Planet A Ventures

Planet a Summit 2024 🎬 How to separate hype from the real deal when it comes to investing in climate AI? What is the path to building unicorns like 1komma5 out of Europe? Where are the greatest opportunities for technology to solve the greatest challenges facing humanity? These are just some of the topics we explored on stage and off, at our Planet A Summit in June. Here’s a flavour of what went down! Thanks to everyone who joined us for some crazy special days in Berlin. 

The SFDR - where are we at? 2+ years since launch, we analyse its impact so far 🔎 💡 The EU’s sustainable finance disclosure regulation is designed to create transparency around ‘sustainable’ investments, unlock critical funding for the transition to net zero and reduce greenwashing. While we see some promising progress, navigating the early days of SFDR reporting has not been easy. Check out latest Impact Report for the full analysis. 🔗 Link in comments.

“AI washing” - what does it mean for climate tech? 🤖 When it comes to climate, the potential for exponential technologies like AI to unlock impact at scale is massive. While the hype is exciting, how do we make sure the right technology gets funded? We invited Carbon Re founder Aidan O'Sullivan, Makersite CEO Neil D'Souza and Sifted journalist Miriam Partington to unpack the buzz at the Planet A Summit. Key takeaways👇 - Investor demand for AI investments incentivises fundraising companies to ‘bolt AI on the side’ of their products, leading to “AI washing” and fuelling hype - Investors should focus on founders who are trying to solve a hard problem that AI can help solve as the core of the product solution - There are many great applications for AI and climate including material choices, process engineering and supply chain design - Shift in AI community from five years ago as “best” opportunities for AI scientists are now in solving massive climate problems instead of joining Facebook or Google - Ultimately, deep tech technologies simply require more sophisticated, deep tech investors The biggest threat of AI washing, according to Neil? Simply that huge amounts of money and time would be better spent elsewhere. What do you think, are we creating a somewhat artificial AI bubble that will, at some point, burst? 🧐

How to kick off a Summit? A sound bath of course! It was amazing to welcome so many Planet A founders to Berlin for our Summit last Thursday. To kick things off, we brought everyone together for an evening of good food, conversation, and meditation - a chance to step off the wheel for a night. Naturally, special occasions call for special locations 🪄 Our theme for the Summit was “The Art of Change.” So, a former public bathing facility from the 1920s, which turned into a haven for '90s ravers, was then abandoned to nature, and is now home to the magical Reethaus Berlin, seemed like the perfect place 👀 Thank you to Claus Sendlinger and the Slowness team for your outstanding hospitality, you have created a truly special place. We can’t wait to return to the wild riverbanks of the Spree. What a week! 

Planet A Summit ‘24 - it’s a wrap 🎬🌎 Hearts are bursting after a HUGE week for us, bringing together 200+ of the brightest minds in climate for the first-ever Planet A Summit. When planning the event, we focused on the doors we wanted to open in people's minds and the lasting message we hoped to leave with our guests. One idea kept resurfacing: What technologies will people really still talk about 100 years from now? We believe they are the ones that will roll back climate change and pave the way for a new life within the planetary boundaries. So, we decided to showcase those ‘masterpieces’ of technology and bring them to life at Wilhelm Hallen in Berlin. Our theme, “The Art of Change,” was more than just a title — it was a call to understand how our actions today will shape tomorrow's legacy. It was an invitation to look up from the daily grind and appreciate the beauty of what we are all trying to achieve together. 💛 Thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to some magic days in Berlin. Especially to each of our founders - the real heroes of this story! 💛 A huge thanks to our incredible speakers, who delivered more than just a typical VC talk and delved deep into what is needed for a broader systemic change. Nate Hagens, Maja Göpel, Stefan Rahmstorf, Christoph Stanger, Lea Strumberger, Philipp Schröder, Miriam Partington, Aidan O'Sullivan, Neil D'Souza, Johanna Baare, Tobias Lechtenfeld, and Massimo Portincaso. 💛 Massive kudos to our creative genius Moritz Moysig and Juliane Gördes for a killer design, and to Laura, Ulrike and Sarah for making the event feel truly ‘Planet A style’. We’ll share more in the coming days and weeks. So, stay tuned!

Exciting News for Sustainable Fuel Solutions in Europe! 🛫 INERATEC has partnered with fellow climate pioneers SOLER Group to construct an innovative Power-to-Liquid plant in Southern France. Industries like fossil fuels, chemicals, and transportation face significant challenges in decarbonising their operations. Aviation alone is responsible for about 2.4% of global emissions, and without significant technological advancements, it could account for up to 24% of global emissions by 2050. INERATEC’s new plant aims to address these challenges head-on. The plant will produce renewable biocarbon and e-Fuels, maximising resource efficiency by using wood and renewable hydrogen as feedstocks. In total, it will avoid an equivalent of 100,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually. What a milestone - congrats Tim, Philipp and Caspar! Want to learn more about what’s ahead? Read the full press release in the comments.

After the EU election results last week, it’s more important than ever that we fight for the climate, democracy and a strong Europe, together. 🇪🇺 That’s why we are happy to be one of an impressive 400+ cross-sector organisations calling on leaders to confirm the Green Deal as a strategic priority in the next EU mandate. The EU Green Deal is the foundation of a competitive, secure, modern and efficient Europe. Read the full joint statement via comments #GreenDealforEU

The real estate sector urgently needs AI-powered solutions to decarbonise 🏗️ We're thrilled to announce that Optiml has been awarded the "ZIA PropTech of the Year Award 2024" 🏆 for their outstanding work in this area! Did you know that buildings account for 40% of EU energy consumption and 36% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions? Optiml’s solution equips asset managers with detailed insights into the transition risks of buildings. This empowers them to make smart investment decisions that significantly reduce carbon footprints. Congratulations, Nico, Evan, Jordi, and the entire team. We're very proud to be part of your mission! Want to learn more about Optiml? Check out why we invested in the comments below. #venturecapital #ai #realestate #climatetech

Incredible energy in the European climate community 🌍 What a week! We’re still buzzing from connecting with old and new friends, sharing challenges, and celebrating our excitement for all the opportunities that are now within reach. Super Climate It was fantastic to co-host the sixth edition of Super Climate on such a beautiful evening in Berlin. Shoutout to Sebastian, Otto, and Nick for bringing together this amazing crowd of climate movers & shakers! Brave New World: Pure Magic Always a pleasure teaming up with our friends at Morphais, BACKED VC, NGP Capital, Formo, World Fund and FoodLabs to bring the community together for a magical night (literally🪄 ). Thanks to everyone who came! South Summit Meanwhile in Madrid, Nick talked "Harnessing Interconnected Systems" together with Isabela Alcázar PhD from IE University, Martin Schwab from Ocean Born Foundation and Mathias Wikström from Doconomy. 👀 Next up is our Planet A Summit in Berlin - we can’t wait!

Did you know that 9 in 10 VCs say increased diversity leads to better financial returns? Great to see the European Women in VC report 2024 out in the wild! More findings that caught our eye: 🌴 More funding for positive impact → 1/3 €53bn VC investment in Europe went to startups directly addressing one or more SDGs last year 🌴 Power law of values → 88% of VCs say they use an impact investing framework or tool to guide investment decisions due to their own values or their fund’s impact mission goals 🌴 LPs driven by environmental impact → 1/3 LPs surveyed say reducing carbon footprint is a top priority when choosing funds to invest in → 73% say alignment with SDGs is important Findings are based on data from Dealroom.co, plus a comprehensive survey of 300+ leading European VC partners and LPs, in collaboration with Founders Forum Group and Tech Nation. We’re happy to be part of the European Women in VC community! Read the full report via comments.