What was your ESG strategy before contacting Sami?

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‍Impact issues have been important to Founders Future for a long time.

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Our CSR approach is purely voluntary, nothing forces us to do it, but we are deeply convinced that it is the way of the future and we want to contribute to it at our level.

The few ESG regulations that apply to us are not yet stringent enough to force us to take action, but this is likely to change soon, so it's better to anticipate.

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I joined the management company two and a half years ago specifically to launch Founders Future's impact-focused investment fund.

The investment phase began investing 18 months ago, and our portfolio currently totals around fifteen portfolio companies.

For the more initiated, this fund will be labeled Article 8 under the European SFDR nomenclature, with Article 9 unfortunately being incompatible with an early-stage investment activity like ours.

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The ESG strategy of our fund defines 6 quantifiable impact criteria to track our progress:

1. Tons of CO2e emitted
2. Tons of CO2e contributed/compensated
3. Tons of CO2e avoided
4. Liters of water avoided
5. Number of people who have been able to access better healthcare
6. Number of CSR/ESG certifications and labels of our portfolio companies

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We contractually engage the managers of the companies in which we invest to make a best effort in terms of assessing and reducing their impact.

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These clauses appear in all the partnership agreements we sign with the entrepreneurs.

This is not in a logic of constraint, the objective is pedagogical: we are convinced that soon making a carbon footprint will be as automatic and recurrent as doing the accounting of one's company.

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It is our role to prepare them for it and to help them!

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Had you already done a carbon footprint?

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Yes, upon my arrival I immediately started a first carbon footprint.

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I used the free estimator from the GoodPlanet Foundation to get a first idea of our impact and to discover how carbon accounting works.

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Following this calculation, we also contributed to global carbon neutrality to the tune of part of our emissions, via the company Ecotree.

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Following this first experience, it became clear and inevitable to us to carry out a real complete carbon footprint of our activity.

To have precise figures on our carbon footprint, but above all to set an example for our portfolio and engage the companies in which we have invested to do the same!

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Why did you choose Sami?

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As an investment fund, we are not meant to favor one service provider or tool over another.

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It turns out that we know the market for carbon footprint platforms and the main players in the field very well.

Almost all of them have contacted us as part of their fundraising, allowing us to understand their inner workings and their specificities well.

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We chose Sami simply by asking our portfolio companies which tools they were already using.

Sami was the most widespread platform, and our very good relationships with the team reinforced our choice. 

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What did you think of Sami?

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We were looking for a platform that is accessible in terms of price and functionality, and easy to use.

These are the two important dimensions to successfully engage our participants, whose founders are not necessarily familiar with the carbon world and have overflowing agendas.

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If I want to convince them to get started, I need a flexible and fast approach, and that's what I found.

Working with Sami has been very educational, every point of contact with the online platform and our dedicated expert were opportunities to progress on carbon and climate issues.

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I really liked the collective momentum created internally, with the whole team integrated into the calculation of our impact in a fun way. And everyone was able to participate in the presentation of our annual results.

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The relationship with the different members of the team was also very good and we understood each other right away.

Our expert was always available to answer our questions and those of our participants, whom we all consulted to collect the necessary data for the calculations. This was actually a good way to get them started and introduce them to the approach.

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What are the main lessons from your carbon footprint?

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As an investment fund, our biggest impact is of course linked to our investments.

Indeed, carbon accounting rules require us to include in our scope 3 part of the carbon footprint of the companies we finance, in proportion to the amount of our financing.

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It makes sense, the carbon footprint measures our dependence on carbon and our activity and financial results mainly depend on the activity of our portfolio.

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Our total carbon footprint for 2021 is 2,291 tonnes of CO2e, of which only 80 tonnes are linked to our management company. The teams and offices of Founders Future represent 3.5% of the total, the rest being linked to our investments.

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We discovered that 5 companies represent more than 75% of our total carbon footprint.

This is explained by the fact that these companies produce and sell physical products, while the others, like Founders Future, mainly have digital and intangible activities.

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The results provided could also have allowed us to compare ourselves to our sector, although this is not something that interests us at the moment.

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What are the next steps before next year?

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The results of our 2021 carbon footprint confirm our CSR policy.

The main action we can take as an investment fund is to raise awareness among our participants and encourage them to implement their own low-carbon approach.

Starting with the essential step of measurement, via a carbon footprint, life cycle analyses or a combo of the two approaches.

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Indeed, as we have seen, our impact is above all their impact: if our portfolio is decarbonized, our carbon footprint decreases mechanically.

And if our portfolio measures its impact more precisely, our carbon footprint also becomes mechanically more precise.

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Raising awareness among our portfolio is therefore our biggest lever for decarbonization and the number one action to prioritize, our participants representing +95% of our total CO2 impact.

This is also our role and responsibility as a financial investor, to advise our startups as best as possible to support their long-term strategic decisions.

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To encourage our entrepreneurs to get started, we will organize a climate program with Sami at the beginning of 2023. The goal is to invite our entire ecosystem to a masterclass organized with Sami to explain in practice how to care about the climate as a company and what we have to gain (or lose if we don't do it).

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This program will be accompanied by the experience of companies that have already taken the plunge, and an attractive promotional code for those who want to follow the movement and be accompanied by Sami.

Other awareness-raising actions will follow, including the organization of climate frescos for our portfolio.

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