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Jan Michael Hess |
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- 15
- February
2020
Epilot raises Series A from Enercity after meeting at Ecosummit
At Ecosummit deals get done. We saw the need for bringing new climate tech to the global market a long time ago. Thus we already have 10 years track record of matching smart green startups with investors. Here’s one more success story about a fast growing energy e-commerce startup and a transforming city utility that met for the first time at Ecosummit Berlin 2019 to explore common ground with the help of coffee. Good deals take time. 9 months later, on 11 February 2020, Epilot announced at E-world the closing of its Series A in which Enercity invests a significant but undisclosed amount of growth capital to buy a 25,1% stake in Epilot’s cap table. After finishing our startup tour running around Germany’s leading energy trade fair, we joined Epilot’s lively stand party to celebrate the deal closing, interview the co-founders and enjoy a few Kölsch together.
Read more- 4
- February
2020
Mobile battery pioneer Instagrid raises €8.5M Series A led by SET Ventures
They take mobile electricity where it has never gone before. Their goal is smart green electrification without local CO2 emissions. Their solution is replacing stinky diesel gensets with silent mobile batteries. Today Instagrid makes a big step forward and celebrates the closing of its €8.5M Series A led by SET Ventures and joined by Segnalita Ventures, part of the Swarovski family office which also owns Tyrolit, Germany’s early stage power house HTGF and the Frankfurt-based family office blueworld.group. At the same time, this transaction boosts our Ecosummit track record of successfully matching startups and investors. In fact, Instagrid and SET Ventures met for the first time at Ecosummit Berlin 2019. While this sounds very romantic, the A round is a major milestone for every startup and the beginning of a long-lasting relationship with many board meetings and follow-ons until the M&A or IPO exit.
Read more- 12
- December
2019
Envelio raises €6M Series A from Ecapital, HTGF and Demeter
Today Envelio announced the successful closing of its €6M Series A led by Ecapital and joined by the existing investors HTGF and Demeter that both increased their share more than pro rata. Envelio is an Ecosummit startup as we like it. Co-founded in 2017 by 5 PhDs and researchers at RWTH Aachen, the German smart grid startup first pitched at ECO18 Berlin and then opened its Series A on 15 May 2019 on stage at Ecosummit Berlin. This was the start of 2 busy days for Envelio’s Founder CEO Simon Koopmann running through a myriad of hot VC meetings including the first deal flow conversation with Ecapital’s Hannes Schill.
Read more- 3
- December
2019
Ecosummit invests in Clim8, Dendra Systems and Solar for Schools
If you want to become a VC and manage other people’s money, you need to start investing your own money first. The angel strategy allows us to build a profitable ecoportfolio and track record now rather than waiting for the first closing of our first fund. In 2019, we’ve made 3 angel investments in Clim8, Dendra Systems and Solar for Schools reinvesting profits we made from organising our Ecosummit conferences. All 3 startups are led by outstanding Founder CEOs and raise their Series A in 2020. We look forward to meeting more smart green investors in their cap tables soon. In the future, we plan 2-3 new angel investments every year to generate environmental, financial and strategic returns for Ecosummit and maximise our impact until 2030, the global deadline for reaching carbon neutrality.
Read more- 3
- November
2019
Smart green startups you should know
Our deal flow is on YouTube. We’re happy to present the best smart green startups in energy, mobility and cities that pitched at Ecosummit in the past on Ecosummit TV: Dendra Systems, Solar for Schools, First Light Fusion, Thermondo, Tado, Greencom Networks, Discovergy, Moixa, Instagrid, Blixt, Climeon, Sunfire, Electrochaea, Volocopter, Lilium, BlaBlaCar, Cityscoot, Vulog, Forsee Power, Sigfox, Kiwigrid, Origami Energy, Exeger, Epishine, Fos4x, DEPsys, Lumenaza, Gridx, ENIT Systems, Envelio, Ubitricity, Devicepilot, Skeleton Technologies, Cosmo Tech, Metron, Surfcleaner, Sunna Design, Agrilution, Airlabs, Ekwateur and Clevershuttle. These startups represent exciting investment opportunities with environmental, financial and strategic returns for (C)VCs and family offices. All of them work hard to create big climate impact and many of them have the potential to become smart green unicorns made in Europe. Pitch at Ecosummit Berlin 6-7 May 2020 to tell your startup growth story and increase the quantity and quality of the term sheets in your next financing round.
Read more- 6
- September
2019
Smart green VCs you should know
There are many smart green VCs in Europe and the US that back startups in energy, mobility, buildings, cities, materials, food and circular economy to create impact as well as environmental, financial and strategic returns for their fund investors (LPs). In the VC food chain, early stage investors prefer to invest, at lower valuations and higher risk, in the Seed, Series A and Series B financing rounds of young startups working on product market fit and traction (users, customers, revenues). On the other hand, late stage VCs like shorter holding periods and time-to-exit and, consequently, advanced startups with more than €5M revenues, experienced management teams and fast growth. The existence of KPIs, ideally going up over time, makes the life of every investor easier. Facing climate change, technology revolution and global competition, the majority of corporates have adopted corporate venturing and open innovation strategies in order to invest in and do business with startups. The result are different investment strategies and sometimes competing portfolios that startups should know before pitching. Let’s co-invest and meet at Ecosummit Berlin 6-7 May 2020.
Read more- 5
- September
2019
Join Ecosummit Ventures as General Partner
Ecosummit Ventures will be a new smart green VC in Berlin that invests in promising European software and hardware startups with B2C and B2B business models in energy, mobility and cities. Ecosummit Ventures leverages the deal flow, investor network and track record of 20 Ecosummit conferences in 5 countries since 2010. The initiator of Ecosummit Ventures is Jan Michael Hess, the founder of Ecosummit. We’re looking for 1 GP with VC track record and green heart beat to join as co-founder as soon as possible.
Read more- 18
- February
2018
Ecosummit launches in Paris on 6 March 2018 at Bpifrance Le Hub
Their president rocks, the market is huge, the startups are hot, investors go crazy and Paris is the place to be. The more we know about it, the more we love the French innovation factory and ecosystem. It has all the ingredients that are necessary to develop big startups with the help of awesome technology and superior business skills. Paris hosts a lot of VCs and corporates that invest in smart green startups. Above all, the outstanding experience and ambition of the French entrepreneurs make the difference. And now the capital has Station F, a beautiful and inspiring startup campus that was created by the telco billionaire Xavier Niel who is also an investor in Breakthrough Energy Ventures. It is about time that we take a deep dive into smart green France and launch Ecosummit Paris on 6 March 2018 at Bpifrance Le Hub. With the help of our sponsors and local friends we put together an exciting agenda presenting the crème de la crème in smart green energy, mobility and cities.
Read more- 29
- November
2017
SET Ventures announces Limejump investment at Ecosummit London
It is our common goal to build big startups that have big impact. Co-investing strengthens the investor syndicate and enables startups to grow faster. Following this goal, Amsterdam-based SET Ventures announces their new investment in Limejump at Ecosummit London. ECO17 London took place last week at the magnificent LSO St Luke’s, attracted 140 participants and presented 38 startups, most of them actively fundraising. In fact, SET Ventures transfers another €3M to Limejump doubling their Series A which was led by Statkraft Ventures in July. This is the first co-investment of SET Ventures and Statkraft Ventures but it may not be their last one given that they have the same investment strategy and different competences and networks.
Read more- 4
- September
2017
Ecosummit launches in Stockholm on 12 September 2017 at Nasdaq
We are very happy to launch Ecosummit in beautiful Stockholm next week at Nasdaq. Having already produced unicorns like Spotify, Skype or King, the smart green city likes to call itself the “capital of Scandinavia.” This is rather a symbol of business than political ambition as Mayor Karin Wanngård will explain during her welcome speech about the future of Stockholm and their strategy for attracting all kinds of technology startups, investors and corporates. To help you discover new investment and business opportunities, Ecosummit Stockholm showcases 31 local and 12 foreign startups from Finland, Denmark, Norway, Latvia, UK, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
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