Founders Factory

🏭 Carbon removal technology—pivotal to climate action, or free licence to increase emissions? Growing public and private investment in carbon removal solutions has intensified debates around the potentially transformative yet highly controversial technology. In our latest blog post, Simon Lovick weighs up its biggest criticisms with its key prospects, examining what the future holds for carbon removal. 💡 Featuring insights from founders innovating at the forefront of carbon removal—including Garrett Boudinot (Vycarb), Steven Siegel (Jeevan Climate Solutions), and Gudfinnur Sveinsson (Brineworks). Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/erZ8Q9MF George Northcott | Olivia Brooks | Jack Kennedy | Louis Warner | Rupert Hayward | Jeff Stoike | Melissa Halpern | Tamryn Barker | Charlotta Kemp #climatetech #carbonremoval #carboncapture #directaircapture

🌿 An exciting opportunity for Nature Tech founders We’re now opening applications for our next Nature Tech Accelerator cohort, in partnership with the Government of Western Australia. Our program backs founders with capital, a 4-month program of operational support, connections to government and industry, and access to natural testing grounds in WA. We’re looking to back founders globally who are solving challenges facing natural environments, particularly around the following themes: 🌺 Biodiversity 💦 Water & Oceans 🌾 Agriculture 🌳 Land & Forest 🏭 Nature Positive Industry 🤝 Social & Community Impact Learn more about the program & how to apply here: https://lnkd.in/eXb6jW-8 We’re also hosting a WA Investor Office Hours, where we’d love to meet any WA-based founders researching or building in any of these spaces. Find out more here: https://lu.ma/e2v74ram Charlotta Kemp | Tamryn Barker | Olivia Brooks | Rohan Silva | Claire Mongeau | George Northcott | Simon Lovick | Rebecca Davidson GAICD | Sandra Draper | James Yuen | Simon Tarmo | Linda Dawson | Ivana Deng I Stephen Dawson I Roger Cook #naturetech #climatetech #deeptech #founders #startups #accelerator

👀 Investors - what do you look for in a founder? In our latest Startup Bulletin, we condense our guide to Essential Founder Traits - boiling down to five things we look for in any founder. Risk appetite, aptitude for shortcuts, magnetism, all feature. Anything we've missed? Feel free to add your suggestions below. Also in today's newsletter: ⭐️ Portfolio highlights ft. Perlego, martee ai, Winx Health (formerly known as Stix), and ore ⭐️ Top recommended reads from Stratechery, McKinsey & Company, Nathan Benaich, and more ⭐️ Latest opportunities, events, job roles in tech Read our latest Startup Bulletin here: https://lnkd.in/e6r3_HqE Simon Lovick | Lee Bernasconi | George Northcott | Laura Moross | Liam Nolan | Aleezay Malik | Raluca Ciobancan | Sara Foster | Farah Kanji #newsletter #startups #founders

🎤 Founders—are you trying to understand what investors look for in your pitch? HubSpot is hosting a ‘Pitch Perfect’ webinar, allowing startups to pitch live to VCs and receive instant feedback. Founders Factory investor Claire Mongeau is part of the panel, alongside investors from HV Capital and XAnge, while David Tejs Jørring (founder of HealthKey) is sharing his recent experience of raising funding 📆 November 12th, 11am GMT  📍 Online  ❓ Founders looking to raise in the next 3 to 6 months They are selecting three to four founders  to join the session and pitch to VCs. If you’re interested in applying, find out more: https://lnkd.in/euZtGCzy David Hickson | Olivia Brooks | Elena Vittone | Edoardo Gentili | Jack Kennedy | Ellie Slaght #vc #pitching #investment #fundraising 

🚀 Founders Forum Group have published their annual Women Founders to Watch list, profiling exceptional founders across Europe, the US, and Southeast Asia We’re thrilled to see a number of founders from Founders Factory’s global portfolio, covering a range of technologies from clean energy to large language models 👇 ⭐️ Anita Schjøll Abildgaard (Iris.ai) - building an AI engine for deep knowledge understanding from complex unstructured documentation ⭐️ Rosalyn Moran (Stanhope AI) - build models for autonomous machines using foundational computational principles of the human brain ⭐️ Ariane C. Gomes (Baseimmune) - deep learning AI platform to develop protective vaccines against emerging pathogens ⭐️ Becky Lane (Furbnow) - complete solutions for planning & delivering home energy projects ⭐️ Jo Parker-Swift (SOLIVUS) - lightweight solar for decarbonising the built environment ⭐️ Erika Brodnock MBE (Kinhub) - generative people performance platform to enhance employee welfare and productivity ⭐️ Cat Jones (Byway) - flight-free travel platform ⭐️ Liz Dennett, PhD (Endolith) - increasing copper recovery from low-grade mining ores ⭐️ Maya Hardigan (Mae) - digital first solution addressing needs of underserved expectant mothers ⭐️ Jia Ling Yang (Playground ) - decentralised social platform for creative communities Read the full report and list here: https://lnkd.in/eaN_D6Jb henry lane fox | George Northcott | Damian Routley | Brent Hoberman | Jamie Macfarlane | Louis Warner | Marco De Novellis | Carolyn Dawson | Emily Miller | Simon Lovick #womenintech #womenfounders #climatetech #deeptech #healthtech

🚀 martee ai have closed their pre-seed funding round Who are Martee AI ? ⭐️ Demand forecasting software for the food-on-the-go industry ⭐️ Helping food outlets reduce waste and unlock new revenue opportunities ⭐️ Founded by Harry Slagel & Lucy Adams in our Nesta Mission Studio Claire Morris | Ed Harding | Levi Young | David Hickson | Olivia Brooks | Elena Vittone | Jack Kennedy | Claire Mongeau | Edoardo Gentili #fundraising #preseed #foodtech #healthtech

Insurance is a natural next frontier for AI disruption. It’s an industry that requires a complex set of interconnected tasks using a combination of structured and unstructured data—an exceptional opportunity for productivity and efficiency gains. But in order for AI adoption to happen, the insurance industry needs ‘replatforming’. We’re excited to share our latest Venture Studio concept—InsureAI—an agentic insurance infrastructure. This is a chance to build in partnership with Aviva, one of Europe’s biggest insurers. As Entrepreneur-in-Residence, you will… ➡️ Lead the vision and strategy of InsureAI ➡️ Build out the business with the support of our studio team (including Studio Lead and dedicated Venture Builder) ➡️ Receive cash investment in the business + dedicated studio budget (including founder salary) ➡️ Gain c-suite level access to Aviva Learn more about the role & the opportunity here: https://lnkd.in/eAPSKBxe Sara Foster | Raluca Ciobancan | Olly Betts | Jacob George | Kyling Saw | Claire Morris | Ed Harding | Sahil Sachdev | Alex Daish | Suzanne Lawson | Philippa Terry | Ben Luckett | Ant Barker | Paul Welsh #fintech #insurtech #AI #startup #startupjobs

📍 How to spot a high-potential founder Over the last several years, we’ve invested in 10+ founders every year to join our Venture Studio, to lead the build of one of our new venture concepts. So before their business idea is fully formed, let alone seeing any early traction, how do we identify successful founders? In our latest article, Raluca Ciobancan and Sara Foster from our Global Talent team share seven traits that they believe make successful founder investments—from high risk appetite through to a knack for finding shortcuts. Also featured are a number of founders who display these traits, including Louise Croft (Ogma), David Tejs Jørring (HealthKey), and Svilen & Konstantin R. (Dronamics) Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/egStxGr5 henry lane fox | George Northcott | Brent Hoberman | Claire Morris | Lee Bernasconi | Emma-Jane Willan | David Hickson | Damian Routley | Simon Lovick | Laura Moross | Olivia Brooks | Louis Warner | Olly Betts | Levi Young #founder #foundertraits #founderskills #venturestudio #preseed

💄 Since launching in 2016, Ruuby has established itself as one of the largest on-demand beauty services providers in the UK Ruuby👇 ➡️ Founded by Venetia Archer in 2016 ➡️ Delivered over 500,000 treatments to 150,000 users, with over 3000 beauty providers on the platform ➡️ Backed by Founders Factory & L'Oréal in 2018 ➡️ Launched in France in 2023, and in Switzerland in 2024 And now, they’ve just raised $2.6M in funding led by Praetura Ventures. Congratulations to Venetia and their whole Ruuby team on this exciting milestone 🙌 Damian Routley | David Hickson | Olivia Brooks | Elena Vittone | Claire Mongeau | Edoardo Gentili | Jack Kennedy | Simon Lovick | Laura Moross #beautytech #startups #fundraising

Endolith has been selected to join the inaugural Rio Tinto and Founders Factory Accelerator Program, standing alongside five other innovative mining startups including: Magmatic Bio, Prospectral, Sunchem, Vycarb, and BLUUMBIO! 🎉 Watch founder and CEO, Liz Dennett, PhD, share our vision and what this opportunity means for us. #Endolith #RioTinto #FoundersFactory #Innovation #MiningStartups