FORGE’s Post

Participating in NSB's Forum meetup was insightful. NSB is a community of active Israeli climate-tech founders of existing companies and people who are interested in starting a company. The panel's participants included Oded Barel-Sabag, who leads our climate-related investments, who was joined by Ori Shaashua from Gigablue (portco of ours!), Uriel Klar from Epsilon ε, Dr. Avner Gross from Ben Gurion University, and Yael Weisz Zilberman from NetZero Technology Ventures. Hosted by Amitai Ziv, the discussion explored the challenges and opportunities of starting and building a climate-tech company in Israel these days. 🌱 Key discussion points and inputs: -> The climate-tech ecosystem is still shaping: In recent years, Israel's climate-tech ecosystem has emerged and made waves, thanks to the dedication and drive of individuals, organizations, and communities. However, the ecosystem is still in its early stages, with most companies still young and the trajectory for building a climate-tech company in terms of various aspects such as fundraising, commercialization and regulation is still something people are trying to figure out and learn on the go. -> VCs Interest: The landscape saw a surge in climate-focused VCs and generalist VCs gaining interest in the space. Yet, evaluating climate startups as VCs, especially generalist VCs requires a nuanced approach, often necessitating a shift in mindset and evaluation methodologies. -> Academia<>Industry: Dr. Gross highlighted the untapped potential in creating bridges between academics from various fields and potential founders. By facilitating closer ties between academia and industry, we can harness cutting-edge research, interdisciplinary perspectives, and real-world applications to accelerate the development and adoption of climate solutions. -> Embracing Moonshot Mindset: At freshfund, we try to take a 'moonshot' approach to climate-related investments. We see immense promise in companies ambitiously transforming traditional industries (like Remilk) and pioneering innovative concepts in emerging categories (such as CarbonBlue and Gigablue). Being a climate-tech entrepreneur is both challenging and exhilarating. However, we believe that the significance of the mission combined with the business opportunities, make the journey worthwhile to explore and pursue. Thanks Matan Rudis, Nir Cohen and the entire NSB forum for inviting us (and a special shoutout to Uriel who recommended bringing us on board) and GUTS - Harel Innovation hub for the wonderful hospitality in their space.

🌱Next up…. Paul Straub! A pioneer in backing founders building a healthy, more sustainable #future. Meet Paul, a driving force behind Wireframe Ventures in San Francisco. As Managing Partner and co-founder, he's at the forefront of investing in tech that benefits both people and the planet. His focus? Climate solutions, synthetic biology, AI, automation, green transportation, and more. With a portfolio of over 40 companies, a notable 67% led by first-time founders, Wireframe is shaping the future of sustainability. 💡Fun Fact: Wireframe Ventures' portfolio showcases trailblazing companies like SPAN, Enveda Biosciences, Bedrock Energy, Pasture Biosciences, Climate Robotics, Tyba, Gridware, Synop, and more… proving their role as a catalyst in the sustainability arena! Snapshot on Paul: 👉Holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business 👉Earned a BS in Commerce, Finance, and Marketing from UVA 👉Over 15 years in impact investing, with early investments in Electriphi Inc (acquired), OpenInvest (acquired), Full Harvest Technologies, Terraline, Recurrent, Salient, Mycoworks, and many more! 👉Serves on the Advisory board of Dukes Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment Wireframe Ventures puts founders first, always. Even at the earliest stages—before the revenue starts rolling in and often before the product is fully baked— Paul Straub shares the scoop on what makes a founder stand out to them. Here’s how they pick the visionaries they believe in: "Can they attract great people to their idea, not just employees and co-founders, but customers, partners, and investors? Do they have a way of articulating what it is they're building, and clarity in that thinking? Do they have a self-awareness and ability to then learn, knowing that what they start with is going to change and won't be perfectly right from the beginning?” -Paul Straub 🌍 Dive into our chat with Paul and uncover the depth of sustainable VC and its pivotal role in combating climate change. This edition is filled with insights, innovation, and inspiration you won't want to miss! Subscribe: https://lnkd.in/g2A9uNFY #climatetech #venturecapital #earthfirst #innovation #technology #sustainability #founders #climatechange

🌱🚀 Exciting Opportunity for Clean Tech Innovators! 🚀🌱 As a dedicated mentor with the Cleantech Open (CTO), I'm pleased to announce the call for applications for the 2024 CTO Accelerator Cohort – the world's oldest and largest clean technology startup accelerator. This is a golden opportunity for ambitious entrepreneurs passionate about solving the world's most pressing clean tech challenges. If you're looking to make a significant impact on our planet, the CTO's proven curriculum is for you. 🌟 Why Apply? - Leverage the world-renowned CTO curriculum. - Network with an community of clean tech leaders, mentors, and investors. - Pitch your innovation to potential investors and partners. We're searching for game-changers who are ready to transform their clean tech solutions into scalable businesses. Whether you're at the idea stage or have a fully-fledged startup, if your mission is to create sustainable and innovative solutions for a better tomorrow, we want to hear from you! 🔗 Apply Now and take your clean tech venture to the next level: https://lnkd.in/dAZ4Ufux 🌍💡Let's drive the clean tech revolution together! 💡🌍 #CleanTechOpen #CTO2024 #CleanTech #Innovation #Sustainability #StartUpAccelerator #ApplyNow

🚀 Call for impact-driven social & environmental entrepreneurs 🚀 With your impactful solutions, you bring incredible value to the world we live in, and we'd like to support you in doing so: our friends from Bluelion Incubator just opened the call to the 14th edition of the Tech for Impact Awards. The competition targets impact-driven entrepreneurs applying innovative tech solutions to global social & environmental challenges.   The benefits: 🚀 exposure to a Europe-wide network of like-minded founders 🏆 "quality stamp" of the Tech for Impact Awards 💫  connect with investors and corporate partners : finalists from 2019 onwards raised > CHF 135 Mio in funding, followed by several successful exits 💸  prize money of CHF 30'000.- & non-financial support from corporate partners   Find more information about the Awards and how to apply: https://lnkd.in/dgQUw2FV University of Lausanne - UNIL, HEC Lausanne - The Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne | IMD | EPFL, EPFL College of Management of Technology

Dear innovators from across the globe, the SET Award 2025 is live! 🌍   I’m thrilled to be back as a jury member, working with the Start Up Energy Transition team to scout climate-tech startups that are reshaping the future of energy. ⚡️   Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of reviewing hundreds of applications as part of the jury, each one demonstrating how startups are tackling some of the world’s most critical energy challenges.   💡 Last year’s #SET100 finalists introduced game-changing solutions that disrupted industries and brought sustainable energy to communities worldwide. From clean energy innovations to next-gen mobility, the pipeline of bold ideas keeps expanding.   Now, it’s time to spotlight this year’s disruptors who are driving the #energytransition forward for the people and the planet. 🌍   Why should you apply? ✅ €10,000 in equity-free funding (no dilution, just opportunity) ✅    Get featured in the 2025 SET100 List and gain global recognition ✅    Pitch in Berlin at the premier SET Tech Festival ✅    Access events, startup challenges, incubator programmes ✅ Deadline: 29 October 2024. Apply here: https://t.ly/zMV4f   Start Up Energy Transition | German Energy Agency (dena) | World Energy Council Pia Dorfinger René Böhm #SET25 #SETAward #SETJury

There’s something powerful about a ‘first’ - it leaves a lasting impact. First speaking opportunity as an entrepreneur—I hit a new milestone at the incredible Terrarium event ! I shared insights on CORPORATE VENTURE Programs—exploring how these programs, often seen as a “black box,” can unlock huge potential for climate tech startups. Key discussions : 📌 Strategic Alignment is Key: How aligning corporate venture funds with business goals is crucial for success. 📌 Choose the Right Partner for Scale: The importance of finding the right partner (CVC vs. traditional VCs) for growth and scale-up. 📌 Speed & Complexity: Navigating the speed and complexity of working with corporates, which remains a challenge for many startups. 📌 IP Clarity Drives Innovation: Clarifying IP ownership and rights in corporate-startup collaborations to ensure fair use and innovation. For me, this experience was not just about speaking—it marked a powerful milestone in my entrepreneurial journey. As I focus on bridging the gap in effective corporate partnerships, this session offered valuable insights on how to navigate these relationships to accelerate the scale-up of climate technologies. A big thanks to Mridu Jhangiani and the team for this incredible opportunity. And a special shoutout as well for the lovely book—such a great gesture and looking forward to reading it!  The lab tour at IKP EDEN was a highlight—seeing firsthand how bio-plastics are created from Micro-Organisms. There was also another first for me—seeing a 3D printer for cultivated meat—a fascinating look into the future of sustainable food production! Cheers to my fellow speakers - Preeti Dharmagoudar Gadhadar Reddy Ankit K. Sohil Bhagat Tarun Jami—I thoroughly enjoyed your talks ! It was inspiring to see your journeys and the impact you’ve created. 🎯 To all the Climate tech Builders : How have you navigated corporate partnerships to accelerate climate impact? Amrita Behera Harshvardhan Sanghi Alexander Hogeveen Rutter Mateen Abdul Abu Zar Talib🌱 Aditya Priyadarshi Srinita Mitra Sunil Cavale AASHISH YADAV Videhi Shah #NetZero #ClimateTech

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗟𝗨𝗩 (𝗥𝗘)𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗔 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗣 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗖𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗨𝗥𝗦 Last week, our Principal, Jeppe Tranekær Nielsen, had the pleasure of giving a talk at the “Ventures & Wine” event for scientists and aspiring deep tech entrepreneurs, hosted by REBBLS and CPHLabs. In discussing how to attract investors for your climate tech start-up, he highlighted a range of topics, including the importance of: 1️⃣ picking technologies that can be scaled and integrated into existing supply chains, 2️⃣ reaching cost- and functional parity with conventional products, and 3️⃣ initiating customer dialogues from day one. However, Look Up Ventures probably learned more than the audience. Following Jeppe’s talk, the Q&A continued well beyond the scheduled time with curious, critical, and probing questions from the crowd in a highly engaged and collaborative manner. Their “scientific inquiry” into investing and company building reinforced LUV’s belief in how scientists bring a powerful boost to the world of entrepreneurship: Combined with a good portion of entrepreneurial parallel thinking, scientists’ knack for rigorous questioning and hypothesis testing is a fantastic lever in tackling the many challenges of building a venture company.   What if the great breakthrough we’re all searching for in climate VC is not just a new technology but the perspective and discipline that scientists bring to the industry?

Last few days to get your applications in for Creative HQ's Climate Response Accelerator. We have a $100k investment from Motion Capital up for grabs and coaching, mentoring and advice from some of the best around. We need new solutions to decarbonise, do you have one? Now's your chance. Aotearoa based startups only please. #startups #decarbonisation #wellingtonnz #creativehq #startupaccelerator

Latest essay is up! "Developing The Problem-Focused Founder" TLDR: Science hasn’t fully learned from startups yet, and I think there is an opportunity to add a third path to the existing duopoly of startups and academia. Main takeaway: What if science funding could move as fast as VC? We want to build a repeatable format of non-dilutively support early-stage science teams to steer directly into science risk. I present a first model of a growth curve: startups are just "up and to the right" but problem-focused teams have a slightly different step through milestones. https://lnkd.in/d8ZXgRsv

Let’s meet up at these events! 👇 The coming weeks are full of impact- and technology-driven events again and the 4impact capital team cannot wait to meet new ground-breaking entrepreneurs, catch up with old friends and be inspired by ecosystem experts. Here’s a selection of the events we’re attending in the Netherlands: 🔌 PYM - the Conscious Investors' Community: Kansen in de Energietransitie on February 28 where Ali Najafbagy will be discussing investing in the energy transition alongside respectable private investors from the climate tech space. 💻 Techleap’s State of Dutch Tech on March 6 where we will dive deep into the current buzz of the technology ecosystem of the lowlands! 🌱 BAN Arnhem-Nijmegen Pitch Event on March 12 where Victor Straatman will connect with innovation leaders from the east of the Netherlands. Are you planning on going to one of these events? Please shoot us a message! Otherwise, let’s schedule a (virtual) coffee instead ☕ Do you want to stay up-to-date on our event calendar? Sign up for our newsletter on our website: https://www.4impact.vc/  #venturecapital #vc #impactinvesting #tech4good #impact #software #sustainability  #tech #startup #growthcapital #stateofdutchtech #bann #pym #climatetech #angelinvestor