Luz | Climate Tech Podcast

My guest today is Neil D'Souza. 

Neil is the founder and CEO of Makersite. A Stuttgart, Germany-based data and software technology company that builds supply chain digital twins to interrogate and improve products across multiple criteria including cost, compliance, risk and sustainability.

In simple terms, Makersite customers are large manufacturing organizations, and Makersite collects, organizes, and enriches the data about their supply chain to create a digital twin of their supply chain, and to simulate the impacts coming from making a product with one material instead of another, or with one supplier instead of another.

Makersite recently raised a $18M Series A led by Hitachi Ventures and Translink Capital, with participation from KOMPAS, and seed investor Planet A.

With more than fifteen years of experience in the sustainability space, building industry-leading products, Neil started Makersite in 2018.

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Neil D’Souza.

My guest today is Katharina Unger. 

Katharina is the Founder and CEO of Livin Farms. A Vienna, Austria-based developer of technologies for alternative insect protein production, Livin Farms has developed an offering that enables food producers to convert the waste from their food production process into insect-based proteins, that can then be fed to animals, reducing the footprint of animal feed by 90%.

Livin Farms recently raised a €6M Series A from angel investor Peter Luerssen.

A industrial designer by background, raised in a family of farmers, Katharina started Livin Farms ten years ago, motivated by the desire to have an impact on the agricultural footprint on the world. That is the focus of our discussion.

In this episode, you will learn about:

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Katharina Unger.

My guest today is Scott Graybeal. Scott is the CEO of Caelux. A Pasadena, California-based developer of perovskite-based solar technology, Caelux has developed a technology that improves the performance of any solar module by more than 30% , by applying to them an additional layer of nano-materials. This additional layer absorbs sunlight better and enables manufacturers to make solar panels that convert more sunlight into electricity. This ultimately drives down the cost per unit of energy produced.

Caelux recently completed a $12M Series A from Reliance New Energy Limited, the climate tech focused subsidiary of Reliance Industries, one of the largest companies in India by revenue and market capitalisation.

A veteran executive with more than two decades of experience in the solar industry, Scott joined Caelux to drive scale and commercialisation of Caelux’s promising, perovskite-based technology. That is the focus of our discussion.

In this episode, you will learn about:

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Scott Graybeal.

My guest today is Tim Hysell. Tim is the CEO and co-founder of ZincFive. A Tualatin, Oregon-based manufacturer of nickel-zinc batteries, ZincFive offers powerful battery solutions for mission-critical applications that need to be on all the time - such as data centers. ZincFive offers an alternative to other battery technologies such as a lead acid or lithium that is safer, more sustainable and more reliable.

ZincFive recently completed a $75M Series D from OGCI Investments.

A repeat entrepreneur with more than three decades of experience, Tim started ZincFive after perceiving the lack of a good solution in the fast discharge battery space for critical applications. That is the focus of our discussion.

In this episode, you will learn about:

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Tim Hysell.

My guest today is Falk Siegel. 

Falk is the CEO and co-founder of Kleta. A Barcelona-based bike subscription startup, Kleta enables its customers to get a mechanical or electric bike as a service, for a monthly fee they can cancel anytime. As such, they facilitate wider adoption of bicycles, helping reduce emissions and making cities more sustainable. 

Kleta raised seed investments from leading Spanish sports angels such as NBA player Marc Gasol and FC Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen, and from institutional investors such as Fondo Bolsa Social, and Sabadell Bank.

A German who made Barcelona his home, Falk started Kleta after perceiving the gap in his own life for a convenient bike option. That is the focus of our discussion.

In this episode, you will learn about:

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Falk Siegel.

My guest today is Anders Korsgaard. 

Anders is the CEO and co-founder of Blue World Technologies. A Denmark-based manufacturing startup, Blue World is a developer and manufacturer of methanol fuel cells components and systems. Fuel cells enable the conversion of liquid fuel, such as methanol, into electricity. As such, they play a critical role in the shift away from carbon emitting combustion engines and diesel generators. They are particularly promising candidates in sectors such as on-site industrial power generation, maritime shipping, and heavy-duty transportation. Blue World recently announced a €37M Series B investment where Bill Gates-backed Breakthrough Energy Ventures entered as a new investor, alongside the Danish Sovereign Investment Fund and Deutz AG, a large German combustion engine manufacturer.

A repeat founder, Anders and his co-founders started Blue World after another successful startup in the fuel cell space. That is the focus of our discussion.

In this episode, you will learn about:

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Anders Korsgaard.

My guest today is Philip Winter. Philip is the co-founder and CMO of Nebia. 

A San Francisco-based hardware startup, Nebia is reinventing the way people shower, based on a better experience, beautiful design, and unprecedented water savings. Nebia is backed by some of Silicon Valley’s leading investors, including Y-Combinator and Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.

Passionate about economic development and entrepreneurship, Philip stumbled upon the idea of Nebia and met his co-founder Carlos whilst working at Endeavor in Mexico City, and became an entrepreneur by calling. That is the focus of our discussion.

In this episode, you will learn about:

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Philip Winter.