Is your startup carrying ESG debt? In this interview, Julian Toth and Tomáš Kabeláč discuss the shift to the new SFDR Sustainable category. Learn how high-level sustainability rigour creates a competitive advantage, opening doors to global clients, better credit terms, and successful funding rounds.

In this interview, originally published by SeedCue and written by Oana Modorcea, Michal Sikyta, Managing Partner at Soulmates Ventures, discusses the intersection of sustainability and profitability, the importance of founder mindset, and why Europe needs bold innovators now more than ever.

Building a cross-border gateway: We’re celebrating four months of our partnership with the Toronto Business Development Centre. See how our cohort of 8 startups navigated the US-Canada market entry and why TBDC’s unique institutional status makes them the perfect anchor for our North American expansion.

As AI diagnostics rapidly advance, the "black box" problem remains a critical hurdle. In this edition of Another Angle, machine learning expert Jiří Vomlel breaks down why Explainable AI (XAI) is essential for clinical trust, regulatory compliance, and unlocking truly personalised healthcare.

The opportunity here is massive. By fusing generative AI with an integrated wet lab, Antiverse is redefining the global standard for antibody design. Discover why we believe their ability to reduce development time from years to under four months marks a structural shift in the economics of drug discovery and a new chapter for precision medicine.

Navigating the territory between cutting-edge AI innovation and the rigid constraints of MDR and the AI Act requires a fundamental shift in architectural philosophy. Jan Hauser, CEO UK at Applifting, discloses in detail why embedding regulatory rigour into your MVP is the only way to transform a high-risk prototype into a scalable, global healthcare solution.

The European intersection of the AI Act, MDR/IVDR, GDPR and the Digital Omnibus today resembles a minefield. For healthtech startups and investors, however, it is not just about the threat of sanctions – it is about company value. In the first edition of our series Another Angle, we bring insights from those closest to the field. Jaroslav Menčík, Partner and Head of the Technology Team at Ambit, reveals what investors should really look for in healthtech due diligence, why a wrong MDR or IVDR classification can derail growth, and how the Digital Omnibus is changing valuation and regulatory risk assessment. As compliance turns into a barrier to entry, those who get it right gain a decisive edge. Read the full interview and see regulation from another angle.

In 2025 Soulmates Ventures reached significant milestones: a €50 million sustainable fund aligned with Article 9 SFDR, five new portfolio startups including FluoSphera, Better Medicine and Rightcharge, plus two follow-on investments. We strengthened global acceleration with a new programme in Toronto and expanded market access into North America, South Asia and the Middle East. Portfolio companies achieved notable breakthroughs—from regenerative agriculture carbon credits to CE-certified AI cancer diagnostics—while the team earned global recognition among the world’s leading sustainable investors. Discover the full story of growth, impact and future ambition in our year-in-review.

Our portfolio company eAgronom becomes one of the very first certified carbon offset providers in Europe from sustainable farming, as it secures its registration under the Verified Carbon Standard by Verra. It’s a pivotal moment not only for the co-founders Robin Saluoks, Kristjan Luha, and their team, but also for regenerative agriculture and the carbon market it advances.

Soulmates Ventures led the round alongside a Swiss business angel, with IndieBio New York participating, toward one goal – to back FluoSphera’s groundbreaking mission to reinvent drug research and testing, one clinical trial at a time. This is why its science and dedication stood out to us since day one.

Soulmates Ventures has led a £1.6 million seed investment in Rightcharge, a London-based company simplifying EV charging payments for fleets across Europe. With 10× revenue growth, 0% customer churn over the past 18 months, and trusted clients such as Automobile Association (The AA), WJ, and VINCI Construction, Rightcharge helps businesses automate billing and reimbursements, reduce costs by up to 90%, and accelerate the shift towards sustainable mobility.

Soulmates Ventures has been named among the top five worldwide at the Global Sustainability Awards 2025 in London. The recognition in two categories highlights the fund’s role as one of the few Article 9 “dark green” funds in Europe and underscores that even a small and young VC from Prague can stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s largest players.

Soulmates Ventures leads a €1M pre-seed investment in Better Medicine, the Estonian healthtech behind the world’s first CE-certified AI tool for kidney cancer detection. With total funding nearing €6M, the company is accelerating its European rollout, preparing for FDA clearance, and expanding its AI platform to transform global cancer diagnostics.

Soulmates Ventures has established a strategic partnership with the Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC) to support startups expanding into Canada. A meeting with Canadian Minister of Economic Development confirmed strong government backing for innovation and international growth.

Soulmates Ventures has launched a €50 million Article 9 SFDR-aligned fund, voluntarily meeting the EU’s highest standard for sustainable finance. Focused on eight key sustainability streams, the fund supports startups with measurable environmental and social impact.

Soulmates Ventures triumphs in Istanbul, winning Best VC of the Year at the Global Startup Awards. Recognised for driving sustainable innovation, we continue to support startups committed to long-term sustainability, expanding from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to the entire European market. Discover our success and future vision.

Twin Science & Robotics Secures CZK 37 Million for Global Expansion of STEM Education Prague, 26. August 2024 – The …

By Alena Dušková When evaluating startups, Hynek Sochor focuses on sustainability and whether they offer a product that customers cannot …

Earth Day highlights our fight against the climate change and the importance of everyone's efforts to protect the planet since 1970.

The newly launched ClimRisk web application delivers precise climate forecasts for the Czech Republic and Central Europe, as crafted by …

In the bustling halls of Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024, with over 101,000 unique in-person attendees from 205 countries and …

VOS.health earned a spot in the Impact Stars category of the 2023 Deloitte Technology Fast 50, recognized for both financial growth and societal contributions. This category celebrates companies that benefit society, business, or the environment through their products or services. VOS.health's inclusion underscores its commitment to integrating these values, aligning it with other Czech innovators.

Soulmates Ventures clinched the Best VC of 2023 title at the Central European Startup Awards, recognized for its sustainability-focused investment strategy among innovators from 18 countries. This honor not only celebrates their commitment to sustainable business practices but also sets the stage for our participation in the global finals in Istanbul.

eAgronom’s Funding Round, where Soulmates Ventures participated as an investor, was ranked among the TOP 10 Climate-Tech Deals closed within …

Climate change is not the only challenge we are experiencing right now. Based on our strategy at Soulmates Ventures, we …

We at Soulmates Ventures are excited to announce the launch of our acceleration program with our portfolio startup and first investment of the 2023 Investment Cohort, VOS.health, as part of the new investment benefit we offer.

We're thrilled to see the European Commission launch the Green Deal Industrial Plan, a series of strategies and initiatives aimed at increasing the competitiveness of Europe’s net-zero industries, supporting the EU’s transition to climate neutrality and in making sustainable technologies and products economically competitive with traditional products.

Big congratulations to our portfolio startup Stimvia has qualified for the final selection. It’s amazing to see from an investor perspective how Stimvia has grown to the stage to be in the group with startups such as Flowbox, Agdata, Hedepy or Devinn.

We are Sustainability Hub Prague. The first Czech hub with a unique focus on sustainability in research, entrepreneurship, financing and investing. We are building a functional environment, for the creation of ideas and solutions in the field of sustainability that helps to achieve positive results.

Portfolio startups Stimvia (Tesla Medical) and Perfect-Air have successfully completed the ClimAccelerator programme for sustainable projects, under the auspices of Europe's renowned EIT Climate-Kic.

Climate tech company exits in key sectors increased to 104 last year from 24 in 2017, reports Silicon Valley Bank. The EIP Climate Tech Index grew 200% from 2017 to 2022, surpassing the Nasdaq by 70 points, aided by state climate policies.

Mobility is the most heavily funded sector in climate technology despite not being a major emitter of greenhouse gases. Between 2013 and the first half of 2021, the global value of VC investment in this category was $132 billion, or 61% of all VC investments in climate-tech. Energy accounted for 15% of investment, food and agriculture 12% and industry, manufacturing and resource management 9%. We believe that the distribution of investment in the Czech Republic is similar.

The war is impacting Czech and global startups. Interest in investing has dropped by 37% since the conflict began. In February alone, the volume of investments dropped by almost a third. We believe that there will be recovery over time, but the market will change permanently. The biggest opportunities will be within sectors that have emerged to address current issues, with sectors that focus on sustainability and self-sufficiency becoming more attractive in particular.

As many cities and countries around the world are starting to monitor their air quality, we are gaining more information about how polluted the air we breathe actually is. According to a new report by the WHO, 99 % of the population lives in areas where air pollution is in excess of the air quality limits set by the WHO.

This report serves as a summary of information, news, data and insights from the sustainable venture capital (VC) industry and startup environment.

While the people of Ukraine defend themselves against the Russian army, Europe is still withdrawing natural gas from rich reserves in Russia’s Siberia. With Putin holding this strategic material in his hands, it is much harder for the EU to effectively help Ukraine. What’s the solution? Europe needs to be energy independent through an updated Green Deal.

Ex-engineers from SpaceX have developed a new concept of self-powered, electric and autonomous rail vehicles to decarbonize the freight industry, vehicles that operate in parallel and don’t require locomotives.

The COP26 Conference in Glasgow didn’t bring us the certainty of keeping the Earth’s rising temperature at 1.5 C degrees, but it did give us signs of hope in other important areas. There was a promise made by these governments to come back next year with Paris-aligned near-term targets of stronger 2030 emissions reduction. Let’s dig down further into COP26 outcomes, to better understand the current situation.

Finding the right sustainability startups may seem difficult, particularly for investors in which this industry is new. There are a lot of things happening right now in this prospective industry, which means it is experiencing a huge investment and startup-launching boom.

The year 2020 is most remembered for the Covid-19 pandemic, but we would like to summarize this memorable year with a focus on the industry that we understand the most - let’s look back at how the year 2020 shaped startups and venture capital.

Rivian, one of the most serious competitors to the biggest producer of EV, Tesla, has attracted the attention of investors. And one of them is the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. The startup Rivian is now preparing its IPO, where the value of the company could rise to $50bn.

Today, we will introduce you to 4 startups that are making a huge impact on the green & clean technology industry, as well as world sustainability. These are startups that have reached the magical boundary of $1B in market value, earning themselves the title of ‘green-tech unicorn’.

Adaptability is crucial for solar panels, necessary for various shapes, locations, materials, and angles. It's a key focus in renewable resource R&D, leading to solutions like Agriphotovoltaics.

We have talked about green technology many times before, but something we haven’t really talked about is what green technology actually is. Now we want to remedy this, by showing you all of the possibilities inside the term ‘green technology’.

Yes, in the past there was a theory that said ‘when you invest in a good thing for the environment, it usually means a loss on investment’. This is not true anymore – the Coronavirus pandemic has proved that ESG assets can have a positive impact, and can also be economically sustainable. Which is important now more than ever.

The problem of consumption behavior has become an unquestionable issue. Normally, the issue resonates the most amongst younger generations such as Gen Z and Millennials who are more open to a resale market and shared economy. Yet, COVID 19 has changed buying habits across the whole society and, hopefully, it will lead to a more sustainable environment in the future.

The year 2020 was nothing less than an extraordinary, and extremely weird, year that brought to us a kind of life that we had never experienced before. What the year 2020 brought to us? We had to adapt to a new environment.

This promising new technology works in a similar way to solar power but, instead of generating electricity, generates water and could revolutionize the water generation industry. The start-up behind the technology, Zero Mass Water, is attracting attention from investors like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos or Michael Bloomberg, but is the technology efficient enough to be economically profitable?

It has become clear that carbon prices need to be raised if we are to hit our climate neutrality goals. To achieve this goal, major emitters in the manufacturing, buildings and transport industries need to switch from using fossil fuels to the clean energy sector. According to a new report, carbon prices need to be at least tripled in order to make this switch happen in the EU.

For the first time in history, renewable energy sources – wind and solar – took the biggest share of new energy generation last year. This could be a sign of a huge shift not only in the energy sector but everywhere where electricity is in demand. Bloomberg released a detailed study.

The diversity of plant species is declining and according to estimates 40% of plants around the world are facing possible extinction. One of the answers that can reverse this situation could be genome editing, a practice that many people are afraid of.

Norway has a reputation as a leader in sustainability. Renewable resources, specifically from 82 large hydroelectric plants, provide 96.1% of household electricity consumed. The government has invested a lot to enable the switch to electrified transport and electric vehicles (EVs). Now, they are bringing in the world’s first carbon capture project.

Looking broadly at the electric vehicle (EV) industry, the main issue is the batteries, even though companies like Tesla pour millions of dollars into innovative battery technologies. A new EV charging system concept called Sweden’s Evolution Road project could be a game changer.

Read about 3 Agri-food tech start-ups that innovated a breakthrough technology in their fields of specialty.

The circular economy is a loop concept of waste being reused as an input for future business operations. By applying the "reuse, reduce, repair, refuse and recycle" philosophy, companies can drastically reduce their carbon footprint and resource consumption.

The alternative protein sector is experiencing a huge boom in investments as consumers are looking for healthier and environmentally-friendly choices in their food habits. The investors are feeling the opportunities that the sector has to offer.

Venture with us into a land of green fields surrounded by mighty forests with plenty of healthy animals living in their natural habitat and take a deep breath of fresh and clean air. Take a journey with us and learn about green farming.

With the human population growing and people moving more from the countryside to big cities, there is a crucial question that we, as a species, have to answer.

Since Covid-19 has spread across the world, sustainable businesses and industries are helping the world fight the virus while developing …

Soulmates Ventures is a green-investing accelerator company designed to help businesses dominate their market.

We encourage all of you: Stay home, work from home and, when you go outside or absolutely have to be around people, wear a face mask. Even a homemade face mask can prevent you from spreading the virus, whether you feel healthy or not.

Shifting to the circular economy could release $4.5 trillion in new economic potential by 2030. How Companies are Building a New 21st Century Economy?

So do you know what you can do in 2020 to improve yourself and grow so you can build a better team and a better company? Embrace uncomfortable situations.

Most people make the mistake of building their product first and then worrying about selling it later.

Most meetings with investors don't results in securing deals, but rather in disappointment in the face of the founder. Fix it!

Driving the Circular Economy by Converting Waste to Everyday Goods.

The word “emotion” can cause a “feeling” of distrust in predominantly rational individuals. The truth is that emotions are not …