S9: E5. Fighting Fuel Poverty and Climate Change ft. Agnes Czako (AirEx)

As the CEO and Founder of AirEx, Agnes Czako is spearheading the mission of the company - fighting the dual challenges of fuel poverty and climate change. AirEx is a London-based climate tech company developing smart home solutions that reduce heat demand in buildings. They are disrupting the building retrofit market by providing a connected-homes solution with technology that’s simple to install and simple to use. As of 2024, over 30,000 AirEx units have been deployed all over the UK.For series 9 of the Climate Pioneers Show, we're hearing founder stories from across climate tech. We'll be chatting about the highs, the lows, fundraising, commercialising, scaling, building teams and more.2:09 - The journey to founding AirEx4:23 - How the AirEx air brick was brought to life7:37 - Can all homes benefit from these air bricks and can they be retrofitted?8:25 - How does the tech in the air brick work?9:08 - What was it like doing this as a solo founder?11:08 - As a first-time founder, did you have support from mentors or communities?14:12 - How was the Series A fundraising process?17:06 - How did you put together your first angel round when you were starting out in the industry and still building your network?20:00 - The differences between raising an angel round and VC-backed round22:39 - Moving from research to commercial traction26:08 - How the AirEx team has evolved27:50 - How AirEx’s culture was defined and how it has been maintained as the team grows29:47 - How have you built mission-alignment into the recruitment process?32:16 - What makes AirEx a great place to work?33:58 - How have you ensured diversity within the team?36:44 - What would you like to see change across policy and building design?38:46 - Plans for the future of AirEx40:12 - Advice for fellow climate founders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.