“Dating your investors” – The entrepreneurs

For some start-ups, the market is wide open from the start. For others, it may take several years before the business becomes profitable, or before the company even gets its first customer. Spin-offs from research are examples of companies that often need to join hands with venture capital companies in order to obtain the financial conditions required to develop the business and take advantage of the potential that exists in the business idea.

Film: Grow with venture capital – Entrepreneurs present Cellfion and Almi

Important piece of the puzzle in green energy

The company Cellfion is a good example. It is the result of many years of research at Linköping University and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The company was founded in 2021 and develops and manufactures high-tech and environmentally friendly ion-selective membranes from wood raw material.

– The product that we develop at Cellfion is called an ion-selective membrane that can be applied in various energy technologies, for example fuel cells that are used to convert hydrogen into electricity and that are used in the automotive industry. It can also be used in electrolysers to produce green hydrogen, says Cellfion’s CEO Liam Hardey.

Venture capital firms see the potential

Most ion-selective membranes used on the market today contain highly fluorinated substances (PFAS) which are associated with health risks and environmental problems. Many are therefore looking for alternatives. At the same time, the energy transition leads away from fossil energy sources to the need for energy storage and conversion applications, where ion-selective membranes are a key component. Overall, this means that the potential market for Cellfion is large. This piqued the interest of Almi Invest GreenTech, which already invested in the company in 2022.

– We chose to invest in Cellfion because we saw a combination of exciting things. On the one hand, the basic technology is very interesting, how to use a raw material that we have plenty of here in Sweden – forest – and apply it to an area that is absolutely crucial for our energy transition. In addition, Cellfion has a very exciting team where you combine research with business expertise, says Karin Edstrom who is investment manager at Almi Invest GreenTech.

What does it mean to raise venture capital?

A venture capital company wants a return on its investments and demands influence in the companies it invests in. The investment usually comes with ownership directives and this can mean that the management of the company is affected. At the same time, the venture capital company contributes with networks and valuable expertise. Therefore, it is important that the company that approaches investors find out what they want to do if they choose to invest.

– When raising capital, it is very important to choose the right investor. The best way to find out if it is the right investor is to take the time to get to know them. So, start dating your investors. Meet them for dinner and understand what they want to do with the company and where they want to go, says Liam Hardey.

How to get in touch with investors?

Cellfion has raised capital from both Almi Invest GreenTech and other investors. Finland-based Voima Ventures, Klimatet Invest, LiU Invest and KTH Holding also chose to invest in the company at an early stage. As one of 42 companies in a pool of 1,083 applicants, Cellfion previously also received funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC), whose purpose is to identify and support cutting-edge technologies and market-changing innovations with the potential to scale up internationally and become market leaders.

But what do you do if you want to get in touch with Almi Invest?

– What you do is contact one of us who works at Almi Invest and send us a pitch deck that can be more or less complete and clear. What we want to see there are the basics of a company’s business concept, which market you intend to address and what the big commercial opportunity is, but also where you stand here and now, says Karin Edström.