Faye Walsh Drouillard

As investment flows continue to drive growth in tech and innovation, startups in Ireland 🇮🇪 and the UK are seizing the opportunity to scale, innovate, and disrupt. From AI-driven diagnostic solutions to platforms reimagining corporate interactions and offshore energy innovations, the startup ecosystem is humming with fresh funding and new milestones. Here are some standout deals this month that signal the ongoing strength and potential of startup and scale-up ventures. Needi Investment: £1.4 million Investors: Clarendon Fund Managers, Techstart Ventures LLP Ventures, several angels What they do: needi is a Manchester-based startup redefining corporate gifting by connecting businesses to unique, sustainable products from local suppliers. Founders: Louise Doyle and Steph Scholes Ooodles Investment: €2.5m Investors: āltitude, UK family office Traditum Private Investment Office What they do: Ooodles offers tech leasing solutions to SMEs, allowing them to access the latest tech equipment without significant upfront costs. This latest round is to help expand flexible tech leasing for Irish SMEs Founders: Leonardo Poggiali and Kannan Reghu Gazelle Wind Power Limited Investment: €11.4 million Investors: Indico Capital Partners, DST Global, August One, Wah Kwong, and E2IN2, among others. What they do: Irish based Gazelle Wind Power is developing next-generation floating offshore wind platform technology. Founder: Jon Salazar iFAST Diagnostics Investment: £5 million Investors: KHP Ventures, QantX, UKI2S (managed by Future Planet Capital), Kadmos Capital Ltd, EInk, Raw Ventures, OKG Capital, and angels What they do: iFast Diagnostics has developed technology to determine the most effective antibiotics for different bacteria. Founders: Toby King, Hywel Morgan and @Daniel Spencer RESEARCH GRID Investment: £5 million Investors: Fuel Ventures 🚀, Arve Capital, Ada Ventures, Morgan Stanley Inclusive Venture Lab, Arāya Ventures, Ascension, Plug and Play Ventures, and Atomico What they do: Research Grid is an AI/health tech company focused on improving research processes. Founder: Dr Amber Michelle Hill Paloma Health Investment: €2.3 million Investors: TriplePoint Capital and James Allgrove Company: Paloma Health aims to reduce the long waiting times for children's autism assessments by utilising technology and artificial intelligence to cut the diagnosis time from over two years to just four weeks. Founder: Guillaume ("G") Cohen-Skalli

29

1 Comment

There’s a lot to love about the Seed phase 🌱 My passion for Seed phase technology investing springs from a profound appreciation for this particular phase of company building. There’s an undeniable allure to being part of a company’s early growth, where progress is swift, and the potential for impact is vast. What truly captivates me is the opportunity to engage with diverse ideas, innovations, and technologies. As an investor, I leverage my expertise to collaborate with different visionaries, having a larger circle of impact and contributing to meaningful change. Beyond the excitement of innovation and growth lies the human connection inherent in early-stage investing. Witnessing a founder’s triumphs and supporting them through challenges enriches the journey. Sharing in the highs and lows with passionate founders adds a profoundly gratifying dimension to the investment process, transforming it from a mere business endeavour into a deeply personal one. https://lnkd.in/gbaPX9_j

16

Eight years ago today Marie-Alexandrine Burrows and I set up Vertical Future with a full debenture on all our assets and a loan thanks to HSBC, two toddlers to support, and were essentially "all in" to build a business that can make a difference. There have been so many highs and extreme lows to comment on, but I'll cover some of them. Extreme lows have included a rapidly changing market, through to delivering our first project during COVID, tough supply chains, a market crash that lasted literally years whilst you have to at the same time fundraise, rising interest rates, bad debtors, losing some key staff along the way, and all of the stress that goes with all this. Our "highs" come from many people organisations, and places. Through the hard work and commitment of our team (and their families), starting with Darren James, Jennifer Bromley and Sebastien Chenhalls-Walker and later on Adam Proctor and Mark Pickering, our dedicated investors, mentors and external supporters, the customers that have kept confidence in us leading to further work together, and our future customers (watch this space for some big updates soon!), the World Economic Forum, World Green Economy Organization (WGEO) and finally Innovate UK who have recognised the high-quality of our systems and science, we are today in a great position and are very optimistic about the future. Thank you to ALL those I've mentioned, anyone I may have forgotten, and the more recent supporters of VF from Unreasonable where I met some amazing people. There's still lots to do but what a journey it has been so far! 2 more years until the decade mark and we'll be sure to throw a big celebration then, and I'm sure that through everyone's continued commitment, there will be fewer lows and a lot of extreme highs! The video below doesn't begin to show the story of Vertical Future to date (with all the good stuff AND bad stuff any start-up/scale-up experiences), but I think it's the best and most up-to-date representation of our work to date. Good luck to everyone out there building a business, especially those across our sector - this is not a market for one company to dominate (it's simply too big), so we should all support each other. Now time for a nice Sunday lunch with the family to celebrate... good day all! #verticalfarming #CEA #agriculture #technology #change #climatechange #expansion #innovation #scaleup #global https://lnkd.in/ec3kSrcR

108

4 Comments

Summary: The article discusses the challenges faced by climate tech startups as they transition from the lab to commercial outfit. These companies, which work on hardware and infrastructure projects for climate solutions, struggle to raise necessary funds and often face difficulties in scaling up production. Key takeaways: The transition from early-stage startup to commercial operation is difficult, especially for hardware and infrastructure projects in the climate tech industry. The lack of financing options and specialized expertise for these types of projects creates a "commercial valley of death" that many companies struggle to overcome. Startups often fall into the trap of trying to expand their business too quickly, losing sight of their core value proposition and failing to ensure proper execution. Counter arguments: Some may argue that this "first of a kind" problem is not unique to the climate tech industry and can be seen in other industries as well. Others may argue that with the increasing focus on climate change and need for sustainable solutions, more funding and support will become available for these startups. #venturecapital #vc #startups

6

🌍💡 Embracing Interoperability: The Evolution of Carbon Markets 💡🌍 The landscape of carbon markets is rapidly evolving, with a significant shift towards fungibility and interoperability. What does this mean? We (at the SoHo Global Climate Fund) spoke with leading climate fund manager, Charles Bedford of Carbon Growth Partners, to shed light on this important trend in the carbon markets. It's about creating seamless connections between compliance and voluntary markets, allowing for the exchange and recognition of carbon credits across borders and sectors. This trend marks a pivotal moment in our collective efforts towards combating climate change. By enabling carbon credits to be fungible and interoperable, we're fostering a more efficient and scalable approach to carbon pricing and emissions reduction strategies. Companies and organizations now have greater flexibility to participate in markets that align with their goals. #CarbonMarkets #ClimateAction #Fungibility #Interoperability #Sustainability #Innovation #GlobalImpact

30

Together with three #impactinvestors we did a lot of work on Impact Investing over the past twelve months. And there's a lot more happening this summer. Catch up with it here: https://lnkd.in/eiHy8FGD

3

🌿 A question that I get asked often is "Why is there a sudden global interest in natural capital and agriculture from the investment community?". 😎 Its true, there is growing interest in #naturalcapital and #regenerativeagriculture 👨‍🌾 . In the past two decades, there has been significant investment interest in #renewables and #carbonavoidance, and this has now expanded to include #carbonremoval (an essential form of #climatemitigation), leading to the growing interest in #naturalcapital investment and important diversification for #impact investment. 👨‍💻 This has been facilitated by better tracking of nature 🦅 and natural forms of #carbonsequestration 🌲 through #technology and #innovation. Innovation in this area is essential to continue the develop natural capital investment. Regenerate Asset Management combines the benefits of sustainable agriculture with the monitoring precision of natural capital in its regenerative agriculture investment themes. Essential to facilitating better tracking of our investment's positive impact on #nature. Making food, impactful 🌻 It great to be coming back to World Agri-Tech for a second year in London to discuss the technology development for agriculture and natural capital. I'm looking forward to joining the 9.50am panel on "Financing the Green Transition in Food & Agriculture" chaired by Gemma Cranston with fellow panelists Johnny el Hachem, Laurent-David Charbit, Maria Carvalho and Peter Bachmann. If you are joining the event next Monday and Tuesday, come and listen! Regenerate Outcomes, Tikehau Capital, Edmond de Rothschild, Pollination,NatWest, Gresham House, Mad Capital, Trailhead Capital, Rebalance Earth, MERIKA ADVISORY, Ryan Cameron, David Bates, Nicholas Burlington, Addy Windsor-Clive, Jeremy Stroud, Ananya Manna, Matt Jordon Agenda: World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit, September 26-27, 2023 (https://lnkd.in/emiN5AMh)

36

2 Comments

A SAFE and convertible note had a baby and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati was the midwife- out popped the D-SAFE! 👶🏽🎉 A new #climatetech funding instrument was announced by Elemental Excelerator last week. One of the company’s main goals is to support smaller, up and coming companies during the awkward “Scale Gap” phase between #VC funding and natural growth. It’s called the #DSAFE (Development Simple Agreement for Future Equity) and it aims to aid the process by giving companies a small amount of cash to overcome initial risks and expenses during the developmental stages of a product launch or company. How does it work? D-SAFE has a redemption clause meaning companies can choose to have their payments offered as a loan or convert to equity at the investor’s discretion. Funders and companies will have clear communication and expectations about where the money is going and how it will be applied to either the company or the projects at hand. Financiers and companies will work together with more #transparency, and that’s a great boon for #startups and VC alike. As of this month, Elemental has already invested using D-SAFE in eight different companies, including Dimensional Energy and Origen — both companies investing in innovative and out-of-the-box solutions to environmental issues! Seems like a win-win on the surface. What do you all think about the D-SAFE? Alfredo Coppola Momoka Ueda Tim Wagner Stephen D. Torres Olya Irzak Natsuho Toyama Noriya Tarutani Shin Ogawa

15

6 Comments

Check out my recent post on why President Trump is the forcing function for us to solve the “Missing Middle” and catch the industrial Tsunami of onshoring coming to the US!

84

9 Comments

Stop this removal-only obsession in the carbon markets. What kind of hare-brained approach is that? We need avoidance even more than we need removals. This article reminds me of the analogy I made a few months ago about a sinking boat. No amount of bailing water with buckets will save you if the hole in the hull is getting bigger. Remember, if deforestation was a country, it would be the world's third largest emitter. And no, you cannot just demand/legislate that poor rural people stop deforesting without providing alternative income. That is why forest carbon exists. It takes some form of totalitarian mindset (and/or total lack of understanding of rural economies)to think one can just ban things they do not like. https://lnkd.in/eCddBRwt

49

5 Comments

🚀 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗙𝗦𝗜 𝗣𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻! 🌍 We’re excited to announce our sponsorship and hosting of the RFSI Pitch Session, a unique opportunity for early-stage solutions to showcase their innovative ideas and drive the future of regeneration. If you're working on groundbreaking solutions to scale and accelerate the transition to a regenerative food system, this is your chance to shine! 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆? 𝗚𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Present your idea to a room to an audience of more than 500 investors who are passionate about accelerating regeneration and sustainability. 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: Connect with key stakeholders and collaborators who can help elevate your solution and expand your impact. 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀: Leverage feedback and insights from experienced professionals to refine and scale your project. What We’re Looking For: Innovative solutions that address environmental regeneration and sustainability challenges of the food system Projects in the early stages of development with large scalability potential. Teams are committed to creating positive change and driving meaningful results. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆: Submit your application by 3rd September for a chance to pitch your solution at the RFSI Forum in October. Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a movement dedicated to transforming the future of our food system! 👉 Apply Now: https://lnkd.in/egcBmqZQ We can’t wait to see your innovative ideas and support your journey toward making a lasting impact! If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below or feel free to message me. #RFSI #Innovation #Regeneration #RegenerativeAg #PitchSession #EarlyStage #Regenag #foodsystems #agtech #agritech #naturetech

38

5 Comments

What's been happening in Mental Health innovation this week? ⭕ Virtual Therapeutics and Akili announce a merger. Akili were in big trouble, losing about $10m a quarter after failing to generate revenue for their digital therapeutics products. ⭕ Seven Starling, a maternal mental healthcare startup, raises $12.6m ⭕ Irish startup Spectrum.Life raises €17m in a round led by Act Venture Capital ⭕ Orygen receives an additional $6.4m of funding from the Victorian Sate Goverment for their youth digital mental health service MOST ⭕ Workplace wellbeing provider Habit Health is acquired by Five V Capital for over $200m ⭕ Optum acquires outpatient mental health providers Refresh Mental Health and CARE Counseling ⭕ Acadia Healthcare appoints Nasser Khan, MD as COO to expand their comprehensive treatment centres, grow their outpatient segment and improve quality of clinical care __ Want more insights and trends on mental health innovation? Feel free to follow myself and The Hemingway Report.

10

Excellent blog post on the realities of Climate & VC. While these are "tough times for the transition," there are also many opportunities. Significant capital will continue to flow, with Corporate VCs playing a larger role in financing this transition. Through this process, they will strengthen their LP positions in funds tackling climate challenges. I receive weekly calls from large Holding & Corporate VCs seeking introductions to Climate / Energy / Infra VC Funds. When I ask about their target sub-verticals within Climate / Energy, they often mention that they default to focusing on specific regions due to limited resources and coverage. In other words, rather than evaluating whether a DACH VC is better positioned for solar or grid-tech compared to a Nordic or US VC, they simply pursue whichever regions they can access—a haphazard approach at best. I always advise LPs to evaluate VCs within their operating market context. Since sourcing is crucial in venture capital, Holding Cos. and Family Offices should carefully assess a VC's location, regulatory context, and market environment before investing and building a portfolio of Funds. I've heard "I wish I had discovered this VC / region sooner" far too many times... * At ComposeVC's Built World Fund, we do not invest in Climatetech or Energytech directly, only as it relates to our Built World thesis.

9

Thrilled to have joined hundreds of climate professionals at the Impact X Summit over the last two days. It was great to be part of a positive, solutions-focused climate event. Two main themes resonated throughout the summit: accelerating climate solutions and ensuring a just transition. The breakout sessions truly stood out, diving deep into the complexities of climate change, which is crucial for developing actionable strategies. Highlights included: - Energy: Professor Penelope Crossley provided a perspective not often talked about in accelerating the energy transition—the importance of energy laws/regulations reform. Our energy laws from the '90s were overcomplicated then and definitely don't contemplate the new technologies like DER, VPPs, V2G we are seeing proliferate today. - Ocean: Orchestrated by Ocean Impact Organisation these sessions showcased impactful actions from industry giants like A.P. Moller - Maersk and innovative startups like Hullbot. My Therese Blank shared Maersk’s aggressive green fuel ambitions: increasing from 3% today to 20% by 2030 and 100% by 2040, which will require massive industry development on a global scale. Tom Loefler shared how new small robotic technology can make a big impact on the efficiency of ships, drastically reducing fuel requirements and removing some of the most toxic chemicals (ship antifoul) from our oceans. It was also positive to see state and federal government representation. It's becoming increasingly clear the important role governments are going to play in the transition, so it was great to hear from Martijn Wilder AM about the big ambitions (and large expectations) for the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation. NSW’s EnergyCo shared their vision and updates on Renewable Energy Zones (REZs), which, as Tim Buckley pointed out, is leveraging China’s success using this strategy. It was also reassuring to see how the climate tech sector is maturing. Corporate engagement has evolved from mere discussions to actively delivering and scaling solutions. Proud that Climate Tech Partners supported this event. Kudos to the Impact X team for a successful summit! #Climateaction #Sustainability #Innovation #ImpactX24 Tony Boatman

46

3 Comments

When Fossil Fuel Free Isn’t Free (Greenwashing Example) Matt Patsky exposes the dangers of greenwashing in ESG investing. As CEO and Lead Portfolio Manager at Trillium, Matt has firsthand experience navigating the challenges of authenticity in sustainable finance. He was also one of the insightful voices featured in my book, Sustainable and Responsible Investing 360: Lessons Learned from World-Class Investors. 🎧 This week, I’m revisiting the book and sharing three key chapters to help you identify true impact investments and avoid the pitfalls of misleading marketing. Tune in: 👉 https://lnkd.in/e4YbwSRG #SRI360 #ImpactInvesting #SustainableInvesting #SRI #Sustainability #EnvironmentalImpact #SocialChange #SocialImpact #ScottArnell

6

2 Comments

A great insight for those interested in learning more about our secondaries activities and venture secondaries in Europe generally.

28

We had the pleasure of speaking to the inimitable Gordon Sanghera, co-founder and CEO of Oxford Nanopore Technologies, valued at around $6.8bn in 2021. Gordon somewhat accidentally ended up as an entrepreneur, breaking the conventional VC wisdom around 'born founders'. The technology is wild - democratising access to genomic sequencing giving us a new understanding of living organisms. In the episode of Riding Unicorns, we cover: 00:00 Defining Entrepreneurship 00:55 Understanding Oxford Nanopore's Technology 06:10 Gordon's Journey to Founding Oxford Nanopore 12:09 Commercialization Challenges and Strategies 16:27 Building a Strong Founding Team 20:55 Navigating the Ups and Downs of Deep Tech 25:54 Innovative Applications of Nanopore Technology 28:57 Company Culture and Operational Insights 35:05 Attracting Talent in a Competitive Market 37:22 The IPO Experience and Future Outlook https://lnkd.in/eQZVSGeK

18

1 Comment

Here’s a roundup of a handful of startups I read about last week that secured investment and stood out to me with bold ideas and a clear vision for the future. 🌍💡 Openvolt Founders: Don O'Leary, Dave Curran A Dublin-based startup developing a carbon emissions data API. Funding Amount: €1.5 million (Seed round) from Cavalry Ventures, Übermorgen Ventures Overstory Founders: Indra den Bakker, Anniek Schouten An Amsterdam-based company using AI to manage vegetation and prevent power outages. Funding Amount: $14m (Series A), October 2024 from B Capital , Convective Capital, Semapa Next, Bentley iTwin Ventures, Pale blue dot, CapitalT, Moxxie Ventures, and Overwater Ventures honei Founders: Bernat Relats, Sergi Borja Gutiérrez A Spanish startup digitising restaurant experiences with QR code-based ordering and payment systems. Funding Amount: €1.45 million (Seed round) November 2025 from 4Founders Capital , Abac Nest Ventures, Wayra, Decelera Cradle Founders: Stef van Grieken A Dutch-Swiss biotech startup that empowers scientists to 'reverse engineer' proteins with desired specific properties, utilising a machine learning platform to design and program 'cell factories' more efficiently. Funding Amount: €69.5 million (Series B) from IPV Capital,  Index Ventures and Kindred Capital VC Safran.AI (ex Preligens) Founders: Arnaud Guérin, Renaud Allioux A Paris-based company providing AI-powered geospatial monitoring solutions for defense and intelligence sectors acquired by Safran for €220 million (October 2024) Quanscient Founders: Juha Riippi, Valtteri Lahtinen, Alexandre Halbach A Finnish technology company specialising in cloud-based multiphysics simulation and quantum algorithms to enhance product development processes. Funding Amount: €5.2 million from Crowberry Capital, SPEEN HOLDING AG, Maki.vc, and First Fellow Partners

19

1 Comment

A funny thing has happened with almost all of the impact investments we've done. We look at an opportunity, do our due diligence and decide it makes for a good investment. Then when we share our due diligence and invite people to participate in that investment, mainstream investors come onboard. Without our work to demonstrate financial returns, those investors wouldn’t have touched those investments because they didn't think the commercial returns were there. We've got a pioneering investment mandate. So, sometimes we’ll take the risk of looking into investments which mainstream investors don't have the remit to review. And we’re investors. So, we care deeply about unpacking and analysing risk and return, but we also make sure that we can see sufficient social or environmental impact in each deal. In short, our due diligence is next level. As a result, we create a safe space for mainstream investors to dip their toes in impact investing deal by deal and have done many times over.  Quite often we take a lead investor position and mainstream investors crowd in to fill a round. That’s a whole lot of capital for ventures that otherwise wouldn't have got a look in with mainstream investors who didn't know how to approach them. It's our belief that we'll see this process writ large. Impact investors come along, do the deals, demonstrate returns, and show that it's possible. Then other investors can follow in behind because they see evidence that impact investing can work and there are established practices to follow. Massive thanks to The University of Auckland Business School for publishing this piece and for being context for my growth as an academic and entrepreneur. Soul Capital was born during my PhD (🎓 Deb Shepherd, Christine Woods) and grew in parallel to my academic career. Not all business schools were open to my research agenda back then, 'career limiting' was a term I heard a lot when abroad. But at UABS I always found the best mix of rigour and support among colleagues. Still do. And now the leadership across the faculty are demonstrating a commitment to producing the research, graduates, and industry collaborations which will drive us toward the more productive and sustainable economy to which we aspire. #impactinvesting #investment #socialimpact #environmental #esginvesting

166

22 Comments