SET Ventures

Energy Impact Partners (EIP) is a global investment platform leading the transition to a sustainable energy future. EIP brings together entrepreneurs and the world's most forward-looking utilities and operating companies to advance innovation. With over $1.5 billion in assets under management, EIP invests globally across venture, growth, credit and infrastructure – and has a team of more than 50 professionals based in its offices in New York, San Francisco, Palm Beach, London, Cologne and Oslo.

The next-generation of European and Israeli climate-tech founders are poised to solve humanity’s most pressing challenge, but are heavily underfunded and underrepresented at Seed stage. Benefitting from unparalleled levels of engagement with the climate tech community, our platform-based model backs the pioneers building the technology that will become the infrastructure of tomorrow. Given that decades of collective actions got us into the climate mess, we leverage Energy Tech Summit, Energy Tech Challengers and Climate50 to make a collaborative effort to mobilise resources and get humanity back on track to decarbonize the economy.

Leveraging decades of climate tech investing experience, we support early-stage entrepreneurs building transformative companies that do more with less. We back teams that are based in North America who are innovating across atoms, bits, or business models. Our initial investments range from formation capital to Series A, and we support companies as they scale.

Grok invests in technology enabled companies and projects that will decarbonise our planet. Lowering emissions, removing carbon, generating awesome returns - that’s our focus. We back teams in markets we understand - predominantly Australia and New Zealand, Singapore, North America, and Europe. At our core, we believe: Technology is the biggest lever we have to decarbonise the economy. Seeding and scaling climate tech into climate infrastructure is going to require trillions of dollars in private capital. We consider this the biggest economic opportunity of our lifetime. The funding requirements of climate tech and infrastructure are unique – the capital and capability needs to be flexible, focused and fit-for-purpose. SOLVING THE CLIMATE CAPITAL STACK: There is a major funding gap in climate tech. We solve this by investing equity early from our Venture team and when companies hit defined milestones our Infrastructure team can provide flexible forms of non-dilutive financing. We’ve been providing flexible funding since 2016. Our team brings specialist experience building technology businesses, investing across venture, infrastructure and debt, as well as owning and operating renewable infrastructure. We deploy this expertise to help our portfolio companies scale.

We are an early-stage venture capital firm investing in companies that jumpstart new industries in the emerging markets of Europe. Investment thesis Infrastructure for innovation We invest in startups that build the infrastructure for innovation and jumpstart new industries by breaking vicious cycles. The root of all evil Vicious cycles are endemic in emerging ecosystems - they are the byproduct of systemic deficiencies and make it difficult or even impossible for the emerging ecosystem to grow and develop. Example of such a vicious cycle at work in Central and Eastern Europe: the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is slowed down by the lack of the charging infrastructure; conversely, the charging infrastructure is not being built because of the lack of the EVs to use it. Because of their systemic origin, breaking such vicious cycles is a capital-intensive and a long-term endeavor - the kind of task a VC fund is both qualified and responsible to assume. On a high note - the root of all evil is where the promise of venture returns lies. A (technological) leap of faith Emerging ecosystems are strong enough to leapfrog existing technologies and adopt the solutions of the future. It happened in the past (see LTE adoption in Africa/India leapfrogging classical landlines) giving birth to a breed of companies that created their own markets. These startups are the backbone of the future ecosystem populated by dependent/client third parties. Opportunities A brave new world B2C - The rising billions In 2000, 6% of the world population was connected to the internet. In 2010, online adoption increased to 23% or 2 billion people connected. In 2020, more than 66% of all people will have online access. That’s an additional 3 billion people that will get access to the internet, raising the total number of connected population to 5.5 billion. B2B - The unicorn of one It is now possible to start a company valued at $1BN from your garage, with no assets and basically no employees. And this company may serve the giants of the corporate world. Fortune 500 companies already acknowledged that innovations come from small companies agile enough to disrupt industries. Today, the business development and strategy VPs turned into innovation scouters actively seeking emerging technologies and valuable teams to acquire or hire. Let’s talk money How we do it Our philosophy Our philosophy is quite straightforward: we invest at the earliest stages in companies whose founders have skin in the game, are coachable and address big markets. If the opportunity is real, we prefer to be the first institutional investor in such startups. Geography Our firm recruits regionally (in CEE) and invests locally (in Romania) to take advantage of country’s great technical talent, low labor costs, low operating costs and high-speed Internet access. Equity Because of our active engagement with our companies, we typically will take a correspondingly substantial equity ownership position (5% to 15%) in our investments and will join as a member of the company’s board of directors (Series A). Accelerator Stage At the Accelerator stage - we invest anywhere between €50,000 and €200,000 in exchange for 5% to 15% common stock. Series A At the Seed stage - our sweet spot is €500,000 but, if the opportunity is real, we can invest up to €4,500,000 in one company. Timing We are fast to say NO – won’t waste your time. Saying YES takes a bit longer: 4 to 6 weeks on average, but that depends on you too.

We are financial entrepreneurs. We dream big and set our sights high, doing everything in our power to turn those dreams into reality. Along the way, we inspire our partners and collaborators to dream more, to dare more and to outdo themselves. WE DON'T BELIEVE IN HALF MEASURES. We’re fully invested in a mission of capital importance. For us, excellence is intrinsic to who we are. OUR WORD IS OUR BOND We are genuine and fair partners. We respect our commitments and assume our responsibilities with honesty and transparency. Our relationships with partners and collaborators are founded on loyalty and solidarity, during times of hardship and in success. IMPACT FUND FAMILY A venture capital investment team that partners with ambitious entrepreneurs to build innovative, world-class clean technology companies. Cycle Capital manages over C$0.6 billion CA in early and growth stage funds and ensures an impact assessment of all its investments. Cycle Capital is the Founder of Cycle Momentum, the impact accelerator and innovation engine, and Cycle Central, an innovation zone. BUSINESS ACCELERATOR + INNOVATION ENGINE Accelerator and open innovation platform dedicated to clean technologies. Through its corporate programs, Cycle Momentum also promotes networking between investors and entrepreneurs to accelerate the growth of the most promising companies in the ecosystem. INNOVATION ZONE A community of partners dedicated to collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the cleantech sector. A hub where entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, and companies come together to solve the greatest ecological challenges and shape a sustainable future. The innovation zone will be deployed in the South-West and East of Montreal EVENT DEDICATED TO THE ECOSYSTEM Cycle Innovation Forum brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders to discuss emerging technologies and opportunities and redefine the future of clean technology.