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- September
2023
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 4-5 June 2024.
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- 18
- May
2017
Ecosummit Berlin 2017: An ecosystem for a growing smart green startup community
275 startups and investors flocked to Ecosummit Berlin 2017 to pitch their ideas, to network and to discuss a common vision for the future. Under the motto “Smart green unicorns made in Europe”, a total of 95 speakers took to the stage – including 61 startups, all looking for funding or partners to help their ideas grow. “Our investors are all innovative, creative and share our vision,” Christoph Ostermann from Sonnen explains. “And that is very important from my point of view.” The young German company offers solar energy storage for private homes, and allows private solar energy producers to share excess energy within the so-called sonnenCommunity. Sonnen is not far from becoming a unicorn itself. “Our revenue in 2016 was 42 million euros and we increased our capital by 76 million euros last year,” says Ostermann. And while he is not currently looking to raise new capital, he loves attending the Ecosummit to meet with current investors and potential partners. “Five of our seven investors are here this year, and over the years, I initially met all five investors at Ecosummit, who ended up investing in our Series A, B, C and D.”
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- 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- 1
- October
2016
Ecosummit accelerates smart green London on 11 October 2016 at CodeNode
We believe that startups need corporates and corporates need startups. Startups need corporates as development partners, customers, distribution channels and investors to make better products and grow faster. At the same time, corporates need startups to sell new products to their customer base and survive the global competition. By connecting the companies that should be connected, Ecosummit accelerates startups, investors and corporates with a focus on smart green energy, mobility and cities. Our unique conferences are a physical marketplace enabling personal meetings and long-term relationships in a relaxed and productive atmosphere. Our next Ecosummit takes place on 11 October 2016 at CodeNode in the City of London. The agenda features 37 startup pitches and the conference will be recorded for our YouTube channel Ecosummit TV. Check out our participants, get your tickets and join us. Let’s warm up with a few innovation stories that will be elaborated at ECO16 London.
Read more- 25
- September
2016
Heliatek raises €80M Series D to increase production capacity by a factor of 40
Capital-intensive smart green startups in Europe aiming at building their own hardware factories have a hard time fundraising. Financially motivated VCs require capital efficiency and prefer hardware startups that outsource manufacturing and the necessary CAPEX. Financing new PV factories in Europe is even more difficult due to China’s hegemony. It turns out it can only be done if you develop the next generation of PV technology, continuously improve efficiency and work diligently on building a co-investor syndicate of family offices, corporates and governments. Keep in mind that it was the Chinese government that backed a myriad of Chinese manufacturers to hijack the global PV industry. After a very long fundraising journey, 10-year old Organic Photovoltaics (OPV) pioneer Heliatek finally found the capital to build its second 3G solar factory in Dresden, Germany’s epicentre of photonics and organic semiconductors.
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