Exchange summary
The BwB Talk Series brings innovative leaders in impact, finance, and the environment to speak with our network around the world. The BwB Talk Series helps generate new ideas for our network by bringing experts to share their deep knowledge of sustainability topics.
During the latest episode of the BwB Talk Series, the team met Jacques-Philippe Piverger, founder of Good Light Capital. Jacques-Phillipe is an investor and serial entrepreneur. He is also a regular speaker on venture capital, and an expert in collective intelligence in finance who is recognised for his thought leadership in areas such as sustainable energy, health and wellness and the future of employment.
Over the last couple of years, he has been particularly focused on the high growth of tech and consequential challenges of our time for example, climate, health, education, future of employment, and financial inclusion.
“The way we have deployed capital historically has left a lot of room for improvement. Good Light Capital was born of the idea to address those opportunities. To date, our company has made several investments across ventures in the climate space, with particular focus on those who are backed by underrepresented founders (black and ethnic minorities, and women, for example) who have been marginalised by traditional capital flows”.
“When you look at the flows of capital, less then 2% have gone to women.”, commented Jacques-Philippe. “Same for black people, it went from 1.3% in 2020, to 0.9% in 2022. On the one hand, these numbers are abysmal but, on the other, this presents a huge opportunity.”
Jacques-Philippe moved on to discuss the power of collective intelligence in business management.
“When you look at performance over the last 50 years in the venture space, the reality is that only 25% of people who do that do well. And the other 75% are better off doing something different.”
Question Time
One of the most engaging segments of our Talk Series is the Q&A session between our speaker and BwB. This talk’s Q&A segment was filled with insightful moments, a few of which we have captured below.
Jacques-Philippe discussed the nature of investors and LPs Good Light deals with the framework of the fund.
“We largely used special-purposed vehicles for our deals. It was the alpha pilot test of the model and we verified our assumptions through small investments into a wide range of companies.”
Jennifer Faust, BwB Managing Director, highlighted the power of collective expertise for democratisation of asset classes.
“So many people lack access and understanding of this kind of investment, so it’s been fascinating to see people who have been typically “boxed out” of that asset class being able to put credit in companies which are part of their due diligence. This is democratisation of capital beyond institutional capital and particularly backing by the underrepresented.”
Next, Jacques-Philippe discussed the importance of the founders’ team as a key indicator for the attractiveness of an investment.
He also highlighted proof of concept as an indicator that a start-up is ready to scale.
Jacques-Philippe moved on to discuss Good Light Capital’s approach to mentoring.
“As a parent, to me there is an analogy between a company, which you want to invest in, and your kids. It has been proven that children with parental support do better in life. Same goes to companies - you have to dedicate your time, be present when and as needed, adapt your service to their needs, and listen.”
Christine Zhou, BwB Executive Director, asked Jacques-Philippe for his thoughts on the climate sector.
“There will be more opportunities in the intersection between heavy infrastructure and technology”, responded Jacques-Philippe. “I see a lot of opportunity there. It is attractive because these are large industries affecting almost everything we do. There is also a lot of room for innovation. From business perspective, clients tend to be massive with scalable contractors and eco-systems in place. So I see an interesting scenario for investments in this space.”
Jacques-Philippe also touched on the rising power of generative AI in offering climate-type solutions. “The challenge here is which ones are real and viable for investment and which ones are not”, he commented.
Jacques-Philippe holds strong interest in the health and wellness space, not only as an investor, but also at a personal level. He shared hit thoughts on how he sees this has shaped his success in the professional world.
“I stated martial arts at the age of 3 and have been a training on a daily basis ever since. I have a daily meditation and breath-work practice for the last 15 years.”, commented Jacques-Philippe.
He recommended the book “Life Force” by Tony Robin to the team to find out more about latest advancements in regenerative heath practices.
“Being thoughtful about that aspect of personal development is very useful and incredibly important for your professional aspirations and work.”
With only one sick day in the last 30 years, Jacques-Philippe is a living example that finding the balance between the mind and the body is critical for success.
He also recommends the book “Breath” by James Nestor to those interested in finding out more on how to find more energy for the things that matter.
Next Jacques-Philippe discussed with the team BwB’s involvement in business in Africa.
Chris Smith, BwB Managing Director, Global Head Sovereign Sustainable Finance, highlighted the team’s upcoming trips and work in Malawi, Togo and Angola for a project with UNDP on promoting green business in Africa.
Jacques-Philippe shared that Good Life Capital holds strong focus and established network in the region.
“We have decades of experience working in Africa with a broad network of contacts among governmental bodies”, he commented. He highlighted the opportunity for BwB and Good Light Capital’s collaboration on projects with high impact potential in the region.
“Most of the EV manufacturers are targeting private users, but statistics show that 85% of emissions are generated by commercial vehicles, especially mining vehicles and agriculture”