- 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.
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- February
2016
SET Ventures raises €60M SET Fund II from EIF, Sitra, Shell, Essent, Delta and Korys
Fundraising is tough, time- and travel-intensive and needs a fair amount of salesmanship – not only for startups but also for VCs. Fund managers have to convince fund investors that they can make money for their Limited Partners (LPs). First, General Partners (GPs) need to build a strong portfolio by wisely investing into the best startups they can find. Then they need to create a lot of value post-investment by quickly growing their portfolio companies with the ultimate goal of realising successful exits, i.e. trade sales (the rule) or IPOs (the exception). GPs Rene Savelsberg and Wouter Jonk are Amsterdam-based smart energy VCs who raised their first SET Fund I in 2007 after having learned the trade as Corporate VCs at Philips. Up to now, they have 3 good exits under their belt: Epyon to ABB in 2011, AlertMe to British Gas in 2015 and Sefaira to Trimble on 8 February 2016. Good exits are a key requirement for raising a second fund as LPs look for track record in terms of proven capability to generate returns. Yesterday, SET Ventures announced the first closing of SET Fund II at €60M and plans to add a few more LPs until March 2016.
Read more- 16
- February
2014
Mads Jensen pitches Sefaira
Ecosummit TV: Mads Jensen pitches Sefaira at ECO13 London. Buildings are complex systems which integrate many interdependent smart green technologies including building materials, orientation, air ventilation, glazing, insulation, shading, heating, cooling and lighting. To optimise this system Sefaira makes software for high performance building design and enables architects to analyse their designs until they are perfect in terms of energy footprint and cost of operations. Founded in 2009, the UK-US startup launched in 2012 and convinced over 200 architecture firms to use the software in their building design process. Sefaira raised €13M ($18M) from Chrysalix SET, Braemar Energy Ventures and Hermes GPE and won the Ecosummit Award 2013 Gold medal. We like the way Sefaira fosters smart green cities and are happy that Mads joined our Ecosummit Advisors.
Read more- 15
- December
2013
Rene Savelsberg pitches the investment strategy of Chrysalix SET
Ecosummit TV: Rene Savelsberg pitches the investment strategy of Chrysalix SET at ECO13 London. The Amsterdam-based smart green VC was founded in 2007 and invests in technology companies that are in the early growth stage and have a sustainable impact on the future use of energy. As their first SET Fund I of €40M is fully allocated, Rene and his general partners (GPs) are raising their second SET Fund II targeting €100M. This fund size enables a larger portfolio and management team as well as investing more capital per startup in multiple follow-on rounds without dilution. VCs typically want to increase rather than decrease their position in the best performing startups in their portfolio.
Read more- 30
- October
2013
Jan Michael Hess opens Ecosummit London 2013
Ecosummit TV: Jan Michael Hess opens Ecosummit London 2013. Our 6th cleantech conference took place on 15-16 October at the Crystal, the urban sustainability HQ of Siemens in the Docklands. 150 participants came together to discuss smart green cities and to pitch new solutions and investment opportunities. The Crystal is the perfect location for Ecosummit London. Moreover, the LEED Platinum building is a role model for other corporates that want to co-invent the urban future and invest in a long-term technology showcase and marketing tool. Our highlight was the Ecomobilité Ventures Flinc deal announced at ECO13 London. After the NRW Bank O-Flexx investment, this is already the second deal facilitated by Ecosummit.
Read more- 13
- July
2013
Rene Savelsberg pitches cleantech VC Chrysalix SET from Amsterdam
Ecosummit TV: Rene Savelsberg pitches Chrysalix SET at ECO13 Berlin. Rene believes that the investment focus on technologies with capital-efficient business models as well as their global expertise are the key success factors to achieve returns in the big cleantech universe. The Dutch VC is one of the few players that managed to successfully exit a portfolio company. They sold Epyon to ABB in 2011 which became the new EV fast charging business unit of the Swiss corporate. Chrysalix SET’s active portfolio includes Enocean, Alertme, Sefaira and the new investment Luxexcel, a 3D printing technology company focused on the LED industry. We are happy that Rene joined our Ecosummit Advisors and look forward to accelerating the best startups in the market.
Read more- 6
- June
2013
Sefaira, Tado, Solarbattery, Pirika, Bravo Motors and Oricane win Ecosummit Award 2013
Ecosummit Berlin 2013 was a blast. “The best event out there,” says Rene Savelsberg of Chrysalix SET. Rene was also very happy when he went on stage to receive the Ecosummit Award 2013 Jury Gold medal (€3K prize money) for his portfolio company Sefaira. The fast growing cleantech startup from UK/US convinced our 33 jury members with their smart green building software. Jury Silver (€2K prize money) went to Tado from Germany and their impressive smart green heating control and Jury Bronze (€1K prize money) was awarded to Sonnenbatterie from Germany for their successful residential energy storage solution.
Read more- 12
- January
2013
Sefaira, Ventive, Energydeck, Solarfuel, Carzapp and Ecosummit pitch at Ecosummit Lounge London
Ecosummit TV: Ecosummit and Taylor Wessing, the international law firm with extensive cleantech and private equity experience, joined forces to organise our first Ecosummit Lounge London on 19 September 2012 at Taylor Wessing’s magnificent London office. We enjoyed an inspiring evening of Smart Green Business Networking with 60 representatives of cleantech startups, investors and corporates. This Ecosummit TV episode features Simon Walker (Taylor Wessing), Niki Rosinski (Generation Investment Management), Sarah Williamson Atkins (Sefaira), Robert Morrison (Ventive), Benjamin Kott (EnergyDeck), Paul Mooney (SolarFuel), Oliver Lünstedt (Carzapp) and Jan Michael Hess (Ecosummit). Thanks a lot to Simon Walker and his team for hosting us. Save the date: Ecosummit Lounge London 2 May 2013
Read more- 16
- September
2012
Call for cleantech startups to pitch at Ecosummit Düsseldorf 2012
We call all cleantech startups to pitch at Ecosummit Düsseldorf 2012 on 14-15 November at the Langen Foundation, Germany’s most beautiful private museum designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. ECO12 Düsseldorf is our 4th international conference and brings together startups, VCs, corporates and utilities to accelerate smart green innovation. So far we confirmed 15 sponsors and 43 speakers including 26 startups. Startups can win a free 8-minute pitch and get in front of Europe’s leading cleantech VCs and Corporate VCs. Please apply by sending us your investor presentation as soon as possible, application deadline is 7 November 2012. Bonus: All startups at ECO12 Düsseldorf get the Autodesk Product Design Suite Ultimate Edition for free.
Read more- 30
- June
2012
Ecosummit Lounge London at Taylor Wessing on 19 September 2012
Ecosummit and Taylor Wessing, the international law firm with extensive cleantech and private equity experience, joined forces to invite you to a high-voltage evening of Smart Green Business Networking. Our first Ecosummit Lounge London takes place on 19 September 2012 at Taylor Wessing’s spacious London office. At the lounge, we will enjoy a keynote by Niki Rosinski, Partner at Generation Investment, talking about Sustainable Capitalism, 6 startup pitches by SolarFuel, Sefaira, Carzapp, Ventive, EnergyDeck and Ecosummit, tasty drinks, finger food and all that Jazz. Tickets for the Ecosummit Lounge London are available for £30,00. The amazing list of participants is included at the bottom of this article. We look forward to seeing you in London.
Read more- 21
- June
2012
Peter Krebs pitches the green building software startup Sefaira
Ecosummit TV: Peter Krebs, Co-Founder and CTO of Sefaira, presents the UK-US startup at Ecosummit Berlin. Sefaira provides a web platform for the design, construction and retrofit of sustainable and energy efficient buildings. The startup was founded in 2009 and recently raised €8.5M ($10.8M) from Braemar Energy Ventures, Chrysalix SET and Hermes GPE. Green architecture is a big trend which is also accelerated by new laws. In the UK, by 2016, all new homes and commercial buildings must have a net zero carbon footprint in order to receive construction permission.
Read more- 11
- April
2012
Smart Green Dealflow: Sefaira, Geo-En, Tado and WeSustain
Let’s toast to 4 smart green startups that successfully closed new funding rounds during the last months. Sefaira, Geo-En, Tado and WeSustain have all been on our Ecosummit stage and are active members of our Smart Green Business Network. Sefaira, Tado and WeSustain were also nominated for the Ecosummit Award 2012. Braemar Energy Ventures leads Sefaira’s €8.2M round with co-investors Chrysalix SET and Hermes GPE. eCapital and IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft invest €4M in Berlin-based Geo-En. Target Partners seed finances Tado while NBank, MBG, KfW and High-Tech Gründerfonds back WeSustain. Let’s take a closer look at the startups and some of their new investors.
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- May
2011
Mads Jensen pitches Smart Green Building Software Startup Sefaira
Every city has to become a smart green city and every building should go smart green, too. Mads Jensen, Co-Founder and CEO, pitches Sefaira at ECO11. The UK- and US-based startup offers software for designing sustainable buildings and optimising their energy efficiency and carbon footprint. Sefaira is currently in private beta and invites innovative architects and building engineers to test it for new projects. Investors are also welcome to join and accelerate the smart green building design revolution.
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