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 AirEx

4:23 - How the AirEx air brick was brought to life

7:37 - 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 round

22:39 - Moving from research to commercial traction

26:08 - How the AirEx team has evolved

27:50 - How AirEx’s culture was defined and how it has been maintained as the team grows

29:47 - 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 AirEx

40:12 - 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 SatVu

4:29 - Camilla’s career journey into climate

7:22 - Camilla’s move from investor into an operator / CFO role

8:29 - How Camilla’s academic and investor background has helped her as an operator

10:31 - How Camilla came to meet the team at SatVu

13:30 - 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 future

36:37 - SatVu’s work alongside conflict of interest and international data access

37:40 - 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 founded

5:24 - The scale of the problem Reclinker is solving and what the solution is

10:24 - The economic benefit and diversification on offer to steel producers by working with Reclinker

12:51 - 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 solve

3:36 - 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 Protium

5:58 - Chris’ journey to founding Protium

9:45 - 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 experience

39:11 - 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 Beach

5:30 - Which stages and ticket size does Elbow Beach invest in?

6:21 - JP’s reflections on 2024 broadly and also within Elbow Beach specifically

10:22 - 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 market

18:12 - 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 year

31:25 - 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 Syndicate

2:15 - James’ investment thesis and what he looks for in investments

3:21 - James’ reflection on the 2024 investment and climate tech landscape

4:46 - 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 investment

8:20 - 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 ecosystem

4:00 - The differences Eric has seen between the USA and Europe since moving to London in 2024

5:48 - 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 thesis

3:56 - Kate’s reflections on 2024 and the trends she noticed

5:12 - 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 2025

12:49 - 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 2025

22:12 - 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 fundraising

33:21 - 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 thesis

2:41 - Chloe’s reflections on the 2024 climate landscape

4:43 - What contributed to certain portfolio companies doing well last year?

7:43 - Thoughts and predictions for the fundraising market and early-stage investment in 2025

11:42 - 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 investment

21:01 - 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.