Are venture capitalists enhancing their impact efforts for the better?

# VCs and Founders: Scaling Governance and Sustainability in Startups

Welcome to this conversation on the intersection of venture capital, impact, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. In this panel, we delve into the latest trends, definitions, and differences between impact, ESG, and other sustainability concepts. We also discuss standards, measurements, and how to offer ESG support to founders. Join our expert panelists, including General Partner at Northzone, Pär-Jörgen Pärson, General Partner at Norrsken VC, Agate Freimane, Founding Partner at Cherry Ventures, Filip Dames, and General Partner at PreSeed Ventures, Richard Breiter, along with moderator Johannes Lenhard, a researcher in venture capital ethics.

This panel was held on April 08, 2021, as part of the PSV Aacademy events organized by Danish VC PreSeed Ventures. PSV Aacademy aims to support early-stage startups through a variety of talks, masterclasses, workshops, and open door sessions.

### Key Topics Discussed
– Dominating trends in governance and sustainability in startups
– Definitions and differences between impact, ESG, and other sustainability terms
– Approaches to standards and measurements in ESG
– ESG support for founders
– Future steps in scaling governance and sustainability

### Introduction to the Panel
Moderator Johannes Lenhard starts off by sharing his observations of the evolving landscape of impact investing, venture capital, and the Ethics of Venture Capital. He highlights the increasing relevance of impact, ESG, and sustainable development goals in the business world. Lenhard emphasizes the role of Europe, represented by the panelists, as leaders in this space.

### Panelist Introductions
Agate Freimane from Northzone VC introduces their focus on impact tech companies, where profit and impact go hand in hand. Pär-Jörgen Pärson from Norrsken VC discusses their long-standing presence in the venture capital industry and their investment approach. Richard Breiter from PreSeed Ventures emphasizes their responsibility to move tech startups towards sustainability and their ESG strategy. Filip Dames from Cherry Ventures explains their Berlin-based fund’s focus on seed-round investments across Europe and the importance of making a positive impact.

Join us in this important discussion on scaling governance and sustainability in startups. Don’t forget to subscribe and stay tuned for more insightful videos from PSV Aacademy.

**Source:** [Original Video](insert video link)

**Keywords/Tags:** startup, talks, workshop

**Transcript:** The full transcript of the video can be found [here](insert transcript link)

VCs and founders are increasingly posed with new questions, opportunities, and requirements on how they scale new forms of governance and business practices that are sustainable environmentally, socially, and economically.

Together with General Partner at Northzone, Pär-Jörgen Pärson, General Partner at Norrsken VC, Agate Freimane, Founding Partner at Cherry Ventures, Filip Dames, General Partner at PreSeed Ventures, Richard Breiter, and moderator Johannes Lenhard, a researcher in ethics of venture capital, we deep dived into the dominating trends, emerging definitions and differences between impact, ESGs and other sustainability terms, approaches to standards and measurements, ESG support for founders and what the next steps will be.

This panel took place on April 08, 2021.

PSV Aacademy is pioneered by Danish VC PreSeed Ventures and has developed from a strong desire to help early stage startups succeed.
We continuously host an ambitious mix of monthly talks, masterclasses, workshops and open door sessions, so make sure to stay tuned.