WakeUp Capital

🌟 CSP North America Welcomes Faye Walsh Drouillard as Chair of the Board 🌟 We’re thrilled to announce the appointment of Faye Walsh Drouillard as Chair of CSP North America's Board of Directors. As Founder & General Partner of WakeUp Capital, Faye brings a wealth of experience in impact investing, driving sustainable finance and private wealth toward climate solutions and social equity. In addition to her role as CSP North America’s Treasurer since August 2023, Faye has served as a dedicated Board member and investment committee member for Community Foundation Ireland and as an Advisory Board Member for Philanthropy Ireland, championing diversity in finance and no-trade-off impact investing across the US and Europe. Her diverse background spans law, politics, and social enterprise, including scaling projects like Freedom Writers Foundation, making her a powerhouse in the world of impact finance. Faye holds a BA from the University of Washington and an MBA from UCLA. A dual US-EU citizen, she resides in Dublin with her family. Please join us in welcoming Faye to this new role!

🚀 Exciting News! 🚀 We’re incredibly excited to announce our pioneering new partnership with Holland & Barrett, the UK’s leading health and wellness retailer. 🤝 By embedding validated sustainability claims in their customer journey, Holland & Barrett are setting a new standard for consumer sustainability. 🌿 We’re excited to help Holland & Barrett meet green claims compliance requirements, save time and drive sales — all while building trust and loyalty with eco-conscious consumers. 💚 And we’re thrilled to be joined on the journey by a number of fantastic brands already, including WELEDA UK, Westlab Ltd, Pukka Herbs, Grass & Co., Faith In Nature and many more. 🌍 Head to the link in the comments to learn more 👇 #Sustainability #RetailInnovation #GreenClaims #SustainabilityMarketing #Provenance #Compliance #GreenClaimsRegulation

🌟 Quarter two was the best performance of the last seven quarters with €383 Million raised across 62 rounds 🌟 We are thrilled to announce the release of the TechIreland Startup Funding Vibes Q2 2024! 📊🚀 The first half of 2024 has been a game-changer for the Irish tech sector, with a whopping €552 million raised by 172 tech firms. The second quarter alone saw a remarkable €383 million raised across 62 rounds, marking the best quarter in over seven quarters! 📈✨ 📥 View and Download the full report here: https://lnkd.in/efW6kpXr #FundingVibes2024 #TechIreland #StartupFunding #Q2Report #IrishTech #InvestmentTrends #Growth

Venture and growth investing is the most impactful asset class. 💚 With a targeted approach and growing institutional allocation, venture can drive economic change and create significant social and environmental benefits. In collaboration with Founders Forum Group Forum and Tech Nation, the European Women in VC flagship report: “BEYOND RETURNS: Venture and Growth Investing Fuel Sustainability & Societal Change” 📊 is based on 334 VC firms and LPs surveyed across Europe. Link available in comments! The key findings: ⭐ More VC money is going to European positive impact-driven startups than ever before ⭐ 88% of the VCs say that they use an impact investing framework or tool to guide their investment decision due to their own personal of fund’s values73% of LPs say alignment with SDGs is important ⭐ 9 in 10 if the VCs and LPs say that increased diversity in VC leads to better investments decisions and financial returns ⭐ 87% have already implemented an internal ESG policy or plan to do so in the next year European VC funds raised €23.7bn in 2023 and €30.8bn in 2022, the highest annual figures on record. With more than 2,400 active VC firms in Europe, and over 1,000 funds raised in the past five years, it’s no surprise the European tech market is worth more today than ever before and has more than doubled in value across the same period. Cambridge Associates has reported venture capital as the best performing asset class of the past 25 years! “Despite record levels of venture funding and a strong track record of bringing breakthrough innovation to market, the venture asset class remains underfunded. In particular, funds with diverse teams and women leaders offer unparalleled returns and drive positive impact, warranting far greater investment.” 🚀Kinga Our earlier work:  🔷 In 2023 we proved that gender diversity in European Venture Capital generate superior returns. 🔷 In 2022 our mission was to stress the role and importance of women as cheque writers and start-up founders. 🔷 in 2021 we focused on Funding in the CEE through the lens of gender diversity and positive impact. Cc: Kasia, Alicja, Kerstin, Pia, Matias, Illusian Family Office Marjut, Louis, Hermann, Marie, Alexander, Brent, Victoria, Paul, Adeline, Antigoni, Kevin K., Kelly, Constantijn, Fredrik, Saemundur, Najada, Shiva, Federico, Diva, John, Kirsti, Rachael Selma Carolyn Marco Francesca Astrid

Today, in partnership with the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA), we're publishing the most comprehensive benchmarking of ESG performance in start-ups... Over the past six months, we've been working with the team at the BVCA and our partners at Marriott Harrison to compile and analyse data from 587 portfolio companies backed by leading venture capital firms across the UK and Europe. The findings offer a detailed analysis of ESG performance across early-stage companies, and how this performance differs by stage, sector, and geography. Key takeaways from this year’s report include:   🌳 Over the past year, the proportion of start-ups measuring their carbon footprint has almost doubled… 🗒️ Start-ups are investing heavily in people, talent and training, with 57% now offering study support to staff and 47% offering internships, apprenticeships or trainee programmes… 🤖 Responsible use of AI is an increasing focus for start-ups – 31% now offer training or codes of conduct on the topic – but is this keeping pace with the boom in generative AI?   For more of these insights, check out the full report via the link below! Thank you also to all of our contributors: Act Venture Capital, Astanor Ventures, Atempo Growth, Atomico, Beringea, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Clarendon Fund Managers, DeepTechXL, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures, Frog Capital, Gresham House Ventures, Highland Europe, IRIS Ventures, Mercia Ventures, Molten Ventures, Nesta, Oxford Science Enterprises, Par Equity, Pembroke VCT, Volution, and YFM Equity Partners. #ESG_VC #sustainability #responsibleinvesting

Venture and growth investing is the most impactful asset class. 💚 With a targeted approach and growing institutional allocation, venture can drive economic change and create significant social and environmental benefits. In collaboration with Founders Forum Group Forum and Tech Nation, the European Women in VC flagship report: “BEYOND RETURNS: Venture and Growth Investing Fuel Sustainability & Societal Change” 📊 is based on 334 VC firms and LPs surveyed across Europe. Link available in comments! The key findings: ⭐ More VC money is going to European positive impact-driven startups than ever before ⭐ 88% of the VCs say that they use an impact investing framework or tool to guide their investment decision due to their own personal of fund’s values73% of LPs say alignment with SDGs is important ⭐ 9 in 10 if the VCs and LPs say that increased diversity in VC leads to better investments decisions and financial returns ⭐ 87% have already implemented an internal ESG policy or plan to do so in the next year European VC funds raised €23.7bn in 2023 and €30.8bn in 2022, the highest annual figures on record. With more than 2,400 active VC firms in Europe, and over 1,000 funds raised in the past five years, it’s no surprise the European tech market is worth more today than ever before and has more than doubled in value across the same period. Cambridge Associates has reported venture capital as the best performing asset class of the past 25 years! “Despite record levels of venture funding and a strong track record of bringing breakthrough innovation to market, the venture asset class remains underfunded. In particular, funds with diverse teams and women leaders offer unparalleled returns and drive positive impact, warranting far greater investment.” 🚀Kinga Our earlier work:  🔷 In 2023 we proved that gender diversity in European Venture Capital generate superior returns. 🔷 In 2022 our mission was to stress the role and importance of women as cheque writers and start-up founders. 🔷 in 2021 we focused on Funding in the CEE through the lens of gender diversity and positive impact. Cc: Kasia, Alicja, Kerstin, Pia, Matias, Illusian Family Office Marjut, Louis, Hermann, Marie, Alexander, Brent, Victoria, Paul, Adeline, Antigoni, Kevin K., Kelly, Constantijn, Fredrik, Saemundur, Najada, Shiva, Federico, Diva, John, Kirsti, Rachael Selma Carolyn Marco Francesca Astrid