What kind of world do you want to wake up to?
One where profit leaves the world unbalanced or one where it’s the natural bi-product of conscious, strategic investments that enrich the planet and people’s lives?
To us, the answer is clear.
Which is why WakeUp Capital has launched an impact venture fund to drive a more inclusive and sustainable future. As the first early stage fund of its kind in Ireland, we back visionary founders who are reinventing how we live, eat, work and learn.
We know there is a need for more conscious venture capital with a long-term view to support high-risk, high-reward impact companies in Europe. We know diversity is required in venture fund management to build products and services for all. And we know profit alone is not the single metric of business success.
So we are building a fund for sustained impact and value generation that will ensure our partners and companies can leave a positive legacy.
Here’s what motivates us and what we are doing about it:
IN 2020 WE ARE ALARMINGLY REMINDED OF WHAT MATTERS MOST
This year a pandemic alongside climate instability forced many to re-examine
how we grow, produce, distribute and eat food;
how we care for others and improve quality of life;
how we learn, how we teach others;
how we work and where we work;
how we fuel our homes, where we live and how we move around.
We’ve recognised what we are willing to give up. And, we’ve seen what is easily destroyed, who is overlooked and left behind.
For WakeUp Capital and the next generation of investors, this is the wake-up call to focus on and invest in what really matters.
LET’S DO THIS — RIGHT NOW
WakeUp Capital scouts for tech-enabled solutions to promote sustainable production and consumption, foster health equity and facilitate inclusive and accessible services. We always align our values with action and earlier this year invested in MagGrow, an Irish agri-tech company with a visionary leader and innovative magnetic spraying technology that reduces the chemical and water usage in agriculture up to 50% while increasing yield. We work closely with the company, collaborating and adding value where we can as they expand their reach and impact globally.
It’s in sustainable and inclusive solutions like these that opportunities for future proofing lie. And the time to invest in them is right now. Backed by a brilliant team of advisors, experts and fellow impact accelerators, we’re actively seeking them out.
COLLABORATE, DON’T DICTATE
WakeUp Capital wants to back innovators early, when stakes are high. Alongside the conscious capital we provide, we zone in on human capital and build on strengths already in place at a pivotal time for founders and a team.
We take time to know the team, the board and co-investors and collaborate with trust, integrity and transparency as our currency — we invest with these values and are intent on transforming them into outsized returns.
IMPACT BAKED IN EARLY — OR NOT AT ALL
The impact investing market is reaching an inflection point, but cannot grow without integrity, commitment to long-term vision and fair access for all — otherwise it will negate its own intentions. Large scale ESG and impact funds are launching daily and they require appropriate investment opportunities, which we can help provide.
WakeUp Capital has strong investment criteria to screen, assess and invest in early-stage businesses in Europe. We believe early stage is the best time to bake impact into a business model and tie financial success to impact creation.
DIVERSIFY AND INCLUDE
This cannot just be a box-ticking exercise: diversity and inclusion will define the next generation of business’ ability to perform, create value, retain talent and market share. Venture capital must mirror the diverse populations it serves and be a factor where every investment decision is made. Seems simple, right?
WakeUp Capital is a diverse team, female-led and employs a gender lens, but that’s just a start. We seek the best companies, but we know diverse-led diverse teams yield higher performance so our diversity lens is operational in scouting opportunities.
HOW WILL WE KNOW WE MADE AN IMPACT?
We are certain the majority of companies and investors not genuinely measuring their social and environmental impact are at higher risk of not making it to the next decade. This is Darwin at work.
We also know early-stage companies may not yet analyse, measure, communicate their impact — good and bad — in a meaningful way that signals to investors, customers and stakeholders their ultimate value — but this is the key to unlock that value over time. That’s where we can help.
AND WE LOVE YOU AMERICA, BUT…
Europe’s innovation centres, regulatory tailwinds toward green and fair, top notch research institutions, skilled and diverse workforce, government investment in future proofing are looking very nice right now. Translation: Silicon Valley and the USA alone cannot solve the most pressing global issues of our time.
We are WakeUp Capital.
We partner with enlightened investors, we back visionary entrepreneurs, and together we create financial, social and environmental impact.
By 2030, we know the world we will wake up to, and it’s looking good.
Faye Walsh Drouillard
Founder & General Partner
WakeUp Capital
