#149 PFAS, Sustainable Semiconductors, Water Consumption, & More w/ Tobias Egle (M Ventures)

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 surrounding themselves with the right partners. Enjoy the episode! 🌱🌎-----🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.  -----🚨🚨🚨 Shoutout to our sponsor Net Zero Insights — Net Zero Insights is the leading market intelligence platform on climate information with all the latest you need on funding rounds, VCs, and the climate tech ecosystem. Use this link to schedule your demo and get a 10% discount!! 🚨🚨🚨-----📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube 🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey 📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox 🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel ----- Topics: **01:21 - Introduction and Background**04:32 - Transitioning from Academia to Venture Capital**07:48 - Getting into Venture Capital**10:52 - Focus Areas of M Ventures**17:05 - Decarbonizing Electronics and Life Sciences**23:37 - Challenges of PFAS Removal**31:45 - Gaps in Deep Tech Founders**40:45 - The Impact of AI in Climate Solutions**46:55 - Adaptation and Climate Resilience**48:10 - Grid Resiliency and Renewable Integration**51:40 - Transitioning from R&D to Product and Business Development**53:00 - Designing for Manufacturability in Hard Tech**56:26 - Sustainable Supply Chain in Electronics Manufacturing**57:42 - Team Building and Hiring for Startups**01:01:34 - Getting into VC and Starting a Company----- Links: **Tobias Egle | M Ventures**Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn**@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X Support the showIf you're gonna change the world, you're gonna need a world-class team. Partner with ErthTech Talent to help you do that, for less.70+ Placements5+ Years (exclusively in CleanTech)The Lowest Fees in the Market (12-15% of first-year salary)90-day placement guaranteeIt's really hard to say no to that. Wait?! -- The best service is also the cheapest? Seems too good to be true, but it's the entire reason we started this company. We believe that Climate entrepreneurs are doing important work, and there should be a firm to help them find the best talent, without it breaking the bank. Reach out today for a free assessment of your hiring process. [email protected]