🌍 Newsletter - March 2024
Welcome to the 4th edition of the AFI Ventures’ newsletter.
As a reminder, AFI Ventures (a fund managed by Ventech) is an impact VC fund that invests in pre-seed/seed startups with a strong environmental and social ambition & producing a systemic change. We invest once a month in France & Europe tickets ranging from €250k to €500k.
Each month in this newsletter, you'll find a summary of 2 articles on the impact ecosystem that have caught our attention, fundraisings realised by impact start-ups in France, and news from our portfolio. 💚
👀 What Caught our eye
Main Points from Startus Insight's Biodiversity Conservation Trends in 2024
Blockchain:
Enables transparent and secure tracking of environmental data, ensuring reliable monitoring of species, ecosystems, and conservation funds.
Facilitates tamper-proof records for wildlife trade tracking, managing protected areas, and assessing conservation project impacts.
i.e. SEA / InvestConservation / Ocean Eye
Environmental DNA:
Non-invasive method to monitor and assess ecosystems by analyzing DNA fragments in water or soil.
Provides a comprehensive understanding of biodiversity, especially for rare or elusive species, and aids in monitoring aquatic environments.
Regenerative Agriculture:
Focuses on farming practices that restore soil health, enhance water retention, and increase biodiversity.
Integrates techniques like crop rotation and agroforestry to boost crop yields and actively rejuvenate the land.
i.e. Vayda / Trinity Agtech
Pollination:
Emphasizes the critical role of pollinators, primarily bees, in plant reproduction and maintaining healthy ecosystems.
Involves creating pollinator-friendly habitats and reducing pesticide use to support diverse plantings and ensure pollinator health.
Wetland Rejuvenation:
Involves restoring natural water flows, reintroducing indigenous species, and removing contaminants in wetlands.
Enhances biodiversity, improves water quality, and mitigates flood risks, recognizing the crucial role of wetlands in ecological balance.
Carbon Sinks:
Focuses on preserving and enhancing natural systems like forests, oceans, and wetlands that absorb and store carbon dioxide.
Strategies include reforestation, sustainable forest management, and protection of oceanic and wetland ecosystems.
i.e. Carboniferous / Zerti Carbon
Biodiversity Risk Prediction:
Utilizes data analytics and predictive modeling to foresee and mitigate threats to biodiversity.
Includes applications like satellite imagery for monitoring deforestation, climate models for predicting climate change impacts, and genetic analysis for understanding population genetics.
i.e. Geostorm / Sust Global
Ecotourism:
Promotes sustainable travel practices that benefit local communities and contribute to the conservation of natural habitats.
Channels revenue back into conservation efforts, creating a symbiotic relationship between tourism and nature conservation.
i.e. Reef Support
Forest Management:
Emphasizes sustainable practices such as controlled logging, reforestation, and habitat restoration to preserve forest ecosystems.
Recognizes forests as critical reservoirs of biodiversity and considers ecological connections between forests and other ecosystems.
i.e. Treely / Bird Habitat Bot
Ecological Restoration:
Focuses on repairing and revitalizing degraded ecosystems through interventions like replanting native vegetation.
Aims to enhance biodiversity, strengthen ecosystem services, and return ecosystems to their pre-disturbance states.
How Is Green Hydrogen Produced ?
Introduction to Hydrogen as a Fuel:
H2 production requires extensive amount of energy during the electrolysis process to split high-purity water into its constituent elements, gaseous hydrogen, and oxygen. The H2 gas is then captured and stored for various applications.
Hydrogen is highlighted as an energy carrier with its impact on greenhouse gas emissions dependent on production methods.
Green versus Blue or Gray Hydrogen:
Green hydrogen's production process stands out as it solely relies on renewable energy, ensuring zero carbon emissions.
Blue hydrogen utilizes fossil fuels for electrolysis, with carbon emissions captured and stored underground.
Gray hydrogen, produced from fossil fuels, releases carbon dioxide emissions without capture, exacerbating climate change.
Environmental and Sustainability Benefits:
Green hydrogen's sole byproduct is water vapor, making it a sustainable energy carrier.
It offers solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in sectors like heavy industry and transportation. It can also be used as power generation, feedstock in industrial processes and reduces the industries’ overall carbon footprint.
It is usually powered by solar, wind or hydroelectric power.
Scaling Green Hydrogen Production:
Centralized production: Large-scale plants are established near renewable energy sources to meet the demands of multiple industries and sectors.
Distributed production: Involves smaller-scale water electrolysis machine installations located closer to the end-user. Reducing transportation and distribution costs (very high because of its properties).
🍃 AFI Ventures - Main Highlights
Recent News from our portfolio
Optimiz Construction received Tech for Future 2024 jury award in the Environment & Energy category for the Lyon region - link
Carbonx Climate has facilitated over $7M of Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) purchases across six novel CDR pathways - link
Inarix unveiled the launch of a protein rate analysis tool to the broad agricultural industry - link
Captain Cause announced its first million euros in dift raised - link
Bon Vivant joined le Club Excellence Bpifrance - link
💰 Early-stage impact rounds in France (up to €15M)
AZmed (15M€ / Techstars, Teampact Ventures, Maison Worms) offers innovative solutions to optimize healthcare specialists’ workflow by using AI.
Greenerwave (15M€ / NC) develops revolutionary solutions to meet the toughest connectivity and mobility challenges.
Pixee Medical (13,9M€ / UI Investissement, Relyens, Innovacom & more) produces computer-assisted surgery solutions using computer vision and AI technologies.
Agriloops (13M€ / Transitions First, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, SPV Aqua Invest & more) is reinventing aquaculture to produce eco-friendly products that are healthier and tastier.
Cardioparc (10M€ / Citizen Capital, Banque des Territoires) is a digitally-driven facility with a team of assistants, nurses, technicians, and cardiologists, ensuring minimal waiting times.
Édifice (10M€ / NC) offers intuitive, scalable digital services that stimulate sharing and collaboration between all members of the educational community.
Agriodor (8M€ / Swen Capital Partners, CapHorn Invest, Capagro & more) provides concrete and effective alternatives to insecticides to help farmers produce more sustainably.
TRYON Environnement (6M€ / Starquest Capital, OVIVE, EREN Groupe) is a turnkey solution for local biowaste recovery.
Avatar Medical (5M€ / Rives Croissance, Plug and Play, GO CAPITAL & more) is a VR medical images solution focused on improving the preparation of surgeries.
TransOceanic Wind Transport (5M€ / NC) is a Sail Cargo for a CO2-free shipping.
ACWA Robotics (4,8M€ / NC) develops amphibious autonomous devices to manage clean water infrastructures globally.
Guided Energy (4,6M€ / Sequoia Capital, Better Angle, Dynamo & BAs) is an all-in-one EV fleet and energy management system.
Geev (4,5M€ / Omnes Capital, NACO, Daphni & more) is collaborative mobile app that allows its members to donate unused stuff or surplus food, and others to get them for free.
WinePilot by FoodPilot (4,5M€ / NC) is the first all-in-one digital solution to manage the CSR strategy of the wine industry.
ALPHA CHITIN (4,25M€ / NC) manufactures a material derived from bioproducts and chemically refined (biobased chemistry).
Sakowin Green Energy (4M€ / NC) is a solution for low-cost, carbon-free hydrogen production.
EQUIUM (3M€ / BPI) develops new acoustic heating for residential applications (heating and hot water).
Life Plus IO (3M€ / NC) is an assistance and remote medical monitoring solution to prevent frailty in the over-65s.
Helios (2,5M€ / crowdfunding) is a leading sustainable banking alternative - 100% transparent and dedicated to limit climate change.
Panopli (2,5M€ / NC) enables companies to send responsible gifts at key times, with just a click, while leaving the recipient the choice of choosing another gift or donating the equivalent of the budget to a charity.
Fruggr (1,4M€ / NC) is a deeptech cloud software offering automated analysis and improvement of the ecological and social footprint of companies' digital platforms.
Finisterestes29 (1,4M€ / NC) provides of anti-waste fruit and vegetable baskets.
KLAVA (1M€ / NC) develops digital therapies (DTx) for addictive disorders.
Starfish bioscience (900K€ / NC) restores our soil microbiomes for sustainable agriculture.
🤝 Our Team
Charles Fourault - Partner - charles@afi.ventures
Mamadou Dembele - Senior Associate - mamadou@afi.ventures
Constantin de Chaudenay - Associate - constantin@afi.ventures
Kim Godson - Analyst - kim@afi.ventures
Don't hesitate to reach out if you're an impact entrepreneur or just interested in any of these topics. 🍃