Meet our experts! Today: Fabian Leipelt!
Our startups are, of course, experts for the circular economy. Nevertheless, they could also profit from exchange with other experts. That's what we are offering our Green Alley Award finalists in our so-called expert sessions! In these sessions, circulareconomy as well as startup experts provide hands-on advice and the startups will get the possibility to enlarge their network and to profit from knowledge of other experienced professionals.
Today's expert is Fabian Leipelt, who is principal at the Berlin-based venture capital firm WestTech Ventures. Due to his professional background, he knows exactly which ups and downs startups regularly go through and can help them avoiding common pitfalls. Find out more about Fabian in this interview!
What is your professional background and how will it help you to be a startup advisor for the Green Alley Award finalists?
My professional background is in Venture Capital and I want to support startups with regard to their financing options as this is very important to bringing their ideas and products to life and scaling them in a meaningful way, especially for companies with a focus on research and development.
Most of the things you have to consider when starting a business, you don’t learn in any school. So, generally speaking, in what way could entrepreneurs profit from mentors or advisors like you?
We have invested in over 50 companies and have seen the many ups and downs startups and founders go through on a daily basis. Helping them with those learnings is very valuable to avoid common pitfalls.
When founding a startup one can have the perfect idea and the best conditions but still fail to be successful. As execution is key, what are you as an expert looking for in an entrepreneur, his team and his business idea?
The market can be a very strong pull and is hard to predict, thus timing is often very crucial. Furthermore, we want to know if a problem is large and urgent and at the same time valuable to solve. A team should bring a unique edge, diverse backgrounds and knowledge to be best equipped for building a company in their domain.
The Green Alley Award is all about circular startups. In your opinion, which are the key challenges for a circular economy in Europe?
One of the biggest challenges is the lack of connection between different industries and players when siloed solutions are being developed which do not consider a holistic approach. This begins with regulations and ends with the customer and includes the whole value chain.
If you had the chance to start your own business, what kind of startup would it be?
The climate crisis is by far the biggest challenge for humanity which is why it would go in this direction. Therefore, I'm happy that we at WestTech have invested and partnered up with entrepreneurs in that field and will continue to do so.