Shows
Down to ZeroUnlocking the $4tn Bioeconomy - with Edward Shenderovich, CEO of SynonymEdward Shenderovich is the co-founder and CEO of Synonym. Synonym is revolutionizing the bioeconomy by creating both digital and physical infrastructure to scale biomanufacturing.2024-09-1842 min
Down to ZeroBill Gates' $1B climate tech FOAK program - with Mario Fernandez at Breakthrough EnergyIn today’s episode, we sat down with Mario Fernandez from Breakthrough Energy, the Bill Gates-backed firm driving investment in innovation in the race to net zero.
Mario leads Breakthrough Energy's Catalyst program, which has over $1 billion dollars to invest in demonstration and first-of-a-kind commercial scale projects.
Listen to learn more about:
What Breakthrough Energy is and how they invest in the climate transition.
Why Catalyst is laser-focused on projects that can prove and de-risk climate technologies at scale to unlock trillion-dollar markets.
Advice for entrepreneurs raising capital on te...2024-07-2643 min
Down to ZeroHow Aurora Solar went from 0 to $4B - with Chris Hopper, Co-founder and CEO of Aurora SolarChristopher Hopper is the co-founder and CEO of Aurora Solar. Chris co-founded Aurora Solar back in 2013 while at Stanford. He since grew it into the leading solar design and sales software platform, now valued at $4 billion.
In our discussion, we cover:
Aurora’s origin story, building a solar installer and pivoting to solving his own problems into a $4-billion-dollar solar business.
Why Chris bootstrapped for 5 years until it was too risky not to raise capital.
Lessons from hyper scaling to 400 employees, the importance of people, not striving for perfection, and constantly reinventing yourself as...2024-06-0350 min
Down to ZeroHow to drive Speed & Scale at your company - with Ryan Panchadsaram from Kleiner PerkinsRyan Panchadsaram is an advisor to Chairman John Doerr at Kleiner Perkins and was the U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House.
As the co-author of best-selling Speed & Scale and collaborator on the NYT #1 bestseller Measure What Matters, he also knows a thing or two about setting audacious goals and executing on them systematically.
In our conversation, we cover what OKRs are, how to implement them successfully in your climate-tech company and the current state of climate progress.2024-05-0833 min
Down to ZeroThe Rise of India’s $200M-funded EV Ride-Hailing Startup - with Punit Goyal, Co-Founder & CEO of BluSmartBluSmart, India’s Uber-rival, is India's largest integrated electric ride-hailing and charging network operator.
With over 7,000 EVs, 4,700 charging points, and 13.3 million zero-emission trips, BluSmart is revolutionizing transportation in a nation of 1.4 billion.
To achieve that, BluSmart has raised over $200 million in venture capital across equity and venture debt to date.
We sat down with Punit Goyal, co-founder and CEO of BluSmart, to dive into his entrepreneurial journey, building climate tech in India, and BluSmart's unique vertically integrated approach. 2024-04-2239 min
Down to ZeroFrom Obama's White House to Climate-Tech VC - with Shomik Dutta from Overture VCShomik Dutta is a former Obama White House advisor turned climate VC. He's the co-founder and managing partner of Overture VC, a fund taking a unique approach by leveraging its policy expertise to help founders win government support and navigate regulatory complexity. Overture has invested in cutting-edge climate tech startups such as Antora Energy (thermal battery storage), Crux (marketplace for transferable tax credits), and Earth Force (AI-powered forest management).
We sat down with Shomik to dive into his journey from policy to VC, Overture's thesis, challenges in deploying solutions, and his advice for founders on controlling their...2024-04-1146 min
Down to ZeroFrom Google to Enabling the Future Grid - with Astrid Atkinson, Co-Founder and CEO of Camus EnergyThe rise of distributed energy resources is making it much harder for utilities to manage the grid and get energy from where it's produced to where it's needed. Camus Energy is tackling this challenge through their grid orchestration platform that provides real-time situational awareness, device control, and market integration.
We sat down with Astrid Atkinson, co-founder and CEO of Camus Energy and previously a 15-year infrastructure veteran at Google where she led a 300-person team building infrastructure for Google's major products.
Listen in as we dive into the inception of Camus Energy, the problems they a...2024-03-2542 min
Down to ZeroThe future of US climate & energy policy - with Kate Gordon, US Secretary of Energy's former Senior AdvisorIt’s election year in the US and one of the biggest topics on everyone's mind is what that means for the future of energy and climate policy.
Will the IRA be rolled back? If so, which sectors will be least impacted? And how do startups navigate a possibly changing climate policy landscape, and the DOE?
Climate tech policy expert, Kate Gordon, tackles these questions and more. Kate recently served as senior advisor to US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. Before her time in the Biden Harris administration, Kate served in the California state government Director of...2024-02-2047 min
Down to ZeroLessons from scaling Impossible Foods - with Nick Halla (Employee #1 and former SVP at Impossible Foods)Livestock farming accounts for 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. But back in 2011 when Impossible Foods was founded, most people hadn't heard of climate change or didn't care much about it. They definitely were not making decisions about what to eat based on what they thought was good for the earth.
So how do you do go-to-market strategy for a market that doesn't exist yet?
And how do you scale to become a global consumer brand with a climate mission?
We sat down with Nick Halla to answer these questions. Nick joined Impossible Foods as...2024-02-0541 min
Down to ZeroHow to win grants - with Helena Merk from Streamline ClimateIt costs millions and millions of dollars to develop climate technologies, from lab-scale R&D to CAPEX-intensive commercial deployment. Thankfully, climate tech startups can increasingly rely on cheaper non-dilutive funding besides equity financing.
But how do win non-dilutive funding, such as government grants?
We sat down with Helena Merk, CEO and Co-Founder of Streamline Climate to get her 10 tips for winning grants. Streamline Climate helps climate tech startups find and win non-dilutive funding with their AI-powered grant discovery and drafting platform.2023-11-2836 min
Down to ZeroHow deploy to infrastructure at scale - with Boris Schubert from Silicon RanchFaster deployment of climate-tech at scale is needed to reach out climate goals, from heat pumps to EVs to carbon removal.
-- But how do you deploy physical infrastructure at scale?
-- And what can we learn from industries (like solar) with a track record in deploying at scale?
In the second episode with Boris Schubert, we demystify the key steps behind project development and highlight key learnings at each stage.
As Chief Operating Officer at Silicon Ranch (one of the largest developer independent power producers in the US), Boris is responsible for de...2023-11-1539 min
Down to ZeroHow to bring technology costs down - with Boris Schubert from Silicon RanchPrices for solar energy have dramatically over the last decades. While generating 1 MWh of solar energy still cost $300,000 in 1957, it's around $20 today.
-- But how did solar become so cheap?
-- And what can we learn for other climate technologies?
We speak with Boris Schubert, an energy veteran of 25 years and COO of Silicon Ranch, one of the largest developer independent power producers in the US, to find the answers.
Want to go even deeper? Take a look at our Down to Zero Substack! 2023-10-3036 min
Down to ZeroRegenerative shrimp farming - John Diener from Vertical OceansIn this episode, we speak to John Diener, CEO of regenerative aquaculture startup Vertical Oceans.
Vertical Ocean aims to grow sustainable shrimp in huge aqua towers inside cities. Their first zero discharge, fully recirculating facility is up and running in Downtown Singapore. But John's ambitions don't stop there: He dreams of having a Vertical Ocean in every major city around the globe.
And people are taking notice. In 2021, Vertical Oceans raised a $3.5mn Seed Round led by Khosla Ventures and is expanding to the US.
We talk about:
H...2023-08-0436 min
Down to ZeroHow to invest in nature - Ling Min Hoon from GenZeroNature-based solutions can provide over 30% of the mitigation needed by 2030 to keep global warming below 2°C. Yet, many of these projects were found to have hugely overestimated their effectiveness in fighting climate damage earlier this year.
It sent shockwaves through the ecosystem: Prices for nature-based carbon credits plummeted from over $15 to less than $2 per ton.
Join us as we dive deeper into this critical, dynamic, and controversial space with Ling Min, Investment Director at GenZero, a decarbonization-focused investment platform wholly-owned by Temasek.
We cover:
- What nature-based solutions are and who i...2023-08-0443 min
Down to ZeroChase Value, Not Valuation - Rajesh Swaminathan from Khosla VenturesIn this episode, we speak to Rajesh Swaminathan, Partner at Khosla Ventures.
Rajesh is a CleanTech and ClimateTech veteran of 15 years. An engineer and Harvard MBA, he worked at Bell Labs and Applied Ventures among others, before joining Khosla Ventures in 2020.
Khosla Ventures is one of Silicon Valley's most prolific venture capital firms founded in 2004. Khosla has invested into bold, early and impactful climate and other tech companies ever since.
We talk about:
Why CleanTech 1.0 was not a failure, and how today is different...
Khosla Ventures...2023-07-1431 min
Down to ZeroEnabling EV-grid integration - Apoorv Bhargava from WeaveGridIn this episode, we speak to Apoorv Bhargava, Co-Founder and CEO of WeaveGrid.
WeaveGrid brings together utilities, OEMs and electric vehicle drivers in to help the electric grid cope with the coming wave of EVs. They leverage machine learning capabilities and driver engagement tools to support EV charging optimization - all to ensure that power grids are able to satisfy increased electric demand, while keeping costs down. In 2022, they raised a $35mn Series B round led by Salesforce Ventures.
Listen in if you’re interested in:
Electric vehicles, grid technology, the role of so...2023-05-2533 min
Down to ZeroPredicting wildfire with AI - Andrew Engler from KettleIn this episode, we speak to Andrew Engler, Co-Founder and CEO of Kettle. Kettle uses artificial intelligence to build a smarter reinsurance model for protecting from the catastrophic effects of climate change. Traditional models are built on historic climate risks (e.g., the likelihood of a wildfire over the last 100 years), but with climate change, these models perform worse and worse. That is what Kettle's technology is looking to change, to better predict and mitigate risk.
In 2021, they raised a $25mn Series A round from Acrew Capital, DCVC, Lowercarbon Capital and others. Especially if you have heard...2023-05-0428 min
Down to ZeroTrillion Dollar TAMs - Shawn Xu from Lowercarbon CapitalIn this episode, we speak to Shawn Xu, Chief of Staff at Lowercarbon Capital, a climate-tech VC aiming to unf*** the planet. Lowercarbon Capital has has raised >$1bn to date and made 70+ investments, including in several unicorns like Solugen, Crusoe Energy and Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
Before joining Lowercarbon, Shawn spent time at On Deck, Floodgate, and Dorm Room Fund. Shawn has personally partnered with ~50 companies to date and was ranked in Forbes 30 under 30 for Venture Capital.
Listen in if you’re interested in:
climate VC, attributes of great climate tech co...2023-04-2840 min
Down to ZeroHydrogen for long-haul trucks - Ted McKlveen from VerneIn this episode, we speak to Ted McKlveen, Co-Founder and CEO of Verne. Verne pionieers high-density hydrogen storage for trucks to accelerate the transition to zero-emission heavy transportation.
Green hydrogen can be a safe and scalable alternative to batteries for long-haul transport, which accounts for around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But challenges remain, for instance around hydrogen storage. Ted launched Verne in 2020 while at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business to solve them. Since then, Verne has developed a new cryocompressed hydrogen storage system that requires lower pressure while doubling truck range and increasing payload capacity....2023-04-0821 min
Down to ZeroSupertrees for carbon capture - Maddie Hall from Living CarbonIn this episode, we speak to Maddie Hall, Co-Founder and CEO of Living Carbon.
Living Carbon bioengineers trees that grow 50% faster and taller and capture 27% more CO2, reducing more of the stock of carbon in the atmosphere.
Maddie founded Living Carbon with Patrick Mellor in 2019. Since then, they've developed photosynthesis-enhanced hybrid poplar trees and several others. In early 2023, they raised $21 million from leading climate tech investors like Lowercarbon Capital and Temasek to scale their technology. By 2030, they hope to sequester over 600 million tons of CO2, which is over 1.5% of global emissions.
Listen...2023-03-1526 min
Down to ZeroDecarbonizing residential heating - Philipp Pausder, CEO of ThermondoIn this episode, we’re excited to speak to Philipp Pausder, co-founder and CEO of Thermondo. Thermondo was founded in 2013 and is the largest fully vertically integrated heating installer in Germany with over 35,000 installed systems and in-house 450 technicians and installers. The company was backed by some of Europe's leading investors, including HV Capital and Rocket Internet, and was acquired by Brookfield Infrastructure in 2021.
In 2022, Thermondo launched its heat pump rental business. Within only six months, the company had installed thousands of heat pumps, accounting for an impressive 65% of its revenue. Thermondo aims to install 10,000 heat pumps in German h...2023-03-0231 min