Shows
The NatureBacked PodcastCracking the Code: How Shine is Bringing Solar to Every ApartmentIn this insightful discussion, Tarmo talks with Owen Barrett, the entrepreneur behind Shine, a solar startup revolutionizing the multi-family real estate industry.
Owen shares his 8-year journey from finance to becoming "hyper-obsessed" with decarbonizing apartment buildings, ultimately launching Shine in 2023.
Discover the unique challenges of bringing solar to multi-family properties and how Shine's specialized, turnkey approach is finally cracking the code.
From a projected $7 million in revenue this year (up from $500,000 only last year!) and nearly 2,000 units decarbonized, Shine is demonstrating that impact and profit can go hand-in-hand.
Join us to...2025-06-1027 min
The NatureBacked PodcastNavigating the Climate Investment Landscape: Insights from MUUSWhat does it take to secure climate tech investment now? Is the era of software-only solutions over? Tarmo Virki probes Kavita Patel and Logan Grizzel from climate investors MUUS Climate Partners on the tough questions facing the sector. They discuss the undeniable need for physical infrastructure, the growing importance of grid tech and resilience, and why a laser focus on customer needs and business basics is paramount. How has the capital stack evolved, and what hard truths must founders accept to navigate today's market? Takeaways Muus Climate...2025-04-2932 min
The NatureBacked PodcastNavigating the Energy and Mineral Transitions with Anthony MilewskiAnthony Milewski discusses the global energy transition with host Tarmo Virki, emphasizing the shift from coal to cleaner energy sources like nuclear and renewables. He highlights the importance of critical minerals in sustainable energy and the ethical dilemmas surrounding their sourcing. The discussion also touches on consumer responsibility and the environmental impact of electric vehicles, urging listeners to consider the broader implications of their consumption choices.Anthony is a 4x founder and trailblazer in energy transition and critical minerals, driving investments that power global industries while balancing profits with environmental impact. His two passions — investing and...2025-03-3125 min
The NatureBacked PodcastRunning Dry? Building a Climate-Resilient World With Alix LebecIn this conversation, Tarmo Virki interviews Alix Lebec, an expert in innovative finance, focusing on the intersection of finance and sustainability. They discuss the importance of innovative finance in addressing climate challenges, particularly in water infrastructure.Alix talks about her journey from the World Bank to building WaterEquity with Gary White and Matt Damon to founding Lebec, an investment advisory.Alix shares insights on the role of private investment, the need to integrate climate risk into asset valuations, and the urgency of sustainable solutions.TakeawaysInnovative finance blends philanthropy and traditional f...2025-02-1141 min
The NatureBacked PodcastBeyond Bottled: Making Water From Thin Air with Jeff SzurJeff Szur from Altitude Water discusses the innovative approach to water purification through atmospheric water generation. Szur emphasizes the importance of nature's processes in creating pure water and the company's unique technology that utilizes ozone for purification.The conversation with host Tarmo Virki explores the growing industry of atmospheric water generation, the environmental impact of bottled water, and the importance of community building and sustainable solutions.Szur shares insights on future goals for 2025, focusing on collaboration between for-profit and nonprofit organizations to create lasting change.TakeawaysAltitude Water...2025-01-2833 min
The NatureBacked PodcastFrom Recycling to Organic: Deyan Angeloev's 20-Year Journey to a Sustainable FutureIn this podcast episode, Deyan Angeloev, founder of Organic Tee Star, shares with Tarmo Virki his journey of building a green future over the past 20 years, starting with recycling projects and moving into the organic market.He highlights the importance of certified organic products and the benefits they bring to the environment and human health.Dejan also discusses his efforts to educate people in North America about sustainability.He emphasizes the need for a mindset change towards sustainability and the long-term benefits of organic products. Learn more about your...2024-07-3128 min
The NatureBacked PodcastRevolutionising Materials: Arkio Unveils Robust Cellulose Monomaterial for a Sustainable TomorrowArkio Industries pivoted from bioplastics to developing a sustainable monomaterial from cellulose. Founder Timo Haanpää highlights the material's flame resistance and aesthetic qualities, emphasizing the importance of design in sustainability. He discusses the company's strategy to produce high-quality, desirable products with a focus on circularity, aiming to reuse materials to maintain or enhance their value. Arkio Industries plans to scale production and explore applications for their material, with ambitions to use it in building structures eventually. The conversation concludes with reflections on the transition from software to tangible products and the challenges of in...2024-06-0429 min
The NatureBacked PodcastTurning Air To Water With Aquaria's Brian ShengAquaria, a technology company producing Atmospheric Water Generators, aims to make commonplace its innovation of creating clean drinking water out of thin air."We have a very large vision, and that is to build Aquaria into a technology solution for water that one day at least we have the option actually to replace tap water," said founder and Chief Executive Brian Sheng.Sheng highlighted the vast amount of water available in the atmosphere and Aquaria's technology that captures it using low energy. He emphasized the lack of attention and investment in water solutions despite their...2024-05-2824 min
The NatureBacked PodcastHarvesting Hope: How HeavyFinance Is Cultivating a Greener FutureHeavyFinance incentivizes farmers to adopt climate-friendly practices by providing financial support for the transition from conventional to regenerative farming. Founder Laimonas Noreika, with a background in FinTech, was inspired to start the company after learning about the financial challenges faced by farmers, he said in an interview on sidelines of TechChill conference in Riga.HeavyFinance has evolved from a lending business to a climate-focused enterprise, leveraging a business model based on Verra standards to issue carbon credits to farmers who sequester CO2. They are now active in six European markets and are launching an Article 9 fu...2024-04-3027 min
The NatureBacked PodcastFrom Deserts To Dividends: Innovo's Martin Kelly Talks About Profits and AlgaeMartin Kelly from Innovo Network discusses the company's mission to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by promoting and deploying profitable clean technologies."It is now actually technologically and profitably possible to achieve this reduction, but a huge amount has to happen in terms of the scale of the capital investment, and so on," Kelly said.He emphasizes the importance of making these technologies known to major companies and investors, as they are the key players in commercializing them on a global scale.Martin highlights several technologies, including fuel cells and algae biorefineries, which...2024-04-2332 min
The NatureBacked PodcastGrowing Beyond Gardens: The Global Impact of Native Plants with Garden for WildlifeGarden for Wildlife is an e-commerce business that simplifies the process of learning about and purchasing native plants for customers' yards.Founder Shubber Ali shares his personal journey from a career in management consulting to becoming passionate about gardening and the environment after reading a book called "Nature's Best Hope." This book highlighted the issue of native plants being replaced by invasive species, leading to a decline in pollinators and birds. Shubber's mission with Garden for Wildlife is to educate people and make native plants accessible, aiming to restore natural habitats and support wildlife.Shubber...2024-04-1533 min
The NatureBacked PodcastRevolutionizing Spaces: Gregory Dewerpe Aims To Change The Future of Construction and Real Estate with A/OGregory Dewerpe, the founder of A/O, a venture capital firm, talks about his company's focus on "positively transforming" the built world, which includes real estate and construction.A/O, launched in 2020, is the largest VC firm in Europe and globally in this sector. The company invests in various solutions, including satellite companies and AI, to address the industry's challenges, such as its significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions.Dewerpe emphasized the urgency of sustainable transformation in real estate and the current market conditions that create opportunities for innovation and change."40% of...2024-03-2527 min
The NatureBacked PodcastCutting Down on Carbon in Concrete, with Alex Hall from Concrete.aiConcrete is one of the most widely used and important materials in the world. It is essential for building infrastructure, improving human development, and providing shelter. However, it also has a huge environmental impact, as it accounts for about 8% of the global CO2 emissions due to the use of cement, its main ingredient.But what if there was a way to make concrete more sustainable and profitable at the same time?What if we could use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to optimize the design of concrete mixtures, reduce the amount of cement, and...2024-03-1133 min
The NatureBacked PodcastSaving Pandas (and the Planet) with Jana Budkovskaja from BeamlineWith international actions on halting climate change showing no signs of progress, the mission to save the planet and the environment has been left to startups, said Jana Budkovskaja, the head of Beamline Accelerator."That's why I'm here — because I truly believe that these are the only ones who can save, only startups. All the, in a good way, crazy guys who don't believe that something is impossible. They have passion. They have ideas. These are the scientists, these crazy scientists, the ones who argue with obvious things, the ones who argue with corporations who say, but we...2024-03-0430 min
The NatureBacked PodcastHow to Use AI and Programming Language to Heal Yourself (and the World)Leo Treadwell, a visionary who has developed an organic intelligence language model, shares his story, his insights, and his tips on how to use AI and programming language to heal yourself and the world.Treadwell is the founder of the Organic Intelligence Language Model, a system that uses artificial intelligence and natural language to understand and reprogram the human mind. He describes how used this system to heal himself from a life-threatening illness and to create a successful business and a happy family.In this episode, we cover topics such as:• How the hum...2024-02-1939 min
The NatureBacked PodcastLooking Into Promising Year With Practica's Helery PopsThe year 2024 looks promising for both, startups and investors, says investor Helery Pops from Practica Capital, a pan-Baltic investment firm which has backed several green tech startups in the region. "It's going to need a lot of work, it's going to need a lot of effort because money isn't that easy to come by at the moment, investors are doing much more due diligence: it might take up to six months or a year to raise a round. But if all the chips fall into places, then you have less competition," says investor Helery Pops....2024-02-0512 min
The NatureBacked PodcastHow To Fix Carbon Markets, With Kenny KaluijiKenny Kaluiji, a seasoned professional in the realm of carbon markets and climate equity, gave NatureBacked listeners a deepdive into the state of the carbon markets.We spoke about:
how to fix carbon markets
emerging market for biodiversity credits
trust challenge of carbon markets
how local communities should benefit credit markets
After completing his Master Degree in Energy, Environment and Society to combat climate impacts affecting countries in Africa., Kenny Founded Decarbonify, a startup that spearheads the development of a data-driven ESG Data software, contributing significantly to climate crisis management, and providing...2024-01-2934 min
The NatureBacked PodcastCleaning Soils With Novobiom's FungiNovobiom, the winner of the Future is Fungi Startup Award, is cleaning contaminated soils using fungi, and is raising funding to build fungal fermentation pilot during 2024."We aim by using fungi is to turn bulk waste into high value applications using a fungal micro refinery," Novobiom co-founder Caroline Zaoui said in the NatureBacked podcast."The big milestone is going to be the buildup of our fungal fermentation pilot for the micro refinery angle that we are working on to demonstrate that we can process a certain volume of waste to generate compounds of high added v...2023-12-1926 min
The NatureBacked PodcastMaking Batteries From Fungi With Jens SørensenJens Laurids Sørensen from Aalborg University, the winner of the Future is Fungi Research Award, introduced the winning project to create the world's first biosynthesized battery.Sørensen said: "Our battery is based on pigments from fungi. So it's the world's first biosynthesized-battery. It is much better than the solutions right now, which are based on mining different metal ions or chemical synthesis based on compounds or chemicals from the oil industry."He said it will likely take around five years for the project to grow from a laboratory setting to the real world, bu...2023-12-1218 min
The NatureBacked PodcastDelving Into B Corp Trend with Sarah GarciaNear 8,000 companies globally have certified themselves as B Corporations, where B stands for "benefit for all", with even major corporations and publicly listed entities putting all stakeholders on par with investors."It's still very much an SME-led movement. However, I think more or less since 2015, we've seen a lot of momentum and interest in large companies and multinationals joining the movement," Sarah Garcia, head of market development at B Lab Europe, said in the NatureBacked podcast."The movement started back in 2006 when our founders were becoming increasingly disillusioned by seeing purpose-driven companies change drastically after...2023-12-0518 min
The NatureBacked PodcastWhen Green Is Not Enough: Talking About Blue Economy With Gunter PauliWe met Gunter Pauli on the sidelines of Tallinn Greentech Week to talk about the Blue Economy.Here are the main points of the discussion:The blue economy concept and its potential to replace the green economy
Pauli is frustrated with the green economy and argues it's too expensive and incompatible with market demands.
the limitations of economies of scale in the global market, arguing that consumers prefer unique and diverse products.
the potential for waste from coffee production to be used for mushroom farming, with 6000 initiatives around the world already...2023-11-2132 min
The NatureBacked PodcastMaking Sustainability Leap In Food Chain with Enifer's Simo ElliläFinnish biotech startup Enifer has injected new life into an old innovation of Finnish forestry engineers, revitalising the production of mycoproteins from paper industry by-products.They have found strong demand from the pet food sector as in the 1970s and 1980s the product was sold to farmers for their animals, and are now looking also for ways to enter the higher-value-added human food market."Volumes of protein going into agriculture and pet food are huge. The companies are really looking for alternatives that are more sustainable. But, in general, they just need more, new sources...2023-11-1427 min
The NatureBacked PodcastDiamonds Are For Everyone: Changing Diamond Industry with Adamas One's Jay GrdinaAdamas One, one of the pioneers in the lab-grown diamond business, is expanding production and pushing not-mined diamonds in new sectors, said founder and CEO Jay Grdina."Three goals and tasks: factory running at full production, complete the build-out of our new factory; semiconductors technology sector - really going to charge and take the lead on that; as well as get our jewellery line out there and launch stuff," Grdina said.The company owns the original 32 manufacturing patents for lab-grown diamonds, a sector which has taken a massive chunk of the North American diamond market...2023-11-0728 min
The NatureBacked PodcastHelping Cities Solve Climate ChallengeKausal, which provides local governments with a software platform for tracking and implementing sustainability measures targets German-speaking markets and North America with fresh seed funding of 880,000 euros from an investor consortium including Innovestor and Spanish impact fund Zubi Capital."For us, the biggest milestone is to show that this is really scalable on different markets and not sustained in Finland, for instance," co-founder Sonja-Maria Ignatius said in the NatureBacked podcast. Ignatius, an ex-Helsinki climate specialist, and her co-founders set up the company to make sure Helsinki keeps its promises to become carbon neutral. Once the se...2023-10-3127 min
The NatureBacked PodcastA conversation with Simona Simulyte, a life-centric entrepreneur and pioneerIn a wide-ranging discussion with Simona Simulyte on the sidelines of the Impact Day festival in Tallinn we talked about:
How she took over her father's car component business at the age of 12 and launched environmentally friendly springs for breaks
Early days of startup entrepreneurship in Lithuania, emphasizing the importance of diversity and impact
How she launched the ChangemakersON network, a community for tech for good products, by leveraging traditional business experience and partnerships
Her work in startups and sustainability highlights the importance of doing things for the right reasons rather than just for appearance or marketing
ESG...2023-10-2550 min
The NatureBacked PodcastUpcycling Plastic Waste With The Ocean Package's Joshua LinnGerman startup The Ocean Package seeks to benefit from Europe's tightening regulations that support the re-use of e-commerce packaging materials, such as plastics that the company uses to make its shipping material."Our solution, the most important thing behind The Ocean Package, is that we have to find a way to clean up our world and to create a cleaner world for tomorrow. Because there won't be a tomorrow if there are no companies like us," said Joshua Linn, co-founder of The Ocean Package.The Ocean Package is a Munich-based startup that operates in several...2023-10-1724 min
The NatureBacked PodcastFrom Entrepreneurs to Impactful Startups: Greta Monstavice talks about her work with Katalista VenturesIn the wide-ranging discussion with Greta Monstavice we covered how Katalista Ventures supports entrepreneurs to create positive change.
Startups accelerated through the programme are in 15 countries, with 69 startups accelerated, and 15 more in the pipeline.
Early-stage startups are supported in scaling and understanding their business model, with a focus on impact and sales integration.
The host, Tarmo Virki, and Greta Monstavice discuss the structured and unstructured nature of a startup programme, with a focus on the benefits and challenges of different approaches.
Katalista Ventures offers tailored programs with chief mentors and flexibility to address the specific needs of each...2023-10-1123 min
The NatureBacked PodcastCarbon Removal: It's Not Just Planting Trees, With Antti Vihavainen From Puro.EarthIn the episode Puro.Earth founder Antti Vihavainen takes the listeners to a deep dive into carbon removal space.Vihavainen tells us about the different types of carbon removal projects that Puro.Earth is working with, biochar, direct capture, and enhanced rock weathering. He also discusses the challenges and opportunities in the carbon removal industry, and how Puro.Earth is helping to create a more sustainable future."We are never going to get to net zero, or at least not during this century, unless we do radical action reduction as well. So that is the...2023-10-0330 min
The NatureBacked PodcastBiodiversity Brigade: Challenges, Opportunities, and Lessons Learned with Zoe Peden from AnandaBiodiversity is the diversity of life on Earth, and it is vital for our planet and our well-being. But how do we know if we are having a positive or negative impact on biodiversity, and how can we improve it?In this episode of the NatureBacked podcast, Tarmo Virki spoke with Zoe Peden, partner at Ananda Impact Ventures, an investment firm that supports innovative solutions for biodiversity conservation and restoration.Zoe shared her insights on why biodiversity is important, the challenges and opportunities of measuring and verifying biodiversity impact, and how one of her portfolio...2023-09-2637 min
The NatureBacked PodcastProtecting Ancient Woods with Sengire FondasIn the episode, we deep-dived into saving the old forests with Rimante Paulaskaite-Digaitiene from the Sengire Fondas (The Ancient Woods Foundation), which aims to acquire the first 100 hectares of old forests in Lithuania by the end of this year and leave them for nature."So the organisation was founded in 2020 aiming to protect the last remaining forest plots of old-growth forests, the last remaining biologically very valuable forest plots, like fragments, and don't do anything with that, meaning leaving it to nature to develop naturally. So it really becomes the real old-growth forest," she said."...2023-09-2038 min
The NatureBacked PodcastChanging the World with Tom Bosschaert from ExceptTom Bosschaert, founder of Except Integrated Sustainability, unveiled in the episode how the consultancy is transforming itself towards creating entities that will kickstart thorough, long-term societal transformations."Time is no longer on our side and we can't just keep playing in the sandbox anymore. We have to take serious, serious action," Bosschaert said in the episode."We've pinpointed five specific intervention points within society that can use such a snowball effect transition that we are familiar with," he said.
The financial sector, to help them restructure and understand how long-term investment can benefit them t...2023-09-1345 min
The NatureBacked PodcastCleaning Wastewater with Nano BubblesLen Bland from Nano Gas Environmental introduced the technology to clean wastewater with nanobubbles.The topics we covered:
How did it come up with the idea of cleaning wastewater?
Role of patents.
The next milestones for the company
Competition in the market
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices2023-09-0516 min
The NatureBacked PodcastPulling the Carbon Out of the Sky with CUR8's Marta KrupinskaCUR8 co-founder Marta Krupinska, a passionate advocate for carbon removal, believes that carbon removal is essential to addressing climate change, while it can also be a profitable business.CUR8 is building a marketplace for carbon removal credits. These projects can include planting trees, capturing carbon dioxide from the air, or storing carbon dioxide underground.In this episode, Marta and I will discuss the following topics:
What is carbon removal?
Why is carbon removal important?
How does CUR8 work?
The challenges and opportunities of the carbon removal market
The cost of carbon removal and how...2023-08-2834 min
The NatureBacked PodcastDeepdive to Life, Growth and Sleep, with Digital Nomad Danny FloodIn this episode, Tarmo Virki talks with Danny Flood, the founder of School of Growth Hacking, a platform that teaches entrepreneurs how to grow their businesses faster and smarter.Danny is also the author of several books on entrepreneurship, marketing, and productivity, such as Hack Sleep, Hack Email, and Buy Your Own Island.Tarmo and Danny discuss the following topics:• How to apply AI for growth hacking principles to your personal and professional life• How to hack your sleep, improve your health, and boost your productivity• How a Yoga retreat i...2023-08-2138 min
The NatureBacked PodcastSustainable Aviation Fuels, Battery Sector in Focus, Says PTT's Nick PiromsawatIn this episode, we talk to Nick Piromsawat, a senior investment associate at ExpresSo, the venture capital and venture building team at PTT, the Thai national oil company.Nick shares how ExpresSo is driving the transition from oil and gas to renewable energy and decarbonisation, by investing in and partnering with startups with innovative technologies and solutions for a greener future.He also discusses the challenges and opportunities that PTT faces as a significant player in the energy sector, and how they are collaborating with other corporations and stakeholders to create new supply chains and...2023-08-1438 min
The NatureBacked PodcastGamifying Nature Protection With Arch from WildchainWildchain aims to address the lack of financial support for real endangered animals by combining the concept of adoptable NFTs featuring endangered animals and threatened species. The team behind this initiative has spent two years developing the project, which has been self-funded without any external investments. Their approach involves building a working product before launching a token, and they have already released an NFT marketplace where they introduce a new animal every week that will be featured in the game. The game itself is set in the African Savannah.Inspired by the Tamagotchi game from their childhood...2023-08-0136 min
The NatureBacked PodcastNatureBacked meets Startup TankOur host Tarmo visited Startup Tank Climate Investor Pitch Show as a panellist. You can hear six interesting startups pitching.- InnoCSR: eco-friendly brick manufacturing - Sophie’s Bionutrients: Food Grade Protein from Microalgae- Rightcharge: Simplified EV charging solutions- UpShift Cars: Fractional EV car subscription- PingThings: Revolutionary Predictive AI Grid Management- Concrete4Change: CO2 Mineralization in ConcreteIf you liked the show do subscribe also to Startup Tank and share it with your friends.If you're interested in learning mor...2023-07-272h 20
The NatureBacked PodcastEstablishing ClimateTech in South East Asia with Djoann FalDjoann Fal, the founder of Atlas Capital, believes that Southeast Asia is a region with enormous potential for innovation and implementation in ClimateTech.In this episode, our host Tarmo Virki speaks with Fal, a passionate advocate for climate tech, about the challenges and opportunities in Southeast Asia, we hear about some of the companies that his investment firm Atlas Capital is backing, and how Fal got into climate investments after his exit from an e-commerce technology firm."I almost drowned doing spearfishing, because of a plastic bag, and that plastic bag, I think was from...2023-07-1844 min
The NatureBacked PodcastDisrupting ESG: The Need for Transparency and OpennessIntroduction:
Host Tarmo Virki welcomes listeners to "NatureBacked," a show discussing the green economy.
Guest speaker Frank Meehan from openESG, joins the conversation. Frank Meehan is a seasoned investor and co-founder of SPARKlabs, an investment firm focused on climate, food, and agricultural tech solutions. He also co-founded Equilibrium.ai, acquired by Fiscal Note, and works with openESG, a company transforming ESG ratings and showcasing systems.
Discussion Highlights:Frank's Background in ESG:
Frank shares his experience in the ESG space, spanning seven years of investing in climate, food, and agriculture.
He highlights...2023-06-0333 min
The NatureBacked PodcastTapping Booming Demand for Microgrids with Rod MatthewsGreen is a crucial part of the offering, but not the only benefit microgrid clients are seeking, said Rod Matthews from San Diego, California-based microgrid producer Brevian Energy."We're looking at ways to help make power much more affordable for people and resilient because you are generating it yourself. So you're not relying on the grid. So when the grid goes down a lot of times you don't even know about it," said Matthews."For us, one of the key things is to make it much more responsible, meaning we are reducing those greenhouse gas...2023-05-2220 min
The NatureBacked PodcastTurning Investment Portfolios Green With Peter KrullFor sustainable investing one has to make clear changes, looking beyond lowering the share of fossil fuel companies in the portfolio, said Peter Krull, Partner at Earth Equity Advisors.“We don't have to accept less bad. We can just simply make transitions,” Krull said.“So sustainable investing to me is investing in companies that are going to reduce our exposure to carbon emissions, but also resiliency, because the climate change train has already left the station, we need to invest in companies that are creating more resiliency in our economies,” Krull said.Learn more abo...2023-04-1930 min
The NatureBacked PodcastCarbon Negative Bitcoin Mining?! With SazminingSazmining is building a platform for green, even carbon-negative, bitcoin mining, said founder William Szamosszegi.Looking at the big picture, the environmental effects of Bitcoin are considerable, partly because Bitcoins are made using electricity partially generated by gas and coal-fired power plants. However, replacing the energy source, and working with methane could turn the situation upside down, believes Szamosszegi."More and more miners are starting to realize that you can actually leverage Bitcoin mining as a tool to clean up the methane problem. And it just economically makes sense," Szamosszegi said.L...2023-04-1023 min
The NatureBacked PodcastGoing Local with Adam BeaumontWhen Eden Project North, an environmental visitor attraction in northern England, opens in a few years, a lot of the work will be done by local enterprises, said Adam Beaumont, trustee and non-executive director at Eden.The project will be located at Morecambe, once a thriving coastal town, which has lost a lot of its holiday travellers to southern competition."When we announced that we intended to create this Eden Project, we got a standing ovation from the locals. This is going to stimulate a whole lot of economic growth not just in Morecambe but...2023-03-2742 min
The NatureBacked PodcastTurning Europe Towards Web3 With Armin ZadakBarNascent European Web3 Organization is seeking to connect the web3 community on the old continent, starting with education and information-sharing projects, said Armin ZadakBar, one of the founders of the Brussels-headquartered organisation.The jury is still out to determine the leading forces in web3, and Europe’s decentralised decision-making could well play in its favour, ZadakBar said.“This is not like a situation where we think that we already won, or we’re gonna lose that for sure,” he said.The European Web3 Organization was founded in November 2022, and the first response has been ove...2023-03-2033 min
The NatureBacked PodcastCreating 100 Thousand Million Sustainable CitiesNext year, 100 Thousand Million aims to start building the world’s first truly sustainable city in northern Chile, and several countries are keen to see the next project’s on their soil, said founders Alberto Scherb and Jaime Alvarez.“In the short term, our vision or mission is to create a lifestyle that is truly human-centred, nature-focused, and of course, sustainable,” Scherb said. “So in a matter of two or three generations, people won’t have to have conversations like the ones we have today: How do we become sustainable? What it is to be sustainable...2023-03-1348 min
The NatureBacked PodcastWeb3 Deepdive In The Midst Of Crypto Winter, With Sam KamaniSam Kamani, VP of Growth at web3 tools maker Cookbook, said he was looking ahead optimistically despite crypto winter in the episode where we delved deep into the world of Web3 and decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs).“I’m not too worried, not too worried at all, even though I work in this space. I’ve seen, and I’ve lived through, at least three or four of these upswings and downturns. Every time in the downturn, the price is the same or higher than the previous high of the previous cycle,” Kamani said.“There is one thing th...2023-03-0636 min
The NatureBacked PodcastCreating Green Currency With Beach Collective's Robert CobboldIt will be a long road to broad adoption of new currency BEACH, but living well should not cost us the planet, said Robert Cobbold, head of operations at Beach Collective, a blue circular economy platform behind the token.“A beach token is a currency which internalizes the health of the planet into every single transaction,” Cobbold said. Most of every transaction cost goes to funding ocean regeneration and climate action.Learn more about:
how to replace Visa and Mastercard in every transaction
how to earn BEACH tokens
does the creator of money worry over...2023-02-2728 min
The NatureBacked PodcastSolving Governance Challenges With DAO and INOTransparency and trust built into Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) should be an example for any corporation, said founders of Internet Native Organisation (INO)."The future of organisations is digital - we have seen that in Estonia, but the rest of the world is not yet there," said Astra Tikas.Internet Native Organisation said it seeks to bring tools and solutions of DAOs to the mainstream, starting from Estonia., where it holds its first DAO Day on March 28.“Our vision is to help Estonia become the first country in Europe to of...2023-02-2441 min
The NatureBacked PodcastTokenising Green Energy Investments With ReneumReneum seeks to boost solar and wind farm investments by tokenizing renewable energy certificates.“It’s a vehicle to bypass traditional capital market failures or inefficiencies to reach the corners of the world that struggle to access funding and deploy more renewable energy,” said Chief Executive Brianna Welsh.“I see legacy market providers shifting into blockchain quite quickly because they recognize this opportunity with the technology architecture that blockchain enables,” Welsh said.Reneum promises to revolutionize legacy markets for renewable energy certificates, which are based on anachronistic models that render them inefficient, undersupplied, and unfit...2023-02-2225 min
The NatureBacked PodcastBattling Plastics: From Surfboards To Packaging With Cruz Foam's John FeltsTo solve the challenge of increasing plastic waste in oceans, we need to go to the source and find alternative materials to the plastics, said John Felts, CEO and co-founder of California-headquartered materials startup Cruz Foam."It’s nearly impossible to play catch up on an increasingly flowing faucet of trash. We, obviously, need to try to get out what’s already in there. But the greater avenues of change and impact will come from addressing it on the front end, stopping it from reaching the ocean or even being produced," Felts said.Learn more abou...2023-02-2032 min
The NatureBacked PodcastSaying NO To Water Bottles with TAPP Water's Magnus JernBarcelona-based TAPP Water seeks to change consumers’ habits and fights against billions of dollars spent on marketing bottled water through its filter systems for tap water, said Magnus Jern, founder and Chief Executive of TAPP Water.The consumption of plastic water bottles has increased over the last few years, when knowledge of the health problems of bottled water and knowledge of plastic waste has increased. “Bottled water consumption has continued to increase, which is crazy. It’s crazy, like with all the media we’re getting, with everything we’re getting told about how bad plastic pol...2023-02-1326 min
The NatureBacked PodcastTapping Into Shift of Wealth to Green Millenials With Raise GreenU.S.-based green investment platform Raise Green is looking to drive more capital into climate solutions, boosting entrepreneurship in the sector, said founder and CEO Franz Hochstrasser.“We take a grassroots approach to climate action -- we want more people involved in investing and innovating in this space,” Hochstrasser said.Millennials’ interest in sustainable investment has continued to increase in the United States despite COVID and reached 99% in a recent Morgan Stanley survey.“They want real, sustainable investment options that aren’t some greenwash version of the same public equities that their parents ha...2023-02-0638 min
The NatureBacked PodcastNew Age of Investor Activism, with Grünfin's Alejandro JimenezTeaming up with other investors to push for a change towards greener and healthier products from global firms is gaining traction, and industry behemoths like Unilever and Nestle are listening, said Alejandro Jimenez, head of investments at Estonian green investment platform Grünfin.“Part of our goal is to make you feel you have the power; this is democratized. You have accessibility, and your money is doing something good and helping make this change. So more of these coalitions are indeed popping up," Jimenez said.Learn more about:
how investors push change in behemoths lik...2023-01-3038 min
The NatureBacked PodcastEating Construction Waste with MycoCycleMushrooms will open a new nature-backed market for turning construction waste into new raw materials, said Joanne Rodriguez, founder of MycoCycle.“There is no waste in nature - that’s a manmade construct. And so, looking for solutions in nature to solve these problems is critical to how we battle this climate change,” Rodriguez said.Learn more about:
Where mushrooms and cannabis meet
The opportunities of biomimicry
The beginning of the mycelium rush
In the United States alone, 660 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste is added to landfills annually. That’s...2023-01-2324 min
The NatureBacked PodcastBuilding Climate Change Resilient Crops with ClimateCropMaking potatoes and other crops more resistant to climate change and growing them faster using gene-editing techniques is the challenge ClimateCrop is looking to solve over coming years, said Yehuda Borenstein, founder of ClimateCrop.“We have an opportunity to upgrade plants and give them more resilience without a lot of investment in capex which is quite rare when you fight climate. Usually, you fight climate with capex,” Borenstein said.For many listeners, this surely raises ethical concerns, but Borenstein said the company works outside the GMO sphere. “We are only cutting a certain area in the DNA...2023-01-1624 min
The NatureBacked PodcastTurning Plastics Greener and Cheaper With Applied Bioplastics' Alex BlumA trip to a refugee camp in Bangladesh led to a documentary and sowed the seeds for a material startup, which promises to cut plastics production costs and emissions using cellulose, said Alex Blum, founder of Applied Bioplastics.“What we’ve done by mixing cellulose with regular plastic in a way that is inexpensive to accomplish is that we’ve created a replacement for durable plastics that cost less than the original plastic while cutting the carbon footprint in half,” Blum said.Learn more about:
Details of one of the weirdest founding...2023-01-0934 min
The NatureBacked PodcastBeyond COP15: Much Needed Solutions for BiodiversityUnited Nations’ biodiversity summit COP15 finished with a historic deal earlier this week in Montreal. At NatureBacked, we discussed the essence of the agreement and how protecting biodiversity will become common.Nations agreed to protect 30% of the planet by 2030 and to protect vital ecosystems such as rainforests and wetlands and the rights of indigenous peoples. The Montreal Summit was seen as a last chance for nature’s biodiversity.“We have this global agreement that this is the thing - biodiversity needs to be protected. And action needs to be taken on this,” Merit Valdsalu, chief executiv...2022-12-2057 min
The NatureBacked PodcastStirring Up Coffee Industry, with Green Coffee Company and Coffee CloudThere are numerous opportunities for a revolution in the coffee industry, said guests at Naturebacked’s holiday-season coffee episode.We talked first with Josh Ziegelbaum from Miami-based private equity firm and asset manager Legacy Group, the key investor behind Green Coffee Company, the largest coffee producer in Colombia, which it built from the ground up starting in 2017.The Green Coffee Company is raising $100 million to expand its offering into roasting and distilling spirits from coffee waste.Learn more about:
How to build a coffee unicorn in 10 years
The opportunity to use the co...2022-12-1940 min
The NatureBacked PodcastEmerging Consumer Demand Will Drive ClimateTech, With James VincentPressure from consumers will likely be the key driver pushing climate tech towards the mainstream over the coming years, said James Vincent, co-founder of brand advisory and investment firm FNDR.“We’re a few years off from that because we haven’t done the homework yet. We haven’t shock-absorbed the need for culture to absorb the new metrics of what’s important in the world,” Vincent said.James Vincent worked as a brand agency executive with Steve Jobs for 11 years through the launches of iPod, iTunes, iPhone and iPad, before launching FNDR in 2017.2022-12-1242 min
The NatureBacked PodcastFixing Electricity Production with Scale Microgrid's Tim HadeSurging growth in distributed energy production, driven by innovations in solar and battery technologies, is helping the energy sector to cope with climate change, said Tim Hade, COO and co-founder of Scale Microgrid Solutions.“We’re getting to the point right now where distributed energy is starting to displace coal and gas - that’s going to be sort of a choppy road over the next decade or two,” Hade said. “Our current energy infrastructure has way too many single points of failure. We need to figure out a way to make it more reliable and more res...2022-12-0546 min
The NatureBacked PodcastDeath of a Client: Beautiful endings with Joe MacleodIndustries have too often left the control over the end of the product lifecycle to individuals at a time when it could open many opportunities for the reuse of materials, said Joe Macleod, founder of andend, the world’s first customer-ending business. “There’s a massive gap at the end of the consumer lifecycle that holds circularity,” Macleod said.Learn more about:
Solutions for better off-boarding experiences
Concept of Death and the world’s largest graveyard
Business opportunities around death
When will Facebook have more dead customers than live ones
Joe Macleod...2022-11-2837 min
The NatureBacked PodcastTackling the Biggest Opportunity with Matt WardClimate investing and the climate, in general, is the biggest opportunity we’ve ever had, said Matt Ward from early-stage climate investment syndicate 4WARD.VC.“Either we pull it off and succeed or pretty much we all effing die and go to war, and the world goes to absolute s-h-i-t. So what would you rather bet on? Would you rather bet on humanity being creative, coming up with solutions, and doing the hard thing? Or would you rather bet against humanity?”“Will we stop climate change? No. Will we fight climate change and try to make the...2022-11-2132 min
The NatureBacked PodcastLooking for Solutions with Anders WijkmanA universal basic dividend that would distribute some of the profits generated by corporates in industrialized countries to the citizens in low-income countries would be a step forward in the current troubled situation, said Anders Wijkman, Honorary President of the global think tank Club of Rome.“If you look at the world at large, we are moving in the wrong direction. Almost every possible environment indicator is pointing downwards, not upwards. So I’m not happy. I am quite pessimistic,” Wijkman said in the episode recorded at the GreenEST Summit in Tallinn.Learn more about:
Th...2022-11-1429 min
The NatureBacked PodcastCuring Climate Anxiety with Firstime’s Itamar WeizmanAction and information sharing are keys for fighting climate anxiety, said Itamar Weizman, the head of climate investments at Israeli investment firm Firstime who suffers from self-diagnosed climate anxiety. He said the five stages of climate anxiety are similar to the five stages of grief."A lot of people are stuck in denial, especially in America, right? People are just: I don’t want to hear about it. There is nothing going on. I can continue business as usual. Everything is fine. The world isn’t burning, the world isn’t dying, and the world isn’t c...2022-11-0738 min
The NatureBacked PodcastFlabbergasted by Cultivated Meat, with Meatable's Daan LuiningIndustrial agriculture, one of the most significant contributors to climate change, is facing a revolution that will move meat production to factories from farms, said Daan Luining, a co-founder and CTO at cultivated meat startup Meatable.The 2018-founded Dutch startup Meatable - one of the frontrunners in the new field of cultivated meat - has raised $60 million so far. It aims to sell its first lab-grown meats to consumers in 2024-2025.“We replicate what nature is doing without the entire animal attached to it. So we give the cells food, what they usually would consume if...2022-10-3128 min
The NatureBacked PodcastMoving the Needle with Climentum's Yoann BernoRules of capitalism need changing to move the needle in the fight against climate change, said Yoann Berno, a partner at the Nordic investment firm Climentum.“Unfortunately, our leaders, political leaders, are too short-sighted. They’re just responding to this crisis as they responded to COVID. As they will respond to the next crisis, I think it would be a great moment to pause, reflect, and then choose the course - to be a bit more visionary looking 10, 15, 20 years out, now is an opportunity to do it. Unfortunately, they’re just losing this opportunity,” he said. Learn m...2022-10-2438 min
The NatureBacked PodcastLooking For Big Impact in Changing Resource-Intensive Industries with NorselabOslo-headquartered Norselab looks for startups transforming resource-intensive industries like food, transport, and construction, said Maria de Perlinghi, a partner at the Norwegian impact investment firm.“We believe that the next frontier or the code that we have to crack now is in the major global industries, where we know that there are huge challenges,” she said. “We’re not at all shy of going into those industries and supporting companies that contribute to transforming those industries.” Learn more about:
Doing good: with the product or corporate functions?
Robots collecting seashells
The future role of ESG
...2022-10-0343 min
The NatureBacked PodcastClimate Tech Investments Accelerating Further, Says ExtantiaClimate tech is booming thanks to troubles in the European energy sector. Still, the proportion of investments in climate tech has to grow from very low levels, said Sebastian Heitmann, co-founder, and partner at Extantia Capital.“The goal is to significantly increase this over the coming years,” Heitmann said. “In our world, the current situation is an acceleration. And we see more interest than before.”Berlin-headquartered Extantia Capital invests primarily in startups developing technology for renewable baseload power sources or carbon capture.Learn more about:
Conviction and frustration behind founding Extantia
Why energy i...2022-09-2636 min
The NatureBacked PodcastTaking Cows Out of Dairy Industry with Those Vegan CowboysMaking great cheese is the holy grail of plant-based milk products. This company is certain it has found the solution."The product is identical to what the cow is producing," Sheriff Will Van den Tweel said in an interview on the sidelines of the Startup Day Festival in Tartu, Estonia.Those Vegan Cowboys is a Dutch-founded Belgian startup where some 25 people are working on replacing cows in the dairy industry. The company's founders sold their previous startup Vegetarian Butcher to Unilever in 2018. Learn more about:
How a farmer and a politician founded t...2022-09-1927 min
The NatureBacked PodcastA Good Climate Tech Hype with At One VenturesThere's a good hype around climate tech, and some related sectors, like food tech, remain hot despite the downturn, said Helen Lin, a partner at Silicon Valley-based At One Ventures."When there is an economic downturn, investors typically take a flight to safety. So the more you look ... like a brick of gold to an investor, that is, a stable store of value that is not going to be hugely volatile, the more they will actually flock to you," she said.At One Ventures is backing early-stage disruptive deep tech companies that have the potential t...2022-09-1249 min
The NatureBacked PodcastFastscaling Startups with Patrick Flesner"Startups do not fail because they run out of cash. They run out of cash because the leaders fail," said Patrick Flesner, partner LeadX Capital Partners and author of the bestseller book FastScaling.Learn more about:
How fast is too fast scaling? Should you build a plane while flying or before taking off?
How investors should separate good and bad cash burn
Is 2 million profit per year enough for a startup?
Growing from founder to leader: when to leave decisions to staff?
Why Netflix startup series Kings of Stonk is worth watching
The secret sauce of...2022-09-0531 min
The NatureBacked PodcastNordic Deeptech Unicorns In Sight, Say Butterfly VenturesNordics and Baltics boast one of the highest concentrations of unicorn startups, and several deeptech firms are set to follow the first unicorns, which have been digital software companies, said partner Juho Risku from investment firm Butterfly Ventures."Those digital companies were made 10 years ago, 15 years ago, or even longer. I think there are quite a few in the making at this very moment," said Risku.The 2012-founded Butterfly Ventures unveiled in the summer of 2022 a new 100 million euro seed entry capital fund, which focuses on science-based deep tech and hardware startups in the Nordics...2022-08-2946 min
The NatureBacked PodcastScooters and Carbon Accounting Win Major Share of Climate Investments, Say OpenOceanScooters and carbon accounting firms grab a major share of climate-related startup investments, said Nina Gunell from Helsinki-headquartered investment firm OpenOcean."Definitely there are areas that are getting a lot of investments, although there maybe doesn't need to be that many solutions in the end," she said. OpenOcean was founded in 2009 by the founders and early investors of database firm MySQL. Sun bought MySQL for $1 billion in 2008, just before Oracle acquired Sun in January 2010. Learn more about:* When should software startups start to think about their emissions and ESG* Ho...2022-08-2237 min
The NatureBacked PodcastBoosting Carbon Impact Startups in Food, Agriculture with Startup Wise GuysStartups focusing on food, agriculture, biodiversity, and forestry offer some of the best opportunities to impact global carbon emissions significantly, said Max Bauchau, who runs Startup Wise Guys Sustainability program.The 2012-founded SWG has invested in around 300 startups over the years. Bauchau said the accelerator-investor, which boasts an 80% survival rate, will start a new sustainability program in October 2022 in Copenhagen.Learn about:
Why Denmark is home to SWG Sustainability program
Why do carbon investors focus on food?
How can 80% of early-stage startup investments survive?
How to apply for SWG Sustainability program
...2022-08-1534 min
The NatureBacked PodcastEvergreen Climate Investments With Kiko Ventures' Arne MorteaniThe $450 million Kiko Ventures became the first evergreen climate fund when it launched in June 2022, said Founding Partner Arne Morteani.When IP Group launched Kiko Ventures, it said it plans to invest $240 million in climate tech startups over the next five years.Learn about:
focus areas of the fund
benefits of evergreen fund structure vs VC funds
lubrication-as-a-service
a triple whammy for a climate tech investor
In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.S...2022-07-2536 min
The NatureBacked PodcastTokenising Nature's Work in Special Episode with Single.EarthSingle.Earth has minted the first tokens from the work nature does to owners of lands in Brazil and Europe, and has started to roll out MERIT tokens to the market, co-founders Merit Valdsalu and Andrus Aaslaid said in this special episode of the NatureBacked podcast.Learn about:
the first over-the-counter deals
upcoming consumer-launch
the impact of crypto-winter
how to grow a team 10-fold in half a year
is there an ICO coming?
**In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new gr...2022-07-1834 min
The NatureBacked PodcastInvesting in Sustainable Technologies With Futury CapitalSustainable technologies and sustainable business models are often intervened in today's world,, said Shahin Dashti, an investor at Frankfurt-based Futury Capital which is working on launching a new sustainability-focused fund.Learn more about the impact of market turmoil on startup investments and about the unique roots of sports and regional policies on the back of Futury. We had a rare chance to speak also about football in this episode!In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to t...2022-07-1128 min
The NatureBacked PodcastExploring Infinite Games of Family Offices With Alex FelmanCompanies of the future will naturally focus on the environment and impact to be able to make a business for hundreds of years, said Alex Felman from Felman Family Office.Learn more about family offices and what makes investment firms of family wealth different from venture capitalist investors from the episode recorded on the sidelines of the TechChill conference in Riga.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. 2022-07-0438 min
The NatureBacked PodcastTapping Climate Mitigation Opportunities with Bethnal Green VenturesMany startups are working on climate adaptation, but there are less-crowded opportunities around climate mitigation, said Dama Sathianathan, partner at Bethnal Green Ventures.London-headquartered Bethnal Green Ventures has invested for 10 years in #TechForGood companies like Fairphone and over 100 other firms.Learn more about open opportunities in the climate tech sector from the episode recorded on the sidelines of the Latitude59 conference in Tallinn.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the Na...2022-06-2730 min
grit. | startup turunduse podcastSINGLE.EARTH. Liisi Ruuse ja Tarmo Virki – turundus ja PR enne lansseerimistSingle.Earth on idufirma, kes on pre-launch ja pre-revenue. Ometi kaasasid nad eelmisel aastal $7,9M seemneinvesteeringu.
Külas on Liisi Ruuse, Single.Earth digiturunduse juht, ja Tarmo Virki, SIngle.Earth kommunikatsioonijuht.
Räägime:
• kasutajatestide olulisusest;
• rahvusvahelise kajastuse saamisest;
• konverentsidel esinemisest;
• uute turgude valimisest;
Lisaks lahkame ajakirjanike hingeelu ning uurime, kuidas Tarmo taskuhääling on USA TOP 10 investeerimispodcasti sekka jõudnud. Head kuulamist!
🌎
Saates mainitud tööriist...2022-06-2258 min
The NatureBacked PodcastHow To Invest A Billion In Climate? With Giant VenturesA giant wave of purpose-driven founders, coupled with consumers raising interest in the environment, and the availability of climate-focused capital, should enable a rosy future for the climate tech sector, said Madelene Larsson, an investor at Giant Ventures.London-headquartered Giant Ventures has invested in some 20 companies and plans to invest a billion dollars over 2020s. It had just started to raise its second fund when we recorded the podcast in late May 2022.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new gr...2022-06-2031 min
The NatureBacked PodcastGreat Time For Deep Tech Investing With Outsized VenturesStartups should focus on their cash burn and seek to build a 36-month runway as the downturn in markets and economies has started, but it's a great time to be investing in deep tech as founders are increasingly keen to tackle world-changing challenges, Outsized Ventures' general partner Isabel Fox said in an interview on the sidelines of the Latitude59 startup conference in Tallinn in late May 2022.London-headquartered Outsized Ventures is a 2021-founded deep tech investment firm that invests in Seed+ rounds in founders that are going to have a big impact on the world for the better.2022-06-1327 min
The NatureBacked PodcastNew Materials, Food Innovations in Focus for InventureStartups creating new materials, including for food industries, can have a significant climate impact, making them interesting targets for the Nordic investment firm Inventure, partner Tuomas Kosonen said in an interview on the sidelines of the TechChill startup conference in Riga in late April 2022.Inventure is a Helsinki-headquartered seed-stage investor, known for its investments in companies like Wolt and Swappie.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. **2022-06-0618 min
The NatureBacked PodcastClimate Focus Brings Best Results, says World Fund's Alexis CaporaleThe companies that will deliver the highest climate impact will also provide the highest financial returns, was the founding thesis of World Fund, said Alexis Caporale."And now we're seeing it, and it's just incredible. They just do better, they're more resilient, their customers are more engaged, and their teams are more engaged," he said.World Fund is a 350-million euros climate-focused VC, which has unveiled seven investments so far, including Treecard, Juicy Marbles, QOA and Space Forge.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about t...2022-05-3029 min
The NatureBacked PodcastChasing Uncompromising Impact Unicorns with Norrsken VCStockholm-headquartered Norrsken VC is on a mission to find not just unicorns but impact unicorns, startups valued at over $1 billion which at the same time can impact the lives of more than 1 billion people, Agate S. Freimane said on the sidelines of TechChill startup conference in Riga. The VC firm was born out of Norrsken Foundation – a non-profit foundation founded in 2016 by Niklas Adalberth, co-founder of Klarna - with the belief that entrepreneurs building rapidly scalable businesses are our best bet to solving the hardest and biggest problems of our time.In the NatureBacked podcast of S...2022-05-2327 min
The NatureBacked PodcastSpeedinvest Looks For Further Climate Tech InvestmentsSpeedinvest was among the first European early-stage VC firms when its founders started to take Silicon Valley's getting-hands-dirty practices from their own entrepreneurs' journey to the Old Continent, said investor Andreas Schwarzenbrunner.Vienna-headquartered Speedinvest has invested in some 250 companies, including 20 investments in climate tech startups. The firm manages assets of about half a billion euros.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. **A few key takeaways from Andr...2022-05-1633 min
The NatureBacked PodcastFixing the Mess We Created, Tackling Climate Emergency with Carbon13Carbon13 backs early-stage climate founders in launching their business ventures, says co-founder Michael Langguth, making it one of the first climate-focused accelerators.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. **A few key takeaways from Michael Langguth:**"There are still a lot of climate tech startup investors that will only invest in software. And I think that's, that's a bit of a fallacy. You...2022-05-0933 min
The NatureBacked PodcastSustainable Transformation in Focus for Japanese New Nordic Fund Nordic NinjaSustainable transformation and overall net climate impact are in focus for Rainer Sternfeld, managing partner at a 100 million euro fund Japanese investment Nordic Ninja when he seeks investment opportunities among Nordic and Baltic startups.Sternfeld was the founder of climate data startup PlanetOS, bought by Intertrust in 2017.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. **A few key takeaways from Rainer Sternfeld:**"I...2022-05-0244 min
The NatureBacked PodcastWhy Old-School VCs Struggle to Get Into Climate Investing? With Rodrigo Sepulveda SchulzThe public sector could boost climate tech development when many funds struggle with fitting climate into their 10-year lifecycle, says investor Rodrigo Sepúlveda Schulz, who was co-founder of impact investment firm Expon Capital and an early investor in companies like GetAround and Glovo.In the podcast interview, Sepúlveda Schulz also outlined the 12 questions startups have to answer to raise venture capital.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. ...2022-04-2543 min
The NatureBacked PodcastUnhooking Europe, Led by Baltic Founders with Change Ventures' Yrjö OjasaarWe spoke with Yrjö Ojasaar, co-founder of Change Ventures, about the investment firm's focus on founders from Baltic countries and he shift in global trends towards climate tech.Change Ventures has raised two funds totaling around 50 million euros, and its investments include companies like Veriff and Printify.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. A few key takeaways from Yrjö Ojasaar:**"There's been o...2022-04-1832 min
The NatureBacked PodcastFinding Radical Climate Solutions with Pale Blue Dot's Hampus JakobssonWe spoke with Hampus Jakobsson, co-founder of Pale Blue Dot, on how climate problems could be fixed and what are the biggest challenges.Malmö-headquartered Pale Blue Dot raised 2021 a fund of 87 million euros for investments in climate-focused startups.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. A few key takeaways from Hampus Jakobsson:**"I would love governments to say: you have to solve...2022-04-1146 min
The NatureBacked PodcastDeepdive of East Europe Startup World with Flashpoint's Alex KonoplyastyWe spoke with Alex Konoplyasty, co-founder of Flashpoint Ventures, about big global trends, the possible implications of the war in Eastern Europe, and why it's still early days of greentech investments in the region.London-headquartered Flashpoint manages assets worth 450-500 million and is known for investments in the firms like Chess.com and Guesty. In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. A few key takeaways from Alex...2022-04-0441 minThe NatureBacked PodcastUrgency of Tackling Climate Change with Balderton's Shikha AhluwaliaWe spoke with Shikha Ahluwalia about the climate's role in all investment decisions, Balderton's own green strategy, and how to invest in climate-friendly companies across the sectors. London-headquartered Balderton has raised around 5 billion US dollars for its funds, and is known for investments in startups including Revolut and Betfair.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. A few key takeaways from Shikha Ahluwalia:**"We...2022-03-2828 minThe NatureBacked PodcastBig Game of Energy Transition with Helen Ventures' Terhi VapolaWe spoke with Terhi Vapola about climate tech, energy transition, and Helen Ventures' investments in the fields like EV charging and power grid optimization. In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. A few key takeaways from Terhi Vapola:**"What we want to do is work with the most innovative startups ... working with people who don't just talk, I think there's plenty of talking and has be...2022-02-2824 minThe NatureBacked PodcastLooking into Climate Fintech World with Octopus Ventures' Natasha JonesWe spoke with Natasha Jones from London headquartered Octopus Ventures about the intersection of climate change and fintech startups, the booming collaboration in climate tech, and the challenges of ESG investing.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. Here are some of the key takeaways from Natasha Jones:**"The data is really clear - if you can move your pension to a green and susta...2022-02-2130 minThe NatureBacked PodcastBuilding GreenTech Ventures with Brainforest's Leo CaprezWe spoke with Leo Caprez about the urgent need for innovation in the climate tech sector as the world is facing increasing challenges from accelerating climate change.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. A few key takeaways from Leo Caprez:**"A lot of also very smart and driven people have woken up to the issues that we are facing: we have very, very litt...2022-02-2121 minThe NatureBacked PodcastJumping on Climate Change Opportunities with Icebreaker.VC's Aleksi PartanenWe spoke with Aleksi Partanen from Icebreaker.vc about the opportunities created by climate change, the urgency of the current situation, and (of course) about breaking the ice.In the NatureBacked podcast of Single.Earth, Tarmo Virki talks with investors and entrepreneurs about their vision of the new green world.Subscribe to the NatureBacked newsletter on LinkedIn. A few key takeaways from Aleksi Partanen:**"People are becoming more aware of the issue we're facing that this planet will not be able to, to hold us all, or a...2022-02-2128 minThe NatureBacked PodcastValuing Ecosystem Services with Single.Earth's Co-founder Andrus AaslaidSingle.Earth CTO and cofounder Andrus Aaslaid speaks about why Single.Earth was founded and how the company plans to monetize ecosystem services.A few key takeaways from Andrus Aaslaid:"All we have done so far in the world ... as a humanity, we have been optimizing the economic processes quite a lot to be able to maximize profits. Somewhere in the middle, we forgot that this will put more and more strain on ecology."**"We need birds and bees and all other creatures on the planet because if we focus 100% on...2022-02-2118 min