Planet A’s Lena Thiede on bringing rigorous science to climate VC: ‘It's still the Wild West’
29 sep. 2025
23:38
At Planet A Ventures, scientists get the final word.
In this exclusive interview, Lena Thiede, co-founder and general partner, explains why her team was given veto power over investments – and why the climate tech sector needs better ways to assess impact.
In this exclusive interview, Lena Thiede, co-founder and general partner, explains why her team was given veto power over investments – and why the climate tech sector needs better ways to assess impact.
When Lena Thiede co-founded Planet A Ventures in 2020, she saw a venture capital industry eager to pour money into climate tech – but with little understanding of which solutions would deliver the most impact.
“I was so surprised to understand that as investors, everybody was just throwing money at stuff and really not understanding what was relevant,” she recalls. “Everybody was flying blind.”