2150: Our voyage, our team promotions and a new Venture Partner
Announcing a slew of promotions across the 2150 team and unveiling our latest Venture Partner
It has now been 5 years since we formally launched the fundraise for 2150’s first fund, and four years since we publicly unveiled our ambition. During that time we have built a portfolio of 23 companies with an aggregate enterprise value of over €3 billion and 3,800 employees across the world. Just as importantly that portfolio already mitigates close to 1 megatonne of CO2 emissions per year. As reported, we are well on our way to a significant close of our second fund having secured close to €200m and have already invested into 3 companies from Fund II.
None of the above would have been possible, however, without the amazing team we have been able to assemble over the past few years. Early in our voyage we stated that we wanted to build a team of “intellectually curious optimists with missionary purpose” and we have been fortunate enough to achieve just that.
For many of them, 2150 was their first foray into Venture Capital. Others came with background in Private Equity or banking. Others had most recently spent time in a lab bench or a Yale classroom. But across the team, regardless of where they came from, there is now a common ethos of purpose combined with rigour along with a healthy dose of helping hands to support our founders and their own ambitions.
It is therefore amazing to see so many of our team members grow and develop. While it is often said that Venture Capital is an apprenticeship business, what inspires us most is the degree to which at 2150, we all learn from one another. Knowledge, especially in a space as fledgling as “climate tech” requires both intellectual curiosity and a desire and ability to share that knowledge openly both within the team and beyond.
Today we would like to celebrate the following promotions and unveil an old acquaintance of the firm in a new guise:
Alexander Kielland has been appointed COO of 2150. A lawyer by training, having worked on both direct and fund investments on behalf of an institutional LP, Alexander (or “Aki” within the team) joined 2150 early in our voyage in mid 2021. He leads our operations, which entails everything from supporting investment processes, coordinating our LP reporting, benchmarking best practices with peers…and so much more. He is truly a lynchpin for everything that happens within the firm. Since joining 2150, Alexander has also been busy on the home front with the two additions to his beautiful family recently joined by a third! We wish Aki, his wife and his new baby all the best during his upcoming extended (or as the Danes would call it, “normal”) Paternity Leave!
Patricia Wexler becomes a Venture Partner. Our paths had intersected with Patty in the past given her role as a deep tech (and mission-aligned) investor. So when she stepped away from her previous fund to incubate what is now Avila VC we reached out, and she agreed to join us as an Advisor. Over the past two plus years Patty has become a thoughtful voice in our investment discussions, a mentor to the broader team and an ambassador for 2150 in the US (where we already have half of our portfolio). We are now formalising our long-standing partnership allowing us to benefit from her continued wisdom while she scales out her seed-stage investments with Avila. When not penning extremely insightful blog posts, Patty enjoys taking her family from their sunny home in Southern Florida to exotic locations across the world.
Nicole Florack has been promoted to Vice-President. Nicole joined us in early 2022 and initially led our research function applying her past experience in Equity Research with her passion for sustainability. She guided our “deep dive” processes and quickly became the most knowledgeable voice on subjects such as the chemistry and challenges of cement and concrete, energy duck curves across countries, and dozens of other topics. She actively shares her knowledge with others within and beyond the 2150 team. Having since joined the investment team, Nicole brings her knowledge and methodical analysis to bear in identifying new sectors and companies to support and becoming a critical confidant and supporter to founders. When not dissecting a financial model, Nicole can be spotted playing Tennis in Regent’s Park or at the pottery kiln finishing her latest creation.
Max Blanshard has been promoted to Vice-President. A PhD in microbiology turned strategy consultant (with a startup under his belt in between), Max joined 2150 in mid 2022. While new to Venture, he quickly built a niche for himself as our resident “climate meets deep tech” team member. We agree that he is certainly one of the “50 Climate Tech Investors to Know.” His scientific background has allowed him to go toe to toe with fellow PhD founders and his consulting background allows him to dissect a business and identify its value drivers. When not delving into the challenges of scaling bioreactors, Max is hunched over at home tending to his garden or ideally in a quiet place by a river casting his fishing line.
Gemma Shepherd has been promoted to Associate. Having grown up in Yatesbury, England (pop. 150 !), Gemma received a scholarship to Yale where she graduated cum laude while running for the Varsity Track and Cross Country teams. Following an internship with a fellow climate VC, she joined 2150 at the end of 2022 to support our sustainability efforts. Her imprints are in much of the work we share publicly including our Biodiversity 101 and Adaptation 101 white papers. Her thirst for impactful knowledge has made her a key member of teams exploring novel technologies and of investment teams dissecting new opportunities. In her personal time, Gemma has been known to wear ultra-thick wetsuits for a dip in the English coast and for recently cycling through 1,600km across New Zealand with her family.
Christian Højdevang has been promoted to Data Lead. As a part of our operations team, Chris leads our data collection and analysis. From quarterly reports for LPs to quantitative and qualitative quarterly internal assessments of the progress of our portfolio. His super powers, however, lie in the pipes and tools he has been building, leveraging internal and external data sets to help us identify, win and manage investment opportunities. While Marc Andreesen might think VC is the one job safe from the growth of AI, Chris is trying to ensure we leverage machine learning as a trusted co-pilot to make all of 2150 (and our portfolio) better. It turns out Chris likes to use his hands beyond the keyboard and has spent the last year restoring and preparing to launch Nanok (Greenlandic for “polar bear”) to sail in the waters around Denmark and Sweden.
As we accelerate our pace of investment out of Fund II, we continue to seek more “intellectually curious optimists with missionary purpose” to join the team. Earlier this year we published a job posting for an Analyst role (only on LinkedIn and with little promotion). We were astounded to receive over 520 applications for the role. Having conducted interviews with more than 100 applicants we will soon be announcing new additions to the team… and expect to add some more in the months ahead across different parts of the business from portfolio support to operations to investments. If you fit the description above on curiosity, optimism and missionary zeal, please reach out via hello@2150.vc
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2150 is a venture capital firm investing in technology companies that seek to sustainably reimagine and reshape the urban environment. 2150’s investment thesis focuses on major unsolved problems across what it calls the ‘Urban Stack’, which comprises every element of the built environment, from the way our cities are designed, constructed and powered, to the way people live, work and are cared for. Find out more at www.2150.vc. 2150 is a part of Urban Partners.
