• Sustainability

Plug and Play, together with other key players, publish a market map featuring DACH region sustainability startups

At Plug and Play, we believe that purpose-led and sustainable companies are performing better, and that financial and social interests can go hand-in-hand. As a worldwide leading early-stage investor with a presence on 5 continents, over 1,000 active portfolio companies and 500 corporate partners in our pilot-driven programs, we have seen many disruptive trends, technologies and customer perception changes since 2006. We believe that being sustainable and making an impact are the trends of the future.

“Companies around the world are waking up to the reality that sustainability is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ in their company, but it is a must-have in the company and their culture,” said our CEO & Founder, Saeed Amidi.

Therefore, we have launched our Sustainability Vertical in three hubs, including Silicon Valley, Paris and Singapore. Together with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, we connect our corporate partners with the startups that enable the change we need for our society.

We have a strong presence in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and we have seen many players in the local sustainability ecosystem. However, the DACH region seems to be often overseen and no market map exists. When our Munich Team was asked to join the Sustainability landscape project along with HV Capital, Ananda Impact Ventures, Acton, and the CDTM Climate Club the answer could only be yes.

Over a period of two months, the teams jointly identified the key players in 10 dimensions from more than 300 initial startups and 50 VCs showcasing that the open innovation approach can be game-changing. The final list of over 200 firms in the space includes both well-known and new, innovative companies while providing an overview of the DACH ecosystem.

Take a look and download the market map here.

We have selected a few examples, and here you'll be able to find more information about the companies included or download this list.

  • Ecosystem including Players such as Leaders for Climate Action, Übermorgen, and blue horizon Ventures
  • Waste including Mitakus, Kitro, Circuly, anybill, and Kleiderly
  • Supply Chain & Logistics including our portfolio Presize.Ai as well as HiveTracker, Sustainabill, and Keepist
  • Packaging including arekapak, algalife, and vytal
  • Food including Legendairy Foods, planted, betterfish, and Mushlabs
  • Energy feauturing tado, Enpal, and MarvelFusion
  • Mobility including EcoG, ChargeX, GetHenry, and finn.auto
  • AgTech with apic.ai, novihum, infarm, and agrilution
  • Climate Action with klima, planetly, rvolt, cozero, and yook
  • Consumer Goods including everdrop, hello simple, plantura, and Einhorn

Our project does not stop here. We want to give you access to this great ecosystem and allow you to ask us questions. We will be hosting a corresponding event on the 15th of April 2021 with exciting panels, topic deep dives, and space for networking – Stay tuned.

Are you a player in the sustainability landscape in the DACH region and also want to become part of this list? Apply here. Reach out to c.wais@pnptc.com to learn more about the creators of this map.

Want to join our Plug and Play Sustainability platform? Reach out to mclaxton@pnptc.com for North America and nick@pnptc.com for Europe.

About Plug and Play: Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we offer corporate innovation services, and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 30 locations globally, giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 30,000 startups and 500 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. Companies in our community have raised over $9 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club and PayPal. For more information, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/

About Other Co-Creators:

Acton

Acton Capital is a leading international growth capital provider based in Munich. Since 1999, the Acton team has been investing in technology-driven business models in Europe and North America in areas such as HealthCare, Future of Work, FinTech, Platforms, Digital Marketplaces, and Software-as-a-Service. The team has successfully invested more than €700 million in almost 100 startups worldwide and supported companies such as Etsy (US), HomeToGo (GER), Mambu (GER), and AlphaSights (UK) on their way to becoming global market leaders.

Ananda Impact Ventures

Ananda Impact Ventures manages €80 million in three funds and is the leading impact venture capital fund with a European investment focus. Ananda invests in outstanding impact companies that realize innovative solutions to the major social challenges of our time. The active portfolio includes auticon (IT consulting by people with autism), IESO Digital Health (online psychotherapy), and Company Bike Solutions (provider of leased bicycles via salary conversion).

CDTM

The Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) was founded in 1998 by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and Technische Universität München and is an institution for interdisciplinary teaching and research. The CDTM is a member of the Elite Network Bavaria and a center for innovative teaching, applied research, and entrepreneurship with about 75 active students and more than 900 alumni. It offers postgraduate studies at the intersection of digital technology, management, and entrepreneurship. From a pool of more than 300 interdisciplinary applicants, up to 25 highly qualified and ambitious students are recruited each semester for the additional study program, "Technologist Management", at the end of which they receive an honors degree.

HV Capital

Since 2000 HV Capital, formerly HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, has been investing in Internet and technology companies via various generations of funds and is one of the most successful and financially strongest early-stage and growth investors in Europe. HV Capital has already invested in around 200 companies, including Zalando, Delivery Hero, FlixMobility and SumUp. The total of all HV funds amounts to €1.7 billion. The company supports start-ups with capital between €500,000 and €50 million. This makes HV Capital one of the few venture capitalists in Europe that can finance startups across all growth phases.