Entrepreneurs for Impact

Jan 30 2025 214 ep. 41 mins 182

Entrepreneurs for Impact Podcast artwork

Interviews with climate tech CEOs and investors: Business strategy, capital raising, investment criteria, lessons learned, book recommendations, productivity habits, and career advice. Hosted by Dr. Chris Wedding: serial founder, investor, professor, and occasional monk. www.entrepreneursforimpact.com (Nothing herein is investment advice.)

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#213: Julian Ryba-White, CEO at Mark1 – FOAK Finance. Low-Carbon Project Development as a Service. RMI, Flour, and Deep Science Ventures Partnership. TRL vs ARL for Climate Tech.

Jan 30 2025 48 mins

Mark1 is a public benefit corporation focused on accelerating the commercialization of emerging industrial technologies and climate solutions. Being spun out of Deep Science Ventures and the Rocky Mountain Institute, Mark1 offers early-stage project development support, front-end planning, and catalytic capital for innovative companies. By bridging the gap between technology develo

#212: Matt Eggers, Managing Director at Prelude Ventures – Investing Billions in Climate Tech. Financing First-of-a-Kind Facilities. Supporting Biogenic Carbon Removal. Leading with Mindfulness.

Jan 23 2025 50 mins

Prelude Ventures is a climate tech investment firm focusing on early-stage startups. They invest primarily in seed and Series A rounds, supporting founders with innovative technologies addressing climate challenges. They began in 2009 and have about $2 billion under management. Matt Eggers, Managing Director at Prelude Ventures, has a wealth of experience in climate tech investing

#211: Daniel Schnitzer, CEO of SparkMeter – $30M for Grid Management in 30 Countries. Millions of Customers Served. AI for Climate. PhD Research from Carnegie Mellon.

Jan 16 2025 47 mins

SparkMeter offers grid-management solutions that enable utilities worldwide to run profitable, efficient, and reliable systems. Their investors include mutual friends at Clean Energy Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Elemental Impact. Dan’s prior experience includes work at DNV GL and a PhD in engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon. In this episode, you’ll

#210: Elise Strobach, CEO of Aeroshield — $25M for Super Efficient Windows. 4x Faster Payback. 40% Lighter. MIT and NASA Science. How to Ignore Criticism.

Jan 09 2025 45 mins

Aeorshield is unlocking the next generation of energy-efficient windows. They do this by developing the world’s most transparent silica aerogel inserts for windows, reducing energy loss through windows by 50%. Elise’s prior experience includes roles at Johnson Controls, Activate, and a PhD from MIT where the research on aerogels all began. In this episode, you’ll learn these

#209: Arun Gupta, CEO of Skyven Technologies — $300M+ for Zero CapEx Industrial Decarbonization. 20% of Global GHG Emissions. Water Refrigerants. Screaming at the Top of Your Lungs for Founder Sanity.

Dec 19 2024 48 mins

Skyven is an industrial decarbonization company that designs, funds, installs, and maintains a unique steam-generating heat pump with zero downtime and no CapEx cost to customers. They have hundreds of millions of dollars of financing available. As the founder and CEO, Arun is a mission-driven PhD engineer-turned-entrepreneur with prior roles at Texas Instruments and Metronics. In

#208: Natalia Dorfman, Co-founder and CEO of Kita — Carbon Insurance Specialist. Up to $250B Market in 2030. Performance and Counterparty Risk. Choose the Scarier Door.

Dec 12 2024 55 mins

Kita is a carbon insurance specialist bridging the insurance and carbon markets. Their insurance products act as a stamp of confidence and safeguard against loss. Their insurance claims can be paid in cash or in replacement carbon credits, providing flexibility for clients' individual risk appetites and carbon strategies. In this episode, you’ll learn these four important takeawa

#207: Rahul Advani, CEO of SER Capital Partners — Private Equity Investing $50-$150M Per Climate Company. Ideal Management Team Qualities. Meditation Techniques for High Performance. Reframing ESG.

Dec 05 2024 56 mins

SER Capital Partners is a middle-market private equity investment firm dedicated to North American industrial sustainability. They manage $500M in equity, plus opportunities to harness debt for the right projects. Typical investments range from $50-$150M per company. In addition to his role at SER, Rahul is a former private equity investor at Energy Capital Partners and a Board mem

#206: A 7-Minute Thanksgiving Micro-Episode — Tim Ferriss Wisdom. How to Recharge for Climate Wins. Science of Gratitude. 25% Boost in Happiness. Toxic Positivity.

Nov 28 2024 6 mins

In this unusual episode, I do my best to go meta, above our normal climate tech challenges and opportunities, to the science and mindset of gratitude. Does a greater appreciation for what we have mean nothing bad is happening out there? Not at all. But building climate tech solutions is not a spring. It's a marathon. Or maybe both. As such, we need all the non-work tools in our too

#205: James Larsen, CEO of e-Zinc — $100M for Metal Battery. $4T Long Duration Energy Storage Market by 2040. Resilience as a Service. FOAK Financing. Meditation Techniques. Magic Morning Drink.

Nov 14 2024 46 mins

e-Zinc produces zinc-based long-duration energy storage technology with discharge durations between 10 and 100 hours. They have raised over $100M in funding and are building their first three commercial pilots. In addition to his role at e-Zinc, James is a Board Director of the Long Duration Energy Storage Council (LDESC) and Energy Storage Canada (ESC), as well as a former Manager

#204: Jonathan Tan, CEO of Coreshell — VC-Backed Battery Anode Innovator. 25% Lower Cost. 40% Longer EV Drive Range. Stress Management Via Rock Climbing. Pain vs. Suffering.

Nov 07 2024 51 mins

Coreshell can reduce the cost of batteries by roughly 25% and improve drive range by about 40% by producing metallurgical silicon anodes to replace graphite. Their collaborators include some of the biggest names in the automotive industry and the largest merchant producer of silicon metal in the Western world. Jonathan is a UC Berkeley graduate in chemical engineering with 12 years