The NatureBacked Podcast

Our host Tarmo visited Startup Tank Climate Investor Pitch Show as a panellist. You can hear six interesting startups pitching. - InnoCSR: eco-friendly brick manufacturing  - Sophie’s Bionutrients: Food Grade Protein from Microalgae - Rightcharge: Simplified EV charging solutions - UpShift Cars: Fractional EV car subscription - PingThings: Revolutionary Predictive AI Grid Management - Concrete4Change: CO2 Mineralization in Concrete If you liked the show do subscribe also to Startup Tank and share it with your friends. If you're interested in learning more about climate tech, or if you're looking for inspiration to start your own climate tech venture, then be sure to listen to this episode. Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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." Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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." Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: ** "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." Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 LinkedIn.  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 labelling 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." Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: ** "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."   Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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 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?" Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.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 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 raising 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 a way that we don't expect today, then maybe it's not going to be as 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 behaviour." ** "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." Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn.  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, paedophilia, or child labour 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 labour camp. I'm after no child labour. And I think that that's a requirement you can actually ask." Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world. Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn.  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." Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. 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 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." Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world. Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn.  ** 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 emissions 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." ** Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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." ** Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. 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 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 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." ** Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. 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 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." ** Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. 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 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. Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. 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 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. Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. 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 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. Follow NatureBacked across platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts Twitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. 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 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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, 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 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices