Be Smart About Your Social Impact Advises Agritech Founder
- Jane Redfern
- 12 hours ago
- 2 min read
Dr Monica Saavedra is the CEO of UK AgriTech startup Lambda Energy and has been nominated by the Future of Capitalism competition judges as a Rising Star 2026. Her advice to startups is
“Be smart about your social impact and in particular, pay attention to the younger generation because they are the ones that adopt technologies early, and those are the ones who are the future.”
It’s now just over a week since the competition’s third Pitchday and we’re sharing valuable insights – from what the future of capitalism means, to feedback from the startups pitching for investment.
Watch the highlights video or take a look at them below.
“The purpose of the competition is to try and influence people to think differently about the connection between business success and broader society.” Robert Brown, Competition Director, Future of Capitalism Competition
“The genius of capitalism is decentralized agency which privileges innovation. That's the fantastic benefit that only capitalism provides.” Sir Paul Collier, Oxford University, Competition Judge.
“The future of capitalism for me is trying to influence the next generation of entrepreneurs. As well as building a business, also making sure they embed in it some sort of social good, in terms of what they care about. It's not just the role of government, it's the role of business and entrepreneurship as well." Larry Sullvan, Founder, Leo Lion.
“The Leo Lion competition is particularly interesting because of the values that they have. Through the competition you are exposed to other companies that have a bigger mission; to transform what their work is doing to make a greater good to others.” Mônica Felício Fragoso, Co-founder, Shifted, Rising Star 2026.
“The pitch day experience has been great. The judges asked really good questions. The Shard was a great forum to pitch in, and we really challenged and pushed ourselves." Martin Freimüller, Co-founder, Octavia Carbon, Rising Star 2026.
“I felt like everyone I met was really rooting for us, and we were rooting for everyone we met. The advice I would give to any other early-stage startup is just enter as many things as you can. You never know what's going to happen." Dr. Benjamin Allen, CTO, Tandem Repeat, Winner 2026.
What does the Future of Capitalism mean to you? If you are a founder of a startup seeking early-stage investment then could this be the opportunity for you. Sign up for competition alerts to find out when the next edition open for entries.
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