For the next blog in our series of insights from women in cleantech innovation, the Grantham Institute’s Linsey Wynton meets Carmel Rafaeli, an angel investor and venture partner who supports climate-positive startups with female founders.
Entrepreneur and investor Carmel Rafaeli’s career history is full of variety – her first job was as a radio news producer, she worked in business development in Japan, and founded and managed a hospitality tech startup, building a guest experience platform. She’s now an angel investor (making small investments of £2000 at a time in startups), and a Venture Partner at Conduit Ventures and Alma Angels.
For the last year she has been a Founding Partner of The Table, a community of investors who co-invest in women-led and co-led climate ventures. Carmel co-founded The Table with colleague Julie Blane. They focus on early-stage, climate-positive, sector agnostic ventures, than have at least one female founder, helping founders close their rounds more efficiently.
Here’s how she did it…
What led you from being an entrepreneur to becoming an investor in startups focused on sustainability?
I’ve always had a thing for spotting problems that needed solving – that’s what pulled me into entrepreneurship in the first place. But when Covid hit, hospitality took a nosedive, and I had to step away. It felt like the moment to put my energy toward something bigger – something that could make a dent in the climate crisis. I tinkered with a few ideas but nothing felt right to build myself.
So the question became: how could I back the people already tackling the biggest climate challenges? That’s what shifted me from founder to investor. It felt like the most powerful way to help more solutions come to life.
How did the challenges that you experienced as a female founder help you, as an investor, to support female founders?
Where to begin! Being a woman in tech – and especially a woman founder – still means you’re constantly navigating double standards. You have to show ambition, but not too much ambition. Be confident, but not pushy. Authentic, but also “fundable.” It’s a balancing act that men frankly don’t have to perform in the same way.
I believe that my experience as a founder, irrespective of my gender, helps me relate to founders. I want to support them and see them succeed, but I also better understand the investor side and the fact that this is a big numbers game. Investors need to know that they are distributing the risk between a variety of companies and that each of them has the potential to be their fund returners. That’s just the essence of what they are.
So, one thing I remind female founders is this: investors need to believe you can deliver a huge return. Show them your passion and your vision, and don’t shy away from bold numbers. Run your cash flow frugally, of course – but pitch your big dream, show that you could be their fund returner.
How did you and Julie Blane come to co-found The Table, and what support does it offer to female founders?
Julie and I were both angel investors, and we kept seeing the same problem play out: incredible women-led climate ventures struggling to close their rounds, dragging on for months, sometimes years. The money was out there – but it wasn’t flowing to them.
So, we decided to build The Table. The idea was simple: to create a collaborative community of early-stage investors – from syndicates to family offices – who actively co-invest in climate solutions with at least one woman founder.
It’s non-commercial; we don’t charge. We just help surface great deals, make introductions, and keep things moving. We’re climate-positive, sector-agnostic – from hardware to materials to deep tech – and we prioritise women founders who hold meaningful equity.
In our first year, 250 investors globally joined, and we’ve shared around 100 deals. About 15 of those have closed successfully. Now we’re setting up The Table Foundation to deploy recoverable grants – catalytic capital that can match investors’ tickets and keep more founders in the game. Because women founders shouldn’t have to go last in line for funding.
Investors need to believe you can deliver a huge return. Show them your passion and your vision, and don’t shy away from bold numbers… Pitch your big dream, show that you could be their fund returner.
Why is getting investment in green innovation particularly challenging for female founders, and what’s the key to success?
Climate tech is hard to fund, full stop. It’s messy, capital-intensive, takes time, and often requires a different mindset about returns. And women founders face the usual biases on top of that.
Some people are saying that climate tech is dead, but it is not – not when we have rising energy insecurity, food insecurity, supply chain insecurity. It is crystal clear that climate tech is a necessary part of everything.
What gives me hope is that the conversation is changing. Energy, food, supply chains – they’re all becoming climate issues. The key for founders is to tell a clear story: show your vision AND show how you make money. Bring the passion, but also the numbers. Investors want both.
What needs to change?
Women do not need more mentoring. They need more money. There is no shortage of talented women building investable climate ventures, but the system still makes them jump through hoops that their male peers simply don’t have to.
Part of the fix is more women deploying capital – but also men, and institutions, doing the work to check their biases and change their processes. We also have to widen the funding playbook: not everything should go through a traditional venture capitalist (VC) model. Recoverable grants, blended finance, corporate partnerships, even revenue-based finance – these all have a role to play.
For a female founder seeking VC funding, what would you recommend?
Think about your capital stack creatively. Don’t just go straight for VC – map out angels, syndicates, family offices, grant funders. Show early traction with corporate partners. Look at your unit economics from day one and consider debt and alternative structures early.
When you pitch, remember – you are telling the story of a huge potential and benefits, even if you build carefully. Investors need to see the path to scale. Be generous with your vision – and back it up with numbers.
How important is it to have more female investors?
It’s absolutely critical. Let’s be honest – we all tend to invest in what feels familiar. If more women are writing cheques, then more women-led solutions get a fair chance.
That said, angel investing is very risky – huge risk with potential huge reward. You must be in a place where you can afford to lose the money. But if you do have that privilege, it’s one of the best ways to back the change you want to see in the world, learn fast, and help founders grow. The more diverse the investor pool, the more diverse the innovations we’ll see funded.
Climate isn’t just a sector anymore – it’s a lens for every sector. So, whether you’re working in food, fashion, tech, or heavy industry, keep your “three Ps” front of mind: profit, people, and planet. That’s where future-fit businesses will come from.
What tips would you offer women considering careers in green innovation and investment?
First, you need to be obsessed with the problem you’re solving. Being a founder is a grind, and if you don’t feel a deep sense of mission, it will be very hard to stay the course.
Second, climate isn’t just a sector anymore – it’s a lens for every sector. So, whether you’re working in food, fashion, tech, or heavy industry, keep your “three Ps” front of mind: profit, people, and planet. That’s where future-fit businesses will come from.
Don’t buy into the myth that you have to work 24/7 to be a “real” founder. That’s nonsense. Build in a way that is sustainable for you too.
Any other thoughts?
Women are wired for collaboration – we naturally look for win-win solutions. That is a strength, especially in climate innovation, where no one wins alone. The climate crisis requires scaling thousands of solutions, big and small – not just betting on a few big wins.
Applications for Undaunted’s flagship accelerator program, The Greenhouse, are now open. Over 12-months, successful applicants will receive expert guidance, a £20k equity-free grant, and access to Imperial’s world-class facilities and networks to help validate their business model, land pilots, raise investment. Applications close on 31 August.
Read more about women leading the field in cleantech innovation.
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