Funding a Better Future (2025)

<a href="https://elbowbeachcapital.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elbow Beach</a> is an early-stage climate tech VC. They help to unlock technologies, solve big problems and transform industries. To date, they have made 20 investments. JP co-founded Elbow Beach in 2021 and is CEO. With over 20 years’ experience in large telecoms and tech companies, he brings deep operational experience to commercialise technology. He transitioned into climate tech investing, combining his passion for commercial success with purpose-led companies. Throughout his career, JP has led numerous turnaround stories by focusing on customer and colleague outcomes, driving both business success and meaningful impact. During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year. 1:39 - Intro to JP and Elbow Beach 5:30 - Which stages and ticket size does Elbow Beach invest in? 6:21 - JP’s reflections on 2024 broadly and also within Elbow Beach specifically 10:22 - Is traction in international markets a strong differentiator for companies looking to raise Series A and beyond? 11:02 - Is there a risk that trying to handle UK and international markets can lead to founder focus and marketing not being strong enough in either market? 13:22 - JP’s predictions and thought for the 2025 fundraising market 18:12 - Which climate technologies are ripe for growth currently? 20:09 - What does Elbow Beach look for in potential investments? 22:16 - What are the minimums you look for a team? How mature does it have to be and can gaps be filled by fractional support? 25:43 - When should founder-led sales be changed for a commercial / sales team? 28:15 - JP’s advice for founders looking to raise this year 31:25 - How to contact JP and Elbow Beach

S8: E10. Funding Transformative British Climate Tech Startups ft. Jonathan Pollock (Elbow Beach)

Angel investor, James Manktelow, has invested in 25 climate startups since 2019 via <a href="https://greenangelsyndicate.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Green Angel Syndicate</a>. He focuses on accelerating the growth of IP-based startups that develop solutions to climate change. The syndicate at Green Angel is the largest in the UK with a climate focus; it has over 350 members and has invested in over 45 startups and early-stage companies across ten different economic sectors. During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year. 1:48 - Intro to James and Green Angel Syndicate 2:15 - James’ investment thesis and what he looks for in investments 3:21 - James’ reflection on the 2024 investment and climate tech landscape 4:46 - Out of your portfolio companies, did any perform particularly well during 2024? 5:54 - Did you see any common themes amongst companies that did well? 6:37 - James’ predictions for 2025 investment 8:20 - Which parts of the climate market have good opportunity for growth? 10:15 - As an angel investor, how do you hear about companies to invest in and how do you conduct diligence? 12:06 - How do you support businesses as an angel? 14:13 - What has James learnt from investments that haven’t gone so well? 16:33 - James’ advice to founders looking to raise an angel round - what should they have in place? 18:15 - How influential are incubators when considering an investment? 19:16 - James’ thoughts on investing in solo founders. 20:15 - What level of commercial traction is needed for investment? 21:34 - How much can you determine the founding team’s resilience during due diligence? 23:19 - How to contact James via Green Angel Syndicate

S8: E9. Advice on Raising an Angel Round for a Climate Startup ft. James Manktelow (climate angel)

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eakohlmann/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Eric Kohlmann</a> is a partner at <a href="https://climatefirst.vc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Climate First</a>, a VC firm established in 2023. It has since grown to not only invest in technologies that will disrupt highly emitting, multi-billion dollar industries; but has also become an official nominator for Prince WIlliam’s Earthshot Prize, offers programs that provide knowledge, know-how, and mentorship, and they run an exclusive roadshow in London to cultivate further connections and opportunities for founders. During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year. 1:25 - Eric’s reflections on 2024 and the climate ecosystem 4:00 - The differences Eric has seen between the USA and Europe since moving to London in 2024 5:48 - What does Climate First invest in? 8:27 - Which companies in your portfolio performed particularly well in 2024? 10:09 - What helped those companies to be successful? 12:31 - Which technologies Eric is excited about for 2025. 15:31 - What does Climate First look for in a company when investing? 18:04 - How does Climate First support founders with commercialisation and scaling? 20:03 - How are big, corporate industry players responding to the Climate First roadshows? 21:18 - Eric’s advice for founders looking to raise investment. 23:15 - What stages does Climate First invest at and start conversations? 24:01 - How to contact Eric and Climate First.

S8: E8. Funding the Next Industrial Revolution ft. Eric Kohlmann (Climate First)

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-ronayne-a381339/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kate Ronayne</a> is a deep tech climate investor from <a href="https://www.bgf.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BGF</a>. She particularly enjoys drawing on her time leading commercialisation activities from UK national laboratories to find, validate and back teams who are using exciting science to solve big challenges. BGF invests in small to mid-sized UK businesses. As the most active equity investor in the UK and Ireland, they back a wide variety of ventures from climate to pet food. During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year. 1:47 - Intro to BGF and their thesis 3:56 - Kate’s reflections on 2024 and the trends she noticed 5:12 - Has there been a shift away from asset-light propositions towards hard tech and deep tech? 7:03 - Which BGF climate companies have done particularly well and what helped them to succeed? 10:34 - Predictions for climate investment in 2025 12:49 - How will the US election result affect climate work in the EU and the opportunities for companies to expand into the US? 17:28 - What technologies Kate is excited about for 2025 22:12 - What does BGF look for in investments? 27:15 - How does BGF assess a team during due diligence? 29:32 - Kate’s advice for founders who want to approach BGF for fundraising 33:21 - How to contact BGF and Kate

S8: E7. Series A Fundraising Advice for Deep Tech Climate Startups ft. Kate Ronayne (BGF)

<a href="https://uk.linkedin.com/in/chloe-coates" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chloe Coates</a> is a research and analysis lead at <a href="https://www.zerocarbon.vc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Zero Carbon Capital</a>. As well as her work at Zero Carbon, Chloe has hosted sessions at The Drop, been featured by ClimateHack and was a judge at the 2024 Global Challenge Lab Demo Day. Zero Carbon support companies working to solve the biggest challenges of decarbonisation with pre-seed and seed investments in ambitious teams building hard-science solutions across Europe and Israel. During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year. 1:29 - Intro to Zero Carbon Capital and their investment thesis 2:41 - Chloe’s reflections on the 2024 climate landscape 4:43 - What contributed to certain portfolio companies doing well last year? 7:43 - Thoughts and predictions for the fundraising market and early-stage investment in 2025 11:42 - What areas of the market are you excited about? 15:15 - What does ZCC look for in investments? 17:05 - What does ZCC expect in terms of demonstrable traction? 19:14 - Chloe’s advice for founders who might want to approach ZCC for investment 21:01 - How can founders make their pitch stand out? 22:33 - How to contact ZCC and Chloe

S8: E6. Fundraising Advice for Hard-Science Decarbonisation Solutions ft. Chloe Coates (Zero Carbon Capital)

Founder and managing partner of <a href="https://greencode.vc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Greencode Ventures</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjvapola/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dr. Terhi Vapola</a>. Along with her team in Helsinki, Greencode invest in digital-first early-stage green transition startups across Europe. They have a particular interest in green energy, mobility, built environment and green industries. Founded in 2022, Greencode’s investments include renewable energy startup, Synergi, green hydrogen software solution, Southern Lights, and climate risk platform, Repath. During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year. 1:36 - Intro to Terhi and Greencode Ventures 5:12 - Terhi’s reflections on the 2024 fundraising market 7:13 - Greencode portfolio companies that did well in 2024 and why they did so well 9:03 - Terhi’s predictions for the 2025 climate investment market 10:23 - What subsections of climate could have a good year? 12:08 - What does Greencode look for in investments? 15:16 - What stages does Greencode invest at? 16:20 - How much traction do you look for? 17:30 - What minimum do you look for in a founding team’s establishment? And how long should founders lead sales before bringing in a sales team? 19:38 - How much does talent and talent mapping make up part of your due diligence for investments? 21:46 - Terhi’s advice for founder’s thinking of raising this year. 25:04 - How to contact Greencode

S8: E5. Funding the Digital-First Green Transition ft. Dr Terhi Vapola (Greencode Ventures)

<a href="https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-brown-stanford" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jeremy Brown</a> is an Investment Principal from <a href="https://www.anthemis.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Anthemis Capital</a>. Jeremy is head of climate strategies and focuses on seed to Series C investments across Europe and the USA. With a keen interest in the intersection of climate and fintech, Anthemis is the perfect home for Jeremy, as they support pre-seed to growth-stage companies that embed finance in their products, services and operations. During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year. 1:08 - Intro to Jeremy and Anthemis 10:09 - Jeremy’s reflections on the 2024 fundraising market 18:02 - What are you excited about for 2025? 22:47 - What does Anthemis look for when investing? 27:24 - What would you expect founders to have in place to raise? 30:18 - How to contact Jeremy and Anthemis

S8: E4. Where Climate Tech Meets Fin Tech ft. Jeremy Brown (Anthemis)

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/arjunjairaj/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Arjun Jairaj</a> is an investor with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/noavc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">noa VC</a>. The team at noa are building Europe’s largest tech fund dedicated to transforming the built world. They invest in pioneering founders and breakthrough technologies that decarbonise the built world. During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year. 1:36 - Intro to noa VC and their investment thesis. 3:09 - What stages and areas do noa VC invest in? 3:46 - Is built environment primarily deep tech and hardware based? 5:28 - Arjun’s reflections on 2024’s fundraising market. 11:01 - What do you think companies in your portfolio have that has made them particularly successful? 13:27 - Predictions for the 2025 market for early-stage climate investment. 19:54 - What are noa VC looking for in teams and startups when you invest? 21:30 - What is the minimum you’d be looking for in a team at an early stage and do you think gaps can be filled by fractional executives or advisors? 23:45 - Advice for founders looking to raise this year. 26:02 - Advice for founders on how to manage the fundraising process and make sure the business is still being well looked after whilst their attention is elsewhere. 28:25 - How to get in touch with Arjun and noa VC.

S8: E3. Funding the Decarbonisation of the Construction Industry ft. Arjun Jairaj (noa VC)

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartferguson75/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stuart Ferguson</a> is an investor with <a href="https://www.sustainableventures.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sustainable Ventures</a>, who as well as offering investment to earth-saving startups, also operate two co-working spaces in London and Manchester, with sole focus on climate tech. In fact, we here at Above &amp; Beyond use their London space regularly.&nbsp; Stuart is particularly passionate about early stage investing and loves working with new entrepreneurs to help them realise their ambitions. During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year. 1:27 - What are your reflections on 2024 for investment? 2:38 - Were any of your portfolio companies particularly notable last year? What do you think helped them succeed? 4:00 - What do you predict for the UK climate funding landscape in 2025? 6:37 - Are you seeing a difference in how climate companies are positioning themselves? 8:15 - What do you look for when making investments? 11:34 - What support do Sustainable Ventures offer post-investment? 13:26 - What parts of the climate industry are you excited about and see potential in? 15:41 - Advice for founders looking to raise funds this year. 19:42 - What is the minimum viable amount of traction you’d be looking for? 22:59 - How to contact Sustainable Ventures.

S8: E2. Fundraising Advice for Early-stage Climate Deep Tech ft. Stuart Ferguson (Sustainable Ventures)

Stories from leaders in climate tech

Welcome to The Climate Pioneers Show. Each season we focus on an area of climate technology including founder stories from the front line, fundraising advice from investors, and tips about how to build and support a team of A-players to save the planet. Hosted by Cherry Swayne, founder of Above &amp; Beyond Recruitment, angel investor, Carbon13 domain expert and organiser of online Climate Tech communities. Every episode, she'll be speaking to experts from across the climate ecosystem to guide you on your climate journey. Happy listening.

The Climate Pioneers Show

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