found - the podcast

Hamburg-based Uplift Ventures, backed by intralogistics group Jungheinrich, launched a few weeks ago its inaugural €100M fund for European deep tech. It will back up to 20 late-Seed and Series A startups across Physical AI, energy, enterprise AI and logistics, plus selected deep tech funds, mainly in Europe with a slice in the US.Founding GP Christian Noske joins us to explain why so many breakthrough technologies stall at Series A, what he learned from building BMW i Ventures and Alliance Ventures and leading European investments at NGP Capital, and whether a fund backed by a single corporation can stay truly independent. We also discuss what Hamburg's industrial base means for deep tech founders, and what researchers should do before spinning out.Chapters00:00 Intro01:00 Uplift Ventures and the €100M fund03:00 Why late Seed and Series A is where deep tech gets stuck04:30 How deep tech companies fail06:00 Why invest in other deep tech funds?07:00 Europe vs. the US08:30 Physical AI: real or hype?11:00 Corporate capital: the good and the bad12:30 How independent is Uplift from Jungheinrich?14:00 Hamburg as a deep tech hub15:30 Advice for researchers thinking of spinning out17:00 From Bosch apprentice to VC18:30 The founder story that stuck with him19:30 Outro

Felix Leonhardt is Managing Partner at Oyster Bay Venture Capital, a Hamburg-based fund investing exclusively across the food and agriculture value chain.Oyster Bay closed its second fund above €100 million with the European Investment Fund and KfW on board — one of the largest dedicated food-tech funds in Europe. Fund I ranked in the top 10% of European VC funds by performance, with a landmark early bet on Oatly, which IPO'd in 2021.Felix's own path started on the other side of the table. He founded one of Europe's first social food businesses — purefood and its vegan brand lycka, which funded school meals in Africa through Welthungerhilfe. He's also one of Germany's most-read VC voices on LinkedIn, writing on food-tech, AI, and the state of European venture capital.In our in-depth conversation, we discuss:🔹 Why food-tech is the most underpriced climate lever — a third of global emissions, yet only a sliver of climate VC🔹 The Oatly case study: from a small Swedish brand to a $27B peak to under $400M — and why he thinks it's now undervalued🔹 Why "building a love brand is extremely hard, but if you do it well, it's real value creation"🔹 The storytelling gap in deep tech — how a Hamburg company has robots live with the US Army and nobody knows🔹 Why VC is the wrong financing form for 90% of food companies — and what founders should raise instead🔹 From frozen yoghurt flop to social-food pioneer to full-time investor — the founder journey behind the fundWhere to find Felix:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felixleonhardt/Oyster Bay Venture Capital: https://www.oysterbay.vc/

Florian Birner is the co-founder and managing director of Planeteers, a Hamburg-based climate tech startup developing a scalable, end-to-end CO2 capture and storage solution based on accelerated natural limestone weathering — essentially speeding up a 1,000-year natural process into seconds, and releasing the result safely into rivers and oceans.Before Planeteers, Florian trained as an electrical engineer at Bosch, moved into large-scale industrial plants at Linde Engineering, then co-founded and successfully exited a HealthTech startup — before promising himself, and his wife, never to do it again. Too many bottles of wine later, Planeteers was founded in December 2022.In our in-depth conversation, we discuss:🔹 From Bosch to HealthTech to CO2 capture — the winding road to Planeteers🔹 How their plug-and-play reactor works, and why simplicity is their biggest competitive advantage🔹 Why AI won't solve the climate crisis — "the physical molecule still needs to come out of the air"🔹 The €40B addressable market hiding in plain sight across European industry🔹 Tipping points, cascading effects, and staying optimistic as a climate tech founder🔹 Winning the Hamburger Gründerpreis, securing EIC backing, and what's next for the Series AHope you enjoy episode 4. Links in comments down below.Where to find Florian:- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/florian-birner/- Planeteers: https://planeteers.de/en/Hamburg's climate tech & deep tech ecosystemFlorian name-drops several Hamburg-specific initiatives worth exploring.- Hamburger Gründerpreis (the award Planeteers won): https://www.hamburger-gruenderpreis.de- Hamburg Sustainability Conference: https://www.hamburg-sustainability-conference.de- Impossible Founders (mentioned in the episode): https://www.impossible-founders.deWhere to find found:- Newsletter: ⁠https://www.foundhamburg.com⁠- Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/foundhamburg⁠- Whatsapp community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Frz6bNqYGkKG37dG4Z30uJ?mode=gi_t- Kyrylo's LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyrylokorsun⁠- Hugo's LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugopaquin⁠For inquiries about sponsoring the found podcast, email ⁠[email protected]⁠In this episode, we cover: 00:00 Intro01:31 Meet Florian Birner & Planeteers03:01 Founder journey: Bosch, Linde & a HealthTech exit07:11 What Planeteers does: end-to-end carbon capture11:17 The business model: plants + carbon credits12:51 What's slowing climate tech from scaling16:15 Do companies really put money where their mouth is?19:04 Co-founder roles & lessons from past ventures21:29 Project ELIX: the first real reactor23:40 Europe's emissions & the market opportunity25:20 Scaling solutions, red tape & getting founders in action27:04 The scale of the problem: gigatons & tipping points31:36 Geopolitics & global cooperation34:33 EVs, China & the European industry dilemma36:33 Staying optimistic: resilience as a founder40:00 Wins from the last six months & the EIC grant42:47 Support orgs & the Impossible Founders network44:06 The Hamburg startup ecosystem47:41 Wrap-up

Alina Klarner is the founding partner and GP of Impact Shakers Ventures, a €20M early-stage fund backing diverse founders tackling climate, social inclusion, and impact infrastructure across Europe.Impact Shakers has invested in 25 startups across eight countries and catalysed nearly five times the capital it deployed through co-investors including General Catalyst, World Fund, and European family offices — all built on a flywheel of community and ecosystem building.Before impact, Alina spent over a decade in private equity — which she then left in 2020 after investing a first £850 angel check to back five female founders. She never looked back.In this episode, we also talk about:🔹 Her definition of impact — systemic change rooted in lived experience, not chasing whatever wave is trending🔹 "Impact or profit? Both. Always." — why she's tired of the false choice🔹 The stealth gigafactory in Northern Germany that's profitable on a fraction of Northvolt's funding🔹 Why she runs "a very strict no-assholes rule" now that the fund is her own🔹 Why VC isn't the only path — grants, angels, revenue-based and steward-ownership funding are some of the many examplesWhere to find Alina:LinkedIn: Impact Shakers: Where to find found:Newsletter: https://www.foundhamburg.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundhamburgKyrylo's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyrylokorsunHugo's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugopaquinIn this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Alina Klarner & Impact Shakers(02:08) From private equity to impact — the 2020 leap(02:50) "Putting the first euro on the table is the hardest"(03:31) Doing all the work while the PE guys made the decisions(04:51) Meeting Yonca on LinkedIn & a year of "co-founder dating"(05:32) How the fund works — the community-capital flywheel(06:53) Defining impact: systemic change rooted in lived experience(08:13) "Impact or profit? Both" — killing the false choice(08:53) Is impact just a label that comes and goes?(10:58) The state of impact in 2026 — "a phase of growing up"(11:55) Hamburg's momentum & the new House of AI(12:59) Community as a business lever, not just a nice-to-have(14:21) How a remote fund builds real connection — retreats & residencies(15:43) Why Spain — and the last three investments(17:04) The European impact map: UK, Germany, Spain(18:27) What makes her invest: "the people"(19:07) "If you're not in it with your full heart, we won't invest"(19:47) "Storytelling sounds very American" — the authenticity take(21:08) 90% of European exits are under €100M(21:48) A 16-year average time to exit — "that's insane"(23:09) Why spraying money across 90% failures "doesn't sit right"(23:49) "The goal is not VC funding. The goal is to build a business."(24:45) Hamburg's ecosystem: emerging, ambitious, challenger(25:53) Under-the-radar companies more people should know — Lignopure(27:14) The stealth gigafactory vs. Northvolt(29:57) Why every European country has its own impact specialism(30:39) "A strict no-assholes rule"(31:20) Impact Shakers' four-year plans & building the impact economy(32:41) AI two ways: impact for AI and AI for impact(35:26) Her #1 advice for impact founders(42:19) Beyond VC: grants, angels & revenue-based funding(43:45) "It's not a bad business — it's just not a match with VC"Referenced:Humara — physics-based software for waste-plant design (Impact Shakers led the €1.2M seed)Lignopure — lignin as an alternative to fossil-based materials (https://www.lignopure.com)Katapult Future Festival (Amsterdam) & The Drop (Malmö) — her no-panels event picks (https://katapultfuturefest.com)House of AI Hamburghttps://www.house-of.ai/hamburgZebra Investment Night https://hamburg.impacthub.net/zebra-investment-night/For inquiries about sponsoring the found podcast, email [email protected]

Fenja Vespermann is the co-founder and CEO of mimikry AI — a Hamburg-based studio building custom AI pipelines for enterprise creative production. In less than a year, she's worked with Audi, Adidas, and Otto Group. Without raising a single euro.Before mimikry, Fenja ran her own 3D animation agency. Then Corona hit, the studio closed, and she borrowed 15K from a friend to start over.In this conversation we discuss:🔹 How she landed Audi, Meta, and Otto Group as a one-year-old bootstrapped company🔹 Why she refuses to raise — "scale the money, not the people"🔹 Her contrarian thesis: there is no AI tool, AI is just a technology🔹 The night her studio shut down and she called her mom to say "I have no idea what to do"🔹 Being mistaken for the PM, not the CEOTimestamps:(00:00) Intro(02:30) Why most enterprise AI deployments fail(06:10) "There is no AI tool — AI is just a technology"(08:00) Origin story: 3D animation, Corona, the studio shutting down(10:00) Borrowing 15K and getting into Midjourney's beta(17:00) Why standardizing client data is 40% of the work(19:00) Landing Audi, Meta, Otto Group, BMW, and Replit in year one(21:00) "Get over the cringe" — the go-to-market(24:30) Europe vs America: speed and risk appetite(28:30) Why Mimikry refuses to raise(30:00) "Stay as small as possible. Scale the money, not the people."(31:00) How an AI-native company actually works (ComfyUI, Claude Code)(33:30) VibeCon NYC and the Replit installation(40:40) Being a female CEO in a room full of menFind Fenja: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fenjavespermannFind mimikry AI: https://www.mimikry.aiCheck out found:Newsletter: https://www.foundhamburg.comKyrylo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyrylokorsunHugo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugopaquin