Newsletter - November 2025
Welcome to the 21th edition of the AFI Ventures’ newsletter.
As a reminder, AFI Ventures (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 focus or key resources on an impact-related theme
📰Our Top must-read articles on the impact ecosystem🌱 Even more news from the AFI: public fundraisings, portfolio updates, and (new) where we’ve been spotted (at events) & where you can catch us next, plus a job board featuring open roles at our amazing startups.
More insights, more opportunities, more ways to connect. Let’s dive in! 💚
🔍 Focus on… our last investment — AnnetteWe’re thrilled to spotlight Annette, our latest investment in a health sector undergoing a major shift: the rise of GLP-1 drugs and the emergence of a new, integrated model for obesity care in Europe.
GLP-1s are reshaping weight management, but patients still lack support to navigate treatment, manage side effects, build lasting habits, and avoid weight regain. Annette provides that infrastructure.
The team combines consumer execution, medical authority, and scalable tech:
François-Xavier Trancart (CEO) — ex-Artsper
Gwen Le Calvez (CTO) — co-founder of Birdie
Dr Lysiane Jubin (Medical Lead) — ex-Novo Nordisk Europe
The opportunity is massive: 9M+ overweight adults in France, 90M+ in Europe, exploding demand, limited clinical capacity, and strong willingness to pay. Annette’s €49/month model sits at the sweet spot: accessible, high-quality, scalable.
The product spans the full GLP-1 journey with medication management, coaching, AI triage, education, and a medically validated pathway. It also delivers automation for clinicians and real-world evidence for pharma.
Our conviction is driven by the momentum, the team’s fast execution, early traction (300+ paying users), and proprietary data—a key moat. We believe Annette can become Europe’s reference platform for metabolic health, starting with GLP-1 and expanding into chronic lifestyle conditions.
📥 If you’re an entrepreneur and want to start a project in the healthcare sector, please send us an email at dealflow@afi.ventures.
📰 Top must-read articles — What Caught Our Eyes This MonthClimate Change
The world remains far off track on climate goals as emissions keep rising, green technologies stay too costly for widespread adoption, and transition timelines are still widely underestimated—highlighting the scale of innovation and financing required to realistically achieve net zero, said Bill Gates .
Climatetechmap centralises thousands of climate-tech companies into a searchable, filterable global map—helping investors, corporates and founders navigate emerging solutions across mitigation, adaptation and carbon removal, said Climate tech map.
COP30 ended with a watered-down deal that avoids a breakdown in negotiations but falls short of securing concrete fossil-fuel reduction commitments—revealing deep geopolitical divisions and leaving climate ambition largely symbolic, said Les Échos.
Sustainable production and consumption
The belief that two centuries of industrial progress naturally improved human welfare is being questioned, as modern societies lost resilience once provided by seasonal rhythms—when winter offered essential rest for people and regeneration for nature—showing how today’s relentless pace erases capacities that once kept communities balanced, said Kingdom Code.
Electric vehicles have crossed the 25% share of new car sales in France for the first time, driven by falling prices, targeted incentives, and a wave of new Chinese and European models — marking a decisive acceleration in market electrification despite a broader European slowdown, said Les Échos.
Ten years after the Paris Agreement, the world is still off-track: global emissions keep rising, the 1.5°C target is slipping out of reach, and only a handful of countries are meeting their pledges—yet the accord has accelerated renewable energy deployment and forced governments to regularly raise their climate ambitions, said Le Monde.
Health & Social Changes
Gen Z is entering a labour market radically reshaped by AI, where traditional paths fade, automation grows, and hybrid roles dominate. Amid constant restructuring and rising expectations, they must adapt to a work model rebuilt in real time, said Les Échos.
Pesticides banned for years are still being detected in the air and household dust across French homes, revealing a persistent “chemical legacy” that continues to expose families despite regulatory bans, and underscoring the slow degradation of these compounds and gaps in environmental monitoring, said Le Monde.
A growing share of older Americans are living with disabilities, as mobility issues, chronic diseases, and long-term effects of obesity surge—threatening to strain families and the U.S. healthcare system unless prevention, home-based care, and age-friendly infrastructure improve, said The New York Times.
🍃 AFI Ventures HighlightsRecent News from our Portfolio
Resortecs raised a €6M Series A (Goldwin, SFPIM, EIC…) to scale its Smart Disassembly™ technology across Europe — enabling the first large-scale textile-to-textile disassembly facilities by 2027. Learn more
We’re thrilled to share that Ed.ai has been selected for Station F’s prestigious Future 40, recognizing the most promising early-stage startups shaping the future of tech and impact. Learn more
At COP30 in Belém, Cambodia officially endorsed the Equitable Earth Standard — a milestone partnership paving the way for large-scale forest protection and restoration across the country. Learn more
Prolong was featured in the 2025 French Retail Startup Mapping by France Digitale & FDJ United — highlighting the rising importance of after-sales and circularity in shaping the future of retail. Learn more
Talent Wanted: Our Startups Are Building the Future
Internship – Assistant Category Manager, Right Hand CEO, Assistant Marketing & Brand
Full time – Business Developer – Alpagga (Paris)
Full time – Full Stack Engineer, Software Engineer – Bohr Energie (Toulouse)
Internship – Right Hand COO, Right Hand CEO, Community Manager & Content Creator
Full time – Senior Front-end Engineer – Dift (Paris)
Full time – Downstream Process Manager – Dionymer (Bordeaux)
Internship - Electronics / Embedded Systems Engineer, Battery Modelling & State Estimation, Battery R&D and Testing Engineer
Full time - R&D Engineer/PhD Li-ion Batteries – Entroview (Nanterre, Paris)
Full time – Sales Manger, Customer Success Engineer, Marketing & Communication Manager, Deep Learning scientist – Estuaire (Paris)
Internship – Administrative & Purchasing Assistant, Purification and testing of small proteins to enhance media performance
Full time – Lead Skin Tissue Engineering Scientist – Faircraft (Paris)
Full time – Data & Cloud Engineer – GreenPraxis (Marseille)
Full Time – Registered Nurse Practitioner, General practitioner – Kor (Paris)
Full time – Senior Sales Engineer – Moonwatt (Diemen)
Internship – Right Hand to the CEO – Optimiz Construction (Paris)
Full time – Operations Associate, Account Executive Mid-Market, Full Stack Engineer, Head of HR, Customer Support, Customer Success Manager, B2B Marketing Manager – Paladin (Paris)
Internship – Right Hand CEO, Right Hand Data & Automation – Prolong (Paris)
Full time – Senior Fullstack Developer, Account Executive – Prolong (Paris)
Full time – New Business Lead, Office Manager & Personal Assistant, Marketing & Communications Manager – Resortecs (Paris)
Head of R&D – Revcoo (Lyon, remote possible)
Internship – Engineering Students Graduating Soon
Full time – Machine Designer, Build & Test Engineer, Automation Engineer, Electromechanical Engineer, Supply Chain Associate, Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Technical Operations Manager (UAE) – Sirona Technologies (Brussels)
Full time – Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer – Tilt Energy (Paris)
Events
We were at:
Slush – November 19th-20th, Helsinki: What a blast! Sarah was there meeting incredible investors and founders, raising a glass beside a dinosaur skeleton and even taking part in the most famous poker tournament in the VC world.
Where you can find us next month:
Paris Energy Week by MINES Paris – December 1st-3rd, Paris ⚙️
Constantin will be attending the Paris Energy Week, a key event bringing together industry leaders, researchers, and investors to discuss the future of energy and accelerate the transition towards low-carbon systemsSISTA celebrates its 5th anniversary – December 9th, Paris with Les Grands Débats, an immersive, high-energy event at the Ministry of Economy that rethinks how women entrepreneurs are financed. Sarah will be attending !
🤝 Our TeamCharles Fourault - charles@afi.ventures
Constantin de Chaudenay - constantin@afi.ventures
Sarah Laznowski - sarah@afi.ventures
Alexandre Bérenger - alexandre@afi.ventures
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re an impact entrepreneur or just interested in any of these topics. 🍃