VentureESG’s Post

🇺🇸 ESG has been under attack for a while in the US. So-called ‘ESG funds’ in public markets have seen big outflows of capital; greenwashing allegations pertain, all in the context of a tricky political environment. 💭 Where are we now? What is the sentiment when it comes to ESG and responsible investing in private markets and in particular, VC? And what are the implications? In this public insights call, we are bringing together a lineup of experts to take stock. Thank you for joining us Matthew Sekol, Karen McCormick, and Maximilian Meyer. This session is open to all, please register here: https://lnkd.in/eqWgyJtS

ESG is not dead in VC — clearly, FRAME showed that we’re only getting started! 🚀 Last week we brought together 200 VCs and 50 LPs from across the world for our first FRAME conference. We discussed what the state of ESG and responsible investing is for VC. And guess what... it was FUN! 🥐 SAFARI BREAKFASTS:  We began the day with ten sector-specific breakfasts hosted by VCs and LPs in their London offices. From the AI breakfast at Balderton Capital and the generalist one at Atomico to the dual-use conversation at AlbionVC and one on responsible exit at British International Investment, our attendees joined us exhilarated by the community spirit — thank you to all the funds which hosted us! ⚡ LIGHTNING SPEECHES:  Over the course of the day, four short speeches gave us something to think about. Gina Neff, Ph.D. (University of Cambridge) kicked off with her talk on the everyday ethics of responsible AI. Later, Alex Edmans (London Business School) spoke about the power of purpose and Cameron Hepburn (University of Oxford) gave us urgent pointers on tackling climate change. We were especially grateful to Megan J Smith (former CTO of the United States) for her fast-paced blitz through how DEI represents an unmissable opportunity for investors to maximise talent in their funds and portfolios. 🤝 AFTERNOON BREAKOUTS: After lunch, experts from across our community hosted ten function and issue-specific breakout rooms for attendees — dedicated deep dives into the areas of ESG most relevant for them. Lawyers in the ecosystem, led by Kasit Rochanakorn and Stuart Hanbury, came together as well as the heads of ESG (led by Marie Bos and Ali Hartman). Groups discussed reporting (led by Katya Pogudina and Laura Weidman Powers) as well as impact, policy, DEI, IR, portfolio support, the role of investors, and there was a dedicated LP boardroom — it was great for everybody to find their community! Thank you so much to everybody who hosted a breakout room, these were a real highlight of the day. 🎓 DEBATE and GAME Keeping the energy up, we went straight into our Oxford-style debate on the motion ‘This House Believes Venture Capital Needs More ESG’. Making the case for the home side were Suzanne Tavill (StepStone Group), Lyel Resner (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Dr. Carolin Althoff (Cusp Capital), and the brave contrarians in the room were Julia Groves (former LP at British Business Bank), Simon Hirtzel (IQ Capital), and Farhan Lalji (LTV Capital). To end the day, we split up once more for The ESG Game, designed with the help of British International Investment, with groups going head-to-head in a race to implement actions in a growing company to avoid a flurry of ESG incidents. Thank you so much to everybody who came and contributed to making FRAME and VentureESG fun. We’re looking forward to seeing you all soon at our regular events and can’t wait for FRAME 2025!

VentureESG has always been a community undertaking, and the same goes for our inaugural conference FRAME, which begins tomorrow! In the middle of the day, all attendees will take a break from the speakers and panels and join a series of breakout discussion rooms — a chance to deep-dive with others on the ESG issues that matter most to them. We'd like to take a moment to thank the incredible community members who will be leading these breakout rooms: Marie Bos - HV Capital Ali Hartman - Tiger Global Impact Ventures Ashleigh Brown - Atomico Rosalind Bazany - Antler Katya Pogudina - AlbionVC Laura Weidman Powers - Base10 Partners Kasit Rochanakorn - Atomico Stuart Hanbury - Accel Ashton Rosin - Lowercarbon Capital Hannah Gubbins - Dawn Capital Dr. Carolin Althoff - Cusp Capital Shaun Chaudhuri - The Westly Group Dr. Bryan Scheler - BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt Cecile Blilious - Pitango Douglas Sloan - Better Society Capital Leo Ringer - Form Ventures Paul Fehlinger - Project Liberty Nicolas Colin - European Straits Francesca (Check) Warner - Ada Ventures Meghan S. - Diversity VC And finally, for all those coming to FRAME — see you tomorrow!

Since 2021, VentureESG has been driven by a committed group of VC funds, all of whom are still active in the community. On Thursday we’re hosting FRAME, our first in-person conference, which simply wouldn't be possible without the funds that have gone above and beyond to contribute to VentureESG — our Steering Committee members, contributors to and sponsors of our research, and speakers at our events — thank you! Special thanks goes to our Steering Committee members, who are sponsoring and playing an active role in FRAME! Atomico — Ashleigh Brown and Kasit Rochanakorn Base10 Partners — Laura Weidman Powers HV Capital — Marie Bos and Anna Ott Cusp Capital — Dr. Carolin Althoff The Westly Group — Shaun Chaudhuri

ESG reporting is playing an increasingly important role in VC — and there are a large variety of fit-for-purpose providers to help funds and portfolio companies monitor, report, and comply with regulations. For our inaugural conference FRAME, we are pleased to be welcoming four of them as sponsors. A big thank you to Apiday, Novata, Metric, and Kara for working with us and supporting us specifically for FRAME!

VentureESG is a community undertaking and so is our conference FRAME. It will start with ten safari breakfasts across London hosted by 10 VCs and LPs from our community. Thank you so much for your support. Climate @ 2150 with IFRS Foundation Sustainability Materiality @ Atomico Dual Use @ AlbionVC with British Business Bank's NSSIF SaaS @ Dawn Capital AI @ Balderton Capital with the Ada Lovelace Institute Growth @ Frog Capital Healthcare @ Kinnevik FinTech @ Outward VC with i³ investing Responsible Technology @ Bethnal Green Ventures Emerging Markets @ British International Investment We can’t wait to kick off FRAME with you next week on Thursday - one week to go! If you are interested in joining, we have just 10 tickets left for VCs — get in touch here: https://lnkd.in/e4KA7dyT

We’re excited to be bringing together 30 Emerging Managers from across the UK and Europe for a workshop on Emotional Resilience next Thursday here in London (as part of our FRAME conference), in partnership with Masawa. Raising and running a first- or second-time fund can be an emotionally grueling and rollercoaster-ride of a process, with a number of day-to-day highs and lows, which are rarely often discussed in the industry. This workshop will see us make time for these conversations, and provide a forum for discussion and reflection. We're lucky to have the support of HSBC Innovation Banking, our sponsors. #FRAMEconference2024 #FRAME2024 #Masawa #HSBC #HSBCInnovationBanking #Sponsors

ESG and responsible investing in VC is heavily influenced by limited partners. We are looking forward to having many of them join us at FRAME in two weeks! 📢 First of all, we are excited about the speakers for our LP panel; under the heading 'Moving the ecosystem from the top down' we will discuss what best practice of ESG, responsible investing and impact looks like right now with: Suzanne Tavill, StepStone Group Benjamin Sabatier, Sofina Theresa Bardubitzki, KfW Capital Romain Stokes, Quadrille Capital 🔍 Our afternoon breakout room will involve a roundtable conversation on reporting and process harmonisation and what 'real ESG action' can involve - with among others: Christine Hockley, British Patient Capital Natasha Buckley, HarbourVest Partners Samuel Baker, Legal & General Capital Andrea van Dijk, Invest-NL Ben Robson, Molten Ventures Altogether, we have almost 50 LPs confirmed to join us, including representatives from the following: Better Society Capital, Bpifrance, Sixth Swedish National Pension Fund, Omidyar Network, LTV Capital, equation, European Investment Fund (EIF), Tesi, British Business Bank, SKAGEN Funds, Aviva Investors, Allianz Global Investors, University of Cambridge, Isomer Capital, Enterprise Ireland, M&G plc, BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, British International Investment, FMO Investment Management, IH International Advisors, Carbon Equity, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Find the full FRAME programme here: https://lnkd.in/ekDXcZpc 🚀 We are making a batch of last minute tickets available this week - reach out if you are interested (LP join for free) to hello@ventureesg.com.

Our inaugural conference, FRAME, would not have been possible without the support of our incredible sponsors. We'll be making a few posts to recognise them all and would like to start with a BIG thank you to White & Case LLP, Nasdaq, Dasseti, BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, and Google Cloud! We appreciate your support in bringing the industry’s first ESG-for-VC conference to life. A special thanks to those who have been integral to building these partnerships: White & Case LLP: Daniel Turgel, Helen Pantelides, Anna Chrobak Nasdaq: Stephan Vargas Dasseti: Fiona Sherwood BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt: Dr. Bryan Scheler Google Cloud: Arabella Reeves #FRAMEconference2024 #FRAME2024 #WhiteAndCase #Nasdaq #Dasseti #GoogleCloud #Sponsors