VentureESG

EXCITING UPDATES - GET YOUR FRAME CONFERENCE TICKET NOW! We are hosting FRAME, our first ever conference-size event, on September 19th at 180 Studios in London! FRAME is a community-led gathering exclusively for 200 VCs and 50 LPs to inspire more collective engagement around ESG and responsible investing. We are really excited about our agenda - here is a glimpse: 🚀 Sector-specific 'safari’ breakfasts hosted by VCs and LPs, including Balderton Capital, AlbionVC, Kinnevik, Dawn Capital, Atomico and British International Investment 🚀 Lightning speeches from leading experts on AI, ESG, DEI and Climate 🚀 Panels with leading GPs and LPs, including from Lightspeed, 2050 and HV Capital among others 🚀 Roundtables tackling specific issues and functions, hosted by our VC and LP community, including Base10 Partners, Better Society Capital, British Business Bank, Diversity VC and others 🚀 An Oxford-style debate arguing for/ against the motion: ‘VC needs more ESG' 🚀 The ESG Game (!) We will be releasing more details on speakers and lineup over the coming weeks as we're releasing more tickets. Find more information on our agenda and most important GET YOUR TICKETS on the FRAME website here: https://lnkd.in/e4KA7dyT

ESG IS NOT DEAD ... and that is good for startups, VC funds, pensioners and taxpayers. The 'war on ESG' is played by some exceptionally visible American opponents - against the evidence for a financial business case for meaningful (material) ESG integration. ESG is not about 'moral obligation' - it is about doing better business. Taking more risks into account leads to better decisions. Not 'doing ESG' is exceptionally disadvantageous for the people whose money the ecosystem is playing with: pensioners, endowment donors and tax payers. 📣 Looking at the whole VC value chain helps us understand: we all need to use our voice to put more pressure on the institutions managing our money to act in our best (financial) interest - and that means MORE (and better) ESG integration. Fortunately, the European state LPs - from KfW Capital and Bpifrance to European Investment Fund (EIF) - are aligned on this and are pushing forward from the top. We hope a similar alliance will also form in the US. Find the link to our co-directors' (Hannah Leach and Johannes Lenhard) Fast Company piece in the comments.

💡 ESG due diligence has become a standard part of many venture capital investors’ due diligence. LPs are asking for it more and more and they want to see ‘evidence’. 🛠 Across our community and membership, many funds are experimenting with different ways of integrating ESG into the steps leading up to the investment decision and the IC. These examples from twelve funds, across geographies, fund sizes, and sector focus, show the large variety of approaches. 🌿 The goal of this post — and the forthcoming one on post-investment ESG integration — is to take away the fear of ‘doing something wrong’ and inspire action. 🙏 Many thanks to the contributors and participating funds for their insights into what best practice looks like: Atomico - Ashleigh Brown HV Capital - Marie Bos Kinnevik - Rebecka Elming Saidac Balderton Capital - Elodie Broad Project A - Paola Compés Tatay Northzone - Sanna Blomkvist PreSeed Ventures - Emma Kjellander daphni - Damien Didier Maki.vc - Mona Saurén NGP Capital - Monica Johnson The Westly Group - Shaun Chaudhuri AENU - Elena Harumi Stark

📢 We're hiring for another Research Fellow - this time to tackle the much-needed topic of ESG for Start-up and Scale-up Boards! The regularity of board meetings and the decision-making ability of board members, presents a unique opportunity to raise the ESG conversation and drive forward material ESG action points and accountability. Board meetings are the perfect moment to surface ESG concerns, set and track progress on ESG goals and coordinate among fellow board members, c-suite team and investors. In partnership with VentureESG member, Balderton Capital, this project will build on existing industry startup board guides, and go one step further in specifically tackling the subject of ESG in that context. More details below - do apply and share! #esg #startups #venturecapital #boards #boardmanagement #responsibleinvesting

💥 The biggest week of the year so far is coming up for VentureESG: it's time for SuperVenture in Berlin! We're excited to see our community in so many forms next week in Berlin - and to try our best to push the conversations that matter to us forward on and off the stage, too. 1️⃣ DINNER-TIME (I) before the conference even starts: on Monday, Laura and Iñigo (Base10 Partners) are co-hosting a dinner with us where we will pick up the transatlantic DEI conversation; really happy that Francesca will join us to share her Diversity VC-hat thoughts! 2️⃣ BOARDROOMS at SV: Hannah and Johannes are hosting LP and VC boardrooms at the main conference on Tuesday to talk about - what else - the state of ESG in VC. We're among others joined by our friends Theresa, Suzanne, Elodie, Moritz, Ashleigh and Shaun! 3️⃣ PANELS at SV: Johannes will moderate a discussion on the real way forward for DEI on the main stage (with Laura, Theresa, Francesca and Chris) on Wednesday while Hannah will lead a discussion on 'responsible investing in VC' with Suzanne, Tony, Ashton and Hussein on Thursday. Join the conversation! 4️⃣ DINNER-TIME (II): the second year in a row we're happy to co-host a dinner with Ashton (Lowercarbon Capital) with a bunch of LPs and GPs to close of the main day of SV. We're also really looking forward to the side events hosted by friends Ada Ventures (art at the bunker - thank you Diarra), Revaia (thank you Sandra), FoodLabs ( 🙏 Sophie), BACKED VC / Morphais (Andre and Eva-Valérie), Cherry Ventures and HV Capital / Cusp Capital (DANKE Marie and Dr. Carolin)! 💚 It will be a big week and we're very excited to see so many of you! Give us a shout if you're around and we don't know yet!

🏹 VC investments in dual use tech-with applications in civilian and military contexts-are expanding, especially in the EU. How can we make them safer? After launching two white papers and a dual-use-specific ESG tool (links in the comments), VentureESG recently gathered VC investors and LPs to discuss the need for clear and specific guidance to ensure responsible development and use of dual use technologies. Current tools - definitions, exclusion lists, standard ESG questionnaires - are not fit-for-purpose. 📎 Key takeaways included in the reel below. 🗞 For more information, see our latest research: 📄 The State of Dual-Use in VC (White Paper I): https://lnkd.in/ecAtAWSC 📑 Less Damage done? (White Paper II): https://lnkd.in/eq3uBuwF 🛠 Dual Use Universe of Due Diligence Issues (Investment toolkit): https://lnkd.in/eF7-6frK Thank you Susan Winterberg and Signe Kossmann for leading on this research with us and for funding from ESRC Digital Good Network / Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy as well as NSSIF. ❓ What are your questions for this ecosystem, as a VC or LP? Let us know what we need to focus on next!

💚 Seeing our impact black and white is really a great motivation for us to push further - here are two examples from StepStone Group and Atomico! 1️⃣ StepStone (Suzanne, Dawn, Peter) have been an integral part of our LP work and LP working group almost from the get-go; we have done many panels together, organised a joint training and are cooking up some more projects as we speak. It is great to see more than a whole page on VentureESG in their recent Responsible Investing report (p 69ff). Thank you for partnering with us! 2️⃣ Atomico (Ashleigh, Kasit, Alison, Tom) were one of the first to talk about sustainability/ESG with their conscious scaling framework; they have been on our VC steering committee from the beginning and we're in the process of doing the second project (on "material E") in partnership. Seeing your 'Conscious Scaling 2.0' report out now - with lots of mention of VentureESG - is fantastic! It is really exciting to partner with some many fantastic VCs and LPs on our mission to push the ecosystem further on meaningful ESG integration - thank you everyone for working together! Links to reports in comments.

🙌 We are looking for an experienced project manager and/or event coordinator to support the VentureESG team with operational logistics and execution of the industry's first dedicated ESG-for-VC conference, FRAME, on 19th September 2024 in central London. 🌿 This is a project-based role — we are looking for someone to work with us for 2 days per month, starting now until 19th September (with some room to flex up and down, depending on our requirements). 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ePcpgbAq #ESG #VentureCapital #Hiring

💡 We're excited to delve into better practices for navigating ESG incidents in venture capital portfolios in our latest article, "How to Deal with an ESG Incident — Towards a Proper Process". 🖋 With the help of our community, we've crafted a process-focused document to empower the ecosystem with actionable steps. From due diligence and transparency creation to incident identification and resolution, we outline key strategies to mitigate risks and appropriately respond. 🎯 Read the article and download the PDF for detailed insights to empower your VC firm with robust practices. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eWmmx7D9