Tech for Good is a monthly newsletter about the purpose-driven economy in Europe. I share noteworthy investments, market observations and personal experiences. If you enjoy this issue, please like it above and subscribe.
As a millennial, I am part of the first generation that grew up in a world where not only technology but also climate change is part of the daily international dialogue. Like a lot of others in my generation, I often find myself juggling between having access to almost anything instantly with a tap of a button, while constantly being concerned about how to think, act and consume more consciously. Kind of like the paradox when you’re learning on Netflix about how the planet’s biodiversity has diminished over time in “A Life on Our Planet” or how Social Media is manipulating human psychology in “Social Dilemma”. Instant gratification vs. consciousness.
According to various studies, millennials have the highest risk for loneliness, burn out and depression. We are also the generation, that is most concerned about large societal issues such as health care, climate change, unemployment and income inequality - before and after the onset of the pandemic. And we are now the largest demographic in the workforce, which has led to changing trends in consumer behavior as our spending power increases. The market inflection point has arrived as Stephane Kurgan (Index Venture Partner and former COO at King) said earlier this year:
“The past decade was the decade of convenience. The coming decade will be the decade of purpose”
Like many others, I often feel powerless and don’t know where to start in order to contribute to solving society’s biggest challenges. Working in Tech & Venture Capital allows me to meet many great founders and see emerging market trends, so this is one way of me contributing - by shedding light on “Tech for Good” in Europe.
While there is no official definition of this term, I define it as any company in the tech scene that solves a problem and has a positive impact on environmental and societal issues. I am bullish on the rise of a purpose-driven economy and the crucial role Europe can take on as a continent that values environmental awareness, data privacy and democracy.
In my monthly newsletter, I will thus cover topics and trends around themes such as climate, food, education, health, social connectedness, and diversity and equality from a VC and consumer perspective. So let’s dive into what happened in October.
🌱 VC investment into climate tech is growing 5x faster than overall VC and 3x than AI. Berlin is among the global top 3 climate tech investment hubs
🌎 Climate conscious VCs are back
🔒 On European data privacy regulations
✍🏽 Some of Europe’s top tech investors are adding a ‘sustainability clause’ to start-up deal terms
📔 Bill Gates is publishing a new climate change book
🌽 When sustainable food supply chains starts with innovation on the farm
🇪🇺 Map of the top female founder in each European country
🇦🇹 Austria-based Accelerator “Female Founders” announced their next batch of 10 early-stage female-led startups in Europe including Media, Enterprise SaaS and Greentech companies
🇩🇪 Samsung’s president and chief strategy officer, Young Sohn, talks to Catherine Bischoff, chief relationship officer at Factory Berlin about what the startup ecosystem can do to become fairer and more diverse
🇩🇪 Female-led Berlin-based startups to watch in 2020
🇬🇧 Diversity VC launched a new standard for VCs to encourage the industry to employ diverse talent and source & invest in diverse founders
🇩🇰 Dealroom teamed up with Unconvential Ventures to analyze untapped funding potential in the world’s most equal region
🇩🇪 Germany
🌾 Carbon farmed raises a pre-seed round by Atlantic Food Labs to reverse climate change by storing CO2 in soils
💸 Cooler Future, an app that lets you invest and fight climate change at the same time, raises €1.4 million by Nordic Makers, Lifeline Ventures, Gary Lin (Purple Orange Ventures), Patrick Schmied
🏥 Heartbeat medical, a solution for Patient Reported Outcome Measures, closes a €5 million Series A with btov Partners, HV Capital and HTGF
🧼 everdrop, a DTC brand for sustainable and vegan household products, raises further capital from HV Capital
🚲 Dance, the e-bike subscription service company by the former Soundcloud founders, grabs a €15 million Series A led by HV Capital
☀️ Zolar, a solar panel systems developer, gets €15 million led by Inven Capital
🇬🇧 UK
🧘🏻♂️ Mindlabs, the Peloton for mental health, grabs €1.4 million in a pre-seed round from Seedcamp, Passion Capital and angel investors
🚿 Eco startup WILD grabs €2.2 million for its plastic-free, refillable & gender-neutral deodorant
🛏️ Kama raises €3 million from January Ventures and Female Founder Fund to democratize access to sex therapy
🔬 LabGenius, an AI-startup for protein drug discovery, closes their $15million Series A extension round led by Atomico
💊 PushDoctor secures a €15 million investment led by Draper Esprit to scale its telemedicine services
🎓 Knoma, the “buy now, pay later” solution for lifelong learners who want to re- or upskill with tech classes, gets £ 21 million from GFC, Rocket Internet, Seedrs
🇵🇱 Poland
🌬️ Airly, an AI-powered air quality platform based in Krakow and Paolo Alto, raises a €1.7 million pre-seed round from Giant Ventures, Richard Branson, Martin Tajur (Pipedrive), Sophia Bendz (Cherry Ventures & former Spotify CMO) and Piotr Jakubowski (Gojek CMO)
🇳🇴 Norway
🎓 Kahoot, the gamified e-learning platform, picks up $215 million from SoftBank and is prepping for it’s IPO in 2021
🇸🇪 Sweden
🥼 Sidekick, an evidence-based platform to prevent and manage lifestyle-related chronic diseases, raises $20million Series led by Wellington Partners
🇫🇷 France
🐛 Ynsect raises $372 million in debt and equity to build the world’s most high-tech bug colony to provide insect protein for fish food and fertilizer
🇪🇸 Spain
👩🏽 Emjoy picks up $3M from Nauta Capital to get women tuned into sexual self-care
Here are 5 selected early-stage startups spotted last month.
🇳🇱 Overstory.ai. Vegetation Management for Electric Utilities.
🇬🇧 Dodo. Makes your entire workforce climate positive in less than 5 minutes. Coming out of stealth mode from the recent Antler batch.
🇸🇪 Astrid Education. Conversation-driven, AI-powered, language learning platform for kids.
🇸🇪 Oterlu. Protects users in online communities from negative social interactions. Raised recently a pre-seed round by Icebreaker.vc.
🇳🇴 Glintsolar. Analysis tool for floating solar sites using ML and satellite data.
Last month I was…
🧼 Cleaning with Ecotab (now Klaeny), a brand for sustainable cleaning tablets
From 🇩🇪
Launched in 2019
Raised an Angel round in February 2020
➕ Climate-friendly, cleaning quality
➖ Packaging still feels like plastic, (chemical) smell
🐟 Signing up on the waiting list for Betterfish, a plant based tuna alternative
From 🇩🇪
Launched in 2020
Part of Berlin Founders Fund
👩🏻🍳 Cooking plant-based recipes from the Deliciously Ella App
From 🇬🇧
Launched in 2013
Influencer turned venture-backed business (raised €600k by 24Haymarket)
➕ Good UX & UI, Visuals, Diversity of recipes
🏠 Staying for a mini Deep Work & Mindfulness retreat at an ecological cottage in the countryside in Brandenburg
Built with natural building materials (clay, hemp, wood)
➕ Design, close to nature, helps to get focused and recharged
Thank you for reading! Do you have comments, questions, tips?
great summary!