Strengthening our leadership team at ETF Partners
Europe’s leading sustainable investment venture capital firm goes from strength to strength with three new partners and two senior partners
Since 2006, ETF Partners has been striving to find solutions to one of the most important questions of our time: how can we ensure a sustainable future for our planet? To solve a problem of such a huge and complex scale requires innovation, collaboration and creativity. Through investing in innovation, we have spent the past 17 years helping nurture the boundary-breaking visions of entrepreneurs. We have worked as a team to collaborate towards a shared goal, and we have ultimately created cutting-edge businesses to serve both customer demands and the planet.
Over the past 10 months, the firm has led successful funding rounds in Open Cosmos, Dexter Energy, Fairly Made, and Net Purpose. Open Cosmos builds and operates satellites to simplify access to space, empowering organisations to use satellite data to solve key challenges such as climate change. Dexter Energy uses artificial intelligence to improve renewable generation forecasting and optimisation, Fairly Made allows fashion brands to map supply chains and their overall impact down to individual products, and Net Purpose is a data aggregation platform designed to improve impact measurement for public companies and their investors. These are exciting organisations that are key to building the infrastructure for a safer, greener future. And we are proud to help them reach their fullest potential.
Yet, helping these cutting-edge businesses make a mark is impossible without the input of people. As much as ideas and solutions are necessary, it is the people who work to embody them and ensure they will be lasting. At ETF Partners, we pride ourselves on our longstanding and committed team and we are excited to announce that it is now growing from strength to strength, with the appointment of Lucy Rands, Tomer Strikovsky and Zoe VanderWolk as partners, and the promotion of Fabrice Bienfait and Remy de Tonnac becoming senior partners. The partners will continue to work closely with Managing Partners, Rob Genieser and Patrick Sheehan.
Joining ETF Partners as a Material Sciences graduate in 2016, Lucy hit the ground running and swiftly learned the ins-and-outs of sustainability investing. She has since become an integral part of the team, serving on the boards of Fairly Made, C&H and Greenbird (recently exited) as well as advocating for diversity in climate tech. “Our goal at ETF Partners is to find passionate, mission-driven founders and enable them to make their ambitious visions a reality,” Lucy says. “The latest additions to our portfolio exemplify that aim, and I am delighted to be part of a team that combines innovative thinking, experience, and a commitment to making a positive impact.”
Originally from Tel Aviv, Israel, Tomer joined ETF Partners in 2015 as an intern. Driven by his passion to become a climate investor, Tomer has since developed vast acumen in the field of sustainability through honing his experience at the company. Tomer has led and co-led investments in Modern Milkman, Net Purpose, Zeelo and Tomorrow, taking roles on each of their boards. “It’s a real privilege to be able to work with amazing founders that are fully devoted to make a difference in areas that are critical to humanity and our planet,” Tomer says. “I am looking forward to continuing our work of supporting these inspiring businesses.”
Recently nominated as ESG Professional of the Year at the 2023 Drawdown Awards, Zoe VanderWolk has been crucial in maintaining and monitoring the sustainability efforts of ETF Partners and our portfolio companies, since she joined us in 2019. “Historically, sustainable investing has taken a back seat during economic downturns, but continued levels of interest from investors highlight how much has changed,” Zoe says. “Dynamic start-ups and entrepreneurs have the potential to effect radical change, but having access to capital can be a critical factor in their success. It’s a privilege to be part of a firm that is hyper-focused on supporting these forward-thinking businesses.”
We would like to congratulate Lucy, Tomer and Zoe on their well-deserved promotions to Partner. They embody the forward-thinking and hard-working ethos that has made ETF Partners such an industry leader today. Their efforts also come alongside the longstanding work of Fabrice Bienfait and Remy de Tonnac. With Fabrice becoming a partner in 2015 and Remy reaching partner in 2016, both team members have led the firm’s efforts in finding and supporting mission-driven founders. Their new roles as Senior Partners are equally merited and we look forward to their continued stewardship.
Speaking of the ETF team’s commitment, Net Purpose CEO Samantha Duncan says: “By directly interacting at board level, ETF Partners have elevated our conversations on metrics, performance, execution, and results. The portfolio network has been invaluable, and the team has made themselves consistently available to help us achieve the goals that we’ve set, as well as challenging us to make sure that we’re on the right track.”
Fairly Made co-founder Laure Betsch adds: “Partnering with ETF was an obvious choice, and we were immediately convinced by their shared values. As one of the leading climate investors, ETF Partners has proven a longstanding and historic commitment to sustainability that exists through a willingness to encourage companies with an ambitious mission.”
