Aerodymax secures impact investment at The Green 100

The Green 100, organized by Der Klima- und Energiefonds hosted in the Hofburg Palace in cooperation with Impact Days earlier this year, aimed to connect investors with promising green projects. And that goal was fulfilled through a targeted matchmaking process. One standout example is the introduction of Ryan Grant Little to Almaz Ayupov, founder of Aerodymax, which led to a significant investment. 

“The challenging part about our fundraising is that we are a hardware company. Typically, these require significant CAPEX investments—but we fund all our orders through customer prepayments and thus do not need a massive CAPEX,” said Almaz. This innovative startup is focused in aerodynamic solutions that reduce fuel consumption by 3-5%, cutting costs and emissions. Their work recently caught the attention of investors, particularly Ryan’s, who has experience in this field. “I’ve been around tractor-trailers my whole life. It’s my family’s business, back in Canada, and I spent my early teenage summers driving a forklift, loading trailers. So, I’ve been thinking about how to make trucking more efficient for a long time.” says Ryan.

Beyond their innovative approach to reducing emissions and the business model itself, what caught Ryan’s attention was Almaz’s attitude as a founder. Ryan, an entrepreneur and experienced investor, defines himself as a first-cheque investor: “That means I am investing in the earliest and highest-risk rounds of a startup. Here, more than at any other stage, it’s all about the founders, and I subscribe to the ‘hungry, humble, and smart’ doctrine. What I noticed right away when I met Almaz at Impact Days is that he found out everything he possibly could about this industry, spoke to every key player—and even onboarded them as team members or advisors in some cases. Then he focused on adapting to the European market by working directly with customers, figuring out what they need and want, and started delivering on that. This is how you build the foundations of a successful business.”

What’s next for this impact investment?

When asked about Aerodymax’s next steps, Almaz mentioned, “With the funding we’ve received from Ryan, we’re reaching out to more trailer manufacturers and logistics companies across Europe to further fill our already healthy deal book. We’re also catering to the specific needs of EV trucks, so we’ll be investing more into R&D in that area.” At the same time, Ryan will collaborate with them: “I’m already enjoying working with Almaz on getting the positioning right for the next round of investors, who won’t have the same starting point on truck logistics that I have,” explains Ryan.

Ryan and Almaz connected in the matchmaking of The Green 100, which was organized by Der Klima- und Energiefonds in collaboration with Impact Days. “Impact Hub appeared in our internal research and screening, and once we saw the list of attendees, we decided to go. We are happy and grateful that it paid off, and we look forward to the next event in 2025!” mentioned Almaz. 

Meetings that lead to impact investment or investments can only happen by carefully curating the attendees and matching the needs of the ventures with the requirements of the capital providers. At Impact Hub Vienna we took the responsibility to do this, in our role as catalyzers of the impact innovation in the region. Looking ahead, Impact Days will return next year at the Rathaus Vienna on May 12 and 13, 2024, promising more opportunities for impactful collaborations.

Learn about other investors working with Impact Investment here!