“Today, we have a 10 degrees warmer June.

How can we respond sensibly to this as an investor? I believe by putting the resources to stop climate change and invest in sustainable development. Pitchbook reported more than 31Bn dollars invested in the field. Without playing on words, we could be asking ourselves: is climate tech investing the hottest place at Venture Capital? “

Techstars Paris did not only choose to invest in sustainability because it is now proven that these businesses are more resilient in times of crisis. We do so because Techstars believe entrepreneurs can change the world and make it a better place.

France has become a great destination for sustainability

Not only that has the country set some groundbreaking regulations when it comes to agriculture, environment, energy or ESG reporting, but recently the French Tech took position to foster cleantech with the French Tech for the Planet initiative. No later than yesterday NW Groupe announced that they raised 300M for their energy storage solution, joining the green french unicorns gang together with Back market and Vestiaire Collective.

As a worldwide investor, Techstars invest in sustainability leaders coming from anywhere

Paris Techstars invests in French companies having a global ambition from the early days and in any company having an interest to settle in France or the European market. As the French startup ecosystem has thrived, it seems like french entrepreneurs still lack the resources when it comes to international expansion. By surrounding them with international founders, a worldwide ecosystem and giving them access to capital, we want to offer them the best opportunities.

Later, Techstars Paris disclosed the 4 pillars of its investment strategy beta tested with the first Class:

• Selection

  : invest in sustainability - sector and technology agnostic

• Education

  : use ESG framework to assess the performance of its portfolio over time and give the companies the tools and mindset to help them grow as best in class in the field

• Assessment

  : carbon footprint is for now Paris Techstars’ way to mesure the impact it can collectively have with its portfolio companies.

• Diversity

  : by setting a parity goal at each level of its accelerator, Techstars Paris is promoting a more equitable society. This include welcoming female founders, but not only. They aim at having a 50/50 ratio in their mentor pool and surround our founders with both men and women investors. This is a long journey but being an operating investing definitely enables up to set strong roots.

Techstars is investing in 24 companies this year only, all dedicated to impact

On June 30th at Le Trianon, the first 12 investments were finally disclosed on stage. Right at the end of the 3 month accelerator program.

They tackle massive issues and we will be presenting you today in three areas:

• Agri&Biotech

• Digital and data for good

• Energy and utilities

Over our 12 investments from April 2022, 58% are french companies and 42% are cofounded by female founders.

Here are they:

BeeSage (Latvia) - Data-driven beekeeping for productivity and sustainability

Bib Batteries (France) - Unlock the full potential of batteries

Bioesol (Mexico) - Leveraging renewable energy to 100% and leading to energy autonomy

Declique (France) - Decision tools thanks to data for factories

Heliorec (France) - simple and powerful floating solar technology

Iroko Analytics (USA) - Carbon origination from legal timber

Kumulus (France) - Drinking water from sun and air

Mavuno (Germany) - Empowering African smallholder farmers with satellite imagery & machine learning

Outlander Materials (Holland) - unplastic biotech from biowaste

Sustainsoft (France) - SaaS turning Sustainability Into Corporate Value Creation

Vallai (France) - Data & AI collaboration between teams or partners

Wikimove (Germany) - Putting Cities in Control of Mobility as a Service

With the 12 of them, Techstars Paris expect to be saving 4Mt of CO2 by the end of 2026.

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