Impact Shakers Ventures is an early-stage impact fund investing in diverse founding teams across climate tech, inclusion tech, and impact infrastructure throughout Europe and the UK. As an Investment Associate, Lucija oversees their market research and competitor analysis.
The fund is building the impact economy by supporting founders who tackle systemic challenges, with climate tech representing a significant portion of their investment thesis.
The challenge of comprehensive climate market intelligence
As a lean, early-stage fund focused on impact, Impact Shakers needed a platform that could deliver comprehensive climate tech insights without overwhelming their small team. Generic databases often bury climate-relevant startups among broader tech categories, making it difficult to conduct thorough market research and competitive analysis.
The team was spending considerable time filtering through general startup databases to understand climate tech market dynamics and identify emerging trends across various sub-sectors. As an impact-focused fund, they required deeper insights into climate technologies and the ability to track market evolution comprehensively.
Specialised climate intelligence for strategic decision-making
After evaluating various options, Impact Shakers selected Net Zero Insights for its specialised focus on climate technology and comprehensive startup tracking from pre-seed to exit.
The platform has become integral to multiple aspects of their investment process:
Comprehensive Market Research: Net Zero Insights’ market intelligence capabilities have transformed Impact Shakers’ approach to sector analysis. The team regularly analyses trends across climate sub-sectors – from renewable energy and carbon capture to sustainable materials and circular economy solutions. The platform’s comprehensive reports help identify emerging opportunities and understand which areas are becoming oversaturated, crucial intelligence for an early-stage fund making strategic bets.
In-Depth Competitor Analysis: Understanding competitive landscapes is essential for investment decisions. Net Zero Insights provides detailed company development data and market positioning insights, allowing the team to assess how startups differentiate themselves within crowded sectors. This analysis is particularly valuable in climate tech, where technical differentiation and market timing often determine success.
Funding Intelligence and Market Dynamics: The platform’s comprehensive funding data helps Impact Shakers understand capital flows across different climate sectors. This intelligence informs their investment strategy and helps identify areas where early-stage funding gaps exist – perfect opportunities for their pre-seed and seed focus.
Enhanced Due Diligence Process: When evaluating potential investments, the team uses Net Zero Insights to conduct thorough competitive landscape analysis. Historical data and company progression tracking help them understand market dynamics and assess whether startups have sustainable competitive advantages. “The depth of climate-specific data significantly strengthens our due diligence process,” Lucija notes.
Content Strategy and Ecosystem Building: As part of their ecosystem-building efforts, Impact Shakers publishes weekly “Impact Startups to Watch” posts on LinkedIn, highlighting innovative companies across different impact sectors. Net Zero Insights helps identify cutting-edge startups working on breakthrough technologies, ensuring their content showcases genuine innovation rather than incremental improvements.
Operational efficiency for lean teams
For an early-stage fund, efficiency is paramount. Net Zero Insights allows Impact Shakers’ small team to access institutional-quality market intelligence without dedicating significant internal resources to research. This efficiency lets them focus more time on building relationships with founders and supporting portfolio companies.
Measurable impact on investment strategy
Implementing Net Zero Insights has delivered tangible benefits:
- Strategic market understanding: Deep insights into climate sub-sector trends inform investment thesis development and portfolio strategy
- Competitive intelligence: Comprehensive competitive analysis strengthens due diligence and investment decision-making
- Ecosystem awareness: Complete market visibility from pre-seed to exit provides unique insights into climate tech evolution
- Content authority: Market intelligence supports thought leadership efforts, positioning Impact Shakers as an insightful climate tech investor
- Operational efficiency: Streamlined research processes allow the lean team to maximise their market coverage
Future-focused investment approach
As climate tech continues evolving rapidly, real-time market intelligence becomes increasingly valuable. The comprehensive market understanding provided by Net Zero Insights helps Impact Shakers anticipate trends and position their portfolio companies strategically within the broader climate tech ecosystem.
With Net Zero Insights, Impact Shakers has strengthened their position as an informed participant in the climate tech ecosystem, enabling them to better serve the diverse founders building solutions for our planet’s most pressing challenges.
Request a Free Trial to see first hand how Net Zero Insights can improve you early stage investment processes!
