to maximize profits. Somewhere in the middle, we forgot that this will put more and more strain on ecology."
**
"We need birds and bees and all other creatures on the planet because if we focus 100% on global warming and trying to suck as much carbon out of the atmosphere as possible, sacrificing everybody else, yes, it will be one cooler planet, probably, but we might very well find that we are alone and starving on it because we had thrown everything else away in a process."
**
"Money is what drives it all around. And so far we have looked at our capital investments only from the gains perspective -- if we create something, then how much profit it will make. And if investors are investing somewhere, then what will be the best return on that money. We've been optimizing all the processes based on the, well literally what's good for the shareholders."
**
"We need a whole lot more attention towards it that capital would also seek that our environment would sustain so that the money everybody's making would be possible to spend on the planet before it overheats and goes to hell."