Building better: The future of renos

Making our homes healthy, comfortable and climate-resilient

March 30, 2023

✌️ G’DAY

Welcome to Startups Will Save Us, a newsletter for founders building solutions to the climate crisis and the investors who back them, powered by Raaise.

Each week, we’ll share insights from a climate startup on the ups and downs of capital raising in the climate era, including the inside scoop on the one thing they found most helpful on their fundraising journey.

Know anyone who’d find this useful? You know what to do. 👇

🚀 CLIMATE-POSITIVE RENOS:

We all know that the fossil fuel giants have a lot to answer for, but dang, so does the building industry! Despite vital spending on home improvements (over $12B in 2021), Australian homes are the worst in the developed world for energy efficiency and comfort (closer to tents than insulated eco-buildings, apparently). 🫣

Experts estimate that poor building standards account for about 25% of Australia's carbon emissions, with anywhere between 5% and 10% of all emissions linked to the materials’ embodied carbon. But it’s not just about the emissions. Poor construction also frequently results in higher energy bills, adverse health outcomes, and reduced quality of life for residents. 😢

It’s an enormous problem, requiring a bold and transformative solution. Thankfully, a new startup based in Naarm/Melbourne has developed a roadmap to transform this giant industry into one fit for our climate era. 🙌🏾

Founded by the experienced team of Sonja Markovic, Armin Towfigh Nia and Srikanth Kondaparthy, Evitat brings together eco-conscious home renovators with the growing number of sustainable building materials suppliers, manufacturers and installers who’ve operated on the market’s periphery for too long. According to Sonja:

We’re making it possible for renovators to make healthy, sustainable and low-energy retrofits and home improvements, all while giving building industry professionals a way to secure customers, scale opportunities, and future-proof their businesses. With hundreds of thousands of homes being renovated each year, we finally have a way of making sure that construction is helping, rather than harming, our planet.

Sonja and Armin have already had long and successful careers in Europe, but chose to test and launch their revolutionary marketplace in Australia (we’re calling it: Aussies love their renos more than any other nation)! Next step for Evitat: global domination (delivered in the most sustainable way possible, of course)!

Having been bootstrapped from the start, Sonja is just about to close Evitat’s pre-seed round (there’s still a little bit of space left 😉). What does this experienced co-founder want to share with other climate startups who are raising—or thinking about raising—capital?

Be clear who you want alongside you on your entire startup journey, not just the fundraising journey. We always ask investors, “What does impact mean to you?” That’s how we establish if our mission and vision is aligned with theirs. So, think long and hard about the kind of partner you want, because this is a long-term relationship, and choosing correctly will make all the difference to your success.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! 🙌🏾

🛠 THE POWER OF GRANTS:

Grant whisperer Caitlin Boucher is a little different from most people, in that she loves writing grant applications. And she’s good at it, too, with a 95% success rate and a particular interest in diverse founding teams. Having engaged Caitlin recently, we can testify to the quality and speed of her output! 💎

Speaking of diversity… Does your Europe-headquartered startup have a diverse founding team? If so, you can apply to be one of 24 startups to pitch at the Impact Shakers Summit on May 5, in Brussels, with the winner receiving a 50k investment. Applications close in two days' time, so jump on it! 🏃🏿‍♀️

🚨 WHAT’S CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION:

Like so many of you, we’ve loved reading Robin Wall Kimmerer’s surprise bestseller Braiding Sweetgrass, a book that demands presence and attention even in this moment of climate urgency. The Honourable Harvest, one of the book’s many inspiring lessons, reminds us how to take, use, and share resources mindfully, while honouring the gifts of all of the many generous beings who make our lives possible. 🌾

The Earth has shared generously with us, so we have to model that behaviour in return. And a culture of sharing, we know, is a culture of resilience.

🤔 ICYMI:

The world’s foremost climate scientists have issued their Sixth Synthesis Report, dubbed the “survival guide for humanity in the face of climate change”. We already know this, but it’s worth repeating—the losses and damages we’re experiencing now are only going to intensify, and the most vulnerable people and ecosystems will be hit the hardest. We need to do more, more quickly. In the words of the UN Chief:

Our world needs climate action on all fronts: everything, everywhere, all at once.

If there’s one thing we want to emphasise on the back of this report, it’s the importance of stopping new coal, oil and gas projects. 🛑

If there is an optimistic takeaway from the report, it’s this: Every decision from here on out matters. At no point can we say the battle is conclusively lost or won.

To keep oil, coal and gas in the ground, we need to put enormous pressure on our governments to stop approving projects that are quite literally killing us. Will you answer the call to battle? 💪🏽

🌱 JOIN US:

If you're a founder building a startup for the climate era and you want to try out our fundraising tools before anyone else, sign up for our beta now. 👇

Investors, want early 👀 on quality dealflow and some snazzy tools to help streamline your dealmaking? Hit the button. 👇