Heidi Lindvall, Co-founder of Pale Blue Dot, on Founder-First Investing, Climate Storytelling & Rewriting the VC Playbook | Season Nine, Episode Three

Sep 2, 2025

Heidi Lindvall, co-founder of Pale Blue Dot and former documentary filmmaker, discusses her shift from storytelling to shaping climate VC. She emphasizes founder-first investing, prioritizing passion and purpose over perfect pitches. Heidi critiques conventional aid systems, advocating for entrepreneurship as a means of lasting impact. The conversation highlights the importance of narrative in funding, the need for hands-on support for founders, and her commitment to fostering a climate resilient future through innovative technologies.

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ANECDOTE

From Documentaries To Climate VC

Heidi moved from documentary filmmaking and human rights into building tech startups and accelerators before founding Pale Blue Dot in 2020.
Her career shift came from seeing aid dependency in Uganda and believing entrepreneurship could deliver longer-term local empowerment.

INSIGHT

Climate As The Core Humanitarian Bet

Heidi concluded climate is the biggest humanitarian crisis and thus a compelling focus for impact investing.
She also saw corporate and government net-zero commitments creating a growing market for climate solutions.

INSIGHT

Narrative Shapes Climate Appetite

Heidi warns that negative chatter about 'climate' is mainly a storytelling problem, not a solved issue.
Reframing topics as energy, food, or water resilience can reconnect investors and the public to climate priorities.

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Welcome to Season Nine of Conversations in Cleantech!

This season, we’re going behind the scenes of transition infrastructure - speaking with the investors shaping how, where and why climate capital flows. From decarbonisation and energy security to technology maturity and policy gaps, we’re unpacking what it really takes to fund the systems that underpin a net-zero future.

In this episode, Hetty Lowther is joined by Heidi Lindvall, documentary filmmaker turned startup founder turned climate VC, and a firm believer that investing in people is the surest way to drive systems change.

As a founding partner of Pale Blue Dot, Heidi is helping rewrite the rulebook for early-stage investing. She’s not chasing perfect pitch decks or polished prototypes; she backs founders with guts, a clear sense of purpose, and a deep commitment to solving climate challenges. Since launching in 2020, Pale Blue Dot has backed 45+ climate startups across Europe and the US, proving that small funds can punch well above their weight when they lead with conviction and care.

The conversation goes far beyond capital deployment. From reflections on broken aid systems to building The Drop - their highly curated, no-stage, all-connection climate event in Malmö - Heidi brings raw honesty, big-picture thinking, and a refreshing dose of pragmatism.

Together, she and Hetty explore the power of narrative in shaping investment appetite, why trust is the real currency in VC, and how funders can show up for founders in the moments that matter most.

This is a conversation about intuition, integrity, and building the climate transition from the ground up, one founder, one story, one bet at a time.

01:25 - Introduction to Heidi
03:00 - What types of documentaries did you work on earlier in your career?
07:00 - How do you draw on your own founding and entrepreneurial experience when supporting startups?
10:20 - What gave you the conviction and confidence to choose Climate Technology as a focus area?
13:12 - Looking at the market now, do you worry about the messaging, or do you see it as an opportunity to rebrand around themes like energy transition and security?
16:20 - At the pre-seed stage, what do you look for in a founder that gives you confidence?
18:45 - What typical challenges do founders bring to you, and where do you find yourself offering extra guidance?
21:45 - Is there anything you’re particularly excited about or finding interesting right now?
23:50 - What would you describe The Drop as, and why did you create it?
26:40 - Looking ahead, what legacy do you hope Pale Blue Dot will create, and where do you see the team in five years?
27:25 - What advice would you give to people raising investment in today’s environment?

Connect with your host, Hetty Lowther, on LinkedIn.

Find your guest, Heidi Lindvall, on LinkedIn.

Thanks for listening to Conversations in Cleantech brought to you by Brightsmith.

This is a Loaded Hype production.