VC Spotlight: Satgana’s Conviction Play and Why Climate Impact, Early-Stage, and Africa–Europe Matter Now

In conversation with Romain Diaz – Founder and CEO of Satgana

In a venture capital landscape with increasing uncertainty, compressed valuations, and shifting geopolitical realities, Satgana stands out for its clarity of purpose and consistency of conviction. Founded by Romain Diaz, Satgana is an early-stage climate and impact-focused venture capital firm operating across Europe and Africa, both being regions that face climate change differently, yet urgently.

“We keep a fairly broad definition of climate,” Diaz explains, “while remaining extremely rigorous on impact assessment.” That balance is intentional. Climate impact does not manifest uniformly across geographies, and Satgana’s investment thesis reflects this reality. The firm backs technology companies that address climate change or operate against the backdrop of climate change, tailoring solutions to local needs, talent pools, and capacities.

A Pan-Regional Climate Strategy, Built Early

Satgana’s first fund, headquartered in Luxembourg, is an €8.5 million vehicle that is now almost fully deployed. From the first fund, the firm has invested in 30 companies across 16 countries in Europe and Africa. While the fund invests globally, its identity is anchored in these two continents and in the belief that cross-regional learning and scaling are absolutely necessary.

The portfolio spans energy, mobility, food and agriculture, the circular economy, industry, and carbon removal. What distinguishes Satgana is not only where it invests, but when. The firm is unapologetically early-stage.

“All our companies are early stage,” Diaz clarifies. “Some are now growing into Series A or Series B, but we always invest at pre-seed or seed. That’s our expertise.”

Between Diaz and his partners, Satgana draws on over 20 years of combined venture experience, particularly in sourcing, selecting, and supporting early-stage companies where risk is highest, but so is potential upside.

Strong conviction is necessary for results

In a volatile macroeconomic environment, Satgana has doubled down on a portfolio construction strategy that blends diversification with high conviction. Diversification is built across sectors, geographies, and technologies. In the current portfolio, roughly a third of companies are hardware-focused, a third software-focused, and a third sit at the intersection, which is hardware-enabled software.

Yet this breadth does not translate into indiscriminate investing.

“We don’t want to do spray and pray,” Diaz asserts. “We want to remain conviction-driven.”

Despite recent headwinds for impact investing globally, Satgana views the current cycle as an opportunity rather than a deterrent. Valuation compression has lowered entry prices, while the retreat of less-committed capital has created space for focused investors willing to stay the course.

“This is precisely the right time to double down on impact,” Diaz argues. “It’s cyclical. Interest in impact will be back and we believe there is a tremendous economic opportunity in the space.”

Just as importantly, impact is not a tactical positioning for Satgana; it is a values-driven choice. “It’s also where our heart is,” Diaz adds. “We want to make a meaningful, positive contribution to the world.”

Why Early Stage Hasn’t Changed—Even as Markets Have

While market conditions have evolved rapidly, Satgana’s focus on early-stage investing has remained constant. For Diaz, this is more than intentional, it is strategy. “This is where there’s the most alpha,” he explains. “We enter at the lowest valuation points, and that’s where you can build outcomes that are 10x to 100x.”

Early-stage investing also allows Satgana to leverage its operational experience effectively. Beyond capital, the firm actively supports founders across fundraising, impact management, commercial development, talent acquisition, and strategic decision-making.

“This is where we know how to operate,” Diaz affirms. “And it’s why we’re sought after in deals.”

Supply Chains, Sovereignty, and a Less Collaborative World

Diaz observes a structural shift in the global economy: a world that is becoming less collaborative at the geopolitical level and more siloed in its operations. This shift has profound implications for climate-tech startups, particularly around supply chains.

“For us, supply chains are a key topic,” he notes. Transparency is no longer only about ethics and environmental responsibility, but also about security, resilience, and sovereignty, especially in a context of rising global tensions.

Satgana evaluates whether its portfolio companies can scale in ways that are not only sustainable, but also robust in an increasingly fragmented world.

Where Satgana Places Its Bets

Across its six core sectors—energy, food and agriculture, mobility, circular economy, industry, and carbon removal—Satgana applies a consistent investment lens.

First and foremost: outstanding founders. “At the earliest stage, business models can evolve,” Diaz explains. “But the founding team is the most stable element. Outstanding founders are the ones who make it.”

Second: strong unit economics. Satgana looks for companies where impact and profitability reinforce each other, where the so-called “green premium” disappears. “The green solution shouldn’t be more expensive,” Diaz adds. “It should be cheaper, faster, better, more efficient and just happen to be greener.”

Third: a clear path to scale and profitability. Whether through proven technologies where capital enables rapid expansion, or deep-tech solutions that can eliminate the green premium within two to five years, Satgana prioritizes commercial viability alongside climate impact.

Collaboration as a Core Operating Principle

While global collaboration may be shrinking at the political level, Satgana itself operates as a deeply collaborative platform. Every portfolio company is co-invested alongside other VCs, family offices, or institutional partners.

The firm frequently leads rounds, invites its limited partners to co-invest, and opens doors to later-stage investors. Satgana’s LP base spans over 150 LPs from 25 countries, many of whom actively engage with the portfolio.

Collaboration extends beyond capital. Founders within the Satgana ecosystem are encouraged to support one another through shared communities, exchanging introductions to investors, customers, partners, and talent. “For us, collaboration is central to everything we do,” Diaz shares.

What Drives Success at the Earliest Stage

Early-stage venture investing is challenging. Globally, up to 90% of startups fail. Satgana’s approach to beating those odds rests on three pillars: access, selection, and support.

Access comes from proprietary sourcing tools, including AI-driven models, as well as a trusted network of founders, co-investors, and LPs. Over the past five years, Satgana has analyzed more than 6,000 startups and invested in just 30, roughly 0.5% of those reviewed.

Selection is powered by deep due diligence, expert networks, pattern recognition, and proprietary scorecards assessing impact potential, founder quality, commercial viability, valuations, and syndicate strength.

Support continues post-investment, where Satgana plays an active role in fundraising, impact management, talent strategy, and global expansion. As the only early-stage climate-tech investor operating across both Europe and Africa, the firm uniquely enables cross-continental scaling.

And, Diaz admits candidly, “there’s always the factor of luck.”

So far, the outcomes speak for themselves: about half of the portfolio has raised follow-on rounds, fewer than 10% have been written off, and performance metrics such as MOIC and TVPI sit in the top decile in its vintage year.

Check Sizes and the Next Chapter

In its first fund, Satgana deployed an average initial check of €150,000 per company, flexibly adjusted based on conviction and timing. Looking ahead, the firm’s second fund aims to increase first-entry tickets to around €500,000, with follow-on capacity up to €1 million.

The Future of Venture Capital: AI and the Human Edge

In three to five years, Diaz sees AI as unavoidable in venture capital. Firms that fail to integrate AI into deal sourcing, diligence, and portfolio support will be at a structural disadvantage. That said, as AI becomes ubiquitous, the human element will matter more than ever.

“Do founders want to work with you?” Diaz asks. “Reputation, trust, alignment, and personal connection will differentiate the best VCs.”

In early-stage investing especially, where founders are choosing long-term partners, the ability to combine technological sophistication with genuine human engagement will define success.

Conclusion: Impact Is Not Optional

Diaz emphasizes Satgana’s core belief: impact is not a “nice to have.” “It’s what we believe in,” he explains. “But it’s also a tremendous economic opportunity.”

As some investors now reconsider impact, Satgana sees space opening to support exceptional companies at attractive valuations, to build long-term credibility, and to support founders who want to build enduring, scalable businesses that matter.

Satgana remains open to purpose-driven founders and value-aligned LPs from family offices, private UHNW investors and foundations to corporates, institutions and endowments, who believe that changing the world and generating strong commercial returns are not opposing goals, but mutually reinforcing aims – that’s when magic happens.