Member Spotlight: Marie Schildt
I spoke with Marie Schildt, an investor at Unruly Capital, a VC with a desire to shape the world for the better by focusing on meaningful companies. We discussed Unruly’s strategy, Marie’s path to climate, and how investing styles differ between cultures.
What was your journey into climate and venture capital after studying psychology?
Marie Schildt: There was no distinct event that sparked my interest in climate—it was more of a continuing curiosity and appreciation for nature. As I grew up, I became more aware of climate change and its causes, and it made me question how I want my life to impact the environment.
At university, I focused on health psychology, and in my thesis I researched the correlation between people’s awareness and behavior concerning their own health, and their sense of responsibility to the planet. I've always been interested in these two topics, and how they're interconnected.
Seven years ago, I moved to Berlin, which, besides London, is the core of the venture ecosystem in Europe. After graduating, I worked with two early-stage companies before transitioning into an investing role. Three years in, a move to San Francisco felt like the right step to get to the core of the industry. Today, I am investing in technology and science that is positively impacting people and the planet.
How do Europe and America differ in the way they approach investing, in your experience?
Marie Schildt: American investors tend to be more opportunistic when evaluating deals. They are generally more open to high-risk, high-reward "moonshot" companies, placing greater emphasis on potential upside. Their approach is often driven by hype and momentum, with a more aggressive execution style. As venture capital originated in the US, funds have been through multiple market cycles, and are more mature and experienced. European investors are often more critical and diligent when evaluating investment opportunities, favoring safer bets over moonshot investments.
Regarding impact investing, Europe appears to be leading the way. A higher percentage of European funds have climate-related mandates, and a larger portion of the total capital invested is directed toward climate-focused startups when compared to the US. Many traditional US investors, particularly those with limited exposure to climate tech, tend to have a narrow definition of climate and impact investing, with an emphasis on ESG and carbon credits. US investors were burned badly by the cleantech wave around 2011, leaving them more critical and cautious today.
While the overall venture market has been heavily declining over the past two years, the impact investing space has shown more resilience. European investors' definition of impact, and within that, climate, follows a more holistic approach, including material science, renewable fuels, sustainable agriculture, bioengineering—lots of deeptech and hardware to address the problems a changing climate brings.
I think it’s crucial that we align on a global definition of impact and combine forces when it comes to venture investing. Late-stage climate companies especially need capital to scale, which is more accessible from US investors. Europe and the US can learn a lot from each other's investing styles and approaches to impact investing. It's one of the reasons I decided to move to San Francisco.
What is Unruly Capital's approach to investing, and what makes them unique?
Marie Schildt: Unruly is a London-based pre-seed/seed fund founded in 2022 by Stefano Bernardi, an Italian entrepreneur. The portfolio includes companies across climate, biotech, agriculture, space, materials, and health. The fund primarily invests in deep tech—radically new technologies or translational science, meaning research projects translated from the lab into businesses.
At the earliest stage of investing, the team is what's most important, for both founders and investors. Portfolio founders consistently mention the speed, support, and decisiveness of the Unruly team, valuing them as the first believers in their business. It's crucial to choose people you trust, as you'll be sharing your biggest challenges, fears, and successes with them throughout your journey as a founder.
Unruly has built an impressive portfolio and brand over the past two years, emphasizing transparency and authenticity, which is also reflected on the website, unrulycap.com. It’s a simple dashboard that shows all transactions—average check sizes and ownership, fund performance, and more—all the data founders want to know before a first call. This, and everything else I’ve mentioned, are reasons why I joined Unruly, alongside the fact that the team is incredibly smart, kind, and fun.
Why did you choose to join 9Zero?
Marie Schildt: With the Unruly team based in London and Italy, I recently moved to SF to build our US presence. Joining 9Zero has made the transition a lot easier. It's a great place to connect with founders, investors, researchers, and others excited about climate tech. 9Zero brings together people with unique backgrounds and experiences, all driven by a shared commitment to climate and an eagerness to exchange knowledge. As an investor, the network can be an excellent resource for finding experts in specific markets, technologies, or potential customers, providing insights during a due diligence.
To anyone reading this—if you're building in climate, bio, or working on research projects in any of the areas I discussed, feel free to reach out. If you're an investor curious about Unruly and our thesis, I’d love to connect!
