- 25
- September
2020
Fresh capital for Eliq, Accure, Zolar, Energyworx, Voltstorage, Hydrogrid, Minibems and an exit for Fos4x
Several smart green startups recently raised capital and it’s about time to celebrate the active investors such as Inven Capital, SET Ventures and Engie New Ventures and the successful founders that closed new financing rounds during the global Covid-19 pandemic that’s hitting us now with its second wave as mercilessly as climate change will do during the next decades. 4 out of 8 startups that we cover below pitched at Ecosummit in the past, including Eliq, the Swedish app for smart energy consumers. The other 4 will be presented soon, starting with the first pitch of the new German battery intelligence provider Accure at Ecosummit Zoom 7 October 2020. Learn more about how Eliq, Accure, Zolar, Energyworx, Voltstorage, Hydrogrid, Minibems and Fos4x accelerate the energy transition and why European utilities should work together with these innovators rather sooner than later to foster sustainability and improve the lives of their customers.
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.
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- 8
- November
2016
Statkraft Ventures teams up with ETF Partners and leads $5M Series A in Greenbird from Norway
Ubiquitous smart meters are a key infrastructure component for the smart green utilities of the future because they generate a lot of valuable data and enable new energy services and dynamic pricing. In fact, it is a surprise that smart meter rollouts happen rather slowly in most countries due to slow regulators and hesitant utilities that are not yet ready to make substantial upfront investments in millions of smart meters that may bring more economic benefits to consumers than to the utilities themselves. Luckily, the Nordic countries and their resident startups have a headstart. Today, Düsseldorf-based corporate VC Statkraft Ventures leads the $5M Series A in Greenbird teaming up with London-based ETF Partners who were on the top of their potential co-investor list. The Norwegian energy IoT startup is Statkraft’s second investment this year after DEPsys from Switzerland in June.
Read more- 26
- April
2016
Inven Capital announces €20M investment in Tado at Ecosummit Berlin 2016
Ecosummit TV: Our smart green innovation community is making deals and sharing breaking news at Ecosummit. During their ECO16 Berlin presentation, Petr Mikovec and his Inven Capital team announce their €20M investment in Tado, one of the fastest-growing smart green startups in Germany. The Munich-based late stage startup provides climate control services to households by controlling heating and air conditioning systems. Tado was founded in 2011, pitched at Ecosummit Berlin 2012 for the first time and grew their team to 100 employees. Inven originally contacted Tado in 2015 and wanted to join the last round but it was too late. Eager to get into the deal, Inven today invests alone at a higher valuation than Tado’s last financing round of €15.2M in October 2015. The existing shareholders Siemens Venture Capital, Statkraft Ventures, Target Partners, Shortcut Ventures and BayBG did not participate again and accepted dilution. Christian Deilmann, CEO of Tado, comments: “We currently have a lot of traction growing at 400% annually in 12 European markets, USA and Singapore. Although we are well-funded thanks to our last round in autumn 2015, Inven Capital presented a great opportunity to strengthen our position in Central and Southeastern Europe and further accelerate our growth and innovation leadership. Our goal is an IPO in a couple of years.”
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