Pale Blue Dot Research
Investment Thesis
Pale Blue Dot is Sweden's first dedicated climate venture capital fund, investing in early-stage companies (pre-seed and seed) that tackle climate change through both software and hardware solutions. Founded in 2020 by three former tech entrepreneurs, the fund believes that technology plays a crucial role in building a sustainable future and that the next generation of billion-dollar companies will be built with climate in mind.
The fund's core philosophy combines impact with commercial viability: they seek to back scalable, venture-capital-grade companies that simultaneously address climate challenges and generate strong financial returns. As former founders themselves, the investment team brings deep operational experience and genuine empathy for the startup journey.
Investment Strategy: Three Horizontal Pillars
Pale Blue Dot structures its investment thesis around three complementary approaches:
Optimise - Decarbonization and efficiency improvements across existing systems. The fund invests in technologies that help digitize, improve, and decarbonize every industry: food supply chains, energy systems, transportation, industrial processes, textile production, and beyond. Examples include companies working on logistics optimization, supply chain transparency, and resource efficiency.
Adapt - Climate resilience and mitigation technologies. This includes solutions for climate risk assessment, resilience planning, disaster preparedness, and adaptation to climate impacts. The fund recognizes that even with aggressive decarbonization, communities and industries must become more resilient to changing climate conditions.
Pioneer - Breakthrough innovations that redefine what's possible. The fund invests in moonshot technologies and novel approaches that may not yet have clear markets but represent fundamental advances toward sustainability. This pillar embraces uncertainty and longer time horizons.
Stage and Check Size
- Primary Stages: Pre-seed and Seed
- Ticket Size: €0.5M - €2M (EUR)
- Ownership Target: Lead investments with 10%+ ownership stake
- Lead Tendency: Predominantly leads rounds, taking lead positions in most investments
- Decision Timeline: Estimated 4-8 weeks for seed-stage decisions based on typical VC cycles
Geographic Focus
The fund maintains a balanced focus between Europe and the United States:
- Europe: Primary market, with strong concentration in Nordic countries, Germany, UK
- United States: Growing presence, particularly on the West Coast and Northeast
Portfolio companies are scattered across France, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, UK, Switzerland, Kenya, and the US.
Fund Details
Fund I (2020): €87 million Fund II (2024): €93 million Total AUM: €180 million Fund Status: Actively deploying, with Fund II in active investment phase
The fund is backed by Saminvest AB, a Swedish government-owned company that provides financial backing and demonstrates the public sector's commitment to climate innovation.
Team and Organization
The fund operates with a partner-led governance model without hierarchy, which the team believes enables more independent decision-making, collaboration, and willingness to take bold, contrarian bets. The investment team consists of three General Partners, all co-founders:
Heidi Lindvall - Former startup founder with background in human rights and building startup programs to enable problem-solving with technology.
Joel Larsson - Startup founder with technical background who spent years investing in startups solving important problems. Advocates for both degrowth and venture-scale technical solutions.
Hampus Jakobsson - Software engineer turned founder, angel investor, and VC investor. Brings deep technical expertise.
The team is supplemented by operational experts:
- Ida Vig (Head of People & Operations) - a decade of experience in startup/scale-up operations
- Johan Redelius (Head of Finance) - fund admin and accounting background ensuring financial discipline
- Eirini Gavala (Data Management) - systems and process optimization
- Jacqueline Björklund (Head of Legal & Compliance) - venture law background ensuring solid legal foundations
Portfolio Overview
Pale Blue Dot has built a diverse portfolio of 40+ active companies across climate-related sectors. Portfolio companies span:
Energy and Power: Solarock (solar energy, Paris), Podero (energy, Vienna), Monta (software, Copenhagen)
Transportation and Mobility: PIONIX (e-mobility, Germany), Pelikan Mobility (EV leasing, Paris), Way (logistics, Helsinki), JaroFleet (hardware/logistics, Oakland)
Food and Agriculture: VEAT (food tech, Stockholm - folded), Hier Foods (food tech, Berlin - folded), AgroLeague (food tech, Paris), Improvin (agri-food, Stockholm)
Climate Tech Infrastructure: Overstory (SaaS for climate risk, Amsterdam), Climate X (data and analytics, London), Patch (carbon API, San Francisco), ClimateAligned (financial services, London), Opna (carbon markets, London)
Circular Economy and Materials: Cirplus (circular economy, Hamburg), Paebbl (raw materials, Stockholm), CBAMBOO (SaaS for bamboo industry, London), Care Weather (weather data/insurance, Utah)
Nature and Biodiversity: Pivotal (nature & biodiversity, Cambridge), Nala (nature tech, Berlin/Zurich)
Industrial and Supply Chain: SnoFox Sciences (supply chain, Philadelphia), Infyos (supply chain tech, London), HIVED (logistics, London), VARM (decarbonisation, Berlin)
Deep Tech: Brineworks (deep tech, Amsterdam), Atlas (software, Oslo), Sphere (finance, Covina)
Aerospace: Cosmic Aerospace (aerospace, Denver/Brussels)
Consumer: Hack Your Closet (consumer - folded, Europe)
Other: Maiven (software, London), Green-Got (financial services, Paris), Phytoform (agritech/biotech, London/Boston), Amini (data, Nairobi)
Recent Activity
Based on portfolio data and published information from November 2024 - February 2025:
- The fund continues to actively deploy from Fund II
- Recent portfolio activity includes monitoring and supporting existing investments through market volatility
- The fund hosts "The Drop" conference, an annual event for climate tech and sustainability innovation
- Recent content themes (Q4 2024) focused on geospatial data for climate risk, EV industry trends, power grid transitions, and nature-based solutions
Core Values and Beliefs
Diversity drives better outcomes - The fund actively seeks diverse founder teams and believes diverse organizations perform better.
Impact and profit grow together - The firm invests in opportunities where positive climate impact scales with business growth.
Kindness and ambition go hand in hand - The team values respect and excellence, believing the journey matters as much as the destination.
Partner-led governance is superior - Flat organizational structure enables better early-stage investments.
Former entrepreneurs make better VCs - All three GPs are startup founders, bringing authentic understanding of founder challenges.
Climate is humanity's greatest challenge - The fund positions climate change as the most urgent global issue and their core focus.
Founder Preferences
Pale Blue Dot backs ambitious, diverse founders with:
- Technical depth: Software engineers, hardware designers, domain experts who understand their problem deeply
- Founder mindset: Teams that have demonstrated ability to build, iterate, and learn
- Climate conviction: Founders who genuinely believe in climate solutions (not motivated purely by financial returns)
- Diverse backgrounds: The fund actively invests in underrepresented founders in tech and climate
- European/US focus: Most founders based in portfolio regions
Key Competitive Dynamics
As of early 2025, Pale Blue Dot operates in the climate tech VC landscape alongside other European climate funds but stands out through:
- Early-stage specialization (pre-seed and seed, not growth)
- Geographic diversification (Nordic base + US presence)
- Experienced founder-led team
- Government backing (Saminvest)
- Horizontal investing approach across all climate-relevant sectors
Recent market commentary notes that climate tech has become increasingly competitive with broader VC interest. The fund's €180M in AUM positions it as a significant but not mega-fund, maintaining agility while having sufficient capital for follow-on investments.
Warm Introduction Preferences
While not explicitly stated on their website, the team emphasizes being "hands-on partners" and the contact form allows for pitch submissions. Given their founder-first philosophy and partnership approach, warm introductions from trusted network sources (other founders, service providers, angel investors) are likely to receive favorable attention over cold outreach.
Decision Process and Timeline
Decision Structure: Partner-led decision making with all three GPs involved in major investment decisions
Timeline: Typical seed-stage investment process likely spans 4-8 weeks from initial meeting to decision
Process: Likely emphasizes founder-founder conversations, technical diligence, and market assessment given the GP backgrounds
Due Diligence Focus: Team capabilities, market understanding, technical feasibility, climate impact thesis alignment