The NatureBacked Podcast

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 202...

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...

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, wh...

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...

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...

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. In the NatureBacked podcast of Single. Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world. Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn.  ** A few key takeaways from Mich...

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. In the NatureBacked podcast of Single. Earth, Tarmo Virki talks wit...

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 ve...

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. In the NatureBacked podcast of Single. Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and ent...

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. In the NatureBacked podcast of Single. Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world. Subsc...

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.  In the NatureBacked podcast of Single. Eart...

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. In the NatureBacked podcast of Single. Earth, Tarmo Virki...

We spoke with Terhi Vapola about climate tech, energy transition, and Helen Ventures' investments in the fields like EV charging and power grid optimization.  In the NatureBacked podcast of Single. Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world. Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn.  A few key takeaways from Terhi Vapola: ** "Wha...

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. In the NatureBacked podcast of Single. Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world. Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on Li...

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. In the NatureBacked podcast of Single. Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world. Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn.  A few key takeaways from Leo Caprez:...

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. In the NatureBacked podcast of Single. Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world. Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn.  A few key takeaways from Al...

Single. Earth CTO and cofounder Andrus Aaslaid speaks 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...