Ecosummit Zoom 21 April 2021
On my 50th birthday, we meet online to celebrate together the smart green founders and investors writing success stories while saving our climate and planet. It is our pleasure to invite our friends and customers to the very special Ecosummit Zoom 21 April 2021 which is free and invitation-only, just like any other good birthday party. First, 5 impactful speakers unmute themselves to share good news: Ernesto Garnier (Einhundert), Christoph Frei (Emerald Technology Ventures), Christian Chudoba (Lumenaza), Matthias Dill (Energy Impact Partners) and Thomas Goette (Greenpocket). Afterwards, Rune Theill introduces the Rockstart Energy Showcase 2021 featuring 9 new portfolio companies: Bhaskar Deol (eDRV), Roby Moyano (Bia), Joury de Reuver (Soolutions), Christopher Jackson (Advanced Infrastructure), Golam Sadeghnia (OKTO), Rolf Bastiaanssen (Starke Energy), Mads Emil Dalsgaard (Klimate), Christoph Buchli (Helio) and Erik Nijveld (TechnologyCatalogue). Finally, we enjoy a distributed birthday party to foster our friendship and cooperation. Please send us an email to request your invitation to Ecosummit Zoom 21 April 2021. It’s time to make smart green business and have some fun.
Read moreEcosummit Zoom 10 March 2021
We focus on connecting fundraising startups and active investors to foster 100% electric mobility, 100% renewable energy and 100% sustainable cities. Ecosummit Zoom 10 March 2021 is co-hosted by Christoph Ostermann (ex-Sonnen), Gerard Reid (Alexa Capital) and Bart Markus (GAP Technology Holding). The agenda features 10 exciting speakers including 3 CVCs with portfolio pitches: Nils Aldag (Sunfire) building a global hydrogen powerhouse, Jan Lozek (Future Energy Ventures) managing Europe’s largest energy startup porfolio, Nick Woolley (ev.energy) optimising EV charging, Erin Hallock (BP Ventures) investing in game-changing energy startups, Tom Anderson (Grid Edge) providing AI for building energy systems, Nicolas Milerieux (Encevo) redefining smart energy corporate venturing, Arnaud Legrand (Energiency) enabling energy intelligence for manufacturing, Davor Sutija (NexWafe) advancing solar wafer deeptech, Florian Meyer-Delpho (Installion) scaling the installation service provider for the energy transition and Janice Goodenough (Hydrogrid) developing the autopilot for hydropower plants. Please get in touch if you want to pitch at Ecosummit Zoom to accelerate your startup, fund or portfolio. Now it’s your turn to get your tickets and join us.
Read moreSonnen raises €76M Series D led by Envision Energy and targets IPO
This is a massive financing round. In fact, it is the biggest equity round raised by any Ecosummit startup so far because Sonnen‘s €76M Series D is pure equity. Christoph Ostermann pitched for the first time at Ecosummit Düsseldorf 2012 when he was still working on his Series A. Having secured €20M in three prior funding rounds, the total venture capital raised now amounts to €96M. The new investors are the Chinese wind turbine maker Envision Energy and the family office of Thomas Pütter, ex-CEO of Allianz Capital Partners. At the same time, GE Ventures that were announced as a new investor in June 2016 and the early investors Ecapital, SET Ventures, Munich Venture Partners and Inven Capital all participated in the Series D, too. Make no mistake, Sonnen is a well-funded and licensed utility that challenges all incumbent utilities by inventing new energy services and making electricity free for owners of PV and battery systems.
Read moreHeliatek 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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