The NatureBacked Podcast

"Startups do not fail because they run out of cash. They run out of cash because the leaders fail," said Patrick Flesner, partner LeadX Capital Partners and author of the bestseller book FastScaling.Learn more about: How fast is too fast scaling? Should you build a plane while flying or before taking off? How investors should separate good and bad cash burn Is 2 million profit per year enough for a startup? Growing from founder to leader: when to leave decisions to staff? Why Netflix startup series Kings of Stonk is worth watching The secret sauce of writing a bestseller Patrick's next books, The Leadership House and Leading Effectively, are due later in 2022.In the NatureBacked podcast, Tarmo Virki talks with investors about the vision of the new green world.Advertisers in this episode:Follow NatureBacked across platforms:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google PodcastsTwitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nordics and Baltics boast one of the highest concentrations of unicorn startups, and several deeptech firms are set to follow the first unicorns, which have been digital software companies, said partner Juho Risku from investment firm Butterfly Ventures."Those digital companies were made 10 years ago, 15 years ago, or even longer. I think there are quite a few in the making at this very moment," said Risku.The 2012-founded Butterfly Ventures unveiled in the summer of 2022 a new 100 million euro seed entry capital fund, which focuses on science-based deep tech and hardware startups in the Nordics and Baltics, focusing on megatrends like climate change and the ageing population.Learn more about: Why over 20 multiples are more likely among deep-tech startups The critical factor in the VC-entrepreneur relationship How to raise a fund through COVID and war Impact of Santa on innovation in Finland In the NatureBacked podcast, Tarmo Virki talks with investors about the vision of the new green world.Follow NatureBacked across platforms:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google PodcastsTwitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scooters and carbon accounting firms grab a major share of climate-related startup investments, said Nina Gunell from Helsinki-headquartered investment firm OpenOcean."Definitely there are areas that are getting a lot of investments, although there maybe doesn't need to be that many solutions in the end," she said. OpenOcean was founded in 2009 by the founders and early investors of database firm MySQL. Sun bought MySQL for $1 billion in 2008, just before Oracle acquired Sun in January 2010. Learn more about:* When should software startups start to think about their emissions and ESG* How should startups survive 2022 * Why it matters if trees grow 20 years longer in forests  * Log rollingIn the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki is talking with investors about the vision of the new green world.Follow NatureBacked across platforms:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google PodcastsTwitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Startups focusing on food, agriculture, biodiversity, and forestry offer some of the best opportunities to impact global carbon emissions significantly, said Max Bauchau, who runs Startup Wise Guys Sustainability program.The 2012-founded SWG has invested in around 300 startups over the years. Bauchau said the accelerator-investor, which boasts an 80% survival rate, will start a new sustainability program in October 2022 in Copenhagen.Learn about: Why Denmark is home to SWG Sustainability program Why do carbon investors focus on food?  How can 80% of early-stage startup investments survive? How to apply for SWG Sustainability program  In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki is talking with investors about the vision of the new green world.**A few key takeaways from Max Bauchau:**Food and agriculture …. represent, according to different studies, around 24-25% of all CO2 emissions in the world. So this is a segment that needs to be tackled, that needs to be worked on. **We believe that Denmark is a fantastic sandbox for those kinds of companies. We have some very large companies active in Denmark's agriculture and food. And therefore creating innovation can really be a great sandbox for those companies to create to partner with those larger companies, and to really figure out what's the best way to approach this or this client, and how to create a sustainable solution that really has an impact on the world.**It is no surprise that Scandinavia is one step ahead of the rest of the world regarding sustainability. So a lot of the mentalities are already changed here. Investment is going towards sustainability; it is going towards impact startups.**Ideally, we have companies with small recurring revenues, so there is validation from the market. And we are also looking for great teams. That is, again, a very important factor. We could invest in pre-revenue businesses. That is fine, too, if we strongly believe in the team.**Follow NatureBacked across platforms:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google PodcastsTwitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The $450 million Kiko Ventures became the first evergreen climate fund when it launched in June 2022, said Founding Partner Arne Morteani.When IP Group launched Kiko Ventures, it said it plans to invest $240 million in climate tech startups over the next five years.Learn about: focus areas of the fund benefits of evergreen fund structure vs VC funds lubrication-as-a-service a triple whammy for a climate tech investor In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. **A few key takeaways from Arne Morteani::**There's lots of stuff that needs to happen, from carbon capture to next-generation solar, you name it. And all of these things need investors that are patient and can be there for the whole ride. All things equal, every entrepreneur should want full lifecycle investors that you can be with an evergreen structure. It allows you to invest without doubt of running out of time and money in the way you would be doing within the traditional fund. And without this 10-year fixed mandate investment mandate that you would have in a traditional fund, you get an enormous amount of flexibility. **We just invested in what really is rocket science as far as heat pumps go. I mean, it literally is rocket science.**Cleantech, in many ways, is much more diverse and much more generalist than the actual generalist funds. And so a strategy where you just do everything a little bit, but focusing on stage isn't a logical strategy. So we want to flip it on its head and say we're thematically focused first, and stage second.** Follow NatureBacked across platforms:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google PodcastsTwitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Single.Earth has minted the first tokens from the work nature does to owners of lands in Brazil and Europe, and has started to roll out MERIT tokens to the market, co-founders Merit Valdsalu and Andrus Aaslaid said in this special episode of the NatureBacked podcast.Learn about: the first over-the-counter deals upcoming consumer-launch the impact of crypto-winter  how to grow a team 10-fold in half a year is there an ICO coming? **In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. Follow NatureBacked across platforms:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google PodcastsTwitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sustainable technologies and sustainable business models are often intervened in today's world,, said Shahin Dashti, an investor at Frankfurt-based Futury Capital which is working on launching a new sustainability-focused fund.Learn more about the impact of market turmoil on startup investments and about the unique roots of sports and regional policies on the back of Futury. We had a rare chance to speak also about football in this episode!In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. **A few key takeaways from Shahin Dashti:**It's happening anyway if we want it or not because those are the laws of the market. Often sustainability is not only about the business model, which is sustainable for the planet, but also the sustainable business model itself. And that it's not only dependent on short-term trends but can last for a long time.**If you look at how many funds have been raised in the last years or months, this money has to be deployed contractually. So it means those fund managers, in the end, have to make the investments. There is no alternative to that other than giving the money back to the investors like the LPs, which I think will not happen that likely. So they have to make investments.**You could argue that now there's some headwind on the fundraising market. But as I said, I see this as an opportunity. And it means that all the good ones will survive.**Follow NatureBacked across platforms:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google PodcastsTwitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Companies of the future will naturally focus on the environment and impact to be able to make a business for hundreds of years, said Alex Felman from Felman Family Office.Learn more about family offices and what makes investment firms of family wealth different from venture capitalist investors from the episode recorded on the sidelines of the TechChill conference in Riga.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. **A few key takeaways from Alex Felman:**I believe that most companies moving forward will have to be very impact- or environmentally-oriented with how they do business. **For example, we tend to invest to exit. And, I mean, that could be five years, it can be 15 years, it could be 20 years.Generally speaking, you probably want to have an investor who, once they're on the ride, is there until the ride runs out. It's probably an investor you want. **Looking at more environmental sustainability issues, we are actually looking at problems of these longer timeframes that may not fit into a more standard kind of VC timeframe. **If you're only trying to optimize for financial gain, it puts a very narrow perspective on your investment space. But suppose you're maximizing for other things or multiple things. In that case, it gives you much more flexibility to consider investment opportunities that you wouldn't consider otherwise. **Follow NatureBacked across platforms:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google PodcastsTwitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many startups are working on climate adaptation, but there are less-crowded opportunities around climate mitigation, said Dama Sathianathan, partner at Bethnal Green Ventures.London-headquartered Bethnal Green Ventures has invested for 10 years in #TechForGood companies like Fairphone and over 100 other firms.Learn more about open opportunities in the climate tech sector from the episode recorded on the sidelines of the Latitude59 conference in Tallinn.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. **A few key takeaways from Dama Sathianathan:**I would love to see more (startups) around climate mitigation, like how do we think about disaster risk reduction in zones prone to natural disasters?I'd love to see more climate mitigation products and services.**The number of times I see carbon offsetting platforms or ESG data platforms, I'm like, Okay, now calm down. We have seen 100 over the past year. Perhaps there is something else that needs addressing and looking into.What are some of the needs we need to solve? There are loads around sort of conservation, biodiversity, even more, sustainable farming and agriculture practices, looking into increasing the security of our supply chains, when it comes to food supply chains, there are loads and loads of opportunities in this space.**There are so many amazing ideas out there. You just need to look. Go and find them.**Follow NatureBacked across platforms:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google PodcastsTwitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A giant wave of purpose-driven founders, coupled with consumers raising interest in the environment, and the availability of climate-focused capital, should enable a rosy future for the climate tech sector, said Madelene Larsson, an investor at Giant Ventures.London-headquartered Giant Ventures has invested in some 20 companies and plans to invest a billion dollars over 2020s. It had just started to raise its second fund when we recorded the podcast in late May 2022.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. **A few key takeaways from Madelene Larsson:**Of course, it was a better environment to raise the fund before we saw the market pullback that we're currently seeing. We're not going to shy away from that. But we do hope there is fundamental support for purpose-led technology and climate tech. Right. So we are kind of progressing well with our fundraising.**I think this was sure increasing focus on the sector. And when investors start to focus on the sector, you also kind of automatically see more startups in the space, and, you know, people are coming up with new ideas because they see that the funding is there.**I think climate tech is quite a hot space at the moment. And there's for sure, you know, a lot of capital following that sector. So you see a fair amount of startups trying to greenify, if you will, are trying to be maybe more climate-friendly than they are.**I think there are some big opportunities to be had in-home electrification and kind of EV enablement. As I mentioned, I think consumers will be pushed to kind of going green, and they will be more affordable going green than it kind of has ever done before.**Follow NatureBacked across platforms:Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google PodcastsTwitter | Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices