It's the best time to launch and finance a climate tech startup in Europe
The redirection of investment towards a sector whose usefulness can hardly be questioned is underway.
"It's the the best time to create a climate tech startup", "the climate economy is about to explodeexplode", "the fight against climate change will change change more in the next four years than in the previous forty"...
It's hard to ignore the prophecies that some media outlets have been making lately.
Superlatives aside, this media coverage reflects a more tangible reality: working for the climate has never been so fashionable.
With 11 billion invested in 2021, compared with 1.1 billion in 2017, climate tech is the fastest-growing segment in Europe.
A recent study published by Dealroom sheds light on the fastest-growing trends and verticals.
Renewable energies, alternative proteins, decarbonized industry, recycling, CO2 capture solutions...
What do these sectors have in common? A mission focused on decarbonizing the economy, and the ability to combine profitable business models with limited climate impact.
Last year, 13% of VC funds financed climate startups, compared with 5.9% in 2017.
Climate tech is second only to fintech in terms of amounts invested.
Beyond the figures, the trend shows one thing: the redirection of investment towards a sector whose usefulness can hardly be questioned. In fact, its other great strength is that it attracts the best European talent. We see this every day at Asterion: the quality of the projects we receive is constantly improving.
Another factor is behind the current turnaround: regulatory changes and the rise in public investment.
By way of example, the latest climate bill passed in the United States will direct over 800 billion in public funds towards climate tech, and probably as much in private investment as a knock-on effect over the next ten years.
Regulatory changes, rising investment, influx of talent: "there's never been a better time to set up a company in climate tech", says Julie Gosalvez, Marketing Director of Climeworks in this Sifted article.
Robinson Meyer, in the Atlantic, draws an analogy with the turnaround in tech in the 2010s:
I remember that fateful moment around 2010 when the valence of the industry switched-it was right around when The Social Network came out-and working in tech went from being a career choice for dorky optimists to the default career track for many ambitious college students. A similar switch is coming for companies working on climate change: The opportunity will be too large, the money too persuasive, the problems too intriguing.
Asterion's mission is to take care of the entrepreneurs who are repairing the world, in climate tech and more broadly in impact.
With 8.5 million invested in 10 startups in a year and a half, we are already one of Europe's most active seed and pre-seed impact funds.
In 2023, we will triple this amount to finance and support between 15 and 20 startups a year.
We'll be telling you all about it very soon...