Focus on ecological return

Our mission is as important as it is clear: We use venture capi­tal to support inno­va­tive start-ups in turning their sustainable busi­ness ideas into reality. In this way, we are driving forward a trans­for­ma­tion of the economy toward climate neutra­lity and a circu­lar economy. Against the back­drop of climate change and massive pres­sure on ecosys­tems, this trans­for­ma­tion is essen­tial. To achieve our goals, we have brought expe­ri­en­ced foun­ders and scien­tists on board. In addi­tion, we have built a network of support­ers and advi­sors, which also consists largely of successful foun­ders and entre­pre­neurs — the Planet A Network. So far, for exam­ple, we have inves­ted in the startup WILDPLASTIC - the inven­tor of the plas­tic bag made from recy­cled plas­tic coll­ec­ted enti­rely in nature. Or in the biopla­s­tics start-up trace­l­ess mate­ri­als. But this is just the begin­ning: Many more promi­sing start-up invest­ments are to follow.

In order to be able to evaluate the effects on the envi­ron­ment, we use a compre­hen­sive, scien­ti­fic approach. First, we perform a plau­si­bi­lity check. Is the “impact” traceable and signi­fi­cant? In a second step, we delve deeper into the figu­res and assump­ti­ons, talk to experts or consult scien­ti­fic studies. We then calcu­late an “ecolo­gi­cal foot­print” for each busi­ness model. In doing so, we focus on four areas: Green­house gas emis­si­ons, (plas­tic) waste produc­tion, resource consump­tion and conside­ra­tion for biodi­ver­sity. This allows us to under­stand not only green­house gas emis­si­ons, but the entire spec­trum from water use to land use. The results of this life cycle assess­ment are then compared with refe­rence products.

We look for compa­nies where impact is baked into the DNA: if the start-up scales, the envi­ron­men­tal bene­fit auto­ma­ti­cally grows as well. Being able to quan­tify impact in this way allows us to make precise invest­ment decis­i­ons. And the port­fo­lio compa­nies can use this for their exter­nal image. Our Hamburg-based start-up WILDPLASTIC, for exam­ple, was able to conclude a strong part­ner­ship with mail order giant Otto.

Without ques­tion, the topic is gaining massive rele­vance. People are incre­asingly reluc­tant to invest in compa­nies whose busi­ness model is detri­men­tal to the envi­ron­ment. Unfort­u­na­tely, this leads to many compa­nies enga­ging in green­wa­shing, i.e. posi­tio­ning them­sel­ves as “green” with certain actions, but in essence not chan­ging anything about their envi­ron­men­tally harmful beha­vior. Here we expect clear and unam­bi­guous guide­lines from the German govern­ment and the EU. Foun­ders are important cata­lysts of change. Only if we manage the trans­for­ma­tion to a sustainable economy now will we still be able to live and do busi­ness well in 30 years’ time.

About Tobias Seikel
Tobias Seikel is a senior invest­ment profes­sio­nal with exten­sive expe­ri­ence in Venture Capi­tal and buil­ding start­ups in the DACH region. He is Co-foun­der and Gene­ral Part­ner at Planet A, belie­ving that it is indis­pensable to address climate change as well as other pres­sing envi­ron­men­tal issues of our time.

Previously, Tobias acted as Mana­ging Part­ner at Hamburg based company buil­der Hanse Ventures, where he was respon­si­ble for the opera­tio­nal manage­ment (inclu­ding the HR acti­vi­ties as well as the trai­nee program), the busi­ness deve­lo­p­ment and the over­all project manage­ment with the port­fo­lio firms.

Prior to joining Hanse Ventures in its early days in 2011, Tobias worked almost 10 years in publi­shing. He began his working career as a trai­nee at Bertels­mann (Gruner+Jahr), moved on to work as the Execu­tive Assistant to the Presi­dent & CEO of Gruner+Jahr Inter­na­tio­nal, before he estab­lished the company’s maga­zine busi­ness as Mana­ging Direc­tor in Croa­tia and was then appoin­ted Deputy Mana­ging Direc­tor of a Bertels­mann (Gruner+Jahr Inter­na­tio­nal) joint venture with Finnish Sanoma Group and Austrian Styria Media Group opera­ting throug­hout Eastern Europe. Moving back to Germany after more than three years, as Publi­shing Direc­tor of one of Germany’s leading news maga­zi­nes, stern, and Publi­shing Direc­tor of Europe’s leading art maga­zine, Art, he was respon­si­ble for the maga­zi­nes’ deve­lo­p­ment and stra­te­gic direc­tion from 2008 until 2011.

Apart from his Planet A‑related acti­vi­ties, Tobias is a regu­lar mentor and supports seve­ral corpo­ra­ti­ons with their advan­ced trai­ning programs or port­fo­lio patro­nage respec­tively, such as Google (juror), HMS Hamburg Media School (lectu­rer) and Next Media Acce­le­ra­tor (mentor). Further­more, he acts as a busi­ness angel in seve­ral start­ups and as a regu­lar spea­ker at indus­try events. — Tobias holds a degree of German Diplom­kauf­mann, a Diplôme de Grande École as well as a Master of Science from ESCP Europe and speaks seve­ral languages.