On today’s episode, we’re speaking with Martin Schichtel, the CEO and Founder of Kraftblock, a thermal energy storage solution for industrial clients that use high heat. 

Today, they’re delivering their 5th project. All of which have been paid for by their customers — yep, you read that right. They have not used equity to pay for these pilot and demonstration projects. 

Their tech takes excess heat or electricity and turns it into heat, stores it in these engineered rocks. When demand is needed, they deliver the power. Reliable and affordable energy storage is the key to the energy transition. 

Get the full episode today to hear….

**How they managed to get their customers to pay for their pilots and demonstration projects
**The role consumer demand for cleanly produced products is having on the world
**The importance of validating the idea WITH CUSTOMERS before you build your pilot
**The energy storage landscape globally

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Topics
(time stamps are accurate for the full episode and approximate for the free preview)

**00:00 Market Education and Heat Storage Innovations
**03:08 The Journey of Kraft Block and Its Technology
**05:51 Transitioning from Technical to Commercial
**09:12 Understanding the Customer Base and Revenue Models
**11:56 Global Demand for Clean Products
**15:11 The Evolution of Thermal Energy Storage
**18:07 Prototyping and Development Challenges
**20:57 The Current State of Energy Storage Industry
**24:08 Market Conditions Driving Change
**26:52 Sustainability and Waste Management in Technology
**28:44 Innovative Material Development for Energy Storage
**31:59 Validation Principles for Hardware Startups
**35:07 Funding Strategies for Hardware Projects
—(Free Version ends here)—
**39:41 Building Trust in Hardware Industries
**42:30 Navigating Speed to Market in Hardware
**45:22 Climate Tech Trends and Political Influences
**49:58 Future of Energy Storage and Startup Opportunities
**53:52 Underrated Climate Founders and Resources

Links

**Martin Schichtel | KRAFTBLOCK
**Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
**William Kamkwamba (the CleanTech OG that Martin would love to have dinner with)

This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

Support the show

Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Joshua Posamentier is the co-founder and managing partner at Congruent Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund focused exclusively on climate tech. With a background in physics and a career that began in the semiconductor industry, Josh transitioned into climate investing after holding various roles at Intel and Prelude Ventures. Widely regarded as an OG in the climate tech space, Josh has been investing in climate solutions since well before the current wave of interest, making him one of the most experienced voices in the field. His deep technical expertise, combined with over a decade of focused climate investing, has given him a unique perspective on the evolution of the sector from its early clean tech days to today’s thriving climate tech ecosystem. Josh’s experience includes navigating the highs and lows of the market, from the early 2010s downturn in clean tech investing to today’s booming climate sector, providing invaluable insight to founders.

Congruent Ventures is an early-stage climate tech fund based in San Francisco that invests across a wide range of sectors, including energy transition, food and agriculture, urban mobility, and sustainable production. The firm has made over 60 investments in companies that focus on delivering measurable, impactful climate solutions while achieving top-quartile venture returns. Congruent Ventures is known for its hands-on approach, staying actively involved with portfolio companies from seed through later funding stages.

📝 Show Notes:

Topics 

• 00:00 The Journey into Climate Tech Investing
• 10:05 Congruent Ventures
• 19:50 Navigating the Climate Tech Landscape
• 29:47 Challenges of Measuring Impact
• 39:52 Hardware vs. Software & Insights from Semiconductors
• 30:15 Navigating NIMBYism
• 34:37 Investment Strategies
• 39:52 The Future of Energy Demand and Policy
• 45:59 Exciting Innovations

Links

• Joshua Posamentier | Congruent Ventures
• Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
• Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
• @Silas & @Somil_Agg on X 
• This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

Support the show

Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Our reflections and musings as we close out the year...

Topics

01:28 2024's Top CleanTechies Episodes
07:37 Insights
12:49 Reflections on Branding and Storytelling
20:22 Milestones and Achievements in 2024
26:12 Key Lessons for Climate Tech Startups
34:59 Future Outlook

Support the show

Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Julia Kumari Drapkin is the CEO and founder of ISeeChange, a data platform that combines resident-generated insights with AI to address climate adaptation challenges. Julia’s background as a climate science reporter, covering disasters like Hurricane Katrina, inspired her to bridge the gap between people’s lived experiences and actionable climate solutions. Her expertise in storytelling and data-driven insights shapes ISeeChange's people-first approach to building climate resilience.

ISeeChange leverages ground-truth data—stories, photos, and observations—from residents and combines it with sensor, satellite, and proprietary AI models. The platform delivers actionable insights to cities, counties, and utilities, enabling them to prioritize real-time responses and long-term infrastructure design to adapt to 21st-century climate risks. By creating a feedback loop between communities and decision-makers, ISeeChange helps build trust, improve climate outcomes, and unlock the value of previously siloed data.

In this episode, Julia shares insights on:

• Ground-Truth Data Integration combining resident observations with existing satellite and sensor data, delivering more granular and actionable insights for managing floods, heat waves, and infrastructure failures
• Adaptation Over Politics, evident by how they are growing fastest in Republican-led states, showing that climate impacts are bipartisan and adaptation solutions resonate when framed around local needs like infrastructure protection and economic resilience
• AI-Driven data processing, enabling faster prioritization of critical tasks while transforming anecdotal community feedback into validated, actionable intelligence for utilities and governments

Enjoy!

📝 Show Notes:

Topics 

• 03:01 Data-Driven Solutions for Climate Adaptation
• 05:50 The Role of AI in Climate Data
• 12:08 The Importance of Ground Truth Data
• 15:04 Government and Climate Tech: A Complex Relationship
• 17:54 The Future of Climate Adaptation and Mitigation
• 20:48 Challenges and Opportunities in GovTech
• 24:13 Political Resilience in Climate Solutions
• 27:08 Insurance and Climate Risk
• 29:59 Building Community Trust in Climate Data
• 32:47 The Human Element
• 36:07 Feedback Loops and Learning from Mistakes
• 38:59 Sales Cycles and Market Dynamics
• 41:49 Finding Common Ground

Links

• Julia Kumari Drapkin | ISeeChange
• Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
• Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
• @Silas & @Somil_Agg on X 
• This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

Support the show

Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Learn how this carbon capture startup also produces green chemicals AND hydrogen -- how they funded their first demo plant -- their secrets to building a resilient business model -- and what he would advise Trump's admin in order to help keep climate on track while also competing with China. 

Listen Time: Full Show 58:31 (no ads) | Free Preview 37:14

On today’s episode, Owen Cadwalader, the COO of Travertine, delivers one of the most value-dense episodes we’ve ever released. 

Hear how they are solving the massive sulfur waste problem while also capturing carbon and producing sulfuric acid and hydrogen. 

In a short time, they are on track to build their first plant, producing ~100 tons a year near Rochester, NY. They have also navigated the startup landscape masterfully. 

There is a lot to learn here. 

Some of the discussion topics: 
**How to interact with the chemical industry 
**How to reframe CO2 emissions as waste 
**How to get the Trump admin to back climate 
**The sulfate waste landscape 

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Topics
(time stamps are accurate for the full episode and approximate for the free preview)
**00:00 Intro
**02:54 Owen's Journey to Tech
**06:08 Travertine’s Tech
**08:53 Multiple Revenue Streams
**12:06 Customer Base and Market Challenges
**14:55 Environmental Impact of Sulfate Waste
**17:47 Navigating the Chemical Industry Landscape
**21:09 Pricing Strategies & Market Competition
**29:22 Identifying Beachhead Markets in Climate Tech
**30:48 Navigating Political Landscapes for Climate Tech

—(Free Version ends here)—

**32:13 Building Resilient Climate Tech Businesses
**34:04 On-shoring
**35:59 Global vs Local Impact of Resource Extraction
**36:29 The Future of Carbon Dioxide Removal
**37:52 Focusing on Outcomes Over Technology
**40:43 Funding Strategies for Climate Tech Projects
**43:05 Advocating for Continued Innovation Funding
**45:22 Reframing CO2 as Industrial Waste
**50:00 Lessons from Fundraising in Climate Tech

Links
**Owen Cadwalader | Travertine
**Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn

This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

Support the show

Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Hear the story of how Sila Nanotechnologies has successfully developed, taken to market, and scaled up a new Anode technology for the battery industry. -- Learn the importance of Job Creation in landing funding -- Understand why CleanTech is actually bi-partisan -- and Understand where the puck is going with the battery industry.

Listen Time: Full Show 1:09:26 (no ads) | Free Preview 41:27

On today’s episode, Gleb Yushin, the CTO of Sila Nanotechnologies, pours out the wisdom he has from 14 years working on and scaling up Sila Nanotechnologies to the point where their Anode tech is in millions of batteries around the world. 

Not many companies reach this scale and even less so among climate companies. The lessons he has for you will benefit you massively. 

There are incredibly potent lessons on: 

• A successful GTM strategy for a battery chemical (Anode in this case) 
• How to fund your small and commercial scale production facilities. 
• Why there will likely be bi-partisan support for clean technology 
• Key lessons on team building and talent acquisition 

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Topics
**00:00 Intro
**02:57 The Journey of Gleb Yushin
**05:49 Founding Sila Nanotechnology
**09:03 The Role of Silicon in Battery Production
**11:53 Scaling Up Production
**15:12 Market Integration and Collaboration
**18:09 Challenges in Manufacturing
**20:51 Future of Battery Technology
**24:03 The Importance of Job Creation
**34:51 Rapid Iteration and Automation in Production
—(Free Version ends here)—
**38:05 Funding Strategies and Equity vs. Debt
**42:08 Government Support and Job Creation in Clean Tech
**45:57 Bipartisan Support for Clean Technology
**51:46 Talent Acquisition and Team Building in Startups
**1:02:10 Challenges and Trends in the Battery Industry
**1:04:32 Startup Opportunities in Battery Recycling and Supply Chain

Links
**Gleb Yushin | Sila Nanotechnologies
**Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
**This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

Support the show

Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Nate Loewentheil is the founder and managing partner of Commonweal Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on solving America's biggest challenges through entrepreneurship. Nate’s career spans angel investing, politics, and public policy. Previously, he served in the Obama White House, advising President Obama on emerging technologies such as clean energy and broadband expansion. His background includes roles in the Yale Entrepreneurial Society, founding the Roosevelt Institution, and advising startups during his time running venture investments for a family office.

Commonweal Ventures invests in pre-seed and seed-stage companies tackling generational challenges such as climate change, competition with China, and an aging population. The firm focuses on startups that leverage government partnerships as a strategic advantage, tapping into resources like national labs, regulatory data, and long-term infrastructure projects.

The firm's investment philosophy distinguishes itself from traditional GovTech by emphasizing the unique ability of government to unlock enterprise value rather than solving it as a "problem to fix." With a bipartisan advisory board that includes former Trump, Bush, Obama, and Clinton administration officials, Common Weal Ventures excels at navigating regulatory landscapes and creating opportunities for impactful innovation.

📝 Show Notes:

Topics 

• 05:54 The Role of Government in Innovation
• 12:07 Investing in Early-Stage Companies
• 14:55 Understanding Political Dynamics in Climate Tech
• 17:52 Preparing for Trump 2.0
• 27:19 Shifting Political Economy and Government's Role
• 31:05 Future of Government Involvement in Commercialization
• 32:56 Engaging with Government Agencies
• 35:19 Best Practices for Founders in Government Relations
• 38:08 Investing Dynamics in Climate Tech
• 42:49 Encouraging Generalist Investors in Climate Tech
• 44:15 America's Competitive Edge: Entrepreneurship
• 45:40 Impact of Monopolies on Startups
• 48:04 Political Landscape and Antitrust Dynamics
• 49:51 Looking Ahead: Opportunities in Climate Tech

Links

• Nate Lowentheil | Commonweal Ventures
• Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
• Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
• @Silas & @Somil_Agg on X 
• This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

Support the show

Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Hear the CEO of Skytree explain how you MUST build for scale to achieve impact in a timely manner -- how O&G have been releasing their captured Co2 for years -- why their biggest investor is a huge Greenhouse Operator -- the importance of co-locating your carbon capture tech with the demand -- his journey into climate -- and a few more hot takes. 

Listen Time: Full Show 57:04 (no ads) | Free Preview 41:09

On today’s episode, Rob van Straten, the CEO of Skytree captures our attention with his deep wisdom on how to scale a successful carbon capture technology company. 

Why you should trust him? He brings a long career of experience building and scaling companies that he parlayed into Skytree where they are currently crushing it with their modular, mass-production capable carbon capture system. 

Spoiler alert, you can’t do this successfully if you’re doing it on a project basis - you need to do it with a modular system that you can mass produce (it allows for faster iteration of the design). 

Learn:
**How they build their team culture and value young talents
**How Oil & Gas has been catching and releasing carbon for years and how Skytree is now actually solving this problem — also related, why their largest investor is the largest owner/operator of greenhouses in the Netherlands
**Why you MUST set out to achieve scale from day one.

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Topics
**00:00 Intro
**03:03 Rob’s Journey Into Climate
**05:57 Mentorship & the Next Gen of Entrepreneurs
**09:05 Skytree's Origin and Technology Overview
**15:09 The Future of Carbon Capture: Machines vs. Plants
**28:30 Innovative Approaches to Carbon Capture
**32:45 How They Partner with Greenhouses
**38:23 Scaling Up: Lessons from the Solar Industry
**41:35 Collaboration with Large Emitters
**45:50 The Future of Oil and Energy Transition
**48:03 The Carbon Capture Startup Landscape

Links
**Rob van Straten | Skytree
**Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn

This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

Support the show

Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Amy Duffuor is a co-founder and General Partner at Azolla Ventures and Managing Director at Prime Impact Fund, Azolla's predecessor vehicle. She has a diverse background that spans immigration research, management consulting, impact investing, and renewables investment banking. Amy began her career studying marginalized West African migrants and later pursued an MPhil in Migration Studies at Oxford University. Transitioning into management consulting, she worked on supply chain and procurement projects in London and Southeast Asia, where she developed a passion for climate change solutions. Her experience running venture accelerator programs in Southeast Asia for impact-driven startups inspired her to focus on early-stage climate tech investing. Prior to Azolla, Amy worked at Bank of America as a renewables investment banker, contributing to projects like the IPO of Sunnova, a leading residential solar company.

Azolla Ventures is a venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage investments in climate technology startups. Their investment strategy emphasizes three key criteria: Impact, Additionality and Commercial Potential. In July 2023, Azolla Ventures announced the final close of their fund at $239 million. This fund blends catalytic, charitable capital with impact-aligned, market-rate capital to drive investment into solutions with deep potential for climate impact that are systemically overlooked by conventional financiers. Amy has even constructed a microcosm of LP signals that they use to understand where investing gaps in the ClimateTech funding ecosystem lie. 

In this episode, Amy shares insights on:

• Using blended finance to de-risk early-stage climate tech investments
• The unique challenges and misconceptions in hardware-focused climate startups
• Embedding equity and justice in climate tech ventures

Enjoy!

📝 Show Notes:

Topics 

• 05:50 The Role of Blended Finance
• 11:51 The Unique Landscape of Hardware Companies
• 15:04 Building Trust with Entrepreneurs
• 17:49 The Importance of Environmental Justice
• 21:01 The Future of Climate Tech Investing
• 28:54 The Art of Simplifying Complex Technologies
• 31:52 Investing Ahead of the Curve
• 39:59 Integrating Equity and Justice
• 44:08 Future Aspirations

Links

• Amy Duffuor | Azolla Ventures
• Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
• Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
• @Silas & @Somil_Agg on X 
• This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

Support the show

Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Listen Time: Full Show 38:51 (no ads) | Free Preview 31:19

Today, we are speaking with Shaun Abrahamson from Third Sphere. 

Third Sphere is a leading ClimateTech investor that also has a debt strategy for high-volume production startups in the hardware space. They have backed companies like ChargeLab, ClimateBase, Gradient, OneWheel, Therma, Revivn, & Wasted (check out the episode we did with Revivn). 

This is Shaun’s third time on the pod — if this is your first time hearing him, you’ll understand why because he is very thoughtful. 

During NY Climate Week, the Third Sphere team put on a great event titled “Climate Tech Exits.” It was really well beloved by many NY CW attendees. 

They covered:
**Why exits are so crucial to the success of Climate investing 
**The state of climate tech exits
**How it looks compared to tech broadly
**What to learn from the original tech winners like Google & Apple 
**What the paths forward might be
**The patterns of successful founders 

In today’s episode, we recap the key points of their event and then dig into Shaun’s advice to founders on how to ensure they are doing things right, in order to see an exit.

We are sure you’ll find it educational.

📝 Show Notes:
Topics:
**0:00 The Importance of Climate Tech Exits
**2:48 Current State of Climate Tech Investments
**6:06 Challenges in the IPO Market
**8:50 Corporate Venture Capital's Role
**12:08 Future Opportunities in Climate Tech
**14:56 The Shift from Mitigation to Adaptation
**18:11 Building Sustainable Business Models
**21:01 Navigating M&A Opportunities
**23:55 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Links:
**Shaun Abrahamson | Third Sphere
**Connect with Somil on LinkedIn | Connect with Silas on LinkedIn
**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn
**This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

Support the show

Every ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽

Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)