RevFund Continues to Invest in Impact-First Ventures
Letter from the Manager
The first quarter of 2023 ends with new challenges for startups with already-tight capital markets shaken by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. At RevFund, we plan to continue our support of impact-first startups and are always looking for scalable and sustainable ventures to fund.
While continuing to invest, we are adapting our investment thesis/criteria in response to the changing dynamics in early-stage venture funding with:
A narrower focus on two key impact ecosystems: Climate Tech & Health/Human Equity - built on a strategic collaboration agreement with the University of California, Irvine with public/private support
Series pre-seed and seed round focused on a shorter path to breakeven & product market fit validation
Smaller round and smaller check size
Lower valuations
You can read more about our investment thesis on our new website
Last but not least, our investors and advisors are valued sources for quality deal flow so if you know or come across potentially impactful startups/entrepreneurs, please invite them to connect with us by referring them to julie@revhuboc.com! You can also point any prospects to our RevFund website.
Cheers,
Stephan Erkelens, Fund Manager
How does the SVB collapse affect ClimateTech?
“More attention to the climate tech sector may therefore be required beyond tallying up cash exposure. If there is disproportionate green pain in months to follow, and with already stretched net zero targets moving further out of reach, we will bear an altogether more frightening climate burden than a tech led economic shock.” – Dealroom.co, "How Silicon Valley Bank Collapse Affects Climate Tech, March 15, 2023
The fallout from the SVB collapse may go beyond the economic disruption to the sectors it supported. According to Dealroom.co, SVB formed a dedicated CleanTech practice approximately 15 years ago, working with more than 1,550 CleanTech ventures over the last 10 years, and issuing $3.2B+ to climate tech companies. A little over a year ago, SVB had even committed $5 billion in loans and investments specifically towards sustainability efforts.
Earlier, Dealroom.co shared their thoughts in their report, ‘Impact of Startups and Venture Capital’, saying:
ClimateTech is a leading sector accounting for almost 80% of impact investment
ClimateAction and Affordable and Clean Energy are (still) the most funded UNSDG's
VC funding to the Impact sector decreased LESS than funding to other sectors
Impact ecosystems are maturing to support social enterprises.
We hope that the momentum in the ClimateTech sector is able to stabilize and even grow. At RevFund, we are supporting continued investment in the ClimateTech sector by making it one of the key pillars of our investment thesis.
To read more from Dealroom.co, click the button below.
