Billion Dollar Moves™ with Sarah Chen-Spellings | Global Venture Capital
In this episode, we dive into France's bold €54 billion climate investment plan with Raphaele Leyendecker, Managing Director of Techstars Sustainability Paris.
As France positions itself as a leader in sustainable innovation, this massive initiative spans sectors from green energy to clean transportation. Raphaele unpacks how Techstars Sustainability Paris fits into this movement, the evolving role of European startups in climate tech, and the tangible ways global founders can engage with France’s green transition.
With practical insights on market access, regulatory alignment, and ecosystem support, this conversation is a must-listen for anyone building for the climate era!
0:00 - Intro
01:40 - Raphaele’s background & motivation to align career with meaningful sustainability work
04:24 - Techstars Sustainability Paris: The launch & vision
07:08 - European funding landscape: France’s €54B climate investment plan; BPI France
08:42 - Software VS Hardware Clean Tech companies in Europe; Deep Tech & Hardware in Climate Innovation
10:48 - European Climate Tech landscape & regulatory advantage; Techstars' role in facilitating soft landing and long-term expansion support
14:34 - Growing trends in Climate and Sustainability and the challenges in European market
19:00 - Profit & purpose alignment;
21:41 - The thrive of female founders in Clean Tech; how Techstars Paris is designing program around founder needs in deep tech
24:51 - 3 Key takeaways from Raphaele & Billion Dollar Questions
Raphaele Leyendecker is the Managing Director of Techstars Sustainability Paris. Raphaele is a sustainability and digital entrepreneur, startup board member and early stage investor in over 40 startups. She is also versed in strategic innovation and venture building, working with 55+ corporations such as Engie, Suez, Schneider Electric, L’Oreal or Nespresso over the years.
FOLLOW RAPHAELE:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphaeleleyendecker/
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PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://billiondollarmoves.com
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