The Climate Pioneers Show

Linus Larsson Green is the co-founder and CEO of PulPac, a Swedish deep-tech company pioneering dry moulded fibre, a breakthrough manufacturing technology that turns cellulose pulp into packaging and single-use products that can fully replace plastic.Every year, we produce more than 400 million tons of plastic, with a huge chunk of that used just once but PulPac are tackling that problem head on… PulPac’s unique process uses 90% less water than traditional methods and slashes carbon emissions, while still retaining the ability to mass-product fibre cups, trays and lids at global scale.Over the last 7 years, PulPas has raised major funding, built a network of international licensees and partnered with some of the world’s biggest packaging players. I’m very much looking forward to hearing about this journey in more detail Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, I’m speaking with Armando Leal Puente, co-founder and managing director of Eutechtics, a deep-tech startup based in Sheffield, that’s taking on one of the biggest challenges in climate and industry - decarbonising the chemical supply chain.Eutechtics has built a platform called EvoCarbon, which turns captured CO₂ into valuable chemical building blocks - things like carboxylic acids that go into everyday products such as cosmetics, food ingredients, pharmaceuticals and even plastics which are currently made using fossil fuels.Armando and his team are reimagining how we make the molecules that power modern life, proving that sustainability and profitability don’t have to be at odds. In just a few years, they’ve secured national innovation funding, won major cleantech awards, and attracted the attention of investors and industry alike. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fabien Koutchekian is the co-founder and CEO of Genomines, a start-up pioneering the extraction of nickel from the ground. Instead of bulldozers and explosives, Genomines uses genetically enhanced plants, called hyperaccumulators, to pull nickel out of the soil. The result is a process that could deliver battery-grade metal with a fraction of the environmental footprint of traditional mining. With such transformational potential, it’s not a surprise that they successfully closed an incredible $45m Series A raise in September 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Margaux Peltier is the co-founder and CEO of Enerdrape, a Swiss startup turning underground infrastructure into renewable energy sources. From parking garages to metro tunnels, Enerdrape’s modular geothermal panels harness untapped subterranean heat to provide sustainable heating and cooling for buildings without disruptive drilling or invasive construction.Margaux’s background in HVAC design and engineering was followed by a Masters in Civil Engineering in Lausanne where her thesis formed the basis of Enerdrape’s technology. Since then, she has led Enerdrape through award-winning pilot projects in Switzerland and ambitious expansions into the US, including Chicago’s largest underground parking complex.2:08 - Margaux’s journey from her Master’s thesis to co-founding Enerdrape  3:30 - The scale of the problem Enerdrape is solving  4:45 - How Enerdrape’s geothermal product is unique in not needing invasive drilling and is good for retrofit  6:46 - How are existing spaces being heated and cooled?  8:52 - How did you commercialise the product and what support did you get from your university?  13:13 - Enerdrape’s first commercial project in Lausanne  14:19 - As academic co-founders, how did you handle not having previous sales experience and what advice would you have for others trying to win their first pilots?  17:11 - How has the way you sell your product changed as you’ve learnt more about what your clients are looking for?  22:23 - At what point did you make the decision to go into international markets and how have you found it breaking into the US market?  28:17 - At what point did you need to raise institutional funding outside the university and what was that process like?  30:51 - Lessons from raising a seed round  33:02 - As a young, first-time, female founder, did you feel you faced any challenges or faced any bias during fundraising?  36:19 - How has your team changed and grown since inception?  40:12 - What have been your biggest learnings as you’ve grown the team and as you’ve developed as a manager?  45:40 - What are you excited about for Enerdrape in the next 12-18 months?  47:30 - Margaux’s advice and resources for other founders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Avi Baruch is co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Previsico. Spun out of almost 20 years of groundbreaking research at Loughborough University, the team has developed the Flood Intel Platform - the world’s first real-time, surface-water flood forecasting system. Their mission is to save millions of lives, whilst also helping governments and businesses to save billions on the cost of flooding.  Avi and the founding team have taken Previsico from academic research to securing over 200+ customers, operating in multiple geographies, closing over £10 million in funding and scaling the team to over 50 people.2:02 - Intro to Previsico from academic research to spun-out commercial prospect  3:52 - What moment made you realise you had a unique solution to a big problem?  5:12 - What is the scale of the problem around surface flooding?  6:25 - What were some of the benefits of starting out being incubated in an academic environment?  7:53 - What challenges did you face moving from academia into being a first-time founder?  9:58 - How did you find your CEO?  11:45 - How did you commercialise what you’re doing, and what markets did you go after first?  15:33 - When did you know the time was right to branch out into international markets?  17:18 - What frameworks do you have in place to keep you focussed as a company and avoid distractions?  19:27 - What are the main tensions in building a product that is deeply technical but also has to have clear commercial outcomes?  22:00 - How was Previsico initially funded after spinout and how has fundraising progressed?  24:21 - What do you think made you successful in your fundraising?  26:05 - How do you feel the risk resilience market has changed in the seven years since Previsico started?  28:32 - How has the team grown, and what have you done well in that process?  30:34 - What have you learnt along the way about recruiting and retaining a team?  32:05 - At what point did you feel it was the right time to bring in your People and Culture Manager?  33:48 - How has the company culture developed?  36:09 - What practical things do you do with your team to allow for feedback and to help them feel safe enough to question and give feedback?  39:32 - What’s coming up for Previsico over the next year to 18 months?  41:54 - Avi’s advice for other founders  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rozalie Ryclova-Pribadi is Chief Strategy Officer and a driving force at MaxInfo. The company uses advanced analytics to help their customers move from reacting to disasters to anticipating them. The Financial Times has said, ‘Extreme weather and climate change caused more financial damage in Europe between 2020 and 2023 than it did in the whole preceding decade', so we’re entering a new era where predicting, anticipating and managing this increasingly common events is more important than ever - and MaxInfo are building the tools to help organisations do exactly that.1:58 - Intro to MaxInfo and the problem they are solving  5:03 - How did the MaxInfo team come up with the initial idea?  7:35 - How much of education gap is there between what you offer and the customers you work with?  10:47 - What markets or customers are you aiming for in the future?  12:59 - The geographical applications and focus for MaxInfo  14:44 - Rozalie’s journey to joining MaxInfo  16:13 - How has Rozalie’s background helped in this role?  18:07 - MaxInfo’s experience with Innovate UK  23:31 - How con companies combine angel investment alongside grant funding?  26:26 - What has it been like going for a VC round recently? What challenges did you face?  29:10 - How have you seen things change since you did VC fundraising in previous roles?  31:34 - How have you built the team at MaxInfo?  34:42 - How did you decide whether to be hybrid or remote?  36:16 - Do you foresee any challenges with building the team in the future in terms of finding deep expertise or being totally invested in your mission?  38:48 - What are key milestones for MaxInfo in the coming months?  40:06 - Rozalie’s advice for other founders  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fredrik Borgström is the CEO of Skyfora, a Finnish startup reinventing weather intelligence. Skyfora’s technology transforms cell towers into a dense network of atmospheric sensors, generating up to a thousand times more weather data than traditional systems. Combined with advanced AI models and ultra-light radiosondes, this approach promises faster, sharper forecasts for everything from disaster response to renewable energy planning.1:30 - Fredrik’s career to-date.3:45 - How did you come to build Skyfora and what solution are you developing?8:17 - What was your GTM plan for Skyfora?11:40 - How did you decide which customers to go for first?13:49 - Are there certain markets that work better for what you do or any that are more challenging?17:09 - How much opposition or fear are you met with from telecoms providers when trying to get access to their infrastructure?19:56 - What was your funding journey like and what was the appetite like from investors?24:24 - What has your recent fundraise unlocked for you?27:06 - What has gone well or been difficult when building out the team?28:03 - What has enabled you to attract such strong talent?28:39 - How has your role developed from originally being VP of Sale to now being CEO?31:33 - How early in the journey of the company did you build your board of advisors and how did you find them?32:56- What lessons did you learn from previously taking a business through to exit, that you bring with you to Skyfora?35:41 - What is the culture like at Skyfora?37:27 - How do you ensure that team members have the resilience required to work in a startup?39:05 - What are the Skyfora team focusing on for the next couple of years?41:06 - What advice would you give to fellow founders? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeremy Fain, CEO of Blue Water Intelligence joins me for this episode. After a decade leading SaaS companies, Jeremy shifted his focus to climate and water technology, co-founding BWI to help governments, hydropower operators, insurers and communities forecast and manage water risks in a changing climate.Water is arguably our most critical and increasingly unpredictable resource and BWI is at the forefront of using space and earth data to improve decision-making about floods, droughts and water security. 1:49 - What is BWI doing and why is it so critical?3:05 - How did you come to move into climate resilience?4:41 - How did you find the learning curve personally and how did you bring experts in?6:16 - From a commercial perspective, who are you building this for and who are your key customers?7:55 - How did you manage going to market in both public and private sectors?9:39 - What did you find particularly challenging in the commercial and GTM process?12:17 - How BWI can help hydro-power to be more effective.16:09 - How has BWI been involved in developing hydro-power in Nepal?17:54 - How has your previous experience helped you at BWI?21:25 - When did you decide you needed to make your first hires and how did you go about building out the team?24:52 - When interviewing, how do you establish that people have both a learning curiosity and the hard skills needed to work at BWI?27:32 - What has fundraising been like?36:44 - Why do you think investors should be getting involved with hydrological forecasting?39:06 - What are you excited about in the future of BWI?40:56 - What advice would you offer to fellow founders? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the first episode of this series I am joined by Harish Pesala, the co-founder and CEO of SmartResilience, a climate analytics platform helping organisations predict, prepare for, and reduce the impact of extreme weather and other physical risks. Harish launched SmartResilience to close a critical gap between climate science and real-time decision-making. The company has won Innovate UK’s Young Innovators Award, been shortlisted for the edie Awards and National Sustainability Awards, and is already working with major clients from supermarkets to insurers, to make adaptation both practical and actionable.2:52 - What led you to focus on adaptation and why is this critical to the climate crisis?4:51 - How did you work through your career from British Army Reservist to entrepreneur?7:45 - What were the early days like, especially as it was in 2020?10:50 - How did you secure your first clients?12:27 - How did you adapt from having been a technical co-founder to picking up other skills around sales etc.?15:09 - How has user feedback influenced your product as it’s evolved?18:21 - Where are you seeing risk on the corporate agenda now and who within large enterprise businesses is owning it?20:27 - As the world has changed, have you changed how you position SmartResilience?22:28 - How important have industry recognitions and awards been to you?24:12 - How was your fundraising journey?29:57 - How did you go about building your team, initially with angel investor money and then with higher investment later on?32:02 - How do you know whether someone has the grit and resilience they have to work in a startup?33:47 - How has your team grown?36:31 - How did you decide which roles to hire for and when?40:16 - How has your role adapted since the business began?43:05 - Where have you found your mentors and angel investors?44:38 - How do you see the climate resilience and adaption environment evolving in the future?50:29 - What is one key lesson that has been crucial to your success as a founder? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

Camilla Taylor is CFO of SatVu. She holds a degree in Biological Sciences from Oxford University, a master's in Environmental Economics, and an MBA from Columbia and London Business Schools. This academic background provides the ideal foundation for her work at the intersection of environmental sustainability and financial strategy.Camilla’s extensive experience of securing funding and scaling companies has prepared her well for this role, overseeing financial operations and assisting in closing a fundraise of £20 million for the business in 2024. SatVu’s mission is to become the "world’s thermometer from space”, by launching high-res thermal imaging satellites that collect thermal data that enables monitoring of energy efficiency, and climate change mitigation efforts.1:56 - Intro to SatVu4:29 - Camilla’s career journey into climate7:22 - Camilla’s move from investor into an operator / CFO role8:29 - How Camilla’s academic and investor background has helped her as an operator10:31 - How Camilla came to meet the team at SatVu13:30 - Are there common themes seen across scaling startups?16:40 - At what point should a startup to bring in a CFO?20:17 - What are some of the main financial mistakes in startups? What can be done to avoid these?25:23 - What was the key to SatVu’s fundraising success? And what are investors looking for?28:39 - What challenges and risks has SatVu faced?30:34 - What was the impact of the satellite loss across the business in 2023?32:17 - How did the satellite loss impact investor confidence?33:54 - What stood out about how SatVu’s leadership handled the satellite failure?34:40 - SatVu’s plans for the future36:37 - SatVu’s work alongside conflict of interest and international data access37:40 - Where to find out more about SatVu and watch their satellite launches Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bill Yost is Co-founder and CEO at Reclinker (formerly Cambridge Electric Cement). For more than 25 years, Bill has supported early-stage companies spanning hydrogen generation, water treatment, thermal storage and the recycling of carbon fibre, to bring climate solutions to market.For series nine of the Climate Pioneers Show, we're hearing founder and senior leader stories from across climate tech. We'll be chatting about the highs, the lows, fundraising, commercialising, scaling, building teams and more.1:51 - How Reclinker was founded5:24 - The scale of the problem Reclinker is solving and what the solution is10:24 - The economic benefit and diversification on offer to steel producers by working with Reclinker12:51 - Where does Reclinker get its materials?14:53 - How competitive is the market for the waste materials?17:02 - Which markets are Reclinker looking to expand into and where are other furnaces available?19:51 - How was the seed fundraising process last year?22:10 - What main expectations did you see from investors?25:16 - How has the team at Reclinker evolved - what has gone well or not so well?27:54 - How did you define Reclinker’s culture and values?31:22 - What are you proud of in the last year?32:57 - Reclinker’s plans and challenges for the next year?36:07 - What would be the biggest help in driving things forward?39:20 - Advice for other climate founders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thomas Farquhar is the CCO at Heatio, a UK-based clean technology company founded in 2020, focused on developing innovative solutions for home energy management to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions in residential properties. Their mission is to accelerate the transition to sustainable home heating by making it easier and more cost-effective for homeowners to adopt low-carbon technologies. Heatio secured £2 million in funding last year, has built partnerships with major energy providers and property developers across the UK and has been recognised as one of the most promising climate tech startups in the UK.1:25 - An intro to Heatio and the problem they are working to solve3:36 - How did you meet your co-founder and come to form Heatio?4:37 - How has the clean tech and home energy market changed in the last 20 years?5:46 - What is holding UK homeowners back from adopting clean energy into their homes, compared to other countries?7:19 - What have countries with higher adoption rates done well?9:00 - Common myths to bust about heat pumps.12:06 - How did Heatio choose which segments of the market to approach and how to commercialise?13:12 - Is Heatio’s communication and education content for B2B or also for the end-user residential customers?14:38 - What early wins did you get from a commercial or customer perspective?16:01 - How did you find the fundraising experience last year? What were the main objections you faced and learnings that came from your time fundraising?19:42 - What did the first round of money unlock for you post-raise?20:13 - How did the team develop post-raise? How was the recruitment process and what challenges did you face?21:34 - What is important to Heatio when hiring and where does company culture fit into that?22:32 - How did you assess talent to know who had the strength to work in a startup?23:30 - What did the growth phase of the company teach you about scaling? What might you do differently?25:18 - What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced since starting Heatio?26:04 - As a founder, how do you protect yourself against what can be extreme highs and lows?27:26 - What are you excited about for the rest of the year and the future of Heatio?28:09 - Are you encouraged by the current government’s commitments to renewable energy? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.We're kicking things off with Chris Jackson, founder and CEO at Protium, where they're developing sustainable green energy projects for UK clients to help them achieve their Net Zero emissions targets and build a cleaner, greener world for the future.2:42 - Intro to Protium5:58 - Chris’ journey to founding Protium9:45 - Where are you seeing hydrogen work well and where do you see potential for the future?16:01 - How has Chris seen the market evolve?23:43 - How challenging was it in the early days to secure partnerships and projects? What was the GTM thesis?30:33 - Protium’s fundraising experience39:11 - Was there a big difference in expectations between Series A and Series B?42:01 - How have you scaled and grown your team over the past six years as the company has grown?45:49 - What did you learn during your rapid growth period and what would you not do again?48:18 - How intentional have you been about company culture or has it evolved organically?51:16 - How are things feeling post-Series B and for the broader market? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elbow Beach is an early-stage climate tech VC. They help to unlock technologies, solve big problems and transform industries. To date, they have made 20 investments.JP co-founded Elbow Beach in 2021 and is CEO. With over 20 years’ experience in large telecoms and tech companies, he brings deep operational experience to commercialise technology. He transitioned into climate tech investing, combining his passion for commercial success with purpose-led companies. Throughout his career, JP has led numerous turnaround stories by focusing on customer and colleague outcomes, driving both business success and meaningful impact.During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year.1:39 - Intro to JP and Elbow Beach5:30 - Which stages and ticket size does Elbow Beach invest in?6:21 - JP’s reflections on 2024 broadly and also within Elbow Beach specifically10:22 - Is traction in international markets a strong differentiator for companies looking to raise Series A and beyond?11:02 - Is there a risk that trying to handle UK and international markets can lead to founder focus and marketing not being strong enough in either market?13:22 - JP’s predictions and thought for the 2025 fundraising market18:12 - Which climate technologies are ripe for growth currently?20:09 - What does Elbow Beach look for in potential investments?22:16 - What are the minimums you look for a team? How mature does it have to be and can gaps be filled by fractional support?25:43 - When should founder-led sales be changed for a commercial / sales team?28:15 - JP’s advice for founders looking to raise this year31:25 - How to contact JP and Elbow Beach Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Angel investor, James Manktelow, has invested in 25 climate startups since 2019 via Green Angel Syndicate. He focuses on accelerating the growth of IP-based startups that develop solutions to climate change.The syndicate at Green Angel is the largest in the UK with a climate focus; it has over 350 members and has invested in over 45 startups and early-stage companies across ten different economic sectors.During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year.1:48 - Intro to James and Green Angel Syndicate2:15 - James’ investment thesis and what he looks for in investments3:21 - James’ reflection on the 2024 investment and climate tech landscape4:46 - Out of your portfolio companies, did any perform particularly well during 2024?5:54 - Did you see any common themes amongst companies that did well?6:37 - James’ predictions for 2025 investment8:20 - Which parts of the climate market have good opportunity for growth?10:15 - As an angel investor, how do you hear about companies to invest in and how do you conduct diligence?12:06 - How do you support businesses as an angel?14:13 - What has James learnt from investments that haven’t gone so well?16:33 - James’ advice to founders looking to raise an angel round - what should they have in place?18:15 - How influential are incubators when considering an investment?19:16 - James’ thoughts on investing in solo founders.20:15 - What level of commercial traction is needed for investment?21:34 - How much can you determine the founding team’s resilience during due diligence?23:19 - How to contact James via Green Angel Syndicate Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eric Kohlmann is a partner at Climate First, a VC firm established in 2023. It has since grown to not only invest in technologies that will disrupt highly emitting, multi-billion dollar industries; but has also become an official nominator for Prince WIlliam’s Earthshot Prize, offers programs that provide knowledge, know-how, and mentorship, and they run an exclusive roadshow in London to cultivate further connections and opportunities for founders. During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year.1:25 - Eric’s reflections on 2024 and the climate ecosystem4:00 - The differences Eric has seen between the USA and Europe since moving to London in 20245:48 - What does Climate First invest in?8:27 - Which companies in your portfolio performed particularly well in 2024?10:09 - What helped those companies to be successful?12:31 - Which technologies Eric is excited about for 2025.15:31 - What does Climate First look for in a company when investing?18:04 - How does Climate First support founders with commercialisation and scaling?20:03 - How are big, corporate industry players responding to the Climate First roadshows?21:18 - Eric’s advice for founders looking to raise investment.23:15 - What stages does Climate First invest at and start conversations?24:01 - How to contact Eric and Climate First. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Ronayne is a deep tech climate investor from BGF. She particularly enjoys drawing on her time leading commercialisation activities from UK national laboratories to find, validate and back teams who are using exciting science to solve big challenges.BGF invests in small to mid-sized UK businesses. As the most active equity investor in the UK and Ireland, they back a wide variety of ventures from climate to pet food.During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year.1:47 - Intro to BGF and their thesis3:56 - Kate’s reflections on 2024 and the trends she noticed5:12 - Has there been a shift away from asset-light propositions towards hard tech and deep tech?7:03 - Which BGF climate companies have done particularly well and what helped them to succeed?10:34 - Predictions for climate investment in 202512:49 - How will the US election result affect climate work in the EU and the opportunities for companies to expand into the US?17:28 - What technologies Kate is excited about for 202522:12 - What does BGF look for in investments?27:15 - How does BGF assess a team during due diligence?29:32 - Kate’s advice for founders who want to approach BGF for fundraising33:21 - How to contact BGF and Kate Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chloe Coates is a research and analysis lead at Zero Carbon Capital. As well as her work at Zero Carbon, Chloe has hosted sessions at The Drop, been featured by ClimateHack and was a judge at the 2024 Global Challenge Lab Demo Day.Zero Carbon support companies working to solve the biggest challenges of decarbonisation with pre-seed and seed investments in ambitious teams building hard-science solutions across Europe and Israel.During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year.1:29 - Intro to Zero Carbon Capital and their investment thesis2:41 - Chloe’s reflections on the 2024 climate landscape4:43 - What contributed to certain portfolio companies doing well last year?7:43 - Thoughts and predictions for the fundraising market and early-stage investment in 202511:42 - What areas of the market are you excited about?15:15 - What does ZCC look for in investments?17:05 - What does ZCC expect in terms of demonstrable traction?19:14 - Chloe’s advice for founders who might want to approach ZCC for investment21:01 - How can founders make their pitch stand out?22:33 - How to contact ZCC and Chloe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Founder and managing partner of Greencode Ventures, Dr. Terhi Vapola. Along with her team in Helsinki, Greencode invest in digital-first early-stage green transition startups across Europe. They have a particular interest in green energy, mobility, built environment and green industries.Founded in 2022, Greencode’s investments include renewable energy startup, Synergi, green hydrogen software solution, Southern Lights, and climate risk platform, Repath.During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year.1:36 - Intro to Terhi and Greencode Ventures5:12 - Terhi’s reflections on the 2024 fundraising market7:13 - Greencode portfolio companies that did well in 2024 and why they did so well9:03 - Terhi’s predictions for the 2025 climate investment market10:23 - What subsections of climate could have a good year?12:08 - What does Greencode look for in investments?15:16 - What stages does Greencode invest at?16:20 - How much traction do you look for?17:30 - What minimum do you look for in a founding team’s establishment? And how long should founders lead sales before bringing in a sales team?19:38 - How much does talent and talent mapping make up part of your due diligence for investments?21:46 - Terhi’s advice for founder’s thinking of raising this year.25:04 - How to contact Greencode Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeremy Brown is an Investment Principal from Anthemis Capital. Jeremy is head of climate strategies and focuses on seed to Series C investments across Europe and the USA. With a keen interest in the intersection of climate and fintech, Anthemis is the perfect home for Jeremy, as they support pre-seed to growth-stage companies that embed finance in their products, services and operations.During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year.1:08 - Intro to Jeremy and Anthemis10:09 - Jeremy’s reflections on the 2024 fundraising market18:02 - What are you excited about for 2025?22:47 - What does Anthemis look for when investing?27:24 - What would you expect founders to have in place to raise?30:18 - How to contact Jeremy and Anthemis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Arjun Jairaj is an investor with noa VC. The team at noa are building Europe’s largest tech fund dedicated to transforming the built world. They invest in pioneering founders and breakthrough technologies that decarbonise the built world.During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year.1:36 - Intro to noa VC and their investment thesis.3:09 - What stages and areas do noa VC invest in?3:46 - Is built environment primarily deep tech and hardware based?5:28 - Arjun’s reflections on 2024’s fundraising market.11:01 - What do you think companies in your portfolio have that has made them particularly successful?13:27 - Predictions for the 2025 market for early-stage climate investment.19:54 - What are noa VC looking for in teams and startups when you invest?21:30 - What is the minimum you’d be looking for in a team at an early stage and do you think gaps can be filled by fractional executives or advisors?23:45 - Advice for founders looking to raise this year.26:02 - Advice for founders on how to manage the fundraising process and make sure the business is still being well looked after whilst their attention is elsewhere.28:25 - How to get in touch with Arjun and noa VC. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stuart Ferguson is an investor with Sustainable Ventures, who as well as offering investment to earth-saving startups, also operate two co-working spaces in London and Manchester, with sole focus on climate tech. In fact, we here at Above & Beyond use their London space regularly. Stuart is particularly passionate about early stage investing and loves working with new entrepreneurs to help them realise their ambitions.During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year.1:27 - What are your reflections on 2024 for investment?2:38 - Were any of your portfolio companies particularly notable last year? What do you think helped them succeed?4:00 - What do you predict for the UK climate funding landscape in 2025?6:37 - Are you seeing a difference in how climate companies are positioning themselves?8:15 - What do you look for when making investments?11:34 - What support do Sustainable Ventures offer post-investment?13:26 - What parts of the climate industry are you excited about and see potential in?15:41 - Advice for founders looking to raise funds this year.19:42 - What is the minimum viable amount of traction you’d be looking for?22:59 - How to contact Sustainable Ventures. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Roberta Franchi is an investment associate at Counteract. Counteract is a carbon removal company combating the climate crisis through research, development and investment. They give engineer and scientist entrepreneurs the financial and strategic support to turn fresh ideas into self-sustaining businesses with the potential to capture or store greenhouse gases at a global scale.During this series of bite-sized episodes, I’ll be speaking to investors from across the climate ecosystem to get their reflections on 2024, insights about the funding landscape for 2025, advice for founders looking to raise, and finding out what they’re most excited about for the coming year.1:37 - An intro to Counteract3:04 - How was 2024 for the CDR market?6:48 - What is driving corporates to sign off-take agreements?9:35 - How do you see the 2025 CDR market developing?13:19 - What do you look for in investments?15:45 - What are you excited about in the CDR landscape?17:49 - What advice do you have for founders looking to fundraise?19:39 - Where can people find out about grants they could apply for?21:04 - How to contact Counteract and Roberta. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Establishing a culture where team members can thrive is vital, but with the move towards hybrid and remote work over the last few years, it can sometimes be hard to know where to start when people aren’t spending as much time with each other. Geraldine Butler-Wright is a chief people officer with far-reaching experience across multiple areas of tech, international businesses and in both startups and scale-ups, which have operated as fully remote, hybrid and on-site. She’s seen it all! She helps companies establish people processes and supportive cultures that make team members want to stay. As the founder of RorCas, she works as a consultant to guide startups and scale-ups to get the “people part” right, so focus can be on revenue, product-market fit, investment and growth.During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible. I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent. So, whether you’re a founder starting to scaling your team, a hiring manager looking for top talent, or simply curious about how diverse teams are tackling the planet’s most pressing challenges, this series is for you.2:16 - Why do you love working with small, early-stage companies and teams?3:35 - Do you see patterns in people-related challenges within early-stage businesses?5:00 - How do you guide people who might never have run a business or managed a team before? How do you learn to be a leader?6:26 - Are some people not suited to being a leader?7:33 - At what stage do you think companies should start to think about career pathways?11:01 - How can you reconcile the tension that can come within startups where employees want career pathways but the direction of the company can change as it scales, meaning opportunities change.13:29 - How do you help hiring managers to set the bar and understand what makes an A-player for their team?19:02 - How can leaders handle the feeling of perhaps wondering whether they haven’t done enough to support an under-performer?21:07 - How can companies build a positive and supportive feedback culture?24:45 - How do you advise people to manage a function or role, when perhaps that’s not their background and they don’t have direct experience of doing a role?27:43 - What should founders be mindful of when building remote or hybrid teams?32:32 - How do you ensure continuity of culture when some people are remote and some are in the office?33:58 - What mistakes do you see keep coming up with remote work?36:38 - What are some easily transferrable culture creation tips that could be applied to other companies that came up from your time at Healthily?40:37 - What important lessons have you learnt about scaling at pace and maintaining a great culture whilst you do it?44:50 - How do you handle urgency-bias and ensure it doesn’t cause cultural problems down the line?48:09 - As a startup changes during growth, how do you advise people to handle those difficult conversations when someone who was right for a role at the beginning, isn’t the right person further down the line?53:20 - What are some simple practices and boundaries you would recommend to founders to protect their mental health? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first few hires in any team are key but what about scaling beyond that as you progress through funding rounds and possibly acquisitions and exit?  Dimple Patel is currently CEO at NatureMetrics and as a highly accomplished entrepreneur, she’s seen it all, from MVP to new markets and fundraising stages right through to exit. A strong team is what gets you there, to secure funding and drive growth, so she knows how vital it is to build a team of A players.During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible. I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent. So, whether you’re a founder starting to scaling your team, a hiring manager looking for top talent, or simply curious about how diverse teams are tackling the planet’s most pressing challenges, this series is for you.1:31 - Dimple’s journey from banking to coffee to tech to biodiversity.5:35 - Why did you choose to join NatureMetrics?9:49 - What stage was NatureMetrics at when you joined and how have things changed since you joined a year ago?14:42 - What is the culture like at NatureMetrics and how does your mission feed into that?19:16 - How do you show up as a leader and how do you feed into the culture?24:27 - What challenges and lessons have you learnt across the variety of businesses you’ve worked in?27:29 - What are some ways to build trust between team members?32:47 - When you’re working in an early-stage industry, how does that impact finding the right talent?38:02 - Advice for leaders who are scaling their business and maybe the people who were in the business early-on aren’t right for the long-term.45:15 - Have mentors helped you understand team building?48:26 - How important do you think it is to be part of industry communities?53:07 - What key piece of advice would you offer for building a culture that will endure? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As any team starts to scale, it becomes more and more important to have sustainable and repeatable processes in place. But it’s also not uncommon for that to be overlooked in favour of things like sales and fundraising.  Sherry White is a consultant who works specifically with startups and scale-ups to tackle challenges, unblock and improve leadership, establish good foundations, face tough questions and get things moving fast!  She covers everything from culture and employment law, through to health and safety and commercial balance.During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible.  I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent.  So, whether you’re a founder starting to scaling your team, a hiring manager looking for top talent, or simply curious about how diverse teams are tackling the planet’s most pressing challenges, this series is for you.1:34 - Sherry’s journey from lab spaces to HR.3:34 - Are there any particular challenges that you see come up in STEM environments?6:28 - What are the main things you work with people on in early-stage businesses?7:47 - What parts of HR and People processes do you often see neglected?8:40 - What basics should people look at getting in place early?10:20 - Can startups write their own policies or do they need templates or a consultant?11:50 - How can startups offer good benefits on a tight budget?14:25 - Thoughts on equity as part of a compensation package.16:11 - What makes a good onboarding process?19:08 - Tips for scaling onboarding as the company grows.20:53 - Can video recorded onboarding work or should it always be in-person?22:05 - Is it a good motto to hire slow and fire fast?24:24- What are the legal requirements when letting someone go?26:19 - Being aware of disabilities in hiring and firing.32:57 - How early should you consult with an HR expert? Is it ever too early?34:53 - How often should you review your HR policies?36:36 - How to get in touch with Sherry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Supporting and engaging neurodiverse talent is a vital part of team building. Parul Singh comes from a background in tech and recruitment and has first-hand experience of the challenges faced by neurodiverse people in the workplace, having been diagnosed in 2021 with autism and ADHD.  Prior to diagnosis, she had experienced burnout, self-destructive behaviour and had struggled in both education and workplace settings. Now with a better understanding of her own needs and divergence, she is the founder of Parallel Minds. She is dedicated to creating positive change for neurodivergent people in the workplace, and supports businesses with recruitment training, coaching for leaders and line managers, running neurodivergence awareness sessions and more.During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible.3:00 - What was your personal journey towards diagnosis and what made you seek that out?7:41 - Was there a sense of relief that came with being diagnosed?11:08 - What led you to leave the workplace and set up Parallel Minds?13:00 - Key definitions around neurodiversity.19:08 - Why is it important to talk about and understand neurodiversity in the workplace?21:56 - Why is there a lack of disclosure between employees and employers?25:22 - What can companies do to create a safe environment where people feel comfortable to have conversations about their neurodivergence?28:15 - Startups are very fast-moving and experience a lot of change. Autistic people often struggle with change, so how can you create an environment where everyone can thrive?31:47 - You can’t be everything to everyone, so at what point do you say ‘this is our company and it might not be for everyone’?35:33 - What could companies be doing better to tackle common challenges?46:36 - What coping mechanisms and toolkits do you use to help you?RESOURCES:Connect with Parul Neurodiversity resource bank Neurodiversity in tech report 2023 Research on the link between ADHD and burnout DARE report on adjustmentsCIPD neuro-inclusion at work report 2024Equal tech report 2023  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s a lot that goes on within a hiring process but what is it actually like from the perspective of founders and the C-suite, when trying to scale a business and build out that initial team? Sebastian Leape previously worked as a sustainability consultant at McKinsey and has now turned his attention to encouraging people to embed nature into business decision-making. He is CEO at Natcap, where they offer a simple and scalable platform to bring together the world's best science, data and technology to create actionable insights and empower organisations to measure, report and ultimately act on their nature-related risks and opportunities. During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible. I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent. So, whether you’re a founder starting to scaling your team, a hiring manager looking for top talent, or simply curious about how diverse teams are tackling the planet’s most pressing challenges, this series is for you.1:50 - Where was Natcap in the People journey when you joined and where are you today?5:22 - How have you stayed true to your scientific and academic roots, and progressed without alienating early employees?8:43 - What challenges have you faced over the last couple of years when it comes to building out the team?11:18 - How did you plan your benefits package and what did you decide to include, particularly in light of a tighter budget as a startup?13:38 - How much did you consult with the team about what to include in the benefits package?15:14 - Where did you not do onboarding so well and what have you learnt and changed during the process?19:43 - How did you ensure that managers were able to take over onboarding as the company grew?23:24 - As your strategy and headcount have changed, how have your company values had to evolve?30:01 - Did you have any external support when finalising your branding, values and mission?32:16 - How do your values feed into your recruitment process?34:34 - How intentional were you when it comes to gender diversity and were there challenges?39:03 - How have things changed from a People perspective now that you’re post-Series A?41:41 - Have the characteristics and experience of team members changed in light of Series A and has the team changed overall?43:28 - What have been your key learnings from the last couple of years and what advice would you give to early-stage founders for team building?48:26 - Would you advise starting to hire before closing a round, as you did with your Series A, and did that room to hire slower make it better? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Filling a role is about more than just sending a job ad out into the world. How do you attract the best people to apply? And once you have them, how do you keep them? This is where your employer brand can play a big part. Graham Quinn is a specialist in crafting irresistible employer brands and employee experiences. He has conducted employer brand audits, built communications strategies for entire culture and values refreshes, and has created engaging marketing to attract underrepresented groups in tech and improve diversity. He is also now a partner with Flexa, the company working to help people find truly flexible workplaces, where he contributes to thought leadership and works with Flexa-listed companies to improve their employer brand and attract top talent. During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible. I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent. So, whether you’re a founder starting to scaling your team, a hiring manager looking for top talent, or simply curious about how diverse teams are tackling the planet’s most pressing challenges, this series is for you.Open Org1:54 - Basics of employer brand and what it means4:56 - Is it ever too early to start thinking about employer brand?8:43 - Where do you see companies get things wrong, and how can people starting from scratch avoid the pitfall of internal experience not matching up to the front the company presents externally?11:58 - For smaller organisations does it make sense to bring someone in to achieve an unbiased view of your culture and brand?17:08 - Thinking about who you’re not for, is as important as knowing who you are for when it comes to employer brand and attracting talent.21:17 - How do you specify your culture and who would be a good fit for your team but also be inclusive and encourage diversity?23:28 - How can choice of language convey employer brand and culture? Is swearing okay?28:23 - What are some easy wins in employer brand that early-stage startup founders can act on to get started?32:00 - Where do personal brand and employer brand meet?38:58 - Do reviews on sites like Glassdoor really make a difference?46:15 - Should you ask about company culture in a 1:1?48:24 - As a company grows, who should own employer brand and how often should it be revisited?50:56 - Should this be continuously looked at as part of C-suite or broad meetings?53:06 - What one thing should early-stage founders do to get started with this? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Creating an inclusive workplace is vital, not just for employee wellbeing but also to increase innovation and creativity, which are key in the climate tech space.Ed Jervis is the CEO at Inclusion Crowd and the founder of the Inclusion Think Tank. He has worked with an array of businesses ranging from complex multinational organisations through to non-profit and startups.He works with leaders to coach them in creating company cultures that thrive and offer team members psychological safety. He also guides them to form internal staff groups, attract and retain diverse talent, and helps clients to foster meaningful connections with their stakeholders.During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible.I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent.1:21 - Do we need to discuss inclusion more and not place all focus on diversity?5:19 - People are talking about DE&I but not always executing. Where is the disconnect?11:48 - Is it ever too early to start thinking about DE&I? e.g. when it’s just the founders.15:04 - A good place to start is telling your own story and experiences with DE&I and modelling what you want to see.18:07 - How do you create a psychologically safe environment?21:44 - Don’t forget to look at things through a commercial lens sometimes to create connections26:39 - Does AI have a place in increasing diversity in recruitment when it comes to vetting and screening?32:52 - How can people communicate better right from the start at the job ad?37:13 - How do you maintain DE&I as the team grows and make sure you don’t lose sight of it in the chaos of growth?41:55 - Are regular 1:1s or surveys worth it as a way to assess your culture and how people feel working in your company?47:40 - What resources would you recommend for people to learn more about DE&I? 50:35 - How do identify that there even is a problem? How can you expand your mindset to recognise the problem to start with?So, whether you’re a founder starting to scaling your team, a hiring manager looking for top talent, or simply curious about how diverse teams are tackling the planet’s most pressing challenges, this series is for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During this series, we’ll be discussing the art of building strong, high-performing teams to give your startup the best foundation possible.  I’ll be speaking to industry experts about inclusion, employer branding and establishing culture, plus I’ll be hearing both the VC and founder viewpoints and experiences when it comes to finding and supporting the best talent.With fundraising being so crucial to any startup, it’s important to understand how VCs see talent and assess it not only when making their investment but also beyond, when things start to scale.   We’re starting this series with Heidi Lindvall, a general partner and investor at Pale Blue Dot. Over her career, she has herself built SaaS and B2B companies, and has run two accelerators helping founders to scale. Now the other side of the table, she focuses on pre-seed and seed startup investments.  Pale Blue Dot is a seed-stage climate tech VC that backs visionary founders, building future-shaping businesses.2:06 - Heidi’s experience of building teams as a previous founder.4:40 - Were there any advisors or resources you used to learn how to pull a team together?10:55 - How to handle realising you’ve made the wrong hire.14:46 - Would you advise working with a business coach or advisors when first starting out?18:16 - Why did you move into accelerators?22:18 - What stage did you take people into the accelerators?23:11 - What were the common themes that you saw companies struggle with from a team and hiring perspective?25:00 - How can founders assess whether someone is a good fit for a startup?29:02 - Competing on salary at early-stage companies.31:58 - What would your advice be around offering equity at early stages?33:36 - From a VC perspective, how important is the team when assessing an investment?37:28 - How important is the advisory board and can that offset gaps in a founding team when you’re assessing an investment?41:24 - Where have you seen team building and hiring done well in your portfolio at Pale Blue Dot?44:49 - Should you always be recruiting and building a talent pipeline?47:16 - How involved do you get in hiring with your portfolio companies?48:49 - Do you see hiring challenges differ between locations or are they fairly universal?50:08 - What is one final key piece of advice you would give founders when it comes to hiring? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the final episode of series six, was joined by Pippa Gawley, Founding Partner at Zero Carbon. They are investors in early-stage companies that are on a mission to fix climate change through deep science innovation. They look for hard-tech solutions that have the potential to make half gigaton-level reductions of CO2e at scale; and have vision-aligned, ambitious teams to go with them.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.2:04 - How did you come to investing from engineering?7:48 - What was the state of the ecosystem in climate tech and investment in the UK when you started out?10:47 - What differences have you noticed between the US and the UK. Given that you’ve lived in both places?13:04 - What is your investment thesis and has it changed over time?14:29 - How do you assess a startup’s potential impact when they are still so early-stage?18:04 - Is there a timescale that you expect companies to be able to prove their impact?19:36 - What common threads do you see across your portfolio companies that made them a good investment proposition and made them successful?22:41 - Do you support companies with building out their team to ensure they have the skillset needed to progress?24:41 - What key challenges do you see deep tech companies face?27:55 - Do you feel the needed infrastructure is there to take these companies beyond seed-stage?30:29 - Is there more that corporates could or should be doing to engage at early-stage?31:55 - What do you think prohibits corporates from getting involved?36:37 - What solutions within deep tech climate are most exciting to you and where do you see big potential?39:18 - How to contact Pippa and Zero Carbon Capital. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the penultimate episode of series six, I was joined by Katya Constant, the Head of The Climate Brick. The Climate Brick is an initiative set up by EQT Ventures and Contrarian Ventures to accelerate the at-scale deployment of climate tech by introducing the "missing manual" (a playbook for scaling and funding seven different climate tech archetypes based on data from over 3,000 companies) and uniting the ecosystem through building the largest cross-stakeholder community. 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.https://climatebrick.com/ 1:48 - Katya’s journey from investment banking through to climate and career coaching 9:51 - What themes have you seen across the successful businesses you’ve been involved with, that has separated them from those that haven’t survived?15:01 - What was important to you from an investor perspective when you were at Systemiq?19:02 - What do you see as being the key financial challenges that deep tech companies face?23:19 - What advice would you offer to founders in the early stages, to help them de-risk things and show it to investors.25:49 - When do you think a startup should think about having a CFO in place either permanently or fractionally?28:37 - What is the Climate Brick?33:47 - What were your key learnings from doing research for the Climate Brick?35:42 - Do you find that corporates are as keen to collaborate as the rest of the investment community?37:19 - Are there certain industries or locations where communication across the capital stack is better and climate could learn from?38:28 - What led you to move into coaching founders and where do you add value?42:08 - Do you work with individuals or with founding teams?43:17 - What common challenges do you see founders face when you’re coaching, are there recurring themes?47:08 - What advice would you give early-stage founders around what to start thinking about and practising now, that will help them face those challenges in the future? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m joined by Dr. Luke Charbonnier-Bevan from Zinc, an inception stage, impact-led investor. They invest at the start of new ventures that are tackling some of the most pressing and complex problems facing the health of people and the planet.  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.1:49 - What is Zinc and what are the different arms of it?3:30 - How is Zinc different to other VCs?6:07 - If you come across founders with a good idea but it needs a bit of work before you write that first cheque, do you put them through the venture builder first?9:08 - How does Zinc support with helping deep tech companies to access lab space to develop their products?11:32 - What are Zinc looking for in investments?14:07 - What support do you offer companies when the founding team perhaps aren’t working so well together?16:59 - Do you think it’s better to invest in an A team with a B idea, than a B team with an A idea?20:02 - How much deep tech are you starting to see come through the venture builder?22:44 - How does the mix of stages of companies affect the community of the venture builder, because everyone is at different points in their journey?25:58 - What are the most common risk factors you see when assessing deep tech propositions, and how could founders start to counter those risks?28:58 - How good do you think the UK is at supporting commercialisation of spin outs?34:03 - Technical risk in deep tech across the technical readiness scale35:25 - What investors want to see for deep tech37:08 - How do you show that a deep tech company is scalable?40:07 - At pre-seed stage, what minimum level of commercial traction would you expect a company to be able to demonstrate?44:42 - What locations does Zinc invest in, UK-only or European too?45:50 - What are you excited about for the rest of the year and 2025? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Francesco Perticarari is a deep tech super angel, community leader and founder of Silicon Roundabout Ventures. SRV's mission is to back entrepreneurs who are to shape the next-generation of technology and to provide superior returns to investors through venture capital funds. They do this by capturing the explosive growth of early-stage deep tech startups in the UK.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.1:46 - Francesco’s journey from computer science to investment 4:02 - Francesco’s work establishing a 15k-strong deep tech community across Europe before setting up the fund6:05 - Why is deep tech a good investment?10:29 - What was it like raising your first solo VC fund?15:07 - What are you looking for in a good investment prospect?18:04 - What is your due diligence process like?22:31 - Why do you think Europe has such good potential for deep tech and do you think Europe is well-positioned to support from a wider ecosystem perspective?28:12 - How Israel has supported tech founders and what we can learn from them.30:57 - What would you like people to understand about the risk level within deep tech, and how to mitigate it?35:08 - What do your portfolio companies have in common, whether that’s themes, founding teams, the problems they’re solving etc.?41:15 - What support does Silicon roundabout offer to founders and why are you a good person to have on the cap table? 45:33 - Why have you decided to build your fund in public?49:07 - How have you found 2024 for deep tech investment and how do you see the market developing in 2025 and beyond?53:40 - What are you excited about for the rest of the year and how can people get in touch with you? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m joined by Dave Wardell, Chief Commercial Officer at measurable.energy, a company working to eliminate wasted energy in buildings via their combination of hardware and software. Dave is responsible for commercial operations, from marketing awareness, lead generation and business development to onboarding and customer satisfaction.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.https://measurable.energy/ 1:51 - About measurable.energy, who is the solution for and what problem is it solving?3:55 - Dave’s career journey to where he is today4:59 - Where measurable.energy was with product market fit at the point Dave joined, just post-Series A6:48 - How things at ME have evolved commercially over the year since Dave joined10:50 - What is the software element that combines with the hardware of ME?12:55 - What have the difference been over your career as you’ve moved from pure software and SaaS into a hardware-software blend?15:23 - Do customers have a view of the ME software platform and data?18:10 - What is the focus at ME post-Series A?20:40 - What should pre-Series A businesses be thinking about from a commercial perspective?23:31 - At what point should a commercial leader be brought in if there isn’t one within the founding team? And at what point does a sales function need to be established?26:13 - Where are you currently at ME and what are the future plans?29:22 - What changes could there be from a wider economic or regulation landscape perspective that could remove blockers for companies trying to scale? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I speak with Fahmida Khan, Innovation Specialist from Prosemino, the UK's first climate tech venture builder with lab space, offering pre-seed capital, specialising in electrochemistry, hydrogen, energy storage and advanced materials.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.2:08 - Fahmida’s journey from academia to venture building18:08 - How is Prosemino different to other venture builders?23:05 - Why Prosemino isn’t cohort based24:27 - What support is on offer around commercial aspects of business e.g. marketing, finance, commercialisation, business planning etc.?27:54 - Why have you chosen to invest in startups so early in their journey, unlike other venture builders who usually invest at the end of a cohort program?32:43 - Does Prosemino help with non-diluted funding?34:18 - What is the new Prosemino lab space like and what’s on offer?37:26 - What makes a business a good fit for Prosemino?42:23 - Are there common themes amongst the companies, ideas, founders or values that work with Prosemino?45:05 - How long are companies incubated for and what is the alumni relationship?48:44 - What improvements need to happen to help startups go further, faster?53:10 - Would it help if there were more academics in investment and investors working in academia?56:33 - How to join and contact Prosemino? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode, I'll be joined by Dr. Stafford Lloyd, Innovation Lead for Clean Growth Strategy at Innovate UK - they are working on ways to catalyse private investment in climate tech.  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.1:45 - Stafford’s career path so far from aeronautics to Innovate UK10:17 - What was the landscape like before you started your work at Innovate UK when it comes to driving corporate investment into climate?15:29 - What solutions have Innovate UK come up with to drive investment flow and combat risk aversion?19:02 - How do advance market commitments work well and how are you applying them to climate innovation?23:06 - Innovations in concrete production and using advance market commitments to encourage investors28:09 - Do you look for problems or solutions first, when trying to get advance market commitments (AMC)?33:28 - How have AMCs been received by VCs when they’re looking to invest?35:04 - Could AMCs work when securing other types of funding e.g. debt financing?36:57 - What time scale is your current pilot running across and what is success for you?39:13 - How does this AMC pilot scale beyond Innovate UK?41:37 - What challenges do you commonly see deep tech businesses facing?45:47 - Blending public and private investment47:43 - What are you excited about for the rest of this year?48:11 - Is there anything you think could be changed or improved to drive the pace of innovation?51:58 - How to contact Stafford and Innovate UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode, I spoke with Puja Balachander, Director of Venture at Carbon13, the venture builder for the climate emergency.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.https://carbonthirteen.com/ 2:14 - What is Carbon13?4:39 - What challenges do you see deep tech startups facing?8:24 - How is gaining commercial traction different for hardware than software, and what can hardware companies do to gain that traction?14:55 - If a team doesn’t have existing knowledge within the team about commercialisation, how can they gain it and upskill themselves?20:00 - What skills would a startup need as a minimum within the founding team for you to be interested?23:55 - How does the support you give differ for deep tech than someone building a software-based business?28:58 - What are the differences in IP with deep tech and what support do you give with de-risking and defensibility?31:50 - How do you offer lab space within Carbon13?33:05 - Are there any companies that you’ve seen come through Carbon13 that have done particularly well and what do you think set them apart?37:20 - Showing your learnings to investors.39:57 - What things do you think could be improved within the funding landscape for hardware companies to allow them to access the necessary funding?41:53 - Are those that aren’t from an academic background at a disadvantage when it comes to grant writing?44:38 - What thresholds do you need to meet for debt financing?48:20 - What are you excited about for the rest of this year and what are the Carbon13 application dates?50:20 - Where can people go to make applications to Carbon13? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I’m joined by Ian Lee, Innovations Project Lead at UK Power Networks. He is building corporate partnerships with startups that are innovating in the energy sector and beyond.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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

For this final episode of Funding a Better Future: Angel Investment Insights for Founders and Aspiring Investors, I spoke with Neda Sahebelm, angel investor and founder of Keshty. As an I/O psychologist and working-class woman of colour, she lives to achieve more with less and has helped the likes of FOX, National Geographic and Multiverse scale incredible teams. Now she's sharing that experience with many more via her company, Keshty.Video versions of this and previous episodes are available here.Angel Investing School2:05 - Neda’s career so far5:17 - How did all your past experience get you to setting up Keshty?6:56 - What came first, the desire to invest or the desire to set up Keshty?9:46 - How did you learn how to angel invest?12:59 - How did you decide on your thesis and has it evolved since you started investing?15:08 - What were your initial steps after completing Angel Investing School?17:57 - What have been your biggest lessons so far?21:14 - In what ways have you been able to get involved in your investments beyond just giving them a cheque?23:43 - How has your angel investing made you a better advisor to businesses who come to you via Keshty?27:12 - How do you manage investing alongside running your own business?30:10 - What are you excited about or planning for the rest of this year? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode of Funding a Better Future: Angel Investment Insights for Founders and Aspiring Investors, I spoke with Andy Ayim, founder of Angel Investing School and most recently, Open Angel. He works to diversify and democratise access to angel investment, and teaches people how to take their first steps towards becoming investors.Please note - when discussing his early experiences with investing, Andy's audio drops out just as he mentions his first encounter. This experience was with Arlan Hamilton at Backstage Capital.Video versions of this and previous episodes are available here.Open AngelAngel Investing School3:43 - Andy’s journey into investing9:35 - Arriving at investing and seeing a thesis in action10:23 - Why do people struggle to close funding rounds? 11:41 - How Angel Investing School came to be14:21 - How did Open Angel come about?18:12 - Being a ‘life adventurer’22:15 - How to access Open Angel, what you can learn and what the goal is23:58 - What are the potential barriers to entry for investing?28:44 - Andy’s lessons from the last four years of investing and niching his thesis34:23 - Do you need a thesis to get started?38:00 - Crowd funding as a route into angel investing and what to be wary of?40:53 - Basics to start thinking about if you want to move into angel investing44:21 - What are you excited about for the second half of this year? (Developing talent and leaders) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode of Funding a Better Future: Angel Investment Insights for Founders and Aspiring Investors, I spoke with Molly Allington, CEO and Co-founder of Albotherm, about the fundraising process and in particular, the due diligence experience..Video versions of this and previous episodes are available here.Albotherm.com2:09 - How Molly came to set up Albotherm3:09 - How did you go from it being a summer project to a fully-fledged business?4:26 - How did you decide it was time to raise initial funds after grants?6:29 - What did your first round of funding unlock for you in progress?7:33 - What is Albotherm developing8:45 - Will you venture into offering your coatings in other industries?9:34 - How did you know it was time to raise a seed round?10:55 - What was your strategy for the seed raise?12:10 - How did you value the business for a raise and how did you decide how much to raise? 15:34 - What kind of objections did you come up against?17:22 - What was the due diligence process like?19:06 - What did due diligence teach you about your business?20:06 - How did you know what to pull together in advance?21:13 - When did you put a board together?22:08 - How has angel investment played into things?23:45 - How do you stay in touch with investors?24:13 - How frequently and how deep do you have to go with financial and impact reporting?25:27 - What were your biggest learnings from fundraising?27:57 - How did you clarify your messaging and how did it evolve over the process?29:48 - What did you need to have in your data room?31:23 - What did your seed round enable you to do, and what are you excited about coming up? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode of Funding a Better Future: Angel Investment Insights for Founders and Aspiring Investors, I spoke with Cam Ross (Green Angel Ventures) about how to invest for impact, particularly within climate.Video versions of this and previous episodes are available here.Greenangelsyndicate.com Climatechangefund.co.uk 2:01 - Cam’s investment path and establishing Green Angel Ventures4:23 - How has the world of impact investment changed over your seven years with GAV?6:08 - How robust an investment strategy is climate?8:20 - The scale of the climate change problem9:07 - How do you minimise risk factor when investing in early stage businesses in climate?11:28 - Making the most of knowledge across a syndicate12:53 - How do you conduct due diligence for climate impact or carbon reduction?15:42 - How does the increase in the amount of investors in the space affect existing investors?18:21 - What does an ideal company profile look like for Green Angel Ventures?21:03 - At what point would you consider founders ready to approach you for investment?23:08 - Have you seen any patterns or trends around companies that have performed well, or not so well?26:07 - What should founders have ready in advance for due diligence?30:09 - Which parts of the climate sector do you think are the most exciting or offer the most potential for growth at the moment?33:14 - Are there parts of the climate sector where the bubble has burst?34:54 - How can you become part of the Green Angel network? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode of Funding a Better Future: Angel Investment Insights for Founders and Aspiring Investors, I spoke with Marla Shapiro (HERmesa) and David Fogel (Alma Angels) about the importance of female angels and the lack of diversity in investing.Video versions of this and previous episodes are available here.6:40 - Connections are important when fundraising8:36 - Angel investing is very network driven10:23 - Women do more research and want more knowledge and understanding before investing or doing anything new12:05 - Reflecting on the differences between now and when you launched in 2019, how has the female angel landscape changed? 15:27 - Investing at scale in important to success and change15:52 - What do you think holds women back from investing?18:11 - You don’t have to write large cheques to be angel, you can start small22:04 - Are there different trends in how women invest or their motives for investing?27:14 - Facts about return on female investment31:19 - How are you finding the funding landscape for 2024?33:12 - Q1 2024 for female funding36:40 - Advice for aspiring angels40:22 - What are you excited about this year? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode of Funding a Better Future: Angel Investment Insights for Founders and Aspiring Investors, I spoke with Anna Sandgren, CEO and Co-founder of Unibloom.Video versions of this and previous episodes are available here.4:45 - When did you know it was time to raise your next round after being part of Zinc?6:00 - How did you know where to find people and start conversations?7:43 - Building connections and the value of intros10:16 - Getting a sensible valuation for your business11:52 - How did you balance finding and communicating with investors alongside the day-to-day building of a business?13:53 - What did you learn about your business during the process?19:07 - What were the biggest objections you faced from potential investors?22:02 - Syndicate Room angel network22:44 - How to manage investor communications post-close27:24 - In-person investor communication and celebration29:00 - What does the next raise round look like and how will this round shape the next?32:46 - How much do you think your personal brand has fed into the success of your fundraising?35:48 - What general advice would you give to someone who is 18 months to two years behind you?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the first episode of this series, Funding a Better Future: Angel Investment Insights for Founders and Aspiring Investors, I spoke with Ben Keene from Raaise and corporate lawyer, Fran Spooner.Video versions of this and previous episodes are available here.3:25 - Coming out the other side of a bad time for fundraising9:38 - When to talk about your startup for fundraising12:00 - The investors are vetting you as much as you are vetting them15:00 - Getting your ducks in a row, from cap tables to contracts16:08 - Early stage metrics19:48 - How long does fundraising take?22:11 - How to benchmark a sensible and sustainable valuation for your business28:55 - Ways to get investment without a valuation or giving away equity at that time30:16 - Do you or don’t you engage a lawyer?39:17 - The difference between engaging with angels individually or through a syndicate44:00 - What to think about post-raise Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On our sixth episode of Building a Better Future: Stories from ClimateTech Founders on the East Coast, I spoke with Josef Bromovsky from Algoma.0:10: Introduction2:25: Are you able to share with us a little bit more on Algoma? What’s the problem space you’re in and exactly how is the solution that you’ve come up with, addressing that? Why is it unique in the space?4:11: How does that come in from a cost parity perspective? How do you make it viable?5:46: Where did this passion from climate and sustainability come from?7:17: Did the entrepreneurial spark come in once you realised the negative affect the construction and engineering space has on climate or has that always been there?8:25: Where did you meet your Co-Founders and when did you feel confident enough to go for it?10:10: Did you have the idea for Algoma prior to undertaking the MBA or did the idea come to you as a result of doing the MBA?12:30: How do they compare in terms of quality and durability in natural disaster zones?14:12: How do they work around local planning acts and specific requirements in particular areas?15:38: You’re 9 months into your journey now. Is that right?16:07: What have the first 9 months looked like? Including the highs, the proud moments and the achievements? What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in that time period?17:43: Are you focused predominantly on domestic builds or commercial? Or both sides?19:05: Regulatory-wise, how do you think the regulatory market, policies and attitudes in general are going to work against or in your favour in the future?20:19: What is the embodied carbon difference between a mass timber building vs a concrete building for example?22:08: Talk me through the highlights of your journey so far. What have you got coming up that you’re excited about?23:30: From an accelerator perspective, what are the key benefits you think you get from going through those and what do you think the key take aways are?25:53: You mentioned about hiring already but are there any other asks that you would have? What could help you next year?26:41: What community / people-based resource have you found to be the most impactful for your journey so far?27:18: What media-based resource have you found to be the most impactful for your journey so far?29:10: Do you have any productivity tips to manage your workload or work-life balance?Video versions of these episodes are available here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.