In the next instalment of our Sustainability Focus we talk to our newest Portfolio company – Canopey.com
Canopey.com are a Norwich-based start-up with a big vision. They approached Anglia Capital Group in early summer 2022 with their engaging pitch and passion for sustainability and were successful in securing £30,000 through the Anglia Capital Group members. Here we talk to Co-Founder and CEO, Thomas Panton.
Can you summarise Canopey.com’s mission in a couple of sentences? Canopey.com is making sustainable shopping, shopping. Using an impact calculator and central marketplace, Canopey brings ethical brands selling better impact products together under one roof, showing the carbon emissions, water waste and plastic waste saved per product compared to their mainstream counterparts.
When speaking to potential investors did you find that they were particularly looking to invest in companies with a focus on sustainability? When speaking to investors there has definitely been an increase in the number of them looking to invest in companies with a focus on sustainability. It’s important though that investors shed the buzzwords and make sure they are transparent in their interests so as to make it easier for founders to fit their investment thesis straight off the bat.
How do you think the early-stage investment community can influence the drive to net zero? It’s easier to build a company with sustainability built into its foundations than it is to take a company that’s already established and renovate its foundations. Early-stage investment is pivotal in driving the change we need to see to hit Net Zero. Startups can move faster, more accurately, and more fluidly, so it makes sense for them to be funded appropriately to solve these issues.
Do you think that VC’s and Angel Networks could do more to focus on and encourage climate investment? I think we definitely need to see more investment in the climate space, despite it being a huge area in the last few years. It’s so easy to get caught up with the shiny new thing; NFTs and Crypto spring to mind, but there is so much we can fix by looking at climate investment. But don’t take it from me – as Chris Sacca says: “[Climate investing] is recession proof…Everything we’re doing is providing a substitute good. That’s what almost feels unfair.” And for the ROI focussed investors: “no doubt we will have multiple companies worth trillions of dollars” within the climate space.
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