Welcome to The Zenergy Podcast! Today, Karan interviews Rob Day, Co-Founder of Spring Lane Capital. Rob and Karan discuss how Rob and his partner founded Spring Lane Capital, what the process was like raising the first fund, and how the company bridges investment gaps in the market. They start of with a lighthearted lightning round of questions then continue with the origin story of Spring Lane Capital and lead into a breakdown of the types of financing rounds entrepreneurs go through. They also discuss how Spring Lane Capital blends project finance with growth capital, talk about the typical ticket size of investments they make, and Rob walks through the steps they took when investing in Atlas Organics. Please enjoy our conversation with Rob Day.
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Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:30 - Welcome
2:05 - Lighting round of questions - what Rob would do if he were not in climate, what historical figure Rob would have as a dinner guest, hidden talents, etc.
9:30 - How can we look at history to inform us about today
11:20 - How to inspire great change in the market
12:30 - The origin story of Spring Lane Capital
17:25 - The process of fund-raising
19:00 - The investor markets in the US vs. Canada
21:15 - It’s been difficult to raise funds in 2024
23:20 - Entrepreneurial funding model
25:30 - The structure of venture capital
29:40 - Transition points in business-funding
32:00 - Hybrid capital project model
33:40 - Typical SLC investment sizes
36:20 - The investing story of Atlas Organics
41:10 - How SLC found Atlas Organics and the importance of networking
44:00 - The downsides of venture capital
46:00 - What Rob has learned through mentorship
48:30 - Climate investing is an execution game, not an invention game
50:20 - Final thoughts
Credits:
Editing: Desta Wondirad, Wondir Studios
