Giant Leap's open source database of global impact VCs 2.0
Small Steps Vol. 71: Our refreshed global database of impact VC funds 🎯; a call to action for transparency on funding to diverse founders 👐; and the global redistribution of the plastic problem ♻️.
Kick start
📝 We know you’ve been holding your breath, but the release of the second edition of Giant Leap’s Impact Startups Benchmark Report is just around the corner!
In anticipation, we’ve refreshed our open source database of global impact VC funds, to help founders and investors see how the Australian funding ecosystem fits into the global puzzle.
We couldn’t help ourselves, so we’ve thrown in some teasers of our high-level insights on the state of the global impact ecosystem. Check it out below.
What we’re thinking about
📣 Call to action for real transparency on funding to diverse founders. With International Women’s Day coming up on March 8, it’s a timely reminder that good intentions are not enough to solve the ecosystem’s diversity and equity problem. Unfortunately, the statistics are not looking good - only 0.7% of venture funding went to women-founded startups in Australia in FY22 according to SBE Australia, and the share of total capital that went to women founders was the lowest in years, according to Cut Through Venture’s and Folklore Ventures’ recent report. This is despite women-led businesses delivering more than twice as much revenue per dollar invested than startups with all-male founding teams.
Giant Leap Partner Rachel Yang recently amplified Lacey Filipich’s call for VCs to report on the percentage of deal flow represented by women-founded startups, and the percentage of their capital invested into women-founded startups.
We are starting by reporting our stats at Giant Leap: 26.26% of our deal flow in 2023 YTD has been from women-founded startups, and 85.78% of our invested capital in 2023 YTD has gone to women-founded teams. We’ve also made our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy open source, so feel free to take as much or as little as you’d like if your startup needs a hand building its own.
🌏 Global redistribution of the plastic problem. Last edition we highlighted the fact that there is more single-use plastic in circulation than ever before. The Global South has historically borne the brunt of the resulting pollution problem, with the majority of waste imported from rich countries ending up in landfill or being incinerated and resulting in dangerous noxious fumes.
The geopolitical tides are now turning, with Thailand having banned plastic waste imports from 2025 to cut pollution, following China’s unprecedented lead back in 2017. Even private companies are backing this power shift, with the world’s third largest shipping line now refusing to carry any more of the West’s plastic scraps on its vessels. This will further push developed countries’ hands in accelerating domestic recycling efforts and the uptake of promising alternatives such as bioplastics.
New paths
🧠 Mindset is hiring various roles, including a Head of People & Talent, several Software Engineers, and a Content Designer (UX Writer) in Melbourne.
💻 Trace is looking for an Account Executive in Sydney.
👩💻 Like Family wants a Product Designer in Sydney.
🥗 Climate Salad is seeking a Climate Tech Entrepreneur in Residence in Melbourne.
🔥 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
👋 We’re sad to have said ‘see you later’ (but not goodbye!) to our wonderful Investment Manager Charlie Macdonald. We are incredibly grateful for all of his hard work in helping build Giant Leap over the past 4 and a half years and wish him the best on his exciting European climate tech adventure.
🌸 Conserving Beauty founder Natassia Nicolao won the State Telstra Enterprise Best of Business Award for Accelerating Women, which recognised her work in sustainability, innovation, and gender equality from over 200,000 submissions!
🎶 Music Health, who help people with mental health concerns heal through music, cleaned up at the Pause Fest Awards recently, taking out two categories including the ‘Hammer’ (Grand Prix) and ‘On the Rise’ prizes.
✈️ Swoop Aero founder Eric Peck has been named one of Australia’s Top 100 Entrepreneurs by Business News Australia!
✅ Trace founders Cat Long and Joanna Auburn have been shortlisted for the AFR’s Sustainability Leaders List for their work in delivering value to SMEs on their journey to net zero.
🐛 Goterra founder Olympia Yarger appeared on the Abstraction Podcast, where she discusses how her maggot-filled robots combat greenhouse gas emissions from food waste.
For the road
🌽 Funding for Vic Agtech startups. LaunchVic has started the inaugural Victorian Agtech Angel Network Grant Program to help bolster the investor community and agtech ecosystem. Grants up to $300,000 are available to establish Victoria’s first dedicated angel network for agtech startups.
🌊 Calling all ocean impact startups! Applications for the Ocean Impact Accelerator Program are also now open, closing 19 March 2023. The accelerator program will equip ten of the most innovative startups from across the pacific rim with $100,000, as well as access to mentors, guidance, investor introductions, professional support, and masterclasses over a transformative six-month accelerator program.
🙅♀️ How to protect your personal brand. Tech investor Solai Valliappan shares her guide to protecting your name, image and reputation and her experience as a woman of colour.
👩🦽Leaps and bounds in disability tech. Melbourne-based Rove Wheelchairs is a finalist in the 2022 Victorian Premier’s Design Awards for their world-first, fully custom-made, titanium and carbon fibre 3D-printed wheelchair.
🌿 From biodiversity to nature-positive - get up to speed on the lingo. The Guardian shares their views on what ‘nature positive’ means and questions whether it can rally support to stop biodiversity loss in the age of greenwashing.
🔌 Changing our charging habits alongside EV uptake. With more EVs on the road, and this expected to continue, do our charging habits need to change for EVs to ensure it’s the sustainable way forward? Researchers at Stanford say current habits will be unsustainable for the grid.
🔋 Battery news. The Volta Foundation has released its annual Battery Report, summarising the most significant developments in the battery industry.
🌚 Using moon dust to combat climate change. This week, a group of US scientists put forward an unlikely proposal to combat global warming by creating large clouds of moon dust in space to reflect sunlight and cool the Earth. Could it work? Read more here.
🏳️🌈 Celebrating World Pride! Wishing all of our LGBTQI+ colleagues and friends so much joy during Mardi Gras and World Pride this month! There’s still a long way to go with LGBTQI+ inclusion and equity, so we’re keen to see this energy and commitment to change continue long past the end of the celebrations. Here’s a snap that our Investment Analyst Hannah Mourney took at the World Pride parade in Sydney last Saturday.
Nice read thanks for sharing!