Lian Michelson

Striking: Zenobē, a UK climate tech startup, raised £600m from KKR and £270m from Infracapital, bypassing VC entirely. Zenobe captures excess energy from wind farms to stabilize the grid and reduce gas power reliance. This means: Zenobe secured one of 2023's biggest startup fundraises — without any venture capital. #battery #fundraising #venturecapital #energystorage #infrastructure #growthinflection Sifted: https://lnkd.in/g8wF-xA5

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🌍💡 Embracing Interoperability: The Evolution of Carbon Markets 💡🌍 The landscape of carbon markets is rapidly evolving, with a significant shift towards fungibility and interoperability. What does this mean? We (at the SoHo Global Climate Fund) spoke with leading climate fund manager, Charles Bedford of Carbon Growth Partners, to shed light on this important trend in the carbon markets. It's about creating seamless connections between compliance and voluntary markets, allowing for the exchange and recognition of carbon credits across borders and sectors. This trend marks a pivotal moment in our collective efforts towards combating climate change. By enabling carbon credits to be fungible and interoperable, we're fostering a more efficient and scalable approach to carbon pricing and emissions reduction strategies. Companies and organizations now have greater flexibility to participate in markets that align with their goals. #CarbonMarkets #ClimateAction #Fungibility #Interoperability #Sustainability #Innovation #GlobalImpact

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📢 ICVCM confirms Verra and ART meet its high-integrity benchmark Only yesterday we posted our guide to key carbon action standards, and 'greater integration of the standards' was one of the key trends we flagged to watch out for. Each step like this is key in moving quickly to an integrated and coherent framework. Integration will allow buyers of credits to have confidence they are utilizing credits of the right quality that will serve their climate action objectives and will stand-up to scrutiny. The more we can simplify and clarify the regulation and standards around this industry, the better. There are many examples across other industries where corporates can take positive action and be confident that they are following clear and integrated rules. Continued progress on this track will be key to scaling. Full announcement below. https://lnkd.in/dpbV_PQ3 Check out our 'Climate Action Standards Decoded Guide' here: https://lnkd.in/d6SaD8-W #climateactionstandards #naturalcapital #ICVCM #carbonmarkets

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📢 **Navigating Capital Challenges Under the SEIS Scheme** In the current landscape, start-ups are finding it increasingly difficult to raise capital under the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). The economic climate, coupled with stringent regulations, is posing significant hurdles for innovative companies striving to make their mark. At Sustainable Times, we understand these challenges and are committed to supporting sustainable start-ups in their journey. Over the past four years, we've successfully raised over £84 million for sustainable start-ups and infrastructure projects, driving growth and fostering innovation in the sector. If you're a sustainable start-up looking to secure capital and scale your business, let's connect. Our expertise and track record speak for themselves, and we're here to help you navigate these challenging times. Get in touch today and let's build a sustainable future together! #Sustainability #Startups #SEIS #VentureCapital #Innovation #Funding #GreenEconomy

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🌍 **Special Episode Alert: The Carbon Exposure Project Podcast** 🌍 We're excited to bring you a special episode of the Carbon Exposure Project. 🎙️ Today, we're joined by Patrick Greenfield an Environment reporter from The Guardian. Patrick's in-depth coverage of carbon markets has sparked significant debate and shaped much of the public discourse over the past 18 months. This phenomenon, often termed the “Guardian effect,” mirrors the increased media scrutiny from outlets like DIE ZEIT, The New Yorker and Bloomberg, all highlighting integrity issues in carbon markets. Due to this intensified scrutiny, many customer-facing companies are now hesitant to engage with the Voluntary Carbon Market, fearing critical media coverage. In this episode, Patrick provides an unfiltered view of his investigative work. While our discussion dives into many contentious areas and we often find ourselves in disagreement, it stands as a testament to thoughtful and respectful dialogue. 📢 **Key Highlights:** - An unfiltered, 80-minute interview with Patrick Greenfield - Exploration of the "Guardian effect" and its impact on carbon markets - Discussion on the integrity of carbon markets We want to emphasize—unlike traditional media, this podcast does not editorialize. Our goal is to offer honest conversations about the complexities of carbon markets, allowing you, our listeners, to hear everything firsthand and form your own informed opinions. We hope you find this episode enlightening and encourage you to share your thoughts with us. 🎧 Full episode links below: 🟢 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/g-tp8K-8 🟢 YouTube: https://lnkd.in/g3Swpk2Z #CarbonExposureProject #Podcast #ClimateChange #CarbonMarkets #EnvironmentalJournalism #GuardianEffect #SustainableFuture #ThoughtfulDialogue #VCM #CarbonCredits #NetZero

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I couldn’t be prouder to be a Venture Partner at Isomer Capital (aka the best European FoF - at least for me) as we just announced the launch of our pioneering £100m secondaries fund. This fund is dedicated to acquiring stakes from LPs in various VC funds, tapping into a massive and largely unexplored market. 🌟 Key Highlights: - Focused Investment: Primarily targeting stakes in VC funds, with selective investments in private companies. - Robust Funding: Already over 20% funded, thanks to strong support from Nordic family offices and a German foundation. - Market Potential: With a growing number of private tech companies and a VC liquidity crunch, Europe's VC secondaries market is poised for rapid growth. - Track Record: This isn’t Isomer’s first foray into the secondaries market. As a firm we’ve done several secondaries deals with portfolio companies and VC firms, including early-stage VC Seedcamp (in 2021) and mobility giant Bolt (in 2023). - Expert Team: Welcoming the amazing Omolade (Rachel) A., formerly of Coller Capital, as a principal to lead this initiative. 💡 Investment Strategy: - 65-75% of the fund will buy "LP interest" stakes in VC funds. - 15-25% will be directed towards stakes in companies. - Up to 15% reserved for flexible investment opportunities. 📈 Looking Ahead: We're targeting returns of 2-3x, with significant distributions expected in the next 4-7 years. As one of the few players in this space, we're not just participating in the market—we're driving it forward. Read all about it here: https://lnkd.in/dc7sbC3G #VentureCapital #SecondariesFund #EuropeanVC

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Good to see SIS Ventures EIS fund covered here by Hardman & Co The SIS Ventures EIS / SEIS Fund is open for applications! Our Fund's Information Memorandum is available to qualified investors. We are committed to backing exceptional founders, investing in high-growth businesses with global ambition. SIS Ventures are impact investors, please check out our Impact Report 👀: https://lnkd.in/eGuz6bqY for insights into our impact investing approach, portfolio and progress: ✔ SIS Ventures uses venture capital to address the most complex problems facing society and the planet, with IP-rich solutions as a force for good. ✔ Impact Reach 🌍: Growing number of our companies are gaining traction globally for their products or services. ✔ Types of Portfolio Companies we invest in, and their progress: Read about how each of our portfolio companies are growing their businesses and progressing impact. ✔ Our desire for rigour, transparency and measurement in respect of impact and sustainable investment; investment in innovation. Assuring investors of our commitment to impact investing. ✔ Ensuring fair and equitable access to venture capital, to fund the best opportunities. ✔ Sector agnostic approach: Widening our coverage across UN SDGs If you are looking to invest or understand risks further please get in touch. CAPITAL AT RISK Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more via the following link https://lnkd.in/dx3n6Q7Q #impactinvesting #venturecapital #EIS #innovation

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Stop this removal-only obsession in the carbon markets. What kind of hare-brained approach is that? We need avoidance even more than we need removals. This article reminds me of the analogy I made a few months ago about a sinking boat. No amount of bailing water with buckets will save you if the hole in the hull is getting bigger. Remember, if deforestation was a country, it would be the world's third largest emitter. And no, you cannot just demand/legislate that poor rural people stop deforesting without providing alternative income. That is why forest carbon exists. It takes some form of totalitarian mindset (and/or total lack of understanding of rural economies)to think one can just ban things they do not like. https://lnkd.in/eCddBRwt

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At the start of 2024 we invited a subset of leading climate fund managers to share views on market sentiment as well as their performance. Insights include sentiment on the fundraising environment, sector focus, impact tracking methodologies, portfolio valuation expectations and spending allocations. Please find an abridged version of the survey here: https://lnkd.in/e-BgCKpG We truly appreciate the participation of all the contributing managers and hope the results are insightful and useful to all. We view this inaugural survey as the first of many CREO Climate Investment Surveys and aspire to attract participation from an increasingly robust and diverse set of managers. We will invite managers to participate in our 2025 survey at the end of this year. Participants who completed the survey received unabridged versions of the aggregated results. CREO Owen LoudonLucas FiorettiTaline Filipovic

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2024 LAVCA Trends in Tech - LAVCA https://buff.ly/4dfL6Qf by @LAVCA sector and country-specific breakdowns, average round sizes across investment stages and the current role of global investors co-investing alongside local fund managers! #rafAIgual #vc #trends #investment #latam

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This is a good and important read on #FOAK projects and the ClimateTech Valley of Death, with good insight from some very sharp investors. One often overlooks aspect of this challenge is WHO will build these early commercial projects that are smaller and don't often appeal to top tier EPCs. Developing and building these projects will be a critical, often binary factor in the outcomes. https://lnkd.in/gbedmkmt

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Very much looking forward to joining the discussion and sharing the importance of embedded finance within our products. Embedded finance has the potential to revolutionise customer experience across a number of verticals, offering unparalleled convenience to keep up with evolving consumer expectations. #FTTEmFin #FintechTalents #embeddedfinance

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🚀 The Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati US/UK Entrepreneurs Report for Q1 2024 is out! Here the Highlights for #TechInvestors and #Deeptech Founders 🌍 Key Insights from Wilson Sonsini's Latest Report: 🌐 Global Venture Capital Trends - Mixed Valuations: Early-stage valuations showed mixed signals. Seed valuations matched 2023's median but dropped quarter-over-quarter. Series A and B saw slight increases for the second consecutive quarter. - Fundraising Peaks: Despite mixed valuations, fundraising amounts increased across all stages for the third consecutive quarter, with Series C and later stages hitting a two-year high. 🇬🇧 UK Market Update - Investment Volume: £2.42 billion invested in Q1 2024, down 36% from Q4 2023 but up 3.7% from Q1 2023. - Deal Sizes: Mean deal size for Q1 2024 was £4.92 million, higher than Q1 2023 but lower than Q4 2023. - Top Deals: Monzo Bank secured a gigadeal of £339 million. Other notable deals include ElevenLabs (£65.2M), hyperexponential (£65.2M), and Storegga (£65.2M). 📈 Convertible Notes & SAFEs Benchmakrs: - Convertible Notes: Interest rates are up, with 80% of pre-Seed and 63% of post-Seed notes having rates of 8% or more. Maturity periods are trending shorter, especially for post-Seed notes. - SAFEs: Median raise amounts remain under $1 million, with valuation caps becoming more prevalent. 🌱 My Deeptech & Climate Focus Spots: Climate tech is continuing to be ever more real (i.e. true hardware deals done, vs the ESG platforms that dominated climate tech investing for a while): - Storegga: Raised £65.2 million for renewable energy tech, focusing on carbon capture and reduction. - Tokamak Energy: Secured £76.5 million for fusion technologies aimed at large-scale clean energy production. 🔍 Key Takeaways for Investors & Founders: - Stay Informed: Mixed signals in valuations suggest cautious optimism. Keep an eye on fundraising trends and convertible note terms. - Focus on Innovation: Deeptech and climate tech are attracting significant investments. Opportunities abound for those addressing global challenges and the bold investors who back them. #VentureCapital #TechInvesting #Deeptech #ClimateTech #StartupFunding #UKTech For more detailed insights, check out the full report by Wilson Sonsini here:

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Interesting read from Dominic Jacquesson MBE at Index Ventures, for any businesses looking at expanding into the US 🗽 🗽The successful archetypes for US expansion (B2B & B2C) 🗽At what stage to expand into the US? 🗽Where in the US should you set up? 🗽Who should be your first boots on the ground? 🗽Operational needs - visas, tax structures, lawyers, etc. 🗽Once you're there, how do you scale? 🗽Once you're there, how do you fundraise? 🗽How do you maintain/evolve culture and comms across the Atlantic? Click here to get the answers to all of these questions: https://lnkd.in/eN529q_S #venturecapital #internationalisation #USA #USexpansion #privatecapital

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💡 The Real Challenge Begins After Raising Investment: With the Labour Party winning the UK general election, the focus on leadership and strategic decision-making is paramount, not just in politics but in business too. In the final episode with Edward from West Hill Capital, we reflect on the true challenge for entrepreneurs: transitioning from raising capital to effectively delivering results. We explore the importance of strategic allocation and the potential risks if funds are not managed wisely. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Let's continue to drive innovation and growth together. If you're looking to raise investment or need support within your business, let's connect: https://lnkd.in/e8Wf2TTa #Entrepreneurship #InvestmentStrategy #StartupSuccess #DigitalHealth #BusinessGrowth #Leadership #ExecutionMatters #WestHillCapital #InvestorInsights

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Climate tech, impact and energy transition are some of the most active fund thematic I'm seeing amongst asset managers. Whilst impact funds attracted just $23.8 billion of total private capital raised (led by a couple of mega funds), there are some major drivers that asset managers are now not only actively exploring this space, but launching their own funds: 🌎 Pension funds, corporates, insurances and endowments increasingly have sustainability, green and ESG criteria they have to meet in their portfolio; 🌎Private capital allocation to sustainable strategies is increasing and becoming crucial not only to portfolio creation, but performance; 🌎ESG and sustainability are regarded as major drivers of value creation and exit value- up to 70% in most cases- it's a serious risk mitigation and diversification strategy. 🌎EU and US regulatory frameworks are now playing into capital allocation, with 56% of investors having refused a GP based on ESG grounds 🌎In public markets, sustainable funds have beaten fund returns by a median return of 10.9%. With climate, impact and energy now covering well-trodden sectors including infrastructure- this is starting to actively translate to PE/VC 🌎Some strategies such as ODDO BHF plan to allocate to funds and co-investments- giving a potential exposure to over 2000 companies significantly improving the potential upside.

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Corporate investments in climate-tech have consistently increased since 2005, even when other sources of investment declined. The startups they invest in are more likely to achieve a successful exit. Public grants are not significantly associated with exits on their own but are likely to act as catalysts for high-risk startups. Publicly funded startups exit at a higher rate with the addition of corporate investment (155% increase) compared with other private investment (78% increase). #climatetech #corporateVC #venturecapital

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