Founder-investor misalignment is killing impact startups. Here’s how to fix it
20 okt. 2025
08:54
Investors are taking longer than ever to commit – just when the planet most needs impact startups to scale. Meanwhile, many founders overestimate how fast they can raise, running out of cash before rounds close.
Breaking this founder–investor stalemate will take effort from both sides, write Annick Verween (Biotope Ventures), Erika Hombert (PINC), and Arnoud Klokke (BioInnovation Institute).
Here's their six-step plan which offers founders a pragmatic way forward.
Breaking this founder–investor stalemate will take effort from both sides, write Annick Verween (Biotope Ventures), Erika Hombert (PINC), and Arnoud Klokke (BioInnovation Institute).
Here's their six-step plan which offers founders a pragmatic way forward.
For years, founders were told that raising capital takes six to nine months. That was never entirely true, but in today’s market, it’s even further from reality.
As early-stage investors, we no longer ask founders when they plan to start fundraising, but when they’ll run out of cash. Too many companies are balancing dangerously close to that line. We’ve reached a point in the climate hype cycle where we simply can’t afford to think as idealistically as before.