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 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 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. At the same time, the majority of corporates have adopted open innovation and corporate venturing strategies in order to invest in and do business with startups, too. The result are different and, in some cases competing, investment strategies and portfolios that startups should know before pitching. Let’s co-invest and build smart green unicorns made in Europe.