Tech for Good is a monthly newsletter about the purpose-driven economy in Europe. I share noteworthy investments, market observations and personal experiences on everything that leads to a more equal, sustainable and healthier future. If you enjoy this issue, please like it above and share it with fellow readers.
Hi all!
I don’t know about you, but in the last weeks my social media channels were FULL with posts about this new documentary Seaspiracy on Netflix, which highlights the damaging effects of fishing on the world’s oceans. Similar to many people, I was first shocked at the industrial scale of fishing and couldn’t really believe that you cannot trust any organization anymore and that sustainable fisheries do not exist. When digging into the topic, I learned that the documentary oversimplified a complex issue, exaggerated and used outdated studies though.
Overfishing is definitely one of the biggest threats to marine biodiversity and the ocean is really crucial to humanity since it absorbs 90% of the heat that enters the atmosphere. But the problem is much more complex than it was displayed in the movie. Currently, 3.3 billion people rely on seafood as their primary source of protein. A 2021 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and World Food Programme cites the importance of seafood for ending hunger and addressing malnutrition. Aquaculture is actually seen by researchers as a vital piece of sustainably feeding a growing population. As with everything, I believe that balance is key.
Animal-free seafood startups such as Bluu Biosciences or Betterfish can be good alternatives as cell-based and plant-based solutions. But companies that work on alternative feed, fish farming monitoring or fish health solutions are also addressing the problems that come with overfishing and aquaculture. Now, the challenge is whether these solutions can scale fast enough before it’s too late.
🐟 Quick poll time - what was the Seaspiracy effect on you?
😴 Nothing new - I stopped eating seafood a long time ago
🤯 Shocking - I won't eat any seafood anymore
😥 Disappointing - I will eat less for sure
🙄 Exaggerating - I will continue eating seafood
In each newsletter, I want to uncover perspectives from readers of the Tech for Good Newsletter who are doing meaningful work.
👋🏻 Hi, my name is: Friedrich Neuman
👀 1. Who are you?
I’m an entrepreneur turned impact investor based in Berlin and operating at the intersection of impact, technology and profit.
💚 2. Why do you care about the purpose-driven economy?
In the past and still today, the main purpose of businesses was to maximize short-term profits. While corporations are highly profitable, social and environmental costs are overlooked. This behaviour led to increasing inequality and severe environmental damage, bringing humanity to the brink of collapse. I strongly believe that a new form of capitalism needs to emerge, where organizations are long-term oriented and focused on building a sustainable future, raising the standard of living while making profits.
❓3. How do you make an impact?
By enabling entrepreneurs building high impact & high profit companies that contribute to a desirable future for generations to come. I invested in 10 impact startups in the last 12 months and have been working with Norrsken VC as a Venture Partner looking to back the next Impact Unicorns in Europe.
🤩 4. Which startup trends are you currently excited about?
Urban Tech. Cities are the most dramatic multiplier of global challenges, from climate change to public health and inequality. The most effective way to address these challenges is by fixing cities.
💡 5. What’s your best personal wellbeing hack?
My mindfulness. It impacts me and consequentially everyone and everything around me.
🌱 6. What’s your favourite sustainable consumer brand?
I have many…but currently wearing Save the Duck a lot.
🇩🇪 Germany dominates European climate tech
📐 How to actually measure impact as a VC
🇮🇱 Israel is the fake meat powerhouse
🐠 UK launches world’s largest ocean monitoring system to protect wildlife and biodiversity
🛒 Startups that tackle plastic-free groceries
👀 15 sustainable startups to watch in Europe, according to VCs
This month I was…
🐟…watching Seaspiracy on Netflix
Apparently, The End of the Line is a better movie in terms of accuracy and evolves also about the devastating effect of overfishing and the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna.
📽️…supporting on Patreon the creator of “Our Changing Climate” who is producing environmental video essays
From 🇺🇸
Launched in 2013
Raised $413M Tiger Global, Index, Thrive Capital
Yay: Patreon is a membership platform that makes it easy for artists and creators such as “Our Climate Change” to get paid for their creative work
Nay: Content discovery is not really great. The majority of creators on Patreon can’t actually sustain themselves.
Hidden gem: Creatorsforclimate is an initiative that is building the bridge between the scientific community and the creative arts. That’s pretty cool since scientists are not the best champions to communicate climate change.
🇩🇪 🐟 Bluu Biosciences raises €7M from Norrsken VC, Manta Ray Ventures, Be8, CPT Capital to become Europe’s first purveyor of lab-grown salmon, trout and carp
🇬🇧 💳 UK based TreeCard raises $5.1M seed by EQT Ventures, Seedcamp and Episode 1 to plant trees as you spend
🇪🇸 🇺🇦 🎓 Preply raises €29.4M to grow its online language learning platform by Owl Ventures, Full In Partners, Point Nine Capital, Hoxton Ventures, All Iron as well as All-Star angel consortium with Niklas Ostberg (Co-founder and CEO of Delivery Hero), Arthur Kosten (Co-founder of Booking.com) and David Helgason (Co-founder of Unity Technologies) and Gary Swart (Former CEO of Upwork)
🇳🇱 🐷 Bill Gates wants Western countries to eat ‘synthetic meat’; Meatable has raised $47M to make it
🇵🇱🌬️ Airly, the polish cleantech startup raised $3.3M by Firstminute Capital, Garrett Camp, a founder of Uber, Bolt CEO Markus Villig, Wired magazine’s founding editor-in-chief David Rowan, Pipedrive founder Ragnar Sass and Ferry Heilemann, cofounder of Leaders for Climate Action, Sir Richard Branson’s Family Office and Henkel board member Konstantin von Unger
🇫🇷 🌽 Jungle, a French vertical farming company that says it can produce ten to 30 times more food than traditional greenhouses, got €42M in new funding from FoundersFuture, a new French impact fund
Erik from Trellis Road published last year a great Startup Landscape on Animal-Free Seafood.
🇳🇴 Ogoori. Tackles the ocean plastic pollution by supplying traceable marine plastic materials, and locking them into innovative green products in a closed-loop system.
🇦🇹 Revo Foods. Makes seafood made out of plants using 3D Food Printing.
🇪🇺 VC firms strive to improve diversity with new industry certification
🌈 Coming out trans in tech: An entrepreneur’s experience
💃🏾 Tech in Colour, on a mission to level the playing field with mentorship, access to funding, education and increased visibility for startups built by Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic female founders in tech across Europe, had their first community event where I was invited as a guest speaker. If you want to get involved reach out to the team!
👩🏼 Startupdiversity is a new German initiative by Bundesverband Deutsche Startups and getstarted, that aims to create awareness on structural barriers and solutions to increase gender diversity in the startup ecosystem.
💛💛 At 2hearts, we had our Kick-off with our first 50 community members. 2hearts aims to increase cultural diversity within the European tech ecosystem. We were amazed by the diverse backgrounds in the very first cohort and will onboard in the next weeks 250+ more people! Below you can find some quotes from our community. If you believe in a cultural diverse tech ecosystem, you can apply to join here.