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☆ Plant-based meat startup Heura just raised $20 million as it aims to become Europe's industry leader. Here's the 35-slide pitch deck it used to raise the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Spanish alternative protein startup Heura just raised $20 million through a crowdfunding campaign. We got an exclusive look at the 35-slide pitch deck it used to raise the funds. Alternative protein startup Heura just raised 20 million euros (around $20 million) as sales of its alternative meats more than doubled in the first half of the year. The pair set about creating healthy meat alternatives that look, feel, and taste like animal-based meat while just using plant-based ingredients. Heura remains committed to growing the plant-based food sector across Europe, as it has done in Spain, Añaños told Insider.

☆ Climate investor Satgana funds early-stage founders tackling issues across food, energy, and carbon removal. Here's a peek at its first 16-slide LP fundraising deck.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Climate-focused investor Satgana just closed the first round of its inaugural $29 million fund. We got an exclusive look at the 16-slide pitch deck it used to raise the funds. European venture capital firm Satgana has closed the first tranche of its 30 million euros (around $29 million) climate tech fund. Founded in 2020, the Luxembourg-based investor will write checks of up to 500,000 euros to 40 pre-seed and seed-stage startups across Europe and Africa. This is particularly important for startups that enable other climate tech solutions but may not have direct impact, he said.

☆ This startup wants to give plant-based foods a meaty aroma and taste. Here's the 13-slide pitch deck Nourish Ingredients used to raise $28.6 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A startup creating plant-based fat to mimic ones found in meat just landed $28.6 million. Nourish Ingredients hopes its fat will help plant-based meat taste, smell and cook like the real thing. Australia-based startup Nourish Ingredients, founded in 2019, has developed a way to make animal fats using plant-based ingredients. Nourish Ingredients' fat will give foods a meaty aroma and taste, cofounder and CEO James Petrie told Insider. After two years of growth, plant-based food sales have stagnated as public perception dwindles, according to Deloitte.

☆ This startup helps Microsoft and P&G make their products more sustainable. Check out the 14-slide pitch deck Makersite used to raise $17.5 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A startup that helps companies build more sustainable products just raised $17.5 million. We got an exclusive look at the 14-slide pitch deck it used to raise the Series A round. A German startup that enables companies to assess the sustainability of their products before going to market just landed 18 million euros (around $17.5 million) in its first institutional raise. Makersite uses AI to create software-based replicas of product designs using technology known as digital twins. Check out the 14-slide pitch deck Makersite used to raise the fresh funds below.

☆ This startup could become the Google Analytics of carbon accounting. Here's the 13-slide pitch deck Climatiq used to raise $5.8 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Climate tech startup Climatiq has raised 6 million euros (around $5.8 million) in a seed round. VC firm Singular led the round into the carbon API startup with Cherry Ventures also participating. Companies can also import their own carbon emissions data to provide a more accurate estimate of their impact. Some consumer-focused tools already embed emissions data. Emissions data is already shown on travel sites like Google Flights.

☆ Carbon accounting startup Emitwise becomes latest climate tech startup to lay off staff as red hot sector jostles with economic downturn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Layoffs have hit the red-hot climate tech sector as it jostles with the economic downturn. Carbon accounting startup Emitwise has become the latest climate tech startup to lay off staff as the industry jostles with the economic downturn, Insider understands. Climate tech is wide-ranging, encapsulating everything from research and development-heavy batteries to carbon accounting SaaS tools. The energy crisis has been a boon for home energy startups working on rooftop solar, heat pumps, and smart thermostats. At One Ventures' Lin added that in moments of economic difficulty "sometimes the most interesting innovations are born."

☆ Spain's startup scene has gone from a desert crossing to a $4 billion burgeoning industry. Now, it plans to cut red tape to birth a new batch of unicorns.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Spanish startups lured a record $4.1 billion from investors in 2021, according to PitchBook. The government hopes its new Startup Law will help birth an array of new unicorns. In 2016, Lucas Carné sold his fashion marketplace startup Privalia for around 500 million euros (around $495 million) in a landmark deal for the Spanish tech ecosystem. Privalia's sale to its enlarged French counterpart Ventee-Privee – since rebranded as VeePee – illustrated just how far the Spanish startup scene had changed in the space of 10 years. Spanish startups secured a record $4.1 billion in 2021 – more than double that of 2020 –, according to PitchBook data.

☆ Crop monitoring startup PlanetWatchers used this 11-slide pitch deck to raise a $11 million Series A from Seraphim Space and help farmers get paid after extreme weather events.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A crop monitoring startup just raised a $11 million Series A from Seraphim Space. We got an exclusive look at the 11-slide redacted pitch deck it used to raise the funds. A startup helping to insure the agriculture industry through crop monitoring has raised a $11 million Series A from Seraphim Space. London-based PlanetWatchers has developed an analytics platform for crops, which it can monitor at any time and regardless of weather. The means PlanetWatchers can give accurate data to insurance companies no matter the weather, he added.

☆ One Point Five just raised $10 million to replace single-use plastics. Check out the pitch deck it used to raise the round led by Speedinvest.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A startup cofounded by former execs from vertical farming unicorn Infarm has raised $10 million. Hamburg-based One Point Five is designing "litter-proof" materials for sauce and shampoo sachets. We got an exclusive look at the 10-slide pitch deck it used to raise the cash. A startup designing and developing "litter-proof" material to replace single-use packaging has raised 10.5 million euros (around $1.1 million). While designed to be recyclable, One Point Five's materials will also be "litter-proof," Weber said.

☆ Not So Dark just raised $80 million to help restaurants take on dark kitchens
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

French food tech startup Not So Dark just landed $80 million from Kharis Capital and Verlinvest. It was a food delivery company called Resto-in that was later acquired by Dutch company Lieferando, which in turn was gobbled up by Just Eat Takeaway. Now 37, Benoit is back in the food delivery game and just secured an $80 million Series B for Not So Dark. They have been criticized for killing the high street but grew in popularity during the pandemic as demand for food delivery soared. Not So Dark's technology also scans comments on each delivery platform to find ways to make deliveries better.

☆ We got an exclusive look at the 9-slide pitch deck Innovafeed, an insect protein startup, used to raise $250 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

We got an exclusive look at the 9-slide pitch deck it used to secure the funding. A startup developing insect-based food for aqua-farming, pet food, and eventually humans just raised $250 million to ramp up production. "One of the products we replace in aqua-feed is fish meal," Ray said. "Fish meal is made of small fish caught in South America, in Africa, turned into a meal to feed other food production. Replacing fish meal with Innovafeed's product reduces the carbon footprint of salmon feed by 50%, the cofounder said.

☆ We visited Chris Sacca-backed Epoch Biodesign's London HQ. The startup wants to clamp down on pollution with plastic eating enzymes.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Epoch Biodesign, a startup converting plastic to chemicals using enzymes, has raised $14.5 million. Epoch Biodesign uses plastic-eating enzymes as a base and scientifically alters them to produce a specific chemical from the consumed plastic. Epoch Biodesign is also developing enabling technologies to do this cheaper, faster, better, and at greater scale. This is a colony picker, one the machines used test and select Epoch Biodesign's enzymes in the lab. In the long run, Epoch Biodesign expects to license out its technology so it isn't running facilities itself.

☆ This startup wants to decarbonize the construction industry using biochar. Check out the 11-slide pitch deck EcoLocked use to raise $1.8 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A climate tech startup developing building materials with sequestered carbon just raised $1.8 million. A climate tech startup developing building materials with biochar, a charcoal-like form of sequestered carbon dioxide, just raised 1.8 million euros (around $1.8 million) in its first funding round. Manufacturing building materials such as steel, cement, and glass accounted for 11%. Changing building materials is a "major pathway" to decarbonization, he added, thanks to increased energy efficiency. Long-term, EcoLocked sees itself developing recipes for other building materials as well as concrete.

☆ Leonardo DiCaprio's Regeneration VC backed on-site rental startup Tulu's $25 million Series A after seeing this 12-slide pitch deck
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US startup hopes people will rent items instead of buying them – shifting to a circular economy. Check out the 12-slide pitch deck it used to secure funding from Leonard DiCaprio's Regeneration VC. A startup banking on a consumer shift from ownership to rental has just topped up its Series A to $25 million, with new backing from Leonard DiCaprio-funded firm Regeneration VC. You need to clean, you need to cook, you need to host; what are the items that you need for that?" Tulu kiosks are in 19 cities in the US, UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and Israel, the company said.

☆ Patagonia's charitable change will inspire founders. We spoke to 8 VCs about how startups can create their own climate change legacy.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | Tasmin Lockwood | Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard said he was giving away his $3 billion company to fight climate change. Insider spoke to 8 VCs about how hard it is for founders to follow suit and what they can do instead. "Instead of 'going public', you could say we're 'going purpose'," Chouinard wrote. Insider spoke to eight investors to find out why venture capital-backed startups would struggle to replicate Patagonia's model and what they could do instead. This means founders need to be active at an early stage in deciding what to do with their business.

☆ GoStudent, a $3 billion edtech startup backed by SoftBank and Coatue, is laying off a tenth of its staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

GoStudent, Europe's first edtech unicorn, is laying off 200 employees — around 10% of its workforce. The Vienna-based startup is backed by investing giants like SoftBank, Coatue, and Tencent. It joins 23 other edtech companies that have let staffers go amid the global economic downturn. GoStudent, an edtech unicorn backed by some of the world's biggest tech investors, is laying off a tenth of its workforce, the company's CEO said. Japan's SoftBank, Chinese tech investor Tencent, and New York hedge fund Coatue have all backed GoStudent, which is valued at 3 billion euros (around $3 billion).

These are the best seed investors backing European firms, based on data analysis from Tribe Capital. Insider and Tribe also identified the Seed 10: the best female early-stage investors. We have listed the top 50 seed investors into European firms, based in countries including the UK, Sweden, Turkey, and the US. Insider has also detailed the 10 best female seed-stage investors in Europe in the Seed 10 list. How Tribe Capital selected and ranked Insider's Seed 50 and Seed 10 lists of the early check-writers in Europe

☆ Zelenskyy praised Elon Musk's Starlink for saving Ukraine from Russian propaganda in Wired interview
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-03 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has praised Elon Musk's Starlink for helping overcome Russian propaganda. Ukrainians in offline areas were told by Russian troops that their country "does not exist anymore". The satellite network has been "very effective," Zelenskyy told Wired in an interview published on Thursday. I am really grateful for the support of Starlink," the Ukrainian leader told Wired. Internet connections have been instrumental in Ukraine's war effort, with the "IT Army" combatting Russian cyberattacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.

☆ Twitter is building new features including a version of Google Alerts despite Musk takeover uncertainty
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-03 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter is building new features, including one similar to Google Alerts. They will then receive push notifications for tweets relating to the query, similar to Google Alerts send to an email inbox. In screenshots posted on Twitter, Roussel shows a bell icon to the right of the search bar after searching in the Twitter app. https://twitter.com/evowizz/status/1531753374047260674Users can already receive search notifications via TweetDeck by turning on alerts for specific columns, as noted by 9to5Google. It comes as Twitter was plunged into turmoil following the apparent takeover by Musk and an internal shake-up.

☆ Driverless taxis approved in California for the first time – but the rollout will be gradual
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-03 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Autonomous car company Cruise is rolling out driverless taxis in San Francisco. Autonomous car company Cruise is on track to operate driverless taxis in San Francisco after winning California's first driverless deployment permit on Thursday. There has long been a buzz around driverless cars. More than $100 billion has been invested in autonomous vehicle technology since 2010, according to McKinsey. This could be the year that the potential of driverless cars is realised as Cruise joins an exclusive list of companies operating commercially.

☆ Instagram will notify users if a child goes missing in their area, sharing pictures and abduction location
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-02 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Instagram is rolling out a feature to help locate missing children. Shareable AMBER Alerts will display in a user's feed when they are within the search area. An AMBER Alert will appear in a user's feed if they are within the search area of a missing child. The alerts are triggered by law enforcement and cover only the area where there is an active search for a missing child. "Photos are the most important tool in the search for missing children," said John Bischoff of the Missing Children Division at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

☆ POWER PLAYERS: 19 women to watch in 2022 who made partner or higher in Europe's male-dominated VC ecosystem
▼ + stars: | 2022-02-03 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Just 12% of top roles in Europe's venture-capital sector were held by women in 2021, per Atomico. Efforts to push diversity have been slow, says Mali Baum, a founding member of European Women in VC. These are the 19 women who made partner at VC firms across the region last year. At 29, Annalise Dragic became one of Europe's youngest female venture-capital partners last year after rising through the ranks at Sapphire Ventures. Due to the sheer scale of Europe's venture-capital sector, we have no doubt missed out on some partner promotions during 2021.

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