Cleantech for Nordics

Quarterly brief alert! 🌱 The quarterly brief for Q2 2024 is here! Before we head off for the summer, we are happy to share our latest quarterly brief with you. Take a look for a great snapshot of the latest cleantech dealflow activity and policy updates in the Nordics. 📈 🌍 In this edition, we especially want to bring your attention to our interview with Anders Stromblad at AP2 who provides us a great overview of the intersection between pension funds and cleantech investments.💰💼 Read the brief below and dive into the current state of cleantech in the Nordics. Enjoy! 🌟 Breakthrough Energy Julia Reinaud Mariano Berkenwald Markus Hökfelt Anna Lundin Veronica Wänman Anders Kjær Peter Hirsch Carin Elisabeth Breitholtz Eivind Olsen Jan-Olaf Willums Fredrika Svanholm Tuomas Oksanen Jussi Teijonsalo Henri Isohanni Niko Elers Ben Murphy Helga Valfells Anna Ljungdahl Magnus Agerström Alexander Lidgren Eva Andersson Cleantech for Europe

The EU elections are important for the cleantech industry, investors, and most importantly, of course, for voters! At Cleantech for Nordics, we are deeply invested in the future of the European policy landscape and its impact on sustainable innovation. Ultimately, this election is about setting us on the right pathway for reaching our climate targets. Your vote shapes this future! 🇪🇺 💚 Here's a reminder of our manifesto for the 2024 EU elections and why we care about the elections. See the full manifesto and its signatories here: https://lnkd.in/dWszDebG Nordic voters, remember to cast your vote by June 9th! 🌿

Finnish EU candidate Atte Harjanne joined us at Cleantech Capital Day in Helsinki! He now shares his reflections from the event on green industrial transition, funding, and the role of public policy in his latest blog post. Atte highlights the market gap we see, especially in regards to scaling first-of-a-kind projects, and which role the public sector can play in this. 🏛 🏗 💰 As Atte put it: What role could the EU and its member states play in correcting this market gap? The most important thing is, of course, that the policy in general consistently leads to an efficient reduction of emissions. The pricing of greenhouse gases through emissions trading is a cost-effective and technology-neutral means that should be trusted and strengthened. Other regulations, such as licensing and regulation of the financial sector, should also be clear, predictable and appropriate. Bridging the funding gap will, however, require more targeted actions on top of general market guidance. Read Atte's full take in his blog post! 📑 🔍 https://lnkd.in/dfJmEa3Q

The #Nordic #cleantech scaleup funding gap—the ever-pressing problem that we continue to highlight here at C4N. Yesterday, we helped organize an event on the topic, and we, optimistically, hope we have taken a leap closer to nailing down solutions to the problem. 💸    Defining the problem - 🕰️ With only 2042 days left to meet the Paris Agreement, the urgency is here, and the time to act is now. - 🏦 There is a capital gap of over 15 billion EUR, but as expressed by Trond Moe, we are specifically seeing a “missing middle”. This “missing middle” constitutes a structural financing problem and the Nordic landscape is weak in this regard. We have a very strong Nordic landscape within seed and early-stage investments, and in the late stages, international investors and banks are ready for the next rounds. But there is a funding gap in between, and this is where we find scaleups. - 💰 There is a difference between capital and capital. As particularly emphasized by Anna Skarborg, we need to be more nuanced about during which stage we need which type of funding. - 🛠️ The nature of cleantech is capital-intensive. “Climate change is not an app”, as Mala Valroy expressed, and we need the funding to support the capital-intensive manufacturing that cleantech can entail.   Looking towards solutions - 👩💼 We need a new breed of managers with diverse expertise who can combine knowledge on equity and debt finance. We need competent people who can come together, establish a fund, and tackle the "missing middle". - 🌎 A Nordic Growth Fund(s), with capacities for direct investments as well as initiatives at the fund level. A proposed starting point of 500 M EUR was suggested, and ideally this fund has a Nordic foothold that brings together public players. - 🏛️ There is a role for public funding, and that can be to address this type of market failure we see today. There is a structural problem to this funding gap. Furthermore, we have seen previous success in government intervention through e.g. Feed in Tariffs, which were critical for the takeoff of wind and solar. - ⚓️ We need Nordic lead investors that can attract global investors, including LPs and pension funds. The early stages are there, but we are missing local anchors for the “missing middle”. As requested by Anders Stromblad, we need a cleantech growth capital community. International investors are asking where the local anchors are—this is the gap we need to fill.   Final takeaways - 💼 Use existing instruments and institutions and start looking at the Nordics as one market, especially for scaleups. We need a diversified portfolio, and here, we have an attractive market. As Peter Wolpert 🇺🇦 said, we should see that as an opportunity! - 🕺🏻And, finally, we can’t resist sharing Lars Nordal Jensens analogy. As Lars put it, the dancefloor is open, and it’s time to come dance! Let’s put on some international music, and soon, we’ll surely see a Nordic hit! 🪩 Big thanks to Julia Reinaud for moderating!

📣 Exciting News on Nordic Cleantech! 🙌 A new study reveals that Nordic cleantech growth companies will need EUR 15 billion in venture capital funding over the next five years. 💰 Tesi, alongside the six Nordic investors Ilmastorahasto - The Finnish Climate Fund, Industrifonden, Almi Invest, Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, Nysnø Climate Investments, Investinor, conducted a comprehensive market study on cleantech startups and scaleups in the region. Key takeaways emphasize the sector's vital role in creating jobs and generating wealth in the region, as well as driving the innovations essential for achieving a net-zero future. However, a significant funding gap of approximately EUR 15 billion must be addressed. 🚀 This week, at Cleantech Capital Day in Helsinki, we brought together Nordic policymakers and investors to discuss this critical issue and explore solutions to bridge the funding gap. 🌍✨ Read the full study: https://lnkd.in/dWGwdUFh Jakob Sandell Jacob af Forselles Pia Erkinheimo Toni Mikkonen Johan Bitsch Nielsen Peter Wolpert 🇺🇦 Karoline Garm Nissen Ingvild Meland Sampsa Hämäläinen Jorgen Bodin Jonathan Lannö Linn Hege Aune Matias Kaila Tor Andre Vorpenes Lauri Teerimäki Julius Markedal Jensen Joachim Skov Binderup Esa Koponen, CFA Magnus Agerström Alexander Lidgren Eva Andersson

Today is a big day for several reasons. First off, we want to congratulate our coalition member Norrsken VC who closed Europes largest impact venture fund today. You rock. Good news for impact start-ups and in the words of Niklas Adalberth - "It’s no longer just a hypothesis — we have three unicorns" https://lnkd.in/dRd-zrej

📣 Curious to explore how EU policy can drive cleantech innovation and climate action through its sustainable finance regulation? We hope you didn't miss our interview with Natalie Milde in our latest quarterly brief where she sheds light on Article 9 of the SFDR and Future Energy Ventures Article 9 fund! 💡🌟 "Article 9 fund means being dedicated to making investments which make a significant positive contribution to a chosen sustainable investment objective, for example, climate change mitigation, without causing significant harm to any other sustainability objectives, such as biodiversity or circular economy. FEV launched Fund II as an Article 9 fund because it was the designation closest aligned with our company mission - partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs and investing in companies offering innovative solutions to address the energy transition and reduce carbon emissions." Read the interview to understand what is meant by an Article 9 fund, the challenges and opportunities for sustainable investments, how policy can accelerate the sustainable finance landscape, and what policy decisions Natalie would like to see next from the EU. 🌍 See the article in full in our latest brief: https://lnkd.in/dY6JCvHf

Cleantech Capital Day is next week and this is on our agenda! 🌟 With a distinguished panel we look forward to insightful discussion on how we can work together to speed up the scale-up of innovative technologies and support Nordic cleantech scaleups. Big thanks to Tesi, Ilmastorahasto - The Finnish Climate Fund, Industrifonden, Almi Invest, Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, Nysnø Climate Investments, and Investinor who conducted the market study report which will be starting point for diving into this topic. Jakob Sandell Tesi Richard Reinius Regeringskansliet, Klimat- och näringslivsdepartementet Graham Cope European Investment Fund (EIF) Jan-Olaf Willums Magnus Agerström

📢 🌟 Listen to our director Magnus Agerström speak tomorrow at C3 - Companies Creating Change event on the Year of Sustainability, in collaboration with DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre). Magnus will be joining a panel discussion at 17:00 GST/15:00 CET tomorrow! For registration and further information, see here: https://bit.ly/4a23IA4

✍ Signature highlight! ✍ We are happy to share that Finnish EU candidate Ville Kaunisto (EPP) signed our manifesto, demonstrating his support for the cleantech transition and a future of sustainable innovation. 🌿 💡 Ville shared his perspective in the following words: ”Strong European single market is the key for Europe’s success. With past and on-going crises the politicians have taken the easy way out with massive state aids and implementing excessive regulation. This is not the right way for Europe. Cleantech can give Europe the edge in the global competition. We need more freedom and more competition with political stability and predictability for businesses and investors to succeed in Europe.” In our manifesto, we also highlight the importance of the single market in driving cleantech growth and the need for a predictable policy landscape. We are thrilled that Ville shares our perspective on this matter and are grateful to have his support as we move forward! 🚀 🌍 See the manifesto in full and follow signatures here: https://lnkd.in/dWszDebG Breakthrough Energy  Tuomas Oksanen Jussi Teijonsalo Magnus Agerström Alexander Lidgren Eva Andersson Ville Kaunisto Merja Kyllönen