Marek Kiisa

The challenge of growth is a challenge of energy. According to Copenhagen Economics, Population and GDP per capita are likely to grow by 20% and 90%, respectively by 2040.  Demand for energy services would grow by 50% or more, driven by urbanisation, industrialization, infrastructure build-out, and a growing global middle class. Energy intensity will continue to improve by up to 75% by 2040, driven by ongoing structural shifts to less energy intensive economic activity and improving technology. In spite of that, energy demand will still increase by 30-60% if developments follow the trends seen in the past. The current energy system is highly carbon intensive : coal, oil, and natural gas provide 85% of all energy.   To meet these challenges, the « all or nothing » scenarios are for no use. Fossil fuels won’t be replaced overnight. The economy will then have to combine for a long time an optimized utilization of fossil fuels with a fast growing H2 adoption.  #energytransition #growth #H2

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❌ Fundraising Evolution: (Critical) Trends in Startup Fundraising in 2024 ❌ As the month comes to an end, so does the first fundraising period of the year. After weeks of intensive effort, many players are heading into their summer break. We, too, can look back on a successful first half of the year, noting not only quantitative but also qualitative improvements in our deal flow. Here are three (critical) trends that have caught my attention: 🚩 Notion Instead of Pitch Deck Some founders choose to skip a traditional pitch deck entirely when pre-seed fundraising, opting instead for a notion page that combines a data room with a pitch deck. While the benefits of flexible updates over a static document are obvious, I think it lacks personalization and impact. Much of the valuable information in a pitch deck is conveyed between the lines. 💡 My Tip: Create a small Notion data room together with a short teaser deck for the perfect information basis. 🚩 Variable Round Setup More frequently, fundraising starts without a clear target. Instead, all options are considered throughout the round, adapting based on circumstances and feedback before settling on the most suitable setup. While this flexibility has advantages, I believe every team needs clear goals within a well-defined framework to attract the right partners. 💡 My Tip: Establish a clear framework with a structured timeline to target investors effectively. 🚩 Fundraising as a Team Effort At most of my meetings in recent months, I have always met the entire founding team. From a resource allocation perspective, this is disastrous. It is important to get to know all the key players in a start-up, but all it takes is one in-depth conversation. Otherwise, valuable resources are wasted in the large number of fundraising meetings with various investors. 💡 My Tip: The CEO should centrally manage fundraising. This includes initial meetings, email communications, reference calls and closing. Involve your co-founders only in a detailed deep dive and use their resources more strategically. What experiences have you had with fundraising in 2024? How do you consider these developments? Do you have a different opinion? Let's discuss! #fundraising #startups #investment #venturecapital #datadrivenvc __ ROI VENTURES

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There is a need for more investments in climate tech to promote positive impacts on our planet. 🌎 In recent years, the subsectors that have received the largest investments are listed here. If you are a founder or an investor interested in this topic, get in touch. Join us at Terralis Fund - www.terralisfund.pt. 🌱 Top five climate-tech sectors: 1) 𝗘𝗩 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 - $9.1B 2) 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 - $8.2B 3) 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝘆𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗻 - $5.6B 4) 𝗘𝗩 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 - $3.5B 5) 𝗘𝗩 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 - $3.1B #investments #startups #sustainability

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Dear Community, if you like to read what are the trends of 2025+, below a good summary article. Two of the trends, are below. At the InnoQube Batch 1, we had a startup from of each. If you are an investor or company, these are two technologies you can't escape. Trend #5 is like in the past mobile Apps. Every company will have one! Check this company www.grizoon.com (Swiss) , which can make AI Avatars with your own face! or this company https://workkiai.com/ (Finland) that has amazing technology. So, my dear European friends, take your Checkbook out and Invest! you want to get in early. Companies: embrace these technologies and don't wait to be the last. DM if you like their contacts Trend #5 AI Avatars: Simulate human interaction across channels Trend #6 Deepfake Defense: Counter AI-powered attacks https://lnkd.in/gsMdRsjt InnoQube Switzerland Bündner Stiftung INNOZET Canton of Graubünden

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In recent months, the Swedish startup ecosystem witnessed the unfortunate downfall of three promising companies: Mycorena, Coloreel, and &Repeat. These startups, with unique value propositions, faced challenges that led to their bankruptcy. Let's analyze the common factors contributing to their struggles. Mycorena aimed to revolutionize the food industry with sustainable mycoprotein products. Despite the growing demand for alternative proteins, scaling issues, high operational costs, and intense market competition hindered their success. Coloreel brought innovation to the textile industry with its coloring technology for textile threads. However, intensive R&D, supply chain disruptions, and slow market adoption contributed to its downfall. &Repeat focused on a circular economy for disposable food packaging but encountered challenges in driving behavioral change, navigating regulations, and securing funding. Key themes among these startups include financial strains, market entry barriers, and external factors like the pandemic and regulatory changes. Their experiences highlight the importance of effective financial management, strategic scaling, and adaptability to market conditions for long-term success. While the bankruptcy of these startups is a setback, their innovative spirit leaves a lasting impact. Their journey provides valuable lessons for future entrepreneurs to learn and grow from, shaping a more resilient startup ecosystem.

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WSJ reporting Foundational Model company Mistral is raising $600mm at a $6 Billion Valution. For VCs goes to show Foundational Models are a big boys game with hundreds of millions if not Billion + needed to be raised to be competitive. But I wonder longer term if these are + ev bets or simply a way for the blue chip VC firms who have raised billions for their new AI funds to deploy massive amounts of capital in low-risk low-return bets. The more interesting companies are still worth $50 million or less but; 1. Finding them is hard 2. Check sizes are by definition smaller so for big VCs won't move the needle 3. The risks of failure are extremely high But that is where the highest expected value lies.

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Atomico, founded in 2006 by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström, raised two new funds worth $1.24 billion to back European technology firms. The two new funds are comprised of a $754 million growth-stage fund for startups raising Series B to pre-IPO financing and a $485 million early stage fund. The fresh fundraising comes as two of Atomico’s key portfolio companies, Stripe and Klarna, have been circled by speculation of upcoming IPOs. #Atomico #techfunding #venturecapital #EuropeanTech #NiklasZennström #startupfunding #SeriesB #preIPO #growthfund #earlystagefund #Stripe #Klarna #IPOnews #techinvesting #fundraising #startupinvestment

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📣 Kennet Partners closes €266M fund to invest up to €50M in European SaaS startups - Kennet Partners, a London-based growth equity investor, raised €266 million for its largest fund, Kennet VI. - Kennet VI focuses on efficient B2B SaaS companies across Europe. - With this fund, Kennet Partners' assets under management (AUM) surpassed €1.3 billion. - Kennet VI was raised in partnership with Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity, a partnership started in 2017. - Edmond de Rothschild is a cornerstone investor in Kennet VI. - Other notable investors include British Patient Capital, Federated Hermes Private Equity, and Bpifrance. - Kennet works with founders who have bootstrapped their companies and are ready to accelerate growth. - Focus on high-growth B2B SaaS technology companies that are founder-owned, capital efficient, or fully bootstrapped. - Investments are the first external funding for these companies, used to scale, expand internationally, and build management teams. - Target companies have €3 million to €50 million in revenue and little to no prior external investment. - Led by Michael Elias, Javier Rojas, Eric Filipek and Hillel Zidel. - Offices in London and the Bay Area. - Structured to assist companies with global expansion, particularly into the US market. - Over 25 years of experience with a proven track record. - Recent exits include eloomi with a 3.1x cash multiple, and previous exits like Nuxeo, Dext, Crossborder Solutions, RIMILIA HOLDINGS LTD, and Impartner Software. - Recent investments include Screendragon (Ireland/UK) and Fluid Topics (France). - Michael Elias emphasized the milestone of closing their largest fund, highlighting the conservative strategy and its appeal to investors. - François-Xavier Vucekovic of Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity highlighted the critical role of technology in economic transformation and the strength of Kennet’s strategic approach. - Hillel Zidel stressed the importance of long-term partnerships with bootstrapped founders and the focus on fair, sensible valuations.

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Welcome ecoLocked to the Climentum Capital portfolio! We are proud to have led the €4M funding round together with Matterwave Ventures, and delighted to have existing investors Counteract, Startup Family Office, Sabancı Building Solutions, and VOYAGERS.io joining the round. The investment will support ecoLocked’s mission to revolutionize the construction industry with carbon-negative building materials. Concrete production accounts for 8% of global CO2 emissions, making innovations in this field crucial for achieving net-zero goals. ecoLocked is leading the change by converting carbon captured from biomass into functional, carbon-negative building materials. This funding will accelerate ecolocked's efforts to turn buildings into carbon sinks, scaling their innovative biochar-based solutions and enabling 1Gt carbon removal by 2040. Doerte Hirschberg Morten Halborg Stefan Maard

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Ulrik has been formally helping companies with monetization for almost a decade across the world. He shares some of that wisdom in the episode below — for anyone owning or informing these types of decisions at their company, this is a great listen.

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Founded by Nico Rosberg, we are on a mission to support the most impactful global startup innovation. In just over a year, we now passed $50M under management – with our 2024 Fund targeting $75M to maximise value for all stakeholders. Our VC Fund of Funds pools capital from Europe's most-successful business families and invests into funds of the incumbent global VC firms. A diversified (indirect) investment opportunity in 2,000+ of the most innovative startups of our time! This unique access strategically connects our investors and their businesses with the world's leading innovation, supporting transformative business growth – especially in key areas such as AI, Software, Blockchain, Climate Tech, and Productivity. Alongside selected angel investments (personally by Nico Rosberg), we empower the world's best founders and leverage our global network to accelerate positive change. Let’s get in touch via: [email protected] #VC #Investments #VentureCapital #Startups

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🚀 Austrian VC firm Round2 Capital leads a $20M round for EvoluteIQ 👉 https://ain.social/4e5HvDu EvoluteIQ, a Stockholm-based leader in AI-powered automation, has raised $20M in equity and debt, led by Round2 Capital Partners with contributions from Nordea Growth Fund, DCAP Digital Select, and PH Ventures LLC. EvoluteIQ’s low-code/no-code platform combines generative AI, data processing, and process automation, simplifying digital transformation for industries like healthcare, finance, and insurance. Founded in 2019, EvoluteIQ enables businesses to automate processes without advanced tech skills, driving efficiency and reducing costs. This fresh funding will accelerate EvoluteIQ's global expansion and support enhancements to its robust automation platform. #Automation #AI #DigitalTransformation #SeedFunding #TechInnovation

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Meetup at Norrsken House—a gathering of visionary startups reshaping the future of food and agriculture. The event, hosted by Norrsken, showcased some truly inspiring pitches and ideas that addressed pressing global challenges with innovation and purpose. Here’s a quick summary of my impressions and ranking of the startups: 1. Cinis Fertilizer Why it ranks highest: Cinis has a clear, impactful solution with scalable technology and a strong environmental focus. Their ability to repurpose industrial waste into a critical product (fertilizer) makes them both innovative and essential. Their team, market fit, and sustainability metrics are outstanding. 2. Agteria Why it comes next: Agteria is highly promising due to its ability to integrate technology with agriculture, a sector in dire need of modernization. Their use of IoT and data analytics provides measurable benefits to farmers while addressing environmental concerns. 3. Nordic Seafarm Why it’s ranked third: Nordic Seafarm brings a unique approach to sustainability through regenerative seaweed farming. While the concept is strong and the environmental impact is significant, the market scalability might take longer compared to others. 4. Proteinish Why it’s fourth: Proteinish has potential in the plant-based protein market, but it faces intense competition from established players. Their differentiation strategy and ability to scale will be critical to their future success. The event wasn’t just about ideas; it was a celebration of innovation, resilience, and sustainability. It reminded me how critical startups are in tackling today’s challenges—from food security to environmental restoration. Who else attended? What were your key takeaways? Let’s keep the conversation going! #ImpactInnovation #SustainableStartups #FutureOfFood #NorrskenHouse

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Just landed in Denmark and now off to my first The Drop conference in Malmo, Sweden. First up in a few hours is an event I am co-organizing on distributed power and storage on the grid with 🟣 Chris Bernkopf of Podero with fellow cohosts Marcus Jacobsson of Sunshine Fund, Fredrik Rosenqvist of Qvantum International and Victor Nilsson of E.ON Sverige We will be organizing breakout sessions to discuss the following topics - The Heat Pump revolution: Fredrik Rosenqvist - Role of manufacturers, DER optimization from utilities vs. manufacturers, levers to drive heat pump adoption, challenges in installation capacity and expertise, heat pumps in single family homes and apartment complexes - VPPs and Utilities: Viktor Nilsson - Role of utilities, DER optimization from utilities vs. manufacturers, Virtual Power Plants (VPPs), the needs of consumers, giving users control over their energy, the challenge for utilities to transform into digital energy companies - DER Financing: Marcus Jacobsson - Key prerequisites for bankable projects (grid connect, permits, insurances, PPAs), latest financial engineering strategies to accelerate DER adoption, IRA vs European Green Deal - challenges and opportunities in the EU vs U.S. - Storage as the Holy Grail: Josh Felser - Role of battery storage on the grid, decentralized and non decentralized approaches, the role of utility and non-utility scale solutions, vehicle to grid, difference between EU and US in DERs and electricity markets - Energy Optimization: Chris Bernkopf - Decentralized energy flexibility and energy trading - different types of storage, how to use storage effectively, flexibility trading, local grid optimization, pathways to 100% green electricity If you just happen to be in Malmo at 15:00 today, come join us! Free coffee!

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We're excited to see the spotlight on Iceland's thriving startup ecosystem in the latest TechCrunch article by Anna Heim! She writes of Iceland's focus on leveraging natural resources and fostering innovation. Iceland is working hard to become a hub for groundbreaking startups and venture capital.   As Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir, Iceland's Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, highlighted during Iceland Innovation Week, diversification is critical to our economic growth. Our startups are at the forefront, from MedTech innovations like Kerecis to FinTech pioneers like Indó and Monerium.   Reykjavík Science City is proud to be a part of an environment where talent and ideas can flourish. Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/e9dEUknv The City of Reykjavik Vísindagarðar HÍ // UI Science Park Landspitali University Hospital Háskóli Íslands Reykjavik University #ReykjavíkScienceCity #IcelandStartups #Innovation #Tech #Sustainability

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🔍 Building a Track Record - Angel Investing 🔍 Maria Juesas Portoles, Venture Partner at Vsquared Ventures, shares her personal journey into angel investing. She made a bold choice to invest heavily in startups instead of more traditional assets - all to build a track record in something she’s truly passionate about. Though she acknowledges the high risks involved, Maria sees it as an investment in her future, in both experience and credibility. Starting a syndicate with a few industry friends, she embraced the journey of backing early-stage companies, knowing that if things don’t pan out, there’s still time to rebuild. A valuable reminder that sometimes, to build something meaningful, you have to take the leap — even if it’s risky. 🚀 #AngelInvesting #VentureCapital #VC #StartupInvesting #CareerJourney #TrackRecord #InvestmentStrategy #FinanceTips #RiskManagement #Syndicate #WhatsinStoreShow #GonzaloPerez #Insights

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🕚Here’s a flashback to an exciting and bold VC fund launch from 2023. 💸 In Q4 2023, #UK and #Sweden based venture capital firm Oxx closed its $190M fund backed by LPs such as British Patient Capital, Saminvest AB, Argentum Asset Management, Pool Re, Coeli and KfW Capital 💡 Scale-up stage #B2B #SaaS companies that have reached product-market fit. 🌍 #Europe 📈 ‘Oxx’s portfolio includes exciting start-ups, including Funnel, Goodlord, Latana, Gravitee, Black Swan Data, Codility, CyberSmart, among others. 💭 “We are now at an inflection point, entering the early innings of the AI paradigm of SaaS. AI is not merely hype, it is the technological driver underpinning a structural shift and spurring another tidal wave of innovation, driving migration from incumbent legacy systems and applications.” - Mikael Johnsson, General Partner at Oxx 🗞️ Abhinaya Prabhu Tech Funding News https://lnkd.in/gYqTqn-C 👏 For the #AudaciousInvestors unleashing innovation and empowering tomorrow🚀 Richard Anton I Mikael I Philip Edmondson-Jones I Bob Thomas I Benjamin Palmer I Toby Lywood I Carole Ginman I Mark Lewis I Sebastián Harlander I Gökçe Ceylan I Reshma Sohoni I oren zeev I Team Oxx … #venturecapital #vc #funds #startups #entrepreneurs #funding #tech #entrepreneurship #technology #innovation #venture #fund #london

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In the Norrsken Accelerate Fund we have made 20 investments this year in super exciting impact tech startups that are tackling some of the big issues on the planet.🌍 I’d like to the spotlight on the amazing founders behind these companies. 📸 First out are Sébastien Fiedorow and Steven Bardey, PhD who are the founders of Aerleum. What they are doing is defossilizing heavy industries which is crucial for reducing GHG emissions globally. Sectors like shipping, road transport, and aviation need clean fuels with high energy density, cost-efficiency, and supply chain compatibility. How they address this is be having a unique technology that produces e-methanol from captured CO2 and low-carbon hydrogen. It burns cleanly, has high energy density, and integrates with current supply chains. By doing this they strive to remove giga-tons of carbon dioxide from the air and transform it into clean alternatives for fossil-based products which will be massive win for the planet.💚 Read more about Aerleum here: https://www.aerleum.com/ and ping me if you want to get in touch with them.

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