Wow, we are the winners of the ‘Investing in Women: Team of the Year’ award at the Growth Investor Awards in partnership with British Business Bank. We feel honoured and are all the more motivated to continue on our path.

A big congratulations also to the fantastic other nominees Zero Carbon Capital, Black Opal Ventures, Eka Ventures, Parkwalk Advisors, Pembroke VCT and Westerly Winds.

We dedicate this award to our team, to all the female founders who have gone through our programmes, to all the female experts who support our teams and to all the female investors who believe in our teams and in us.

The percentage of female founders in our Venture Builder programme is increasing each time. The last cohort (Berlin Cohort 3) started with 40% women and for the first time we had more women with a scientific background than men. Overall, 64% of the teams invested in by Carbon13 have at least one female co-founder.

Carbon13 CEO Dr. Nicky Dee accepted the award at the Growth investor Awards Gala Dinner in association with the British Business Bank

This is no coincidence. This year, we launched a Female Equity Scholarship that we award together with Siemens Energy Ventures. Women who, for a variety of reasons that can often be traced back to being a woman, cannot fully focus on founding a climate tech startup without support are supported by Siemens Energy Ventures with mentorship and a bursary.

This is an example of how we are targeting injustices based on need and on feedback from many female founders.

We hope to soon have increased the number of female participants from 40% (at least) to 50%. Firstly, because climate tech is a relatively new sector and we still have the chance to right the wrongs of the startup scene here. And secondly, because we cannot build a net-zero future if we exclude smart, determined, mission-driven women.

We will be opening applications for our next programme very soon. If you are thinking about setting up in climate tech but don’t know exactly how or are unsure whether you are the right person for it, let’s talk.

For the second time, Siemens Energy Ventures is supporting the Venture Builder Program in Berlin with a female equity scholarship. Pictured here, participant and scholarship holder Siyavuya Madlanga