Climate Change Is a Social Issue - Alina Klarner (Impact Shakers)

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.

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Thank you to BioEsol for sponsoring this episode. 💚

BioEsol is an AI-powered energy company bringing Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) to industrial and SME clients, enabling energy autonomy, cost savings, and sustainability - with no upfront investment. In April, the company will open its Series A round to accelerate its expansion in France & Europe.

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This week, we’re joined by Alina Klarner, the General Partner at Impact Shakers - a fund, accelerator, and ecosystem built to back diverse impact founders. In this episode, we explore how climate and social challenges intersect, and why investing at that intersection leads to stronger outcomes.

We discuss:

• Why investing in diverse teams is a competitive advantage

• The business case for aligning climate and social impact

• Embedding systemic thinking into startup models from Day 1

• What VCs can do to make the ecosystem more inclusive

• … and more!

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⌛TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 - Introduction

• 04:31 - Co-Founder Dating is Key

• 06:29 - Investing at the Intersection of Climate and Social Issues

• 08:52 - The Economic Rational Behind Climate + Social*

• 12:33 - Embedding Social Impact in Business Models

• 14:29 - Investment Criteria for Diverse Founders

• 16:22 - Tools for Assessing Impact

• 20:18 - Investment Criteria for Diverse Founders

• 23:58 - Access to Capital for Diverse Founders

• 25:48 - Encouraging VCs to Invest in Climate and Social

• 27:41 - Policies for Impact Investing

• 32:26 - VCs talk to VCs

• 35:24 - Fire Questions

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▶️ CONNECT WITH ALINA

• Alina Klarner – Alina Klarner | LinkedIn

• Impact Shakers - Impact Shakers

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🔗 CONNECT WITH ME

• Newsletter - https://climateventuresvco2.substack.com/

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugorauch/

• Email - climateventuresvco2@substack.com

• YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@VCo2_HugoRauch

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📚 REFERENCES AND MENTIONS

• Byway – Flight-free travel company

• Nibs Etc. – Upcycled juice pulp into granola

• Circular Library Network – Hardware/software for peer-to-peer sharing

• Farcorda – Aggregates secondhand product listings across platforms

• Vested Impact – Impact due diligence tool used by Impact Shakers

• Impact Principles (Impact Shakers internal framework – link it)

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🎙️PAST EPISODES YOU’LL LOVE

• Dr Benedikt Buchspies - How to Use LCAs for VC Investments (Planet A)

• Tina Dreimann on Community Investing in Climate Tech (better ventures)

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• Spotify - https://shorturl.at/yDTfR