In this episode, Somil chats with Adam Fraser, CEO at Terraset, the “anti-GHG” 501c3. Philanthropy in climate is a hot topic – leading up to this episode we were getting questions left and right about the future of this space. And it’s because there’s seemingly so much money that could be in the space but isn’t yet. That is the problem Adam and Terraset are trying to solve. It couldn’t have been a more timely show. Enjoy the episode! 🌱🌎 --- 🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see...
Feb 29, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 160
If you LOVE technology that allows for decarbonization TODAY, then Somil & Silas' conversation today with Lori Dunn from Optimus Technologies will interest you. Discover how Optimus is revolutionizing the transport sector by producing bolt-on systems that allow truck drivers to utilize 100% biodiesel and reduce their overall emissions by up to 90%. Learn from Lori how they are navigating the challenges of funding, team alignment, and strategic planning for the future. Join us as we explore t...
Feb 24, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 159
In this episode, I chat with Ben Eidelson, Co-founder & GP of Stepchange, an early-stage venture fund that invests in product-led companies that will make a “step change”, pun intended, I’m guessing?, impact on climate. When editing the episode, Alex, our executive producer, told us he could already tell one of our best episodes yet. I very much agree. This turned out to be the VC meets product meets content special I was hoping it would be. We discuss all things product in climate, Ben bein...
Feb 22, 2024•52 min•Season 1Ep. 158
Today we speak with Virginia Klausmeier, President & CEO of Sylvatex, a company aiming to commercialize technology that was originally developed by her father. The technology is a waterless method to produce Cathode Active Materials (the chemicals that go into the production of various types of batteries). We cover a lot of things. The primary topics being Onshoring Battery Production, Getting to Bankability, and How their Technology works. Enjoy the episode! 🌱🌎 --- 🌎 Want the full PodLet...
Feb 19, 2024•53 min•Ep. 157
( Take the CleanTechies Listeners Survey to help us better serve you ) In this episode, Somil and Silas chat with Leise Sanderson, founder and CEO of Pathways. Pathways is an AI platform that simplifies environmental impact analysis for the materials and manufacturing supply chain. I’m a built environment junkie, so this was…really fun. Materials are the main cost driver of construction which means they will be especially difficult to decarbonize. Tools like Pathways make it easier to identify w...
Feb 15, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 156
Silas speaks with Ryan Jeffery, Sr. Managing Director of the Sustainability Accelerators at Gener8tor, a collection of Accelerators that serve the rest of the country outside of SF, NYC, and Boston, where the majority of VC dollars go. ( Take the CleanTechies Listeners Survey to help us better serve you ) Ryan started as a founder. Later, he became a VC and eventually ended up in Gener8tor running the sustainability-focused accelerators because of his desire to be closer to the founders and more...
Feb 11, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 155
In this episode, Silas and Somil chat with Robin Lane, CEO and founder of Transect, a product that aids and expedites site selection for infrastructure projects. For Silas and I, this was an exciting mix of infrastructure meeting technology. Robin has been doing this for a while, so she had a lot to tell us about her experiences with developers, rolling Transect out to market, how she grew as a founder alongside her company, and what she sees for the future. ( Take the CleanTechies Listeners Sur...
Feb 08, 2024•51 min•Season 1Ep. 154
In this ep, we chat with Peter Sun, founding team at Climactic, an early stage fund investing in ClimateTech, specifically focused on efficiency in software which has a lot to do with, you guessed it, AI. We dive into the nuances of how AI is impacting climate tech, where the opportunities for software are in decarbonization, and Peter’s journey joining the founding team. As someone who personally is wary of putting AI in every conversation, Peter had real insight into the ins-and-outs of whats ...
Feb 05, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 153
Today, we are joined by Adam Goff, the SVP of Strategy at 8 Rivers, a technology portfolio developer. Think of it like a venture studio but specifically for technology (often chemistry) instead of companies. ( Take the CleanTechies Listeners Survey to help us better serve you ) He talks us through how that looks and how they commercialize the products, and we also spend a lot of time discussing the role and importance of policy when it comes to clean tech. Enjoy the episode! 🌱🌎 --- 🌎 Want the...
Feb 01, 2024•46 min•Season 1Ep. 152
There are a plethora of national and local grants available to help companies solving the climate problem, but landing one is a herculean effort. Writing them takes months and can result in absolutely nothing. Half of the battle is picking the right grant to apply for. Well, Helena Merk and her team at Streamline Climate are solving that. ( Take the CleanTechies Listeners Survey to help us better serve you ) Their AI powered tech helps companies identify which grants to apply for and then helps ...
Jan 28, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 151
Climate Tech founders needs lots of different financing options and styles of support – ClimateDoor is an example of a niche’d styles of venture support that I hope we see more of in ClimateTech VC. ClimateDoor is a style of venture builder called “Growth-as-a-Service”, functioning similarly to a late stage accelerator. We dive into the nuances of their model, the Canadian VC ecosystem, what its like founding a company with your childhood best friend and more. Enjoy the episode! 🌱🌎 ----- 🌎 Wa...
Jan 24, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 150
Our guest today is Tobias Egle, an investor at M Ventures, the Corporate Venture arm of Merck. Tobias joins us today to speak about deep tech investing, specifically around materials innovation and the decarbonization of electronics manufacturing. A topic that has been in the news a lot recently is PFAS, and given his work, he was able to speak about the issues with PFAS as well as how to get rid of it. He also provided some advice to highly technical founders when it comes to team building and ...
Jan 18, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 149
The chemical industry is ~$4.7t globally. The reason is that nearly everything we use is produced using secondary products that are created from catalyzing raw materials in some way. This is currently done using combustion (heat) powered reactors, and our guest today is commercializing a new way to do that. A way that is 30x more efficient than cutting-edge combustion reactors. Co-founder & CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics, Trevor Best, joins us to discuss the journey of coming across the technology...
Jan 15, 2024•48 min•Season 1Ep. 148
In this episode, we chat with Russell Sprole, founder and managing partner of Virta Ventures. Virta Ventures invests at the early stages focusing on “equity-light” companies. We dive into the nuances of marketplace models, the potential of AI in climate tech, his journey with Full Harvest, and more. This is a great episode for software enthusiasts interested in its place in the climate tech ecosystem. As always, thanks so much for listening and enjoy the episode! https://linktr.ee/cleantechies -...
Jan 12, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 147
Today, Ken Munson, CEO of Rhythmos, shares his story of becoming an entrepreneur, including the wins and losses. He also discusses what Rhythmos is doing in grid-edge technology. He explains what GridEdge Tech is, the importance of experienced entrepreneurs staying in the arena, and the intricacies of selling to utilities. Munson also delves into the future of grid technology and sustainable energy solutions. Enjoy the Episode! 🌱🌎 --- 🌎 If you'd like to see the full PodLetter, go to our subst...
Jan 09, 2024•52 min•Season 1Ep. 146
On this episode, we interview Jay Kapoor, General Partner at VSC Ventures. VSC Ventures is a Seed-stage VC fund focusing on climate adaptation and industrial automation. Their central thesis is that although starting a company is becoming easier, its becoming harder and harder to get noticed. Their solution? Storytelling. Confused? Listen to this episode – you won’t be disappointed. Jay needs no introduction – he has a podcast himself, comes from a VC and media background, and left a lasting imp...
Jan 05, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 145
In this enlightening episode, Silas and Somil are speaking all about Water and Wastewater Infrastructure with Adam Tank, the CCO and Co-Founder of Transcend Infrastructure. Adam shares his journey into the water industry and the creation of Transcend, a software platform that automates the design process for water infrastructure projects. He discusses the challenges and opportunities in the industry, including the need for more innovative and sustainable solutions. Tank emphasizes the importance...
Dec 26, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 144
In this enlightening episode, Silas and Somil delve into an engaging conversation with a visionary in the realm of carbon markets, Sudhu Arumugam, the CEO and Co-Founder of CYNK. CYNK is an early-stage company based out of Nairobi and Singapore, and they are building a block-chained tied marketplace specifically for the African voluntary carbon markets. Many debate the need for another carbon marketplace, but one thing is certain: trust in this space has been hard to find, and what CYNK is doing...
Dec 23, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 143
🌎 Today Somil & Silas had the opportunity to do something slightly different today since we did an episode with Ryan Grant Little, the Creator and Host of Another Climate Tech Podcast . He has conversations that are more topical with his guests who are, in many cases, people he already knows. Ryan has a really fascinating background as a Founder, Investor, and Consultant. He found his way to climate via some of the impact work he was doing in Canada. Since all three of us are used to interv...
Dec 20, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 142
🌎 On this episode, Somil interviews Chris Richardson, Executive Director of Uptake Alliance and Partner at ADL Ventures where he leads their energy and transportation practices. Uptake Alliance is the newest rockstar member of the NYS entrepreneurial ecosystem that connects organizations with startups solving specific problems they face to tackle “piloting to death.” We talk about the relationship between pilots and commercialization, specific opportunities in climate tech, and other pieces of ...
Dec 17, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 141
🌎 Today, Silas had the opportunity to interview Dan Katz, the Co-Founder, and CEO of Orbital Sidekick, where they are building, and launching Hyperspectral Satellites to help catch methane leaks in pipelines, and, hopefully, one day, identify geographies that have critical minerals underneath the surface. He started in the aerospace industry, building satellites for other organizations. In the wake of the frothy space exploration market, Dan and his colleague believed they could also build a co...
Dec 12, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 140
🌎 Today, we are talking to Jamil Wyne of Climate Tech Bootcamp & Riffle Ventures . In this episode, you will find: Why direct access to customers and revenue generation are crucial for success in the climate tech space How Jamil shaped Climate Tech Bootcamp with individuals with deep subject matter expertise and a builder's mindset A walkthrough of his leading report “The Climate Tech Opportunity” published by the Oxford Climate Tech Initiative Enjoy the Episode! 🌎 --- 🌎 If you'd like to ...
Dec 09, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 139
🌎 Today we are joined by Pawel Ciesielski, the Co-Founder and CEO of MaaS Loop, a Poland-based company building reverse vending machines to help collect various recyclables. He has a background in marketing, branding, and trend projection where he specifically helped demonstrate what the world could look like in 10 or 20 years from a climate perspective. Due to the high cost of talent and the EU's regulations around bottle deposit costs, smaller businesses require a solution to help them cost-e...
Dec 05, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 138
🌎 In this episode, Silas Mahner ( @silasmahner ) speaks with John Fazzolari ( @fazz ), the co-CEO and co-founder of Revivn, a hardware lifecycle management company that helps corporates repurpose their used electronic devices. John has a fascinating story of building this company and despite us only recording for about 30 min, we covered a lot of ground. From why they bootstrapped the company, to his Rigatoni list for hiring purposes, to using operational complexity as a moat, to ensuring your ...
Dec 01, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 137
🌎 NYCW was a pivotal moment for many of us current or aspiring climate professionals. It brought together large swaths of diverse talent, all working in different assets to solve the climate crisis. Many of these gatherings were headlined by some of the smartest minds in climate and climate tech. An implicit goal we’ve had at the CleanTechies Podcast since then is to have as many speakers from the week as we can. I’m excited to introduce the speaker of one of the most popular talks at NYCW and ...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 136
🌎 In this episode, Silas Mahner ( @silasmahner ) & Somil Aggarwal ( @somil_agg ) speak with Diz Petit the Founder & CEO of LiquiDonate. They have an amazing solution to help manage corporate waste in a way that get's it into the hands of non-profits who need the materials. In doing this, they are also reducing their reverse supply chain costs by about ~50%. Diz was a great guest and had a lot of great insights to share. Enjoy the Episode! 🌎 --- 🌎 If you'd like to see the full PodLette...
Nov 22, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 135
🌎 Today's episode is the first of our new founder show format, where we are keeping it a bit shorter and focusing on what they are doing rather than too many of the broader trends. Our guinea pig is Will Wiseman, Founder & CEO of Climatize. A revolutionary platform that is empowering community solar projects to scale effectively by getting them financed where PE is not doing the deals due to smaller sizes. Main Takeaways: (read the full version on Substack) Make it easy to use. Calculate th...
Nov 18, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 134
In this episode, Somil Aggarwal (@somilagg) interviews Iris Ten Have about her journey into VC from a science background, what ie means to be a Head of Science in VC, how to successfully build in hardware, and more. Enjoy the Episode! 🌎 📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube . 📫 Interested in written summaries and takeaways from the episode? Subscribe to the newsletter . Want to be part of the community and engage further? Check out the Slack Channel . https://tinyurl.com/mwkn8zk5 ----- T...
Nov 01, 2023•55 min•Season 1Ep. 132
In this episode, Silas Mahner (@silasmahner) speaks with Mike Jung from the ICF Climate Center. Given Mike's work across a wide variety of clients currently + his experience in the utility space, we had a lot of interesting things to talk about. Of all the things, perhaps the most interesting, were his insights on selling to utilities. So, if you're selling to utilities, listen up this one is for you. Enjoy the Episode! 🌎 📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube . 📫 Interested in written su...
Oct 26, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 131
Why you should listen: Learn how to hire a founding team Find out the secret to properly structured incentives to achieve repeat transactions when working in emerging markets Learn how to communicate your offering to non-climate-nerds Not already a subscriber…subscribe today and support us either financially or through sharing the post. In this episode, Silas Mahner ( @silasmahner ) & Somil Aggarwal ( @somil_agg ) speak with Kevin Kyer, the Co-Founder, and CEO of Pyrpose - a direct lending p...
Oct 20, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 130
