Investment Climate Podcast

Alex Shandrovsky
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Entrepreneurship

We are uncovering the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.

  1. On Why Family Offices Beat VCs in the Hard-Tech Winter - Jaap Zijlstra, Navus

    1d ago

    On Why Family Offices Beat VCs in the Hard-Tech Winter - Jaap Zijlstra, Navus

    Episode 105: Navus: Jaap Zijlstra on Why "Process Tech" is the Missing Link in Scaling AgriFood and Why Family Offices Beat VCs in the Hard-Tech WinterIn this episode, I sit down with Jaap Zijlstra, representing Navus, a Dutch family office-backed venture firm. Unlike traditional VCs, Navus leverages the technical heritage of a world-leading dairy robotics family to build clusters of sustainable food and energy companies. Jaap explains why the "AgriFood winter" is not a death knell for innovation, but a necessary maturation phase that favors patient capital over hyper-speed software models. We deep-dive into why Navus doubles down on process technology and hardware-enabled IP (like their investment in Cosaic), and why agriculture will always follow the laws of physics, not the speed of software deployment. 🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear Jaap’s candid take on why family offices are the natural home for hardware-heavy biotech, how they leverage in-house patent offices to vet deep-tech, and why they prioritize "real-world" adoption cycles over "get-rich-quick" exit timelines. Key Facts: NavusJaap Zijlstra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaap-zijlstra-48b69319/Website: https://navusholding.com/Headquarters: NetherlandsGoal: To build clusters of successful tech companies in sustainable food and energy, leveraging the family's deep-rooted experience in global machinery and robotics.Investment Profile: Roughly 25 portfolio companies. Invests from the family office balance sheet (not a traditional fund), allowing for multi-stage, multi-year holding periods. Ticket sizes vary from $1M–$2M (Seed/Series A) to significantly more for private equity-style deals.BlurbNAVUS is a Dutch family office-backed investment vehicle specializing in controlled environment agriculture, robotics, automation, and alternative ingredient production technology. By operating outside the constraints of a standard 7-to-10-year fund cycle, they provide the "patient capital" required to navigate the harsh realities of physical-world agriculture and energy hardware.

    24 min
  2. On Navigating a 14-Month Biotech Seed Round & Making Whole Milk from Mammary Cells- Opalia: Jennifer

    Jun 10

    On Navigating a 14-Month Biotech Seed Round & Making Whole Milk from Mammary Cells- Opalia: Jennifer

    Episode 103: Opalia: Jennifer Côté on Navigating a 14-Month Biotech Seed Round and Making Whole Milk from Mammary CellsIn this episode, I sit down with Jennifer Côté, CEO and Co-Founder of Opalia, a Montreal-based biotechnology company pioneering animal-free dairy by producing real whole milk from bovine mammary cells. Jennifer shares a transparent, reality-check account of what it takes to close a $3.2M CAD Seed round in the challenging 2026 funding climate. She breaks down the technical differentiation that separates cellular dairy from the struggling cultivated meat sector, explains how to leverage non-dilutive government grants, and details the grueling process of filtering a pipeline of 400 investors down to a committed, high-quality cap table. 🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear Jennifer’s take on building a "Type A" hyper-transparent data room, how she fields macro environmental objections, and why real transparency beats over-inflated hype when partnering with sector-specific venture capital. Key Facts: OpaliaJennifer Côté: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-cote/Website: opaliafoods.comHeadquarters: Montreal, Canada.Goal: To eliminate the intensive global reliance on cattle by manufacturing authentic whole milk (with matching functional proteins, fats, and taste) using a highly capital-efficient, mammalian cell-based bioreactor system.Milestone: Raised $6M CAD total over 6 years (with remarkable capital efficiency compared to peers raising hundreds of millions) and recently closed the first $3.2M CAD tranche of their Seed round.BlurbOPALIA is a Canadian cellular agriculture company pioneering a new era of sustainable dairy. Instead of using precision fermentation (yeast/bacteria) or slaughtering animals for cultivated meat, Opalia isolates mammary gland cells from cows just once and initiates lactation continuously inside custom, low-cost bioreactor vessels.

    31 min
  3. On the Strength of the Syndicate Model and De-Risking AgriFood Investing - Branch Venture Group

    Jun 8

    On the Strength of the Syndicate Model and De-Risking AgriFood Investing - Branch Venture Group

    Episode 102: Branch Venture Group: Lauren Abda on the Strength of the Syndicate Model and De-Risking AgriFood InvestingIn this episode, I sit down with Lauren Abda, Co-Founder of Branch Venture Group, a Boston-based angel investment network and syndicate deployed heavily into the future of food. Lauren delivers a masterclass on why the syndicate model has outperformed traditional mega-funds during the current "AgriFood winter," explaining how pairing early-stage founders with highly strategic operators creates durable competitive moats. We discuss the shifting macroeconomic landscape, why food infrastructure remains dramatically undercapitalized despite essential demand, and how Lauren leverages a 10-year-old vetting process to filter thousands of inbound deals into 29 high-performing investments. 🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear Lauren’s take on uncovering "unfair advantages" in early-stage startups, the unique acquisition dynamics of top food corporations, and how she manages the psychological grit required to back unconventional innovation before consensus forms. Key Facts: Branch Venture GroupLauren Abda: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenabda/Website: https://www.branchventuregroup.com/Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts.Goal: To back the brightest founders building the future of the food system, delivering venture-scale returns by combining visionary innovation with strict operational discipline.Milestone: Over a decade in the space; 29 unique investments made since 2017. The portfolio boasts two unicorns, multiple markups, and nearly half (50%) of the portfolio is currently cash-flow break-even.BlurbBRANCH VENTURE GROUP is an angel investment network and syndicate specializing in early-stage food and agriculture innovation. Evolving out of Branch Food—a premier Boston-based innovation platform—the syndicate serves as a bridge between early-stage founders and a powerful network of experienced industry operators, executives, and strategic partners.

    35 min
  4. On why the "Plant-Based Meat" thesis failed & pivoting a $50M fund to Defense Tech - Champel Capital

    Jun 4

    On why the "Plant-Based Meat" thesis failed & pivoting a $50M fund to Defense Tech - Champel Capital

    Episode 102: Champel Capital: Amir Weitmann on why the "Plant-Based Meat" thesis failed and pivoting a $50M fund to Defense Tech  In this episode, I sit down with Amir Weitmann, Managing Partner at Champel Capital, an Israeli venture fund that deployed heavily into FoodTech across its first two funds (backing standouts like Remilk and Aleph Farms). Amir delivers a brutally honest post-mortem on the alternative protein sector, explaining exactly why Champel avoided investing in plant-based meat companies like Beyond Meat, opting instead for breakthrough Deep Tech. We discuss the shifting macroeconomic landscape that caused FoodTech funding to collapse to 15% of its 2021 peak, and why Champel's upcoming third fund is pivoting entirely away from AgriFood into Defense and Security.  🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear Amir’s unapologetic take on why ESG should be about human prosperity, not "worshipping Mother Earth," and the terrifying psychological burden of managing LP money.  Key Facts Champel Capital: Amir Weitmann: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirweitmann/Website: champelcapital.comHeadquarters: IsraelGoal: To deliver outsized venture returns (targeting 5x fund return / 25%-35% IRR) by backing true technological breakthroughs, transitioning from early FoodTech investments into Defense and Security.Milestone: Raised over $50 million across two funds, backing major FoodTech players like Remilk and Aleph Farms, and is currently actively fundraising for Fund III. Blurb CHAMPEL CAPITAL is a Swiss venture capital firm specializing in Israeli deep tech — physical-world innovation over software-only plays. They back founders building defensible, hard-to-commoditize technologies across defense & security, medtech, insurtech, watertech, foodtech, agritech, and mobility. Investment thesis centers on three pillars: exceptional founders with genuine market vision, deep tech with durable competitive moats, and large addressable markets. Stage and check size not specified; primary value proposition is serving as a gateway between European capital and Israel's startup ecosystem.

    46 min
  5. On the 16M CHF Series A, licensing IP to sugar giants,& bypassing CapEx-Charles Pontvianne,Planetary

    Jun 2

    On the 16M CHF Series A, licensing IP to sugar giants,& bypassing CapEx-Charles Pontvianne,Planetary

    Episode 101: Planetary: Charles Pontvianne on the 16M CHF Series A, licensing IP to sugar giants, and bypassing CapEx  In this episode, I sit down with Charles Pontvianne, CFO of Planetary, a Swiss biotech startup that recently announced a massive 16 million CHF Series A co-led by Radical Capital and Oetker Group. Charles breaks down their highly unusual "middleman" equity story: instead of building their own massive fermentation facilities, Planetary licenses their biomanufacturing IP directly to legacy sugar producers, utilizing their existing infrastructure to upcycle sucrose side-streams into high-protein B2B ingredients. We discuss how Planetary successfully navigated the dreaded "Food-for-Fuel" ethical bottleneck by producing "Food-for-Food," and how getting retail giant Aldi to reorder their vegan chicken fillet was the ultimate commercial derisking mechanism for their Series A investors.  🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear Charles explain the exact structure of their data room and why treating your fundraise like selling a house is critical to creating VC FOMO.  Key Facts Planetary: Charles Pontvianne: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlespontvianne/Website: https://www.planetarygroup.ch/Headquarters: Switzerland Goal: To act as the missing link between industrial agriculture and FoodTech by licensing biomanufacturing IP to global carbohydrate/sugar producers, upcycling their sucrose side-streams into Mycoprotein ingredients for the B2B market.Milestone: Closed a 16 million CHF Series A (co-led by Radical Capital and Oetker Group) while successfully scaling up a 50 cubic meter fermentation plant in Switzerland and launching a Mycoprotein-based vegan chicken fillet in Aldi. Blurb PLANETARY is a Swiss full-stack fermentation platform building and operating a global network of biomanufacturing facilities. Their proprietary BioBlocks™ fermentation and AI platform handles scale-up, process optimization, and production across three verticals: mycoprotein ingredients, precision fermentation-derived products, and bio-based materials. They are infrastructure-as-a-service for the bioeconomy — clients access Planetary's facilities, platform, and expertise to get fermentation-based products to market with optimized COGS and sustainability metrics.

    33 min
  6. On non-dilutive govt hacks, dodging the OpenAI threat, & $1.1M pre-seed pitch - Dan Bull, Scanabull

    May 26

    On non-dilutive govt hacks, dodging the OpenAI threat, & $1.1M pre-seed pitch - Dan Bull, Scanabull

    Episode 100: Scannabull: Dan Bull on non-dilutive government hacks, dodging the OpenAI threat, and the $1.1M pre-seed pitch  In this episode, I sit down with Dan Bull, CEO of Scannabull, a New Zealand-based AgTech startup utilizing 3D imagery and edge-device machine learning to accurately weigh livestock. Dan breaks down the exact timeline of their $1.1M NZD pre-seed round, explaining how an early introduction from their first major customer (Silver Fern Farms) unlocked backing from Sprout AgriTech and Enterprise Angels, which subsequently triggered a highly favorable, non-dilutive $750k government loan. We dive into the tactical ways founders can handle the inevitable "won't OpenAI just crush you?" objection, and why targeting farmers as a primary customer is a mistake.  🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear how Dan plans to monetize Scannabull by selling data directly to massive meat processors rather than charging cash-strapped farmers.  Key Facts Scannabull: Dan Bull: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbull1/Website: https://scanabull.com/Headquarters: New Zealand Goal: To illuminate the "black box" of the beef supply chain by allowing farmers to weigh 600kg animals instantly using 3D imagery on edge devices (iPhones and custom paddock hardware).Milestone: Raised $1.1M NZD via a combination of VC backing (Sprout AgriTech), an Angel syndicate (Enterprise Angels), and a non-dilutive 3% revenue-repayable loan from the New Zealand government’s Callaghan Innovation Fund. Blurb Scanabull is a New Zealand AgTech company making cattle weighing effortless. Based in the Waikato region — one of the world's most storied livestock innovation hubs — Scanabull brings together a proven team with genuine rural roots, AgTech expertise, and deep software capability. Their technology delivers clear, actionable weight intelligence that helps farmers and processors maximize value while keeping animals healthy and well-managed. Simple premise, significant impact: when you know the weight, you know the animal.

    28 min
  7. On the €8M Food Forecast Series A & why European VCs run Due Diligence Post-Term Sheet- SHIFT Invest

    May 25

    On the €8M Food Forecast Series A & why European VCs run Due Diligence Post-Term Sheet- SHIFT Invest

    Episode 99: SHIFT Invest: Jonas von den Driesch on the €8M Food Forecast Series A and why European VCs run Due Diligence Post-Term Sheet  In this episode, I sit down with Jonas von den Driesch, an investor at SHIFT Invest, a Dutch impact venture capital fund that just launched its fourth fund with a first close of €90M. Jonas breaks down the exact timeline and thesis behind their recent €8M Series A co-lead investment in Food Forecast, an AI-driven platform optimizing ultra-fresh bakery production to eliminate food waste. We dive deep into the cultural nuances of European venture capital, specifically why it is standard practice to run heavy, external due diligence after a term sheet has already been signed. Jonas also explains why non-Dutch startups must have commercial proof points to secure funding, and how Food Forecast proved its "land and expand" growth model within enterprise bakery accounts.  🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear Jonas's take on the SaaS AI threat and why a proprietary "data moat" is the only way to survive the rise of LLMs like Claude.  Key Facts SHIFT Invest: Jonas von den Driesch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonas-von-den-driesch/?locale=enWebsite: https://shiftinvest.com/Headquarters: Amstelveen, NetherlandsGoal: To combat climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion by leading or co-leading Seed and Series A rounds across Food & Ag, Energy, Mobility, and Green Industries.Milestone: Recently launched "Shift IV" with a €90M first close, actively deploying €500K to €4M initial checks across Northwestern Europe while targeting 10%–20% ownership stakes. Blurb SHIFT is an impact-first venture capital fund with 14 years and 65+ portfolio companies behind it — backing innovative startups with the potential to meaningfully restore the balance between nature and society. Where conventional investors stop, SHIFT steps in: taking the financial and impact risks required to accelerate the sustainability transition across smart food and agriculture, green industries, energy transition, and sustainable mobility and logistics. SHIFT invests from pre-seed through commercial scale, combining growth capital with deep impact expertise, a high-value partner network, and the long-term commitment — including follow-on capacity — that early-stage environmental entrepreneurs actually need to succeed.

    30 min
  8. On surviving Corporate VC Due Diligence and the 1% Conversion Rate Reality - Tomas Turner, Cosaic

    May 19

    On surviving Corporate VC Due Diligence and the 1% Conversion Rate Reality - Tomas Turner, Cosaic

    Episode 98: Cosaic: Tomas Turner on surviving Corporate VC Due Diligence and the 1% Conversion Rate Reality  In this episode, I sit down with Tomas Turner, CEO and Co-founder of Cosaic, a biomass fermentation startup producing highly functional yeast-based ingredients to replace additives, milk, and eggs. Tomas walks us through the grueling realities of closing a $6M round led by DSM-Firmenich’s CVC arm. We discuss why Corporate VC due diligence is fundamentally different—and far more rigorous on IP and Tech—than standard VC vetting. Tomas also opens up his fundraising pipeline, revealing the raw math required to close a multi-million dollar Seed round today: 250 targets, 60+ initial meetings, and countless rejections just to secure three new investors.  🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear Tomas explain the "pharma model" of FoodTech and why you should never try to negotiate a corporate term sheet with lawyers in the room.  Key Facts Eatable Adventures: Tomas Turner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-turner95/Website: https://www.cosaic.bio/Headquarters: Horgen, SwitzerlandGoal: To utilize biomass fermentation to curate clean-label fat and protein fibers that mask off-notes, provide astringency masking, and function as egg/dairy replacements.Milestone: Closed a $6M funding round led by DSM-Firmenich Venturing, supported by existing investors (Navus Ventures, Founderful) and a new Swiss Family Office. Blurb Cosaic is a science-driven ingredients company building resilient food systems that keep pace with evolving consumer demand. Powered by a fast-moving team of scientists, engineers, and business builders, Cosaic combines rigorous in-house R&D — including an advanced pilot lab for real-condition testing — with a relentless commitment to continuous optimization. They don't just claim what their ingredients can do; they know it. Ambitious by nature and customer-centric by design, Cosaic works alongside food industry partners to deliver solutions that push the boundaries of what's been imagined possible.

    42 min
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About

We are uncovering the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.

Information

  • Creator
    Alex Shandrovsky
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    121
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Alex Shandrovsky
  • Show Website
    Investment Climate Podcast