Lightrock

🔎 Want to learn more about the climate track hosts for Slush this year? ✳️ Lightrock is a global investment platform for Series B+ tech-driven businesses, committed to building a sustainable future. It is headquartered in London, UK, with an AUM of $5.5 billion. ✳️ Transition is a Seed and Series A investor aiming to make the climate transition a reality. It is also headquartered in London, UK, with a team that reflects the climate ecosystem – including founders, scientists, policy shapers, and (soon) a PhD Fellow. ✳️ Extantia is a climate-first VC firm accelerating the path to a decarbonised world through its two investment strategies: deep decarbonisation tech companies and climate VC funds. It is headquartered in Berlin, with an AUM of €250 million. ➰ Follow our co-hosts to stay in the loop about the latest Slush announcements!

📰 Lightrock is pleased to see a new report highlighting the UK as a Centre of Excellence for Impact Investing being launched today by City of London Corporation and British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA)! 🇬🇧 As mentioned at the UN Global Compact Network UK’s Annual Summit at Guildhall, the report finds that the UK is an impact investment hub. It has a clear mission, expertise, large scale, quality talent, and capacity building initiatives, which has determined this status. 🗣️ In the report, Lightrock’s Director of Value Creation Mehdi L. stated: “Being headquartered in London, Lightrock benefits from the UK's global outlook, diverse opportunities, and deeply integrated ecosystem for financial and professional services.” 👇 Want more information about the value of impact investing, the criteria assessed, and trends and opportunities for future growth? Download the report using the link in the comments.

🇫🇮 Lightrock is returning to Helsinki, Finland to run the Slush Climate Summit 2024! 🌱 Alongside our co-hosts Transition and Extantia, we’re bringing the only sustainability-focused Slush Official Side Event back to Slush, the world’s leading technology startup event. ✌️ For the second year, the Slush Climate Summit aims to deliver the latest climate tech insights and networking opportunities, all conveniently located at the main conference venue. 🎟️ Agenda items and ticket application details for the exclusive climate track will be revealed soon…

I'm pleased to share that Lightrock has continued to support Thomas Doering and Distribusion Technologies in their $80 million Series C funding round. Distribusion is the leading global B2B ground transportation marketplace, addressing inefficiencies in this €700 billion market. The industry’s progress has been hindered by legacy technology, making multi-modal travel planning and booking difficult and time-consuming. This increases costs for consumers and negatively impacts sustainability as travellers opt for private cars and taxis over less polluting transportation options. Using a single API, Distribusion connects transport carriers like National Express LLC, Amtrak, and Deutsche Bahn with retailers such as Expedia Group, Google Maps, and Alipay. This allows consumers to seamlessly compare and purchase tickets on trusted platforms. There's a high likelihood that Distribusion has facilitated your travel without you knowing it. We led the company's Series B in 2022, and since then Distribusion has grown tenfold, creating the largest global B2B network of ground transport operators. This growth, combined with achieving profitability, has encouraged us to reinvest and continue with this company on this exciting journey. We look forward to continuing our work with this team. Learn more about #Distribusion via the link in the comments. #TravelTech #FutureOfTravel

💶 Our portfolio company Satispay has accelerated its corporate welfare services beyond meal vouchers! 🛍️ The launch of Satispay Buoni Acquisto means that employers can now offer staff more fringe benefits, covering the purchase of goods ranging from fuel, clothing, groceries and phone top-ups. The vouchers can be used in 170,000 stores, like Tigros S.p.A., via the app. 🛒 Lightrock partnered with the Italian independent payment network in 2021. It aims to change how users pay in-store and online by removing hidden fees, reducing merchants’ costs, and avoiding the need for sensitive information like credit card details. As with the original Buoni Pasto scheme, these vouchers demand lower commission rates than traditional models, meaning that local communities are supported. 🎉 Congratulations to the Satispay team for yet another exciting development!

🎉 Congratulations to the team at Group14 Technologies for this brilliant recognition! 

📣 Our portfolio company 4G Capital has appointed its new CEO! 🚀 Julian Mitchell, who started the role this week, has already successfully grown agri-business InspiraFarms Cooling as its CEO as well as asset finance platform M-KOPA as its Managing Director. Founder Wayne Hennessy-Barrett, now the Executive Chairman, stated: “This is a planned evolution on our journey from start-up to scale-up, and we’re committed to the best practice of separating CEO and Chair roles.” 🪙 Lightrock partnered with the digital lending company in 2022. It supports MSMEs in Kenya and Uganda with working capital loans and enterprise training. 4G Capital has approved over four million loans worth USD $552m since 2016. 🎊 A huge congratulations to the 4G Capital team on this new chapter, and we wish Julian and Wayne the best of luck in their new roles. For more information, find the press release in the comments below.

📰 LGT Private Banking spotlighted our portfolio company Kebony in its Insights magazine, illustrating our collaboration with LGT in supporting impactful businesses. 🪵 Lightrock partnered with the producer of sustainable modified wood products in 2022. Kebony uses plant and food waste to enhance the durability and visual appeal of fast-growing softwoods. This reduces the reliance on traditional tropical hardwoods in the construction and interior design industries, which can take 80-200 years to mature. 🪚 In the article, Martin Gelnar explores the science behind Kebony’s “special sauce”, how sustainable lumber can prevent deforestation, and why customers like SPINN Arkitekter support the company’s growth. 🌳 To learn more about Kebony from its CEO Tom Paemeleire, as well as a statement from Lightrock Partner Kevin Bone, click on the link in the comments.

🇸🇬 Partner Kevin Bone, Head of Investor Relations Dr. Katharina Sommerrock, and Gen Hall will attend SuperReturn Asia from Tuesday 24th to Friday 27th September in Singapore. 🌏 The event is one of APAC’s leading private capital conferences, attended by over 1,000 LPs with $20 trillion in AUM. It encourages in-depth discussions about fundraising, venture capital, and sustainability through the 230+ expert speaker line-up from BlackRock, Temasek, Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg, Raffles Family Office, and many others. 📨 If you’d like to learn more about Lightrock from Kevin, Katharina, or Gen, please get in touch via LinkedIn DM. 🎟️ For more information and tickets, check out the link in the comments.

🇫🇷 We kicked this week off by co-hosting the first ever Super Climate: Paris edition! ☁️ While the sunshine didn’t follow us from June’s Berlin event, it didn’t dampen the atmosphere. Against the backdrop of the Arc de Triomphe, Lightrock shared a brilliant networking session with over 100 GPs and LPs in the climate tech ecosystem. We are proud of our role in growing the climate investment community. 💚 A huge thank you to all who made the event possible, especially Rafael Dietzel and our fellow co-hosts (listed in the comments). We cannot wait for the next one in Malmö before The Drop, where Nina Cardelús Vilalta and Sophie Lara N. are attending! 📷: Agnes Colombo