Investment Climate Podcast: Daan Raemdonck of Koppie, How to Get Funded in 2025

In this episode of the Investment Climate Podcast, Alex Shandrovsky interviews Daan Raemdonck, founder and CEO of Koppie, a startup developing fermented coffee alternatives. Daan shares insights on how Koppie successfully raised its pre-seed round through warm introductions while in stealth mode, with investors like Nucleus Capital, Mudcake, Rockstar, and angel investors. The podcast delves into how Q-grader testing validated Koppie's product against market alternatives, their pivot in go-to-market strategy during the fundraising process, and the importance of early grant funding in Belgium to extend runway pre-fundraise.

Key takeaways from the episode include the significance of warm introductions in securing investments, Koppie's success in outperforming competitors in taste tests, and the importance of investors who challenge and push the team forward during due diligence. Listeners can access the full series of podcasts on Apple Podcasts and learn from the experiences of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs in the alt protein industry.