Startup Program: Kick-off event at the Green Transformation Incubator focuses on ESG trends

ESG Trends: Christian Mittermaier (pictured), Co-Founder of the startup ConstellR, Anna Lange and Peter Fricke from EY, and Christina Koch from neosfer, offered multifaceted insights, which ranged from strategies for attracting investors to the concrete prospects for FinTechs with a sustainable focus.

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Ready, set, go green! 

On October 23rd, the Green Transformation Incubator, a nine-week startup incubator program, kicked off with a focus on ESG. Participants were immersed in the scale-up story of a satellite startup, constellR, that is celebrating success with a clear vision and focused collaborations. Other presentations revealed that ESG startups are resilient to the current economic climate, social startups will grow with standardized KPIs, and advancing regulation is increasing tailwinds for ESG innovators. In addition to these insights, lively conversations characterized the evening – networking at its best.

Three letters were at the heart of the Green Transformation Incubator kick-off: ESG - "Environmental," "Social" and "Governance". The evening's speakers, Christian Mittermaier, Co-Founder of the startup constellR, Anna Lange and Peter Fricke from EY, and Christina Koch from neosfer, offered multifaceted insights, which ranged from strategies for attracting investors to the concrete future prospects for FinTechs with a sustainable focus.

Above: Anna Lange and Peter Fricke from EY

Curiosity and a spirit of discovery characterized the atmosphere from the first second. Even before the official start of the event, conversations blossomed in all corners of TechQuartier. The startup teams exchanged ideas with each other as well as with the program partners and investors.

Moderator Detlef Fechtner, Editor-In-Chief at Börsen-Zeitung, the program's media partner, officially rung in the event with a warm welcome. He emphasized the importance of a diverse ecosystem that enables forward-looking business ideas to flourish and encourages startup teams to learn from the experiences of other innovators and experts. He then asked the founders to briefly introduce themselves on stage. It was easy to see that they all share the same spirit and desire to change the world for the better.

Shining a Light on Success: The ConstellR Journey and Lessons in Sustainable Entrepreneurship
Startup teams are generally interested in hearing the success stories and challenges of other startups. Christian Mittermaier, the first speaker, offered his experience as a co-founder on a quickly growing scale-up. The CFO and MD of ConstellR first described his impressive mission: to use microsatellites to measure the temperature on the earth's surface to better manage water and carbon resources.

"Our technology is helping to positively impact agriculture, the environment and human health,” Mittermaier said. In his scale-up story, the LMU graduate emphasized the value of flexibility and described how he outsourced competencies to drive the core business.

"That's why incubator programs like this are so important – talk to each other and explore if there's someone who brings more expertise to the table in an area that's relevant to you and wants to collaborate with you. It's also perfectly fine to share some revenue in that case."
- Christian Mittermaier, Co-Founder of the startup ConstellR

He advised founders to communicate their own concept with its unique selling points clearly, simply and forcefully to investors. His startup has raised 10 million euros with this strategy.

Deep Dive ESG Market Trends with EY – ESG FinTechs are growing

After Mittermaier's inspiring impulse, Anna Lange, Senior Consultant at EY-Parthenon and Peter Fricke, Associate Director FinTech Business Development at EY, presented current ESG trends. The findings supported the feelings inside the ecosystem. The number of ESG FinTechs in Europe are growing steadily – 70 players were added in 2022 compared to 2021. A look at the individual countries shows that the UK sits from the top  with a total of 75 ESG FinTechs, second and third place are taken by Germany (66) and France (40).

The reported suggests that ESG FinTechs are comparatively resilient to the current investment shyness. In their outlook, Lange and Fricke identifed far-reaching potential in connection with ESG in the areas of artificial intelligence and gamification, for example.

Above: Christina Koch from neosfer, Detlef Fechtner, Editor-In-Chief at Börsen-Zeitung and Christian Mittermaier, Co-Founder of the startup constellR.

Partner Impulse: Developments in ESG & ClimateTech Investing – The VC Perspective

Christina Koch, Investment Manager at neosfer, provided further insights, but from a VC point of view. She explained that between 2012 and 2022, 70 to 80 percent of impact funding worldwide went to ecologically oriented startups, while only 20 to 30 percent went to social startups.

ESG Panel Discussion: Navigating ESG Transformation and Green Innovation for a Sustainable Future

The concluding ESG panel discussion between the experts offered the chance to dive deep into the presentations. The audience asked numerous questions, for example about the standardization of KPIs, the relevance of impact reporting in different corporate phases and the general development of the ESG sector.

One sentence from Peter Fricke summed up the future outlook: "The ESG growth story will gain further tailwind as regulation progresses.

"The kick-off evening was very exciting. I was most inspired by Christian Mittermaier's presentation because he showed that – especially as a sustainable or socially oriented startup – you should stick to your entrepreneurial idea, even if it seems utopian and not immediately profitable to outsiders. The motto here is 'doubt less, do more'. Perhaps one's business approach is not so far-fetched as one is often led to believe, but simply no one has dared to implement it. Accordingly, it is important to find long-term investors who are enthusiastic about the idea and the social impact it will have, and who are not just looking to make a quick buck. Mittermaier and his satellite startup show exactly that. His words have given me a lot of courage."

- Daniel Ceballos, Software Developer at edon – electronic donations

About the Green Transformation Incubator and upcoming events:
The Green Transformation Incubator offers not only professional know-how in the areas of ESG Management, Sustainable Finance and Green Real Estate, but also an inspiring and open environment in which forward-looking ideas can grow. It is precisely this added value of intensive exchange that the TechQuartier offers as a major innovation center in the Rhine-Main region: from the first step, where the startups arouse curiosity, to firm partnerships that pave the way for entry and success in the market.