Very enjoyable chat with Patrick Henry CEO of GroGuru, a company using soil sensors to give farmers AI-based recommendations for crop irrigation. We discussed why their soil sensor is a massive leap over existing solutions, how agtech companies can incorporate sustainability into their products, why strong distribution channels are essential to agtech companies, their approach to building an amazing team, why listening is one of the most important founder skills and more! ------ If you want to s...
Dec 22, 2020•39 min
Great to chat to Philip Briscoe, COO at Rezatec, a remote sensing company which helps companies manage critical infrastructure at scale. We discussed their start in forestry carbon credits, the important role satellite imagery can play in managing risk (including climate risk), the boom in the space industry, why their HQ is perfectly located, the importance of being a mission driven company and more! ------ If you want to support the podcast there are two amazing ways! Subscribe to the Carbotni...
Dec 15, 2020•35 min
We went deep into the founding story of Farm Dog with CEO and founder Liron Brish . Farm Dog is a data company which helps growers increase yields and reduce costs with more sustainable practices. We discussed their founding story and how they pivoted from sensors to becoming a data company, how they think about go to market, the ups and downs of competing in monopolized agriculture, why sustainability is multi-faceted, how agtech is seen by VCs, why they moved the company from Israel to the US ...
Dec 08, 2020•43 min
Great podcast with Derin Alemli, COO of New Age Meats, a startup combining plant-based ingredients with cultured animal meat. We discussed why combining plant based and celular meat is such a massive opportunity, the benefits of building a strong brand, how they think about the competitive space, the importance of sustainability to their approach, the value of cross functional skillsets to cutting edge startups and more! ------ If you want to support the podcast there are two amazing ways! Subsc...
Dec 01, 2020•29 min
For Thanksgiving week, a bit of background on my climate journey and how Carbotnic came about! ------ If you want to support the podcast there are two amazing ways! Subscribe to the Carbotnic patreon Rate 5 stars on Apple Thanks so much! James Paces helps developers find and evaluate the sites most suitable for renewable development. Interested in a call with James, CEO @ Paces?...
Nov 24, 2020•15 min
Really interesting to get into compostable plastics with Tony Bova, CEO and founder of Mobius, a startup developing compostable plastics. We discussed how plastic use goes up with regenerative farming which makes compostable plastics an essential part of a sustainable food system, how plastics fit into circular economy, the careful consideration they gave the plastics value chain when deciding their go to market strategy, what universities can do to encourage more startups, how he balanced start...
Nov 17, 2020•44 min
Inspiring chat with Marcia Woods, founder and CEO of FreshSpoke, a marketplace that makes it easy to source local food by sustainability tapping into excess logistics capacity. We discussed why “local” is the future of food, the importance of logistics data to sustainable supply chains, how they managed multiple company pivots and what that meant for the types of investors who were most interested, how to balance supply and demand when the marketplace has more than 2 sides how to build an amazin...
Nov 10, 2020•41 min
Really interesting podcast with Shadi Bakour, the CEO and Co-Founder of Pathwater, a company whose aluminum water bottles are designed to be refilled and reused infinitely unlike single use plastic water bottles. We discussed the importance of balance customer expectations and sustainability, how many times the typical path water bottle is reused and what its carbon footprint is, what it takes to expand a product across multiple countries, how celebrity association has been a game changer, respo...
Nov 03, 2020•34 min
A great chat on the importance of expanding our diets into a broader range of plants with Marc Diaz, SVP of Business Development at TerViva, a company which uses the Pongamia tree to create new food products and sequester soil carbon. We discussed the reasons why Pongamia has been under-utilized up to now, the important role soil can play in sequestering carbon, the recent revolution in plant based foods, the changing investment landscape for future of food companies, the importance of balancing...
Oct 27, 2020•44 min
Dived deep into supply chain sustainability with Allyson Quijano, Chief Sustainability Officer at Bext360, a SaaS platform to manage supply chain traceability and sustainability. We discussed how sustainability and risk management intersect at enterprises, how the team’s experience in the Congo drove the development of Bext360, how circular economy can affect traditional supply chain models, why blockchain technology is an amazing opportunity for green finance, how COVID has effected the underst...
Oct 20, 2020•46 min
Really interesting chat with Peter Majeranowski, CEO of Tyton Biosciences which uses biotechnology to recycle cotton and polyester for nearly complete re-use in fashion. We discussed how Tyton started as a develop of biofuels, how their technique differs from conventional fabric recycling, how regulators are thinking about the new circular economy, the ways celebrities can have a positive impact on sustainable fashion, whether we should have carbon labeling of fabrics, how Peter’s background as ...
Oct 13, 2020•39 min
I became a cellular meat convert while chatting to Jalene Anderson-Baron! She is the co-founder of Future Fields, a biotech startup enabling cheaper development of cellular ag. We discussed how Future Fields is working to get cellular meat to price parity with conventional meat, how large food companies are reacting to cellular meat, whether the future kitchen includes a desktop meat maker, what it is was like attending YCominator’s first remote cohort, their plans for 2021 and more! ------ If y...
Oct 06, 2020•44 min
Learned so much speaking with Connie Bowen, Director of Innovation and Investment at AgLaunch a network that connects farmers and startups as well as the cohost of the End of Agriculture podcast. We discussed the importance of diversity in both farmer networks and startup teams, the different types of investment opportunities in agriculture, why Irish butter doesn’t get the sustainability credit it deserves, the opportunities for sustainability minded farmers to go direct to consumer, why labor ...
Sep 29, 2020•40 min
Really interesting conversation with Manik Suri, CEO of CoInspect who build checklist and refrigeration monitoring solutions for food safety and sustainability. We discussed the importance of pivoting to find product market fit, how insight from their software product pointed them to a massive opportunity which they are meeting with their new product Therma, why first generation IoT cooling measurement tools failed, why making “clean cooling” cool is key to scaling decarbonization, where the big...
Sep 22, 2020•45 min
Very enjoyable chat with Olympia Yarger, CEO of Goterra a company using insects for sustainable waste management. We discussed the amazing merging of insect and technology that allows the decentralization of waste management across cities, why finding under serviced customers is key to early adoption, how important it is for startups to build vertically integrated supply chains, how insects are going to be an essential part of the future food supply, how growing up around farming influences your...
Sep 15, 2020•42 min
Really great conversation with Sarah Nolet, founder of both the agtech focused VC firm Tenacious Ventures and AgThentic an agtech strategy and advisory firm, as well as the host of the “ AgTech...So What? ” podcast. We discussed the how agtech in the US and Australia differ, the importance of translating values and points of view between tech entrepreneurs and farmers, why we need measurement and verification in regenerative agriculture, the importance of getting the business model right in comp...
Sep 08, 2020•42 min
Great to speak with Irina Fedorenko who is working on nature based decarbonization solutions. We discussed the importance of solutions like mangroves to decarbonization, the trade offs between nature based and technology based sequestration solutions, how working on siberian tiger conservation was the start of her cleantech journey and more! ------ If you want to support the podcast there are two amazing ways! Subscribe to the Carbotnic patreon Rate 5 stars on Apple Thanks so much! James Paces h...
Sep 01, 2020•33 min
Excellent conversation with Nick Kitchin, CEO of Cumulus Energy Storage , developers of scalable, low cost batteries for the electrical grid. We discussed the pros and cons of copper/zinc batteries and why they are the best solution for long term grid energy storage, the importance of supply chain considerations when scaling energy products, why microgrids are such a massive opportunity, why Sheffield is an amazing place to build a company focused on advanced manufacturing and more! ------ If yo...
Aug 25, 2020•42 min
Such a fun conversation with Safia Qureshi, CEO and Founder of CupClub , a maker of reusable packaging being used by major NextGen consortium brands like Starbucks.. We discussed the future of materials, the circular economy, how Safia’s background in architecture and design influenced her approach, the importance of research and user testing, why transparency is so important when it comes to sustainability, the importance of London towards the development of cutting edge design and more! ------...
Aug 18, 2020•39 min
Great to chat to Kevin Mercer, CEO of RainGrid a company which uses IoT connected rain barrels to manage residential storm water. We discussed how RainGrid grew out of community outreach initiatives, how the concept of One Water works in a circular economy, the importance of building communities when trying to make change, why companies might choose to be a B corp, why we should build resilient infrastructure and more! ------ If you want to support the podcast there are two amazing ways! Subscri...
Aug 11, 2020•44 min
Brilliant chat with Troy Carter, Co-Founder of Rizome , a company that converts bamboo into a cutting edge, decarbonizing building material. We discussed the goals of the Rizome team, the amazing properties of bamboo and why it has taken so long to scale as a major building material, the possibility of bamboo skyscrapers, the importance of building a fully integrated supply chain when scaling a product like bamboo, why bamboo makes a great candidate for carbon offsets, the work-life balance of t...
Aug 04, 2020•42 min
Brilliant chat with Colin Gounden, CEO of VIA, a company that uses machine learning to enable encrypted analysis of confidential data at large energy companies. We discussed the comparative advantage of the VIA founding team, the way VIA solves for the data siloing issue which so many machine learning projects suffer from, how they solved for slow enterprise sales cycle with the “30 minute pilot”, how growing up in multiple countries affects your perspective, why energy efficiency of everyday ap...
Jul 28, 2020•40 min
Very enjoyable chat with Ani Sharma, CEO of Graviky Labs, producer of AIR-INK, a unique ink made from CO2 pollution. We discussed the importance artists played in putting AIR-INK on the map, what it is like as a startup working with the sustainability programs of large companies, the difference in the tech scenes between Boston and Bangalore, how prepared India is to cope with future climate risks, the importance of show don’t tell when building a startup and more! ------ If you want to support ...
Jul 14, 2020•36 min
Very enjoyable chat with John Jung, former CEO and Co-founder of Greensmith energy a long term and currently an operating partner at Cota Capital.. We discussed the investment picture for cleantech and green energy,, Greensmith Energy’s acquisition by Wärtsilä, the massive opportunity of energy storage, why India and China are the countries to watch for the future of cleantech, how fresh eyes on an industry can bring about the most radical innovation and more! ------ If you want to support the p...
Jun 30, 2020•49 min
Great chat with Greg Mulholland, CEO and Co-founder of Citrine Informatics as AI Platform for materials development. We discussed: The early days of Citrine, how they powered through some low times The massive opportunity of applying machine learning to applied materials science Whether cleantech was becoming mainstream for VCs How data regulation like GDPR compares to regulation in the materials space How MBAs can be a form of identity, Whether we will see explicit geoengineering in the near fu...
Jun 11, 2020•48 min
