Holiday Momentum: Systemiq Capital’s Year-End Wrap-Up
Happy Wednesday!
As we approach the end of 2024, we pick the US election and the bankruptcy of Northvolt as the defining moments of the year. As we write this from London, 7000 km from Mar-a-Lago, it is perhaps a bit easier to step away from the domestic polarisation. Now more than ever, we expect the unpredictable, but are also hopeful that a successful deregulation in permitting could greatly help in-the-money renewables, storage and EVs (the latter in the autonomous version where China is behind).
Unlike Trumponomics 2.0, the folding of Northvolt is less talked about, but it will go down in history as a defining moment of what has been known as “climate tech” for the past 5-6 years. A monstrous $15 billion bonfire could destroy what was left of growth investments in capex heavy, pre-revenue FOAK projects.
The downfall of Northvolt is the other side of the coin to the Chinese industrial surplus flooding into Europe. What will happen with tariffs between the US and China - with Europe caught in middle – will likely be the single most important factor influencing financial markets in the next few years.
Looking into 2025, we are incredibly excited about continuing to back asset light, data heavy startups, and continuing to partner with the best founders across Europe and North America. The world is changing with the electrification of everything, technology driving industrial efficiencies and the decoding of nature – accelerated by abundant compute. We are incredibly lucky to work with our inspiring founders and co-investors on advancing these trends in the new year.
Finally, a bit of team news. This quarter, we announced the promotions of George Darrah and Jessica Stewart to Partners, and Louis Millon to Principal. Our best investments are our people, and we congratulate these rockstars for their successes!
We wish you all a merry Christmas with your loved ones, with some time to recharge the batteries before starting the new year!
This December’s newsletter includes:
1. Portfolio company spotlight: Specifx
2. Systemiq Secondee: Dan Nima
3. Event Announcement: AI meets Manufacturing – Transforming Uncertainty into Opportunity
4. Recap: San Fran Founders Event
5. Latest updates on our portfolio companies
6. Systemiq Capital Team in the wild
7. What we’re reading/latest news
Start-up Spotlight: Specifx
In June we invested into Specifx, who are optimising energy consumption in commercial real estate. We joined a group of existing investors who we know and trust, including Powerhouse Ventures, Better Ventures, and Blackhorn.
Specifx is building a vertical Operating System (OS) for facility management, starting with HVAC devices, which represent the largest energy consumption and maintenance spend in commercial real estate (about 40%). They are solving the core problem of data scarcity within facility management, with most asset owners not even knowing exactly what HVAC devices have been installed in their buildings. This generates vast inefficiencies (up to 30%) in both operating buildings under management (e.g. over-consumption of energy in HVAC devices) and planning subsequent capital expenditure (e.g. devices staying in place long after useful life).
We are incredibly excited to support CEO Ryan Martineau and his amazing team on this mission – they started working together building and rapidly growing energy-as-a-service provider Redaptive, which recently reached a $1bn valuation with their latest $100m raise in October, and have demonstrated impressive execution speed in the 18 months since launching Specifx.
Systemiq Secondee: Dan Nima
This October, we welcomed Dan Nima on secondment from our sister company, Systemiq. Dan has brought fresh insights to our thinking on the intersection of AI and manufacturing where we are seeing a large pipeline of startups.
For a deeper dive into his findings, check out Dan’s first blog here.
The secondment program is a cornerstone of collaboration between Systemiq and Systemiq Capital, allowing us to draw on Systemiq’s exceptional talent and expertise while sharing the latest thinking on climate innovation. We look forward to welcoming our next secondee in 2025.
Breakfast Event, 22 January 2025: AI meets Manufacturing: Transforming Uncertainty into Opportunity
We are excited to co-host a breakfast with the venture capital arm of electronics company, TDK, bringing together industry pioneers, investors, and innovators to explore how AI can unlock a new era of sustainable manufacturing, one where transformative growth is decoupled from environmental cost.
If you’d like to join us, register your interest here.
Founders Hike and Dinner in San Francisco
In October, our Investment Partner, George Darrah, co-hosted a hike and dinner for climate founders with Nadeem Sheikh (PVG), Marie Thompson (Powerhouse), and Tom McQuillen (ReGen Ventures). The event brought together some of the most innovative minds in climate tech for an evening of connection, insights, and inspiration.
As technology cost curves fall, more startups are emerging at the intersection of foundational technologies like genomics, automation, remote sensing, and AI. The next generation of climate unicorns will likely be technology integrators, leveraging these advances to create transformative change.
At the dinner, founders Shely Aronov (Inner Plant) and Tony Martens Fekini (Plantible)shared invaluable lessons from building their companies who are redefining their industries by integrating multiple technologies.
Key Takeaways:
Ruthless Prioritisation – Focus relentlessly on ROI; it’s the ultimate metric.
Culture Shifts Are Crucial – Transitioning from project to product culture should be accompanied by turnover; if it isn’t, the shift likely hasn’t happened.
Start Commercial Conversations Early – If you feel “ready,” you’ve waited too long.
The combination of nature, innovation, and community made this gathering feel special! We’re already looking forward to the next - great ideas, like great companies, grow when shared.
What our portfolio has been up to
InnerPlant– InnerPlant’s first commercial product - CropVoice recognised as one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2024, for helping farmers enhance crop yields with early detection of fungal disease in soybeans. The first-of-its-kind platform is rolling out in 2025 and will translate plant physiology into an early fungal alert system–providing farmers with actionable data directly from plants so they know exactly what crops need and when.
Basecamp Research – in October Basecamp raised $60m Series B to scale its AI-powered database of life. The round was led by Singular, and other investors included S32, redalpine, vice-chairman of Roche André Hoffmann, chair of Royal Philips's supervisory board Feike Sijbesma and Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever.
Ohme - smart UK has chosen Ohme as its new and exclusive official home EV charging partner. The agreement will see smart recommend Ohme chargers to customers who need a home charging solution. Ohme chargers will be available to view in smart retailers, with Ohme providing a full solution including the charger and installation as well as retailer training and support.
Qflow – In November Qflow announced integration with Procore Technologies Inc., the leading global provider of construction management software. This integration will help streamline reporting, easing the data capture for contractors on materials and deliveries, to simplify on-site reporting and help contractors improve sustainability.
Naturemetrics ) – were nominated as one of the finalists for the Earthshot Prize in the “protect and restore” category.
ZeroAvia – Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) awards ZeroAvia its Project of the Year Award 2024. The HyFlyer II project delivered the revolutionary first flight of a 19-seat aircraft using hydrogen-electric power and helped ZeroAvia advance its first engine up to formal certification application.
Apolitical– during Apolitical day in November, Robyn (CEO) announced that Apolitical will launch a Government Campus for Emerging Technologies. The Campus will fill a vast and urgent knowledge, skills and network gap that exists globally for public servants - empowering governments to be ready and confident for emerging technologies.
Where We’ve Been
Europe
Jasper and Louis attended The Drop Climate Tech Festival in Malmö in September.
Irena and Jasper attended Voyagers Climate Tech Festival: “The Heat” in London in September.
Jasper attended Sweden Sustaintech Venture Day in Stokholm in October. Read more about his reflections here.
George and Irena attended the Climate Leaders Forum in London in October.
George attended the Nutreco Event for Sustainable Protein Production in Amsterdam in October.
George and Jasper attended Slush in Helsinki in November. We were delighted to be selected in a competitive process alongside 19 other emerging managers to share our work with the RAISE LP community and enjoyed the opportunity to share why investing into the industrial transition is the opportunity of the next two decades! We also had the opportunity to partner with Cerulean Ventures, Superorganism and Earth to bring guests at Slush a Nightcap for Nature event – they brought together LPs and nature-funders, GPs and the founders who are working to tilt the economy toward nature-positivity.
George speaking at Slush x RAISE
U.S and Asia
Louis attended New York Climate Week in September where he had the opportunity to meet leaders from across business, tech, policy, academia, civil society in the climate space. Highlights included a “grid capacity” dinner, hosted by our venture partner, PVG; Systemiq’s “Blue Whale” dinner and the high concentration of climate founders met.
George attended the Tough Tech Summit in Boston in October.
Irena attended the Bhutan Innovation Forum in Paro in October. Read more about her reflections here.
Irena on a panel at the Bhutan Innovation Forum
Ops
Jessica attended the SuperReturn COO/CFO in Amsterdam and the VC Platform Europe in Paris in October.
Jessica at VC Platform Europe
Camilla attended a Scale Ops Dinner in London in October.
For live updates on team travels, make sure to follow us on LinkedIn.
Learn and Discover
‘Electrify, an optimist’s playbook for our clean energy future’, by Saul Griffith. An optimistic – but realistic and feasible – action plan for fighting climate change while creating new jobs and a healthier environment: electrify everything.
Farmers are super adopters. In a recent blog, George Darrah explains how farmers, as Superadopters, are key to scaling climate tech solutions. Historical examples like hybrid corn and herbicide-tolerant soybeans show just how fast adoption can happen when the conditions are right.
‘Has AI scaling hit a limit?’ an article from B2BaCEO by Ashu Garg. Ashu explains the challenges to scaling broadly by splitting it into three interrelated categories: data, compute, and the limitations of next-token prediction. Each represents a barrier to progress through more data, compute, and parameters alone.
Like It or Not: Geo-Engineering in Space May Hold the Keys to Climate Change. In a recent blog, Jasper Wigley dives into key trends and insights shaping geo-engineering today. If you’re building tech in this area or simply have an opinion, we’d love to hear from you.
‘On Grand Strategy’, by John Lewis Gaddis. On Grand Strategy applies the sharp insights and wit readers have come to expect from Gaddis to times, places, and people he's never written about before. For anyone interested in the art of leadership, On Grand Strategy is, in every way, a master class.
Semiconductor Progress, “Invest Like The Best” podcast: Chris Miller, author of Chip War, covers the geopolitical implications of the race for superior chip technology, how venture capital is playing the AI-driven boom in the industry, and where innovation is happening beyond just Nvidia.
The Heat 2024. Electrify Everything: The Power Challenge Behind Data Centres,. In her latest blog, Irena Spazzapan explores how the rise in AI capital expenditures is driving a “capex super-cycle,” with investments expected to reach $200 billion globally by 2025. The physical infrastructure for data centres will be a key constraint on the growth of next-gen models.
‘The Richest Man in Babylon’, by George S Clason. The ancient Babylonians were the first people to discover the universal laws of prosperity. In his classic bestseller, "The Richest Man in Babylon," George S. Clason reveals their secrets for creating, growing, and preserving wealth.
Visit our blog and news page here, for more reads.
Insights from our Systemiq Ltd partners
New analysis from Systemiq shows that cultivated meat could contribute €20-85bn per year to the EU economy and catalyse 3.5Gt of emissions mitigation – if it receives the right investment and support.
The global hospitality industry can collectively reduce its food-related emissions by 30% by 2030 according to a new white paper developed by Systemiq.
Global Partner Christine Delivanis appeared on the EAT Fuel to Fork podcast, exploring how to decarbonise the food system. Christine will also be appearing at the Oxford Farming Conference in January on a panel, exploring this further.
Systemiq Director Scarlett Benson spoke at the WWF Lovejoy Symposium on how to reach Positive Tipping Points in the Food System – listen back to the webinar recording –Scarlett 25mins 30secs in.
Where We Will Be...
Reach out to us if you want to meet up at any of these events!
Systemiq Capital team (co-host TDK Ventures) – AI meets Manufacturing Breakfast – London, UK - January 22nd
Irena, George, Jessica – CGF Sustainable Retail Summit – London, UK – January 29th
Irena – Meeting existing and prospective investors – UAE – Q1
Jessica – VC Platform Summit – Miami, USA – April 7th – 9th
Louis – meeting existing and new founders and the wider ecosystem – NYC, USA – April 16th – 18th
Louis & Jasper – San Francisco Climate Week – SF, USA – April 21st – 25th