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Jan Michael Hess |
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- 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.
Read more- 4
- July
2017
SET Ventures announces investment in Greencom Networks at Ecosummit Amsterdam 2017
An energy IoT platform startup was missing in their portfolio. Today, Rene Savelsberg shares again good news at Ecosummit Amsterdam 2017 and announces SET Ventures‘ new investment in Greencom Networks. The German software startup provides an energy IoT platform for utilities and OEMs to enable Distributed Energy Resources Management (DERM), competing with AutoGrid, Kiwigrid and C3 IoT. SET Ventures leads the new €3M round and is joined by the existing investor Munich Venture Partners.
Read more- 5
- June
2017
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 and food to create impact and returns for their fund investors. In the VC food chain, early stage investors love to invest, at lower valuations and higher risk, in young startups that still work on product-market fit. On the other hand, late stage VCs prefer a shorter time-to-exit and successful startups with more than €2M revenues, strong management teams and fast growth. At the same time, the majority of corporates have adopted an open innovation and corporate venturing strategy and want to do business with startups, too. The result are different investment strategies and portfolios that startups should know before pitching. Let’s co-invest and build smart green unicorns made in Europe.
Read more- 17
- May
2017
Restore, Visedo, Greenergetic, Freshland, Hydrogenious and Cleverciti win Ecosummit Award 2017 in Berlin
Ecosummit TV: Ecosummit Berlin 2017 was our best event ever. 275 participants came to the Radialsystem to be part of Europe’s leading conference for smart green startups, investors and corporates. Our flagship event was supported by 30 sponsors and presented 95 speakers including 61 startups on stage. During the last few days we published all Berlin videos on Ecosummit TV and linked them next to each speaker in the agenda. A highlight of Ecosummit Berlin is the Ecosummit Award that brings fame and fortune to 6 new startups every year. 37 judges screened 34 nominees from 10 countries and voted online before the conference. And the 3 winners in the late stage startup category (> €2M revenues 2016) are: Gold (€1.5K prize money) for Restore from Belgium, Silver (€1K) for Visedo from Finland and Bronze (€500) for Greenergetic from Germany. And the 3 winners in the early stage startup category (< €2M revenues 2016) are: Gold (€1.5K) for Freshland from Denmark, Silver (€1K) for Hydrogenious from Germany and Bronze (€500) for Cleverciti from Germany. Congratulations to the founders for convincing the Ecosummit judges of your growth potential. And thanks so much for joining us, it was a real pleasure hosting you.
Read more- 9
- May
2017
Inven invests in Cloud&Heat and Eneco invests in Next Kraftwerke
2 European corporate VCs announce their new investments today at Ecosummit Berlin 2017 proving that German smart green startups are innovative, competitive and very attractive investment opportunities. Inven Capital, funded by the Czech utility CEZ, met Cloud&Heat one year ago at Ecosummit and today invests in the Dresden-based early stage startup. Founded in 2011, Cloud&Heat provides energy efficient data centres that use server heat for hot water and heating in commercial buildings, reducing operating costs of data centres by 50%. The Dutch utility Eneco invests in Next Kraftwerke and acquires a large minority interest of 34%. Founded in 2009, the Cologne-based late stage startup operates a large Virtual Power Plant (VPP) across 8 countries in Europe with 2.8 GW of renewable energy capacity under management. After acquiring 50% of Lichtblick in January 2017, this is the second major smart green energy investment of Eneco in Germany.
Read more- 2
- April
2017
Visedo is the rising star of the Finnish cleantech scene
To get out of fossil fuels and enable a global energy transition all industries must be electrified and powered by renewable energy. Founded in 2009 in Lappeenranta, the high-tech epicentre of Finland’s Far East, Visedo is an early mover when it comes to electrifying marine vessels such as ferryboats and barges and heavy duty vehicles and machines used in mining, construction and transport. Visedo makes customised electric propulsion systems to convert vessels and vehicles to fully electric or hybrid machines with zero or low emissions. After raising a €13.5M Series C in December 2016 from Emerald, VNT Management, Sinituote, Tesi, Green Campus Innovations and others, Visedo is now the rising star of the Finnish cleantech scene enjoying sustainable traction.
Read more- 20
- February
2017
Call for smart green startups: Pitch at ECO17 Berlin and apply for ECO17 Award and Ecosummit Europe 100
Since 2010, we have established Ecosummit as Europe’s leading smart green innovation and impact conference for startups, corporates and investors active in energy, mobility, buildings, cities, materials and food. In 2017, we organise 4 conferences in Berlin, Amsterdam, Stockholm and London presenting over 150 startups. Our flagship event Ecosummit Berlin 2017 takes place on 9-10 May 2017 at the Radialsystem, unites over 300 participants and is supported by an innovative group of sponsors. Now we call the best smart green startups in Europe to get promoted by pitching at ECO17 Berlin, applying for ECO17 Award and getting featured in our new startup list Ecosummit Europe 100. Past Ecosummit Award winners include Sonnen (Series D), Heliatek (Series D), Tado (€20M from Inven) and Kiwigrid (Series C).
Read more- 2
- February
2017
Kiwigrid raises Series C to build global energy IoT platform
Kiwigrid raises a double-digit million Euro Series C from Aqton, Stefan Quandt’s family office that also invested in Heliatek’s Series D, Innogy and LG Electronics to build a global energy IoT platform. The Dresden-based smart green startup won the ECO16 Gold Award in the late stage category and has got over 105 employees. High-Tech Gründerfonds, Germany’s largest seed investor with 80% public money, and Innogy Venture Capital, the old corporate VC fund of Innogy that is in its divestment period, sold their shares completely and celebrate a financial exit with positive returns.
Read more- 5
- January
2017
Icos Capital raises €50M IC Fund III from Akzo Nobel, Bühler, Wuppermann and City of Rotterdam
Corporates play an important role for startups and VCs and often combine direct and fund investments to get access to external innovation. After a 2-year fundraising journey that even included the bankruptcy of one LP, the Dutch VC Icos Capital announces today the first closing of its third fund Icos Capital Fund III at €50M. The fund investors comprise the City of Rotterdam and the corporates Akzo Nobel from the Netherlands, Bühler from Switzerland and Wuppermann from Germany. Peter van Gelderen, one of the 3 GPs managing the fund, describes their investment philosophy as collaborative corporate venturing and emphasizes the close cooperation with the 3 multinationals that don’t have inhouse corporate VC units. According to Peter, new corporate relationships take a lot of time and many meetings until the board makes an LP commitment in your VC fund.
Read more- 5
- December
2016
Lilium raises €10M Series A from Atomico to commercialise its electric VTOL jet
On-demand urban air transportation is the next big thing according to Daniel Wiegand, CEO and Co-Founder of Lilium. The German aviation startup develops an electric VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft called Lilium jet since 2015. Today, Atomico invests €10M Series A and Niklas Zennström joins the board. Daniel and his team of 35 employees have the vision to make urban aviation electric, silent and available for everyone with the help of airtaxis and other aviation services. Uber also shares the vision that urban mobility should go vertical and is already working on matching pilots and passengers that want to bypass street-level congestion and traffic jams. In October 2016, the Californian mobility giant unveiled Uber Elevate in a 97-page must-read whitepaper. It would be no surprise if they soon co-invested in Lilium as übercool VTOL jets are the missing link to launch Uber in the air.
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