Stefano Bernardi

💡 Watch this video, in which the importance of shareholder voting in tackling the climate crisis is perfectly articulated by Mark van Baal from Follow This | Shareholders change the world.

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To all #climatetech #founders and #funders in NYC and beyond, please join us on June 5th for an evening of #breakthrough #decarbonization #innovation at the ReGen Accelerator #DemoDay! 🎉 Get ready to be inspired by our cohort of #earlystage startups: ​ ▶ aich2 is engineering a novel #hydrogen ecosystem, built around Solid Hydrogen carriers. ​​ ▶ carbogenics produces sustainable #carbon adsorbents from difficult-to-recycle organic waste, including coffee cups and wastewater screenings ​​ ▶ TeamStack.ai is driving better performance by harnessing #AI, data, & the collective intelligence of teams. ​ ▶ Tesleon LLC uses compelling characters and #storytelling to instill compassion for communities and our planet in the next generation. ​ ▶ Tolam Earth is a trusted #marketplace for high-quality, high-impact carbon offsets. Don't miss out! Secure your spot below. Big thank you to Brown Rudnick LLP for hosting this event, our partners at ClimateHaven for their hard work and dedication during the entire program, and to our incredible network of #mentors and #facilitators, each of whom have dedicated time to working with these incredible founders this spring, including Jason Ambrose, Marina Rakhlin, Lauren Zujkowski, Stuart DeCew, Matt Puccini Andy Rooks, Nina Raab, and Bill Stephney. And of course Shai Tamary, Lars Korby and Sarah Cleveland, without whom we would not be able run such a #program. #innovation #sustainability #climateaction #accelerator

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Since there is currently speculation about whether the "Valley of Death" for European climate tech startups even exists (the investment gap in Series B): unfortunately it does, the data is clear. 📊 The numbers are based on the most extensive database about European climate tech companies (i3 Connect; part of the Cleantech Group). Read more about it in World Fund's whitepaper "Investing in Climate Tech - An Opportunity for Europe" 🌍 https://lnkd.in/ehJK2Twu 🌍

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Over the last year, we have deployed 8 low-friction, synthetic development loans, the “Development SAFE,” to projects with significant climate and community impact. It’s like a reverse convertible note: an equity instrument that converts to debt at the CEO’s option once the project is fully funded and underway. Today ImpactAlpha is out with a story shining a light on this new tool, which we developed with Robert O'Connor of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Amy Cortese dug in with Avra van der Zee to understand the backstory and why we created the D-SAFE. I like this part— “‘That’s the capital that’s very high risk, but very catalytic, because without it, projects don’t happen,’ Jason Salfi of Dimensional Energy, a New York-based startup that upcycles captured carbon into chemicals and aviation fuel, told ImpactAlpha. Dimensional is among the first climate tech startups to use a new development-specific instrument to scale the gap and get commercial plants off the ground. The Development-SAFE, a twist on the “simple agreement for equity” widely used in Silicon Valley, was created by Elemental Excelerator and law firm Wilson Sonsini to address the specific needs of startups developing their first pilot plants or commercial facilities.” Dimensional used the D-SAFE to unlock 20x more project funding from Seneca Holdings and others to finance its sustainable aviation fuel plant in upstate NY. And we’ve deployed D-SAFEs to accelerate FOAKs and project development for Fervo Energy with Tim Latimer, Forum Mobility with Matt LeDucq, Capture6 with Ethan Cohen-Cole, and more Elemental portfolio companies. Our goal is to have the dollars recycle back to us as soon as the projects get larger financing so that we can re-deploy capital for impact. We’re grateful for attorneys and CEOs who innovate alongside us to help climate technologies close the $150B Scale Gap for climate financing, a number uncovered in our new white paper out today with BCG. Onward!

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Fellow mentors! This post is for you 🌸 Climate tech founders' growth journey is not an obvious one. As mentors, supporting them in a way aligned with the impact we aim for, is not an easy task. #UnderStatement Common startup playbook cannot be the only way forward. So… Because Techstars Sustainability Paris hub is genuinely committed to giving back to its mentors, they gave me the green light to go ahead and create something special as community mentor lead 🔥 Introducing: ▶️ Climate Tech: A new playbook towards life-centered growth ☀️☀️ We co-designed this unique workshop, tailored for your needs and questions, together with 🦓 Moh Al-Haifi expert in growth marketing for impact focused businesses! ✅ Join us for inspiration: hear why it's time to rethink the building blocks of business models and growth in Climate tech startups. ✅ Join us for concrete tactics and fresh ideas: discover how you can leverage "life-centered" growth and communication strategies in your work with your founders. ✅ Join us with a "personal growth" mindset: Ample time will be allowed for questions and recent examples. Logistics: Tuesday April 30th, 5-6 pm CET (+ an extra 30 min for questions and further exploration), online A word about my co-host: Moh Al-Haifi is a social entrepreneur and growth marketer looking at marketing from a regenerative lens. After working within the agency, innovation and startup world as a marketer for over 10 years, he founded and now runs the impact focused growth marketing agency, Zebra Growth. Moh has worked with a variety of social and climate tech startups globally, supporting them to grow with a new type of playbook that is future-fit and aligned with a life-centered economy! Interested? Link available by DM Thank you to Rebecca Ravenni Raphaele Leyendecker Fabbri for saying YES to this embryo of idea last autumn! Photo: luxurious wisteria at my daddy’s garden which embody for me efforts, care and new hope 🌸 #ImpactInvesting #SystemsChange #SharingIsCaring

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When in Rome… write a blog Since changing the side of the table from entrepreneurship to VC I long resisted the established practice of content generation. After a year and sharing similar stories and tips with dozens of start-ups time to scale the approach   Time for Barbarians at the (Golden) Gate blog. This is a practical guide of scaling to the US by companies rooted in the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe). Loosely inspired by Booksy experience and discussion with leaders from other companies who are scaling successfully from the CEE    I start with structural advantages of CEE start-ups that make conquering global tech markets possible. Next episodes go through the lists of hoops and traps (in most of which you fill find my footprints ��� ) – I will do my best to warn and give my $0.02 on these.   Many thanks for those of you have contributed to this (often unknowingly 😉 ) by sharing your experiences, thoughts, comments or reviewed early drafts. The list clearly includes Booksy mafia (Stefan Batory, Konrad Howard Dorota Machaj), those who built even bigger tech businesses out of CEE (Peter Bialo), those who will soon make it (Agata Mroczkowska, Wojtek Rokosz, Dhruv Agrawal), and shepherds of other cohorts of global challengers out of CEE (Andris K. Berzins).   Episode 1 here. The only rosy episode in the season. Enjoy responsibly, comment, disagree, trash or encourage

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To all my network members who are running a #sustainability #startup or know someone with a mission, you folks are the true heroes, and I want to ensure your hard work is recognised not just on #EarthDay, but far beyond. That's why, at ETA Technologies, we're dedicated to contributing to your efforts by assisting those who are actively doing so in securing more funding. As a former VC, I understand the landscape inside and out. Amidst all the complexities, one truth consistently emerges: investors invest in people. This is where ETA comes in. We produce sophisticated and quantitative reports for investors, helping them identify the teams with the greatest potential. Let's change the game for now! Over the next week, all sustainability start-ups can receive a free report from us. This will provide insights into how investors perceive your team and what areas can be improved before you begin #fundraising. And if you've already opened your round, feel free to incorporate it into your outreach.

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🌟 Interesting yet unsurprising findings from the latest VC performance report: 📈 Established European venture capital funds (fund 5+) are delivering 2x the IRR of New (fund 1-2) and Developing (3-4) funds. 🌍 European VC funds consistently outperform their US counterparts, underscoring Europe's strength in the global investment landscape. Read the article at sifted https://lnkd.in/eZYF4THT

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Three reasons why I like this post of Joint Impact Model Foundation on their cooperation with BIO - the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries : 💡 interesting read on #impact measurement 🫶 someone else talking about what you do right instead of yourself 👏 compliments to people that deserve it

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💡 Why Investing in ClimateTech Now Makes Sense for LPs! 🌍 During SuperReturn more VCs than ever had been fundraising for their next funds. Potential LPs need to identify the most promising tech vertical. What are the benefits of climate tech compared to others? 1️⃣ Impactful Returns: ClimateTech offers substantial ROI potential while contributing to global sustainability goals. According to Dealroom.co the climate tech ecosystem has increased its combined value by 45x in a decade. 2️⃣ Net Zero Imperative: According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG) up to 31% of the German climate goals cannot be achieved if we do “business as usual”. We need innovative technology & startups to accelerate energy transition. According to Allianz over 75% of emissions reductions must come from emerging technologies. 3️⃣ Critical Funding Gap: Total investments to date are $10T. Sounds to a lot, but to reach Net-Zero we need to reach $215T. 🚀 Seizing the Opportunity Since 2016, Future Energy Ventures has been at the forefront of Climate Tech innovation. LPs of our Fund II include major players like E.ON and the European Investment Fund (EIF) or Energie AG OÖ or CLP. We are supporting those climate tech startups which will be the major digital players in a decarbonized future. #ClimateTech #Sustainability #FutureEnergy #NetZero

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'Venture capital might have been born in the US — but Europeans aren’t too bad at it nowadays. European VC returns are better than North American VC returns over 10 and 15 year horizons, finds a new report from industry body Invest Europe, based on data from investment firm Cambridge Associates. European VC yielded 20.77% net IRR (internal rate of return) over 10 years, compared to North American VC’s 18.18%. Over a 15 year period too, European VC has better returns: 16.57% IRR to North American VC’s 16.09% IRR. However, over a 20-year period, North American VC’s IRR edges past European VC’s: 13.03% compared to 12.87% for Europe. North American funds are also faster to pay back their investors — with LPs getting their money back in 4.5 years, on average, compared to 6.7 years in Europe.' https://lnkd.in/gAM7N8UY

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Seraphim Space Ventures II (SSV II): Meet the companies 🛰 🌌 Following the same strategy as its original SpaceTech-focused venture fund, a top-performing fund for its vintage, SSV II aims to build a portfolio of c.30 companies. The Fund has already made nine investments aligned with some of our key themes via a warehouse portfolio. Hubble Network – Internet of Things satellite constellation for connecting directly to billions of Bluetooth-enabled devices Delos Insurance Solutions – Space data-powered wildfire home insurance provider ATMOS Space Cargo – Space cargo return service for life sciences Auriga Space – Novel electromagnetic launch system Array Labs - 3D satellite imagery on a global scale Privateer Space - constellation of small SATs for in-Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Ubotica Technologies - Live Earth Intelligence (Space: AI) Renoster - Deep Transparency for nature-based carbon projects constellr - Space data-powered high-precision smart farming services Take a look at our new page to find out more - https://lnkd.in/dau2tw2d

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📰 Great to be featured on the latest Sifted article by Amy Lewin Joe Schorge, Maria Rotilu and I share our thoughts on the topic of ''How many new #VC funds does Europe need?'' and the ''rise in solo GPs across Europe'' 💭 TLDR: In my opinion, Solo GPs are fantastic! They truly do care and are super useful with great networks, hunger and high-speed. However many solo GPs don’t lead deals at pre-seed, and the European ecosystem could do with a few more funds that do. But there are exceptions, such as Germany’s Gloria Baeuerlein, Finn Murphy, and Max Claussen, to name a few. Full article here: https://lnkd.in/dWXUFsWb

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#CarbonBlue Climate-tech startup CarbonBlue announced that it has raised $10 million in a seed funding round, with proceeds to be used to scale up and deploy its water-based Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technology. Founded in 2022 in Israel, CarbonBlue provides technology to turn any water-based infrastructure into a CDR facility by removing CO2 from water, enabling it to absorb more from the atmosphere. The company’s solution takes water containing dissolved atmospheric CO2 and pumps it into a reactor which extracts the CO2, mineralizing it into solid limestone. Then, using heat, a second reactor removes CO2 from the limestone. The stream of pure, removed CO2 is then used as an industrial feedstock, or sequestered in geologic formation granting a tradable carbon credit by the ton, while the low-CO2 water is returned to its source, for the removal of CO2 from the environment. https://lnkd.in/gnGthxxP

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The last post in this 3-part mini series. We’re at the beginning of the most important economic experiment of our lifetimes: a $6 trillion carbon economy. Europe is leading the way with the most robust carbon market today, but the implications are relevant beyond its borders. We will be looking at how Europe is transforming into a low-carbon economy. Many doubt it’s possible. Others are concerned it will cost too much. Doubters aside, using a market-based approach will chart the most efficient way to get there. As with any market reshuffle of this magnitude, it’s an opening for startups to build massively successful companies and help define the shape of low-carbon economies. https://lnkd.in/gGXdcED8

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Europe's tech market has some catching up to do. #eu #techmarket #technology #techcompanies #marketvalue #financing #growthcapital #scaleups #commercialisation

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https://lnkd.in/epFgH79T You’ve probably read tons of articles about the different rounds of VC funding and all the associated terms, but how often do you come across something that really breaks down the numbers? Ever wondered how to keep track of your startup’s equity as you grow? Dive into our hands-on guide to cap tables, where I break down everything from your first seed round to that exciting exit moment.  By walking you through various scenarios and terms with comprehensive examples and visual aids, I offer a solid foundation for managing equity financing in startups. While real-world cap tables can be intricate, this primer ensures fair ownership and proceeds distribution, helping you maintain investor confidence and support your startup’s long-term growth.Let’s get your cap table game on point!

Fantastic event (and ecosystem) that Patrick Meier, PhD and his team at the Climate Robotics Network are creating. Highly recommend you check out the Climate Robotics Summit, done in partnership with EPFL, SOSV, Cybernetix Ventures, ETH Zürich, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. I just had the pleasure of moderating a panel just now on investing in climate robotics, alongside Urvi Nagrani, Malini Samtani, Sashi Jayatileke and Fady Saad. Here are some of the key insights: 1) Applications for robotics to climate challenges (adaptation AND mitigation) are enormous: support to farmers as conditions for humans become too hot to farm for long hours, drones that help capture data on forests and wildlife, supporting with installation of maintenance in large solar fields, wind turbines, circular economy applications - e.g. de-manufacturing - to just name a few. 2) Investing in robotics is simply different - it doesn't fit the standard SAAS VC strategies, often having a lot of engineering input and require non-dilutive funding upfront - e.g. similar barriers to investing in hardware writ large. Thus, it sits in a bit of its own asset class, so investors and entrepreneurs alike need to understand how these solutions behave, esp. in the early-stages of building/testing. That said, there is a growing pool of funds that have been specializing in this area. 3) So how do we move robotics solutions up the TRL ladder faster? It can take a LONG time for any robotics solution to be truly market ready. Even when there is theoretical product-market fit doesn't mean that it's ready in investors' eyes. Lots of testing as well as setting proper expectations with customers is critical, and part of this long process. Non-dilutive funding is rare to find in most countries, but in the US in particular there is a growing pool of grant funding that can help. 4) Development finance institutions and donors have a critical role here, especially in vulnerable countries/communities: Robotics could have bit impact in supporting climate solutions in vulnerable communities, but we need to ensure that there is an enabling environment for these solutions, which means that the policy, academic, and traditional finance space (e.g. local commercial banks)

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