S6: E1. Scaling Climate Deep Tech with COO and Co-founder Shiladitya Ghosh (Mission Zero Technologies)

For the first episode of series 6, I spoke with Shiladitya Ghosh, co-founder and COO at Mission Zero Technologies (DAC), who are working to scale affordable direct air capture, and have gone from lab to commercial plant in under three years!Across this series we will be discussing the challenges around scaling deep tech solutions within climate. I’ll be speaking to Investors, Founders, Venture Builders and other key ecosystem players all focused on scaling and commercialising groundbreaking, deep tech innovations. We will explore how to prepare for the challenges that deep tech companies often face around fundraising, scaling, team building and commercialisation; and we’ll hear from stories of those who have successfully scaled to Series A and beyond.Video versions of this and previous episodes are available here.1:55 - Intro to Shil and his background2:23 - What is Mission Zero about, what are you building and why is it exciting?4:48 - Where did your passion for climate come from? Was your intention to always move into that space?8:03 - How did you came together with your co-founders and how did you find your inspiration?12:36 - How did you find a good lab space?15:41 - How did you fund the lab space?16:09 - How did you build relationships with investors and partners for such an early-stage technology, what do you think gave people confidence in you?21:51 - Tell us about the plug-and-play aspect of what you’re doing23:42 - How can you be sure that you’re partnering with companies who will use your technology for the right reasons? What is your due diligence process?28:19 - How did you get from self-funded R&D to commercially funded opportunities and partnerships?34:04 - How was the process of your Series A raise and what challenges did you face?38:50 - What has your Series A unlocked for you? What do the next 12 months look like?41:48 - What is the current make-up of your team?43:02 - What do you think you did well in building the team and culture, and what were the challenges you faced?46:46 - How important is it to you that new hires are mission-aligned and how they will fit with your culture?51:02 - What are the main challenges you see on your way to Series B?53:49 - Where do you see gaps for helping deep tech in the climate ecosystem, particularly in the UK?57:04 - How positive do you feel about us scaling these CDR technologies to where we need them to be? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.