Fika with climate tech investor Robina von Stein: “VCs need to be more creative”

You’ve just launched the 2025 edition of The Climate Brick, which is a manual for climate tech founders and workers. Tell us a bit about that?

"The Climate Brick is a blueprint to help climate tech founders navigate the journey from pre-seed to scale. But the Brick isn’t just for founders. Scaling climate tech is a team sport. It takes VCs, infra funds, banks, corporates, universities, even governments pulling in the same direction. That’s why we designed it as a shared framework- something the entire ecosystem can build on."

What else is in your inbox at the moment?

"My inbox is full of amazing founders responding to a piece I recently wrote on my Substack, Climate Capital Calls, exploring the intersection of fintech and climate - catalytic solutions needed to build the financial infrastructure for energy assets. We see a real opportunity here: energy is becoming the currency of the 21st century. I’m pretty excited about what’s emerging in that space."

What do you think sets Contrarian Ventures apart from similar impact VCs in Europe?

"We’ve been backing climate tech since 2017 - long before it was cool, and we’re here for the long game. We're not going to pivot to defence or resilience suddenly; climate tech is the defining challenge we’ve committed to helping founders solve."

What’s the most exciting investment you’ve been part of in the past year?

"Our recent investment in Altrove.ai, a Paris-based startup redesigning magnets without rare earth elements. The energy transition is, at its core, also a materials transition, and rare earths are scarce, expensive, polluting to extract, and largely controlled by China."

Climate tech funding in Europe is at its lowest level since 2023 according to recent Dealroom data. Are you confident the sector can make a comeback?

"I don’t see the dip as a bad sign. A lot of capital rushed in when climate tech became trendy in 2021–2022, and some companies got overpriced. What we’re seeing now is a healthy reset."

You previously worked in journalism and in university research. Is there a common thread that’s guided your journey into climate tech investing?

Curiosity—whether in research, journalism, or now in VC. You have to constantly dig, ask the right questions, and try to get to the root of a problem. Relationships matter, too. As a journalist, you need a strong network to find the real story; as a VC, it’s the same when finding the right founders and building trust. I also think as a VC you need to be creative in the way you think – like journalists – which is often underestimated. You have to be able to dream with the founders. I don’t see that in a lot of VCs but I think it is very important.

You also used to work for an auction house. If you could auction off one climate tech myth for good, what would it be?

"That climate tech is just a trend. It’s not a vertical - it’s a holistic challenge we have to solve. Climate change is directly interlinked with economic stability and future GDP growth. If we don’t build the infrastructure to decarbonise, the cost to our economies will be far greater than the cost of action."

What’s your favourite fika?

"Sometimes matcha, but lately…celery juice!"

What’s that like?

"Honestly? It tastes awful. But I drink it in the morning with a tonne of ginger and it helps me focus, and it gives me this strange, clean kind of energy."