Scaling the Circular Economy: Inside a $200M Non-SaaS Fund w/ Costas Papaikonomou

In this episode of The Venture Capital Podcast , Jon Bradshaw and Peter Harris sit down with Costas Papaikonomou , co-founder of the $200M Una Terra Early Growth Fund , to unpack what it really takes to scale the circular economy. Costas shares how his background in engineering, innovation consulting, and a successful exit to Accenture shaped Una Terra’s thesis: backing “drop-in” solutions that plug into existing industrial infrastructure instead of trying to rebuild the world from scratch. They get into: • Why packaging, waste and food ingredients are massive, underrated VC markets • How regulation in Europe is reshaping single-use plastics and recycling • Why Una Terra focuses on real-world unit economics first, impact second (but still runs as an Article 9 impact fund) • Case studies: pulp-based bottle packaging, Greyparrot’s AI for waste sorting, and circular fashion brand Another Tomorrow • Power law vs “normal distribution” returns, and why most exits will be strategic acquisitions, not unicorn IPOs If you care about climate, industrial innovation, and non-SaaS venture opportunities, this one’s loaded. Follow the Unaterra HQ: Linkedin: Costas Book (Disruption Fallacy): Follow the Podcast Instagram: Twitter: LinkedIn: Spotify: Apple: Website: Follow Jon Bradshaw LinkedIn: Instagram: Twitter: Follow Peter Harris LinkedIn: Twitter: Instagram: Youtube:

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Scaling the Circular Economy: Inside a $200M Non-SaaS Fund w/ Costas Papaikonomou is an episode from Venture Capital by Jon Bradshaw.

This episode is 43:47 long.

This episode was published on Nov 25, 2025.

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