Climate Solutions: New Investment Opportunities

“Climate change has become a defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects. Last September millions of people took to the streets to demand action on climate change. Today we see financial institutions and policy makers recognize the significant and lasting impact that it will have on economic growth and prosperity – a risk that markets have been slow to reflect. Awareness is rapidly changing, and we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance.
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These questions are driving a profound reassessment of risk and asset values. And because capital markets pull future risk forward, we will see changes in capital allocation more quickly than we see changes to the climate itself. In the near future – and sooner than most anticipate – there will be a significant reallocation of capital.”

Larry Fink, BlackRock’s CEO, Annual Letter to CEOs, 2020 

Over 1300 jurisdictions and local governments in 26 countries have declared a climate emergency. More than 450 large global investors with $39 trillion in assets under management have mobilized to press for corporate action on climate change. Major asset managers - including the world’s largest, BlackRock - are taking account of climate risks while seeking new opportunities. 

Leaders everywhere - financial, political, corporate, social - are responding and reorienting their policies, businesses and communities towards the deployment of solutions that will help mitigate the worst effects of climate change. 

With public policy and corporate demand shifting rapidly towards the deployment of powerful climate solutions, this presents an opportunity for early stage innovators to bring their solutions to market. And that creates a timely opportunity for angel and other early stage investors to identify and help build promising ventures that address the world's most pressing climate challenges.

Climate solutions take many forms. Project Drawdown has identified several broad categories including Land Use, Transportation, Materials, Electricity Generation, Food, Buildings & Cities and more. Project Drawdown has analyzed and ranked a wide variety of specific climate solutions, from refrigeration management to rooftop solar to plant-rich diets to food waste reduction and many more. The climate solutions space provides a very wide and rich pallet for investors.

Apply to Pitch

We invite companies that include or want to add purpose to their business ventures and are seeking a seed stage investment to apply. To express your interest please tell us about your business by completing this form and complete your application to pitch including investor deck and GUST profile (can be DRAFT) no later than March 12.

Companies that apply and meet the criteria will benefit from the support and workshops that our investors and community partners provide before, during and after the investor meeting.

The Problems You're Solving

You are solving one of the world biggest challenges that are defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. You can find more details HERE.

Application Criteria

You are seeking an equity investment and you are on your way to meet these criteria.

• You are a BC-based company. Companies from other provinces are welcome to apply, and we will introduce you to our investors and partners, however for this investor meeting BC companies are preferred.
• Innovation & Impact: You have a transformative / game-changing approach to solving a problem or gap in the market that can have impact at scale, locally and globally. You have considered how your business can contribute to the United Nations Sustainability Goals (SDG's) and thought about your SDG Metrics.
• Product / Technology: Your product or service has a competitive advantage and barriers to entry.
• Customers / Traction: You have validated customer needs and wants, how you are different from competitors and how your ideal customers derive value. You have identified your key growth metrics and are making steady progress in building a successful business.
• Business Model / Scalability: You have a clear business model. Know how to scale, access markets, and acquire customers. You know your costs and how margins improve with scale. You are targeting a large and valuable market opportunity.
• Sustainability / Social Good: Your business has a triple bottom line: people, profit and planet and you are eager to do the work to refine your impact and metrics.
• Team: You have a well-rounded team of founders, staff and advisors.
• Exit / Investor Return: You have thought about your path to a high value exit or how you will provide competitive market rate returns to investors.

NOTE: If you meet the criteria but aren't selected to present on April 1, we will consider your application for upcoming investor meetings held monthly on the first Wednesday of every month except August.

Our Process

• Upon receipt of your expression of interest and investor deck we will ask you to complete a secure online investor profile on GUST by March 6.
• Your submission will be reviewed by the selection committee and selected companies will be invited to a 30-minute pre-screening in Vancouver on March 10 or March 17 where you will give a 5 minute presentation, answer investor questions and will receive feedback on your business and presentation. Companies outside the lower mainland can give their pre-screening presentation remotely via zoom video conference. Companies must attend in person to present and meet with investors at the Investor Meeting on April 1.
• On March 20, after all companies have been pre-screened, we will let you know if you have been selected to present on April 1.
• At the April 1 Investor Meeting you will present to an audience of up 150 people including 70+ angel investors, family offices, funds and community partners.
• Participating investors will be offered the opportunity to request a 1:1 meeting with companies at or after the Nov 6 investor meeting.

Benefits

This VANTEC meeting will be attended by 70+ angel and impact investors, family offices and seed stage funds. Companies that have applied and the meet the selection criteria will receive the following benefits:

• Get feedback and advise from investors and industry experts on your business, investor profile and presentation.
  • VANTEC Pitch Practice - Volition Pitch Night - Practice your pitch in front of a friendly audience and get feedback
  • Tandem Innovation Group - Review & get feedback on your investor profile & pitch deck from CFO's and investors
  • Access to an online course and resources to refine your fundraising strategy and execution provided by Spring Activator and VANTEC
  • Get connected with BC’s accelerators
  • Investing with Purpose workshop for investors and founders. Investors and Founders participating on April 1 have priority reduced fee access.
• Grow your connections, relationships with industry experts, peers and investors. Present, meet and set up 1:1 follow-on conversation with aligned investors
• Connect with a BC and Canada-wide community of seed stage investors. Selected companies will be provided with the opportunity to share their story via pre and post event marketing content that will be created and shared with and by our partners.
• Company pitches will be recorded on video and are made available to you to share with investors and other stakeholders.
• We will share the videos of the pitches and investor packages with our investors and affiliated angel groups and impact networks.

Why did you choose the Tech for Good theme, you are angel investors focused on tech

We indeed like to see great tech, and as a matter of fact, most of the tech we see does good across industries, for people, planet and profit. At this meeting we want to ask for a bit more and see companies that consciously included sustainability in their business model and have specific sustainability goals in mind that they want to move the needle on. The big idea is that this will also help all of us get more familiar with considering ESG and SDG's as part of fundraising, investing and our every day lives, and see how sustainability can protect and add value.

How is this VANTEC different from a regular meeting

It's a bit different, bigger and better in a few ways:

• We ask companies to show us great tech that can scale and tell us about their sustainability goals. We select companies and pre-screen them with investors and industry people that are experienced in sustainability.
• We have EiR's, investors, advisors and educators in our network that will give feedback. We plan to host a workshop for selected companies and investors to take a closer look at their business model and how sustainability can be added to add value. You can express your interest here.
• The call for companies will be shared with all BC accelerators across BC. Remote companies can pitch via video call. Selected companies are expected to present in person on April 1.
• Every time we host a themed investor meeting we meet many new investors that are specifically aligned with that theme. We expect 80+ investors (active angel investors, family offices, seed stage funds, impact investors) and a total audience of 150 (sell out).
• We will kick off the investor meeting with industry expert presentations about sustainability, investments trends and investor and founder panels that will be available after the meeting via video on demand.
• In 2020, together with our community partners, we will host a series of workshops around sustainability for start-ups, scale-ups and seed stage investors.

I'm not quite investment ready and haven't consciously considered my SDG's

Getting investment ready is a journey and a big job. When we receive your EOI we carefully review it and give you timely honest feedback if we think you're a fit or not. Even if you're not a fit (yet), we will still support you on your journey by sharing share free online fundraising resources, information on accelerators, upcoming workshops and startup community groups. You can apply to pitch at one of our next monthly investor meetings when you're ready.

I think of my business as a "social venture"

We value the important work that you do to make the world a better place and would like to hear from you. We're inclusive, and particularly at this meeting we expect to see about 50% of non-member investors that are aligned with the theme. That said, we are a group of mostly angel investors and look for promising returns to balance the high risk of early stage investing. While some of us have invested in social ventures, and are open minded about diversifying our traditional and seed stage portfolio, most of us  look for market rate returns on equity investments. We'll gladly refer you to others in our network that may be a better fit for you.

What do I pay to pitch or attend the investor meeting?

Non-member accredited investors only pay $75 to attend a meeting but tickets are limited so if you don't want to miss this, get your tickets early to avoid disappointment.

Companies only pay $75 to pitch, including a 30 minute pre-screening and investor feedback session 3-4 weeks before the investor meeting.

We're planning a special pre event workshop with a few startups, investors and sustainability experts to take a deep dive and develop a practical process for startups help them design purpose, sustainability, business and impact metrics into their business. You can express your interest here.

Have more questions? 

You can reach us at info@vantec.ca

Partnering Opportunities

We are looking forward to partnering with eco system partners from BC and beyond that want to support the growth of angel and impact investment in promising startups before, during and after this event. 

Please email info@vantec.ca to express your interest, start a conversation and receive our sponsoring package.

If you wish to make a 90-second community announcement at the investor meeting, please send us your request and details for posting on the website and event agenda to info@vantec.ca