Vireo Insider - Autumn Edition
In our newest edition we look at how electrification of the world is the way forward to tackle the “Energy Trilemma” and achieve energy security, affordability, and sustainability. We give an overview of our portfolio companies, all of which contribute to this energy transition. Our team is growing, and we are welcoming Sandro as our new full-time Analyst. And we share our excitement about the European Investment Fund (EIF) investing €20m in our fund!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The world really is in turmoil. We live in an age of rising tensions, political polarization, wars, and terror attacks. At the same time, climate change is an existential threat to our planet and all its inhabitants. It’s sometimes difficult to keep a clear head as we are facing challenges on multiple layers and from many sides.
This is also true when zooming in on the topic of energy: As if the task of decarbonization and changing energy generation from fossil to renewable sources wasn’t challenging enough, we are also faced with increasing worries about security of supply and uncertainty of prices.
The “Energy Trilemma” concept suggest that energy security, affordability and sustainability are fundamentally at odds with one another.
However, it is important to find a balance between all three points. We can’t go back to our old ways of carelessly burning coal and oil when faced with uncertainty of energy supply (attack on Balticconnector pipeline, the war in Ukraine). It must also be considered that the energy transition will require huge upfront investments which raises the question of who will carry the costs. We must ensure equitable access to energy and not push parts of the population into energy poverty.
Yes, decarbonizing the energy system while also balancing the other vertices of the triangle is a massive undertaking. It will require not only trillions of investments in infrastructure, but also innovations and new technologies that will turn the old world of unidirectional energy flows into a complex decentralized, distributed, sector-coupled system. This is a challenge, but also an opportunity for human ingenuity and entrepreneurship – and for investors funding these innovations.
With our Vireo Electrification Fund, we are focusing on electrification as the main pillar of the energy transition, and are addressing not only the “getting green” part on the generation side, but the complete overhaul of the entire electrification value chain which includes sector coupling and decentralization, storage and smart grids, as well as “indirect electrification” through hydrogen. In our view, a fully electrified world offers the best chance to not only reach our decarbonization targets, but also to ensure security and affordability with entirely new services and products.
The recent €20m commitment of the European Investment Fund to our fund (more on this below) was partly financed by the REPowerEU program that aims to end Europe’s dependency on Russian fossil-fuel imports. This shows that in a sense, we also focus on a sub-segment of “resilience tech”, a term that has gained prominence in VC circles and includes security of critical infrastructure, cyber security, and also defense tech (the latter of which is clearly outside of our scope).
?
If you would like to join us in our mission to electrify the world and tackle the energy trilemma – either as a startup operating in this space, or as a partner, or investor, please reach out to us. The news bits below will give you an indication of where we are on this journey.
EIF investing €20m in our fund
As alluded to above, Vireo Electrification Fund has received a €20 million commitment from the EIF (European Investment Fund). We couldn't be prouder of this important milestone, which our team has been working towards for some time now.?
We look forward to working with the EIF team in the years to come. We are also still onboarding additional investors to our fund, so if you are a (semi-)professional investor interested in joining us, please reach out!
It appears that the press has been almost as excited as we are, as many media outlets have covered the news, not only in industry-related publications, but also in more mainstream media such as Forbes Magazine.
We could also witness how bad AI is increasingly becoming a problem for journalism: One dubious “news” website obviously based on auto-generated content quoted “Vireo’s founder and managing partner, Jér?me Guiot”... if anyone could remind us of who this Jér?me is, we would be most grateful. Never heard of him before… ;-)
Welcome Sandro!
Sandro Michelmann isn’t exactly new to the team as he has been supporting us for various months now while also finishing his studies at XU Exponential University. But now that he has graduated, he can finally join us full-time as an Analyst. Thank you for choosing to stick around with us, dear Sandro!
领英推荐
Vireo + Startups = Big Love
While we've been busy fundraising and preparing for our annual LP Day, which is just a few weeks away, we've also seen a number of exciting startup teams after the long summer break, meaning that we'll invest in a few great companies in the last months of the year.?
Some of the areas we have been looking at more intensely lately are energy efficiency for industrial use and also the transition of residential heating from fossil fuels to electric. We are also particularly interested in the intersection of EV charging and the electricity grid, and in flexibility solutions.
Our Portfolio
...plus two companies we can't disclose yet. Stay tuned for announcements in the coming weeks.
Where you will meet us
The highlight of this quarter will be our first ever LP Day on the 20th of November. In addition, we'll be attending a number of other events across Europe, while having the pleasure to co-host two of them:
On 16 November, the German Car Association VDA will host its Future Tech Day. Taking place at the Festsaal Kreuzberg in our hometown Berlin, Felix will give the stage to energy and mobility companies presenting themselves to OEMs, major suppliers and selected members of the German Mittelstand.
A week later, on 21 November we are going to host players from the German solar industry at the Forum Solar PLUS, helping startups to connect with project developers and decision makers in the DACH region.
For both events, we were able to secure a few free tickets for interested people in our community. Please reach out to us directly if you would like to attend.
Other events we'll attend:
That’s it for today. Don’t forget to stock up on your Halloween treats before the trick-or-treaters show on your doorstep!?
Yours truly,
the Vireo Ventures team