Pitch Me: “We invest in startups solving root cause problems of industrial decarbonisation”

Visionaries Tomorrow VCs Sebastian Pollok, Thong le Hoang and Iris ten Have discuss their investment strategy and the future of climate tech.

“We believe this is the perfect time to build breakthrough climate solutions. Why? Because we’re seeing foundational science breakthroughs in AI, novel materials, additive manufacturing, robotics, and more,” says Thong le Hoang, Co-founder at German climate tech fund Visionaries Tomorrow.

“These advancements provide a new toolbox for founders, drastically reducing technology development cycles and accelerating time to market. At the same time, there’s increasing pressure from all sides: legislation in Europe and the US, consumer demand, and shareholders pushing for greater commitment to decarbonisation.”

Visionaries Tomorrow is focused on industrial decarbonisation, and is part of Visionaries Club – a club launched in 2019 to bridge the gap between the industrial world and the startup ecosystem. Fund investors include over 45 unicorn founders some of the world’s most influential industrial families who not only invest, but also help founders build scalable businesses. To date, the Visionaries Tomorrow Club has raised over €500 million.

They remain optimistic about the climate tech market, despite the investment growth curve having flattened a bit in recent years, “availability and access to capital, both equity and non-dilutive funding, remain strong,” says Thong. “For example, BlackRock has just announced a $1.4 billion fund for climate tech, and Temasek is contributing to over $80 billion in private climate tech VC funding. We have the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the EU Innovation Fund, and more.

“This is a fantastic time to start a company in this space,” adds Sebastian Pollok, Visionaries Tomorrow Founding Partner, “We’ve reached an inflection point where not only founders are aware of the urgent need to change the fundamentals of our world’s largest industries, but all other stakeholders. In addition, governmental support has increased massively, through legislation and support functions like non-dilutive funding. Our fund investors, especially large industrial companies, are heavily investing in the future and collaborating closely with the founders we back.

“Many of the largest industries still rely on fossil-heavy legacy technologies, but their tech stacks are under intense pressure to evolve. This presents a tremendous opportunity for founders to introduce groundbreaking new technologies and transform the industrial tech landscape,” says Sebastian.

In this Green Techpreneur interview, Visionaries Tomorrow VCs Sebastian Pollok, Thong le Hoang and Iris ten Have discuss their investment strategy and the future of climate tech.

What is your investment philosophy?

Sebastian: Our investment approach is to identify startups solving root problems with urgently needed solutions, rather than sustainability add-ons. We focus on companies with global market potential and work closely with mission-driven founders who are passionate about solving problems with true “dent in the universe” potential.

We invest in very early stages, from pre-seed to seed rounds. Our pre-seed investments are typically around half a million Euros, while seed investments range from €1.5 to €3 million. We maintain a concentrated portfolio, making around six to seven investments per year. This selective approach allows us to deeply connect our portfolio companies within the industrial world to uniquely support them on their growth journey.

We focus primarily on Europe for our investments.

Which startups have you invested in?

Our early portfolio currently includes five companies working on groundbreaking technologies:

  • Proxima Fusion: developing a nuclear fusion reactor to supply clean and abundant baseload energy.
  • Stealth company 1: harnessing flywheel technology as a cost-efficient grid-scale energy storage solution.
  • Stealth company 2: developing a bio-electrochemical system to produce green ammonia with renewable energy.
  • Cosmic Aerospace: building an all-electric aircraft with integrated electric propulsion and 1000 km range.
  • SirenOpt: unlocking advanced micro- and nano-materials at scale with a plasma-based material intelligence platform.

What do you look for in founders?

Iris: We are seeking ambitious founders with a deep technical background, ideally someone with a STEM education, paired with a co-founder experienced in business, sales, or marketing. We also look for an intense obsession with solving the problem at hand and a visionary mindset to make a significant impact.

What motivates you to do what you do?

Iris: I’ve always been a very curious person. As a little girl, I was obsessed with understanding what caused lightning and thunder. This early curiosity led me to pursue a PhD in chemistry, where I worked on converting carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, directly into fuels. While this was incredibly interesting I recognised the limitations of academia when it comes to addressing urgent global challenges in a hands-on way. I wanted to apply impactful inventions in our fight against climate change, while the academic system primarily rewards people for publishing papers. For me, that wasn’t enough. Motivated by a passion for science and a desire to make a tangible impact, I transitioned from academia to climate tech venture capital.

I saw venture capital as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leverage impactful technologies and create meaningful positive change.

Sebastian: I became a father three years ago, which adds an emotional and personal motivation for me. Growing up, I was also influenced by a very scientific household; my parents are pharmacists, and I had a chemistry lab at home – it felt like I spent half my time in it. I’ve always loved science, and I’ve also had a passion for entrepreneurship.

To me, entrepreneurship means looking at problems from different angles and not accepting the status quo, but striving to make a difference.

Combining my passions for science and entrepreneurship with what we’re doing at Tomorrow is incredibly fulfilling.

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