Get to know our Venture Partner Carmel Rafaeli

Carmel is a dynamic Venture Partner at Conduit Connect and an investor in the Conduit EIS Impact Fund. With a diverse career spanning radio news production, marketing communications in Japan, eCommerce development, and the hospitality industry, Carmel has continuously embraced new challenges. Her journey into sustainability and climate investment highlights her passion for creating impactful change. Read on to discover Carmel's insights into her career, her transition to impact investing, and her advice for aspiring founders and impact investors.

Tell us a little bit about your background?

I started my career as a radio News Producer. This experience taught me the core skill sets of my professional path - agility, creativity, making decisions under pressure quickly, getting the ungettable get, grit, negotiation, multitasking and so much more. From there I had a varied career, always taking on new challenges: I managed marketing communications and business development in Japan for a startup developing micro projectors to mobile devices, I invested and managed a brick and mortar fashion brand from samples to manufacturing and stores, I built one of Israel's first eCommerce sites, co-founded and managed a hospitality startup building a guest experience platform for independent boutique hotels and then shifted to focusing on the problem of collaborating over IP to advance climate innovation.  

What has been your greatest success to date? And your greatest challenge? 

My greatest success so far has been my move into sustainability and climate and subsequently to the investment side. Shifting my focus to working in an impact focused ecosystem, transferring my energy to an investment role has enabled me to expand the reach of my impact. I have learned that my biggest strength is my passion for connecting - ideas, people, opportunities - bringing people together and supporting the creation of change through the network effect. 

My greatest challenge has been articulating and managing my strengths as I am not a "by the book" person. I have gone through most of my career feeling like an imposter. I now see there is also resilience and expertise in carving my own path, going through continuous trial and error phases, learning new fields and skills, going wide and staying varied.  

What led you to work in the impact space? 

When Covid hit I needed to sell the technology behind my hospitality tech startup to my partner and close the company as we were not able to raise. It was lockdown and I needed to figure out what next, the world was on fire and I thought to myself - whatever I do has to be for more than just profit, it has to contribute to stopping the climate crisis. Although I didn't really know what that would look like I understood I have to find out…

What are you most excited about in the impact space currently? 

As a climate generalist I am excited by a variety of spaces - circularity, soil health, and ocean innovation are currently top of the list. 

 How do you diligence impact in a company?

I start by talking to the founder - understanding their passion and vision as well as experience, agility and grit are some of the most important elements, especially in early stage ventures. I then go over the tech/innovation. After that I look at the industry and competition - how is the industry structured, who are the competitors, what is the USP, how can they capture market share, what is their defensibility. Finally I want to understand the business model and most importantly the financials. I focus on the financials not for the actual numbers, in the early stage they can be more or less anything, but what I call Financial Storytelling. This helps me understand how the founder is planning to operate the company, the interconnectivity of the different levers - how they see the pricing, the cost structure, the growth.  

If you were to advise a founder, what are the main things you’d say you are looking that will catch your attention? 

Vision, honesty, agility, creativity, understanding of the market and ability to execute.

What sets the Conduit Connect's diligence process apart in your opinion? 

It has the same rigorous process for both the impact and the return potential - both are important and symbiotic.

What has been your experience as a venture partner being surrounded by committee members with different areas of expertise to your own? How does this refine your thesis? 

The venture partner committee enables hearing very different views on business and impact. I have learnt a lot from the discussion at these committees, it helped me sharpen my own DD process as well as my understanding and analysis of a variety of industries. 

How did you get started with angel investing?

About a year ago, through Zinc VC I was introduced to Alma Angels, it uncovered for me the opportunity to invest micro tickets. With a huge passion for supporting ClimateTech ventures and a bit of cash I started my journey. I haven't been on it long but I'm enjoying it immensely. I have learned that it's less important how big is your check size but rather how much you are interested in supporting the founders on their journey.  

What’s one piece of advice you would give to your younger self? 

Trust your instincts, learn to understand contracts and start investing early 

What’s the worst piece of advice you have received during your career? 

Trust older adviser even though your gut tells you differently because you are too young and inexperienced to let base decision on your instincts. 

When you were a child what did you want to be? 

A human rights lawyer

How has your experience been as a VP of the Conduit Connect as well as an investor of the Conduit EIS Impact Fund? 

I love being a VP at Conduit Connect - it has exposed me to new companies, industries and experts. The meetings are collaborative, discussions are insightful, and the companies are inspiring. Working with the team is a true pleasure.