Giant Leap’s 2023 Impact Startups Benchmark Report
Small Steps Vol. 72: The second edition of our Impact Startups Benchmark Report goes LIVE ✅; the power of rest 💤; and the global fertiliser crisis 🌾.
Kick start
🌱 Today’s the day… Giant Leap’s latest Impact Startups Benchmark Report is now live!
The report provides our key insights into the current state of the impact startup ecosystem in Australia and beyond, built from our dataset of the ~6,000 pitches we have reviewed since the launch of our first fund in 2016 and through our involvement in the ecosystem more broadly.
It likely comes as no surprise that the state of play has shifted dramatically in the two years since we released our inaugural Impact Startups Benchmark Report in 2021.
Here’s some of our key findings:
The climate crisis is a key driver of growth and opportunities for impact startups;
Impact startups continue to be correlated with greater gender diversity; and
Despite a broad market downturn and the difficult circumstances facing startups right now, we believe that the Australia impact ecosystem will remain strong.
The impact ecosystem’s resilience to tougher economic times is driven by investor demand for impact solutions and the fact that impact businesses, particularly in the climate space, often serve more utilitarian than discretionary functions, leading to less elasticity of demand as budgets tighten.
Read the report for a deep dive into the impact trends and our outlook going forward.
What we’re thinking about
🏦 The collapse of SVB. Our hearts go out to everyone in the ecosystem affected by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, and founders in particular. It has been a difficult time with a very real human cost and we recognise the community’s resilience in the face of anxiety and challenge. We are sending best wishes to everyone as the dust settles over the coming weeks.
🛌 The power of rest. Still waking up tired despite a long night’s sleep? Feeling the drag of burnout? Sleep and rest are not the same thing… and there are actually 7 types of rest we need for balance and wellbeing. To save you some time and to let you get back to your afternoon nap, they are: physical, mental, sensory, creative, emotional and spiritual. Check out Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith’s TEDxAtlanta talk for the rundown.
🌿 Phosphogeddon. Scientists are warning of a ‘phosphogeddon’ as fertiliser overuse rapidly pushes us towards an extreme shortage of phosphorus. This is threatening our already strained global food supply, as humanity’s food production capacity would halve without the assistance of mineral (phosphorus and nitrogen) fertilisers. On the flip side, our dependency on fertilisers has led to runoff pollution causing dead zones in lakes, rivers and oceans, and has seen the West exploit developing nations such as Nauru and Kiribati and create environmental disasters through the strip mining of phosphate reserves. This leaves us between a rock and a hard place - but it also creates great opportunities for startups tackling the problem through the lens of fertiliser efficiency, drainage solutions and alternatives to mineral fertilisers.
New paths
📬 Sendle is searching for a Talent & Employee Lifecycle Manager.
🧻 Who Gives A Crap is on the lookout for a Privacy & Compliance Specialist.
🐛 Goterra currently has opportunities for a Manager, a Service Technician and Waste Operators.
👩🏽💻 Coviu is after a Full Stack Software Engineer.
💻 Seer Medical wants a Senior Associate Commercial Strategy.
👩🏼🎓 Startmate is seeking a Program Leader for its Women Fellowship and Student Fellowship programs.
👐 Included VC's Global VC Fellowship is now taking applications.
🔥 Also, check out our Giant Leap Fund jobs board for over 80+ available positions or fill out our expression of interest form. There’s even more jobs at ethical companies on the global B-Work job board.
Giant leaps
🎉 Our newest portfolio company, pain management startup More Good Days, announced its $3.5 million raise. Welcome to the family MGD!
♻️ Great Wrap has produced its first 100% compostable pallet.
🎙️ Conserving Beauty has launched a new podcast on sustainability.
👩 Giant Leap featured in the Herald Sun’s top 101 employers for women list.
🗞️ Giant Leap Partner, Rachel Yang’s comments on diversity and inclusion also featured in the media on International Women’s Day.
For the road
🌳 More trees won’t offset more carbon. The Climate Council says offsetting via planting more trees should be seen as a last resort, not a default for reducing emissions. Carbon captured by trees can be easily released again via fire, disease or drought - the best solution is to keep fossil fuels where they belong (read: in the ground).
💰 Grants for Circular Economy companies. Funding of up to $1 million is available from the Victorian State Government, with applications closing April 12.
🌍 Passionate about addressing climate change? EnergyLab’s Women In Climate Fellowship is taking expressions of interest for its next cohort.
🤲🏾 Healing the wounds of racism on women. The Creative Co-Operative, a 100% WoC-powered startup, is hosting a panel on the topic on March 21 - International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The panel will also share their thoughts on Maya Cares, a brand new digital safe space co-designed with 250+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Black and Women of Colour, to support women to respond to and heal from the effects of racism.
🌊 A win for our oceans. The UN has reached a historic agreement, 10 years in the making, to place 30% of the world’s oceans as an environmentally protected zone by 2030. This is a step change from the 1.2% currently protected.
🧠 Learn to build and sell. MrYum CEO Kim Teo says these skills are fundamental to all CEOs, but are particularly important for women aspiring to lead a business. She also outlines the realities of being a CEO of a startup: the buck stops with you, but it is a role that can pit you against your co-founders should something go wrong.
🌟 Need help building your business? The Sydney Techstars Accelerator is now taking applications! Get in before registration closes on April 5.
💨 A tipping point for renewables in the US. Thanks to last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, it is now cheaper in the US to build a solar array or wind farm than it is to keep a coal power plant running. Nice!
👩🏻💼 How women founders can negotiate for success. Constructive advice from Samar McHeileh, Co-CEO of Scale Investors and Claire Thompson, Co-Head of Venture Capital (Australia) at Herbert Smith Freehills: be open with your objectives, accept what you can, and keep the discussion short.
🔋 A lithium windfall for Iran. The country says it has discovered what it believes to be the world’s second largest pocket of the rare mineral - just in time for the battery-tech revolution.
🛫 Hydrogen planes on the horizon. A Dash-8 passenger plane equipped with the largest hydrogen cell to power an aircraft took its maiden flight this month, paving the way for true carbon-neutral travel. This is big news given that aviation currently contributes about 2.5% of global carbon emissions.
🥗 Climate founders, got a spare 10 minutes? Help out the ecosystem and fill out Climate Salad’s quick sector survey!