INVESTORS
Why one VC firm stopped judging its portfolio on carbon alone
European venture firm ECBF is broadening its impact measurement beyond carbon after five years of investing, says partner Isabelle Laurencin. Portfolio companies generate an estimated average 48% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions against conventional alternatives, but the firm now works across four dimensions: climate mitigation, circular economy, nature and biodiversity, and prevention-based health through nutrition.
The single metric was the one that could be counted and compared, so it became the one that governed judgement. Laurencin says impactful innovations rarely operate in one dimension, and that optimising for one indicator in isolation misses material effects. European Central Bank analysis of 4.2m euro-area non-financial companies found 72% critically dependent on at least one ecosystem service, a dependency no carbon figure records.
Source: Sifted · September 16, 2026