The Tech 4 Climate Podcast

Designed for big companies, Sweep tackles a big problem -  how to manage a company’s emissions and that of all their suppliers and customers. 

Ep.#53    Tech4Climate Podcast by Startup Basecamp

PART 1: Meet the founder: Raphael Güller,  Co-Founder and Chief Design Officer at Sweep

During this new episode of our Founder Series, we are sitting down with Raphael Güller, Co-Founder and Chief Design Officer at Sweep. Sweep is a platform for large companies to reduce their emissions,  both across the structure of the organization and across the value chain. One of Sweep’s biggest challenges and main objectives is tackling scope three emissions within its customer base. 

I was very excited to speak with Raphael, who has worked in different designer roles throughout his career as a graphic designer, brand designer, and finally creative director at ZenDesk where he met the rest of his co-founders. Two years ago, inspired by wildfires he experienced on vacation, he joined his co-founders in starting Sweep, which just closed a $100 Million funding round in early 2022. In this episode, Raphael walks us through that journey, and how he and his co-founders iterated on Sweep and what their catalyst moment was that made them all realize it’s all hands on deck for climate. 

 In this episode, Raphael methodically explains the carbon market and how managing carbon within a big business is a matter of data and how you use it. Tackling scope three emissions is a question of orchestrating among all the big and small suppliers down the line to create a bigger picture of a company’s footprint. That is why Raphael prefers the term carbon management to carbon accounting - it’s more than measuring; it’s understanding what to do with those measurements. With that in mind, Raphael acts as our guide across the carbon landscape, its regulations, market opportunities, and how he uses data to tackle the problem. 

 PART 2: My secret sauce: (AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS ONLY=> More info on our site)

During the second part of the talk,  Raphael gives fundraising tips for SaaS companies along with a glimpse at his work-life balance and what books he reads to help maintain that balance. 

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Sheetal was frustrated with the amount of food wasted in regular food processing, so she founded a company that explored the hidden gems left behind in the food we treasured. 

Ep.#52   Sheetal Bahirat, Founder and CEO at Hidden Gems Beverage Company   Tech4Climate Podcast by Startup Basecamp

PART 1: Meet the founder: Sheetal Bahirat, Founder and CEO at Hidden Gems Beverage Company

During this new episode of our Founder Series, we are sitting down with Sheetal Bahirat, Founder and CEO at Hidden Gems Beverage Company, winner of our 6th Quarterly Pitch Competition last June. Sheetal is working to extract nutrients out of food waste to create functional products and ingredients through her company Hidden Gems. Her first product, Reveal, is an avocado seed brew containing antioxidants extracted from avocado seeds to make a beverage that is not only good for your gut, but improves the ability of avocado seeds to have a second life and break down in commercial composting. 

I was very much looking forward to speaking with Sheetal, who is particularly passionate about food and how it can have such a powerful effect on us, on how we feel, how we interact with others, and how we build community. After several startup ventures, Sheetal received her Masters in Culinary Arts and Sciences where she learned the technical know-how she would need to tackle the food waste problem. After many iterations, customer reviews, and trial runs, she has brought to market a product that is not only sustainable, but that answers the question, what is an avocado seed beverage even supposed to taste like, and how do I match people’s expectations?

 In this episode, Sheetal walks us through the problem of food waste and how it’s not just in stores; it’s in your fridge, on the farm, in the restaurant, and in that food product you love. By taking us through her own founder’s journey, she takes us on another journey through the food waste landscape as we answer some key questions: What is the market opportunity? What are some of the key stumbling blocks? Does regulation serve to hinder or help? Why is it critical to upcycle food waste?

 PART 2: My secret sauce: (AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS ONLY=> More info on our site)

During the second part of the talk, Sheetal gives tips on fundraising and how to tell your founder’s story in a compelling way to get more attention. She also explains her tips for managing a work life balance and what that concept means to her. She will also explore what she reads in her free time to find value for her business in her own climate tech space.

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From politics to publishing, and now venture capital, Itamar Weizman

provides a fascinating look at the climate tech landscape in Israel and

beyond.

Ep.#51 Itamar Weizman @ Firstime VC - Tech4Climate Podcast by Startup

basecamp

PART 1: Meet the investor

In today’s episode, we are speaking with Itamar Weizman, Partner and

Head of Climate Investments @ Firstime VC, one of the key players of the

climate tech landscape in Israel. Itamar’s career began in non-profit

activism with Greenpeace and political campaigning, but a few years ago,

he made the shift toward climate and came in to lead climate tech at

Firstime VC. He now also runs a non-profit publishing company to promote

sustainable thinking in Hebrew.

I was excited to have Itamar on the show and to learn from his extensive

knowledge of the climate tech ecosystem in Israel. It was particularly

interesting to learn what advantages he thinks Israel brings to the

table in terms of the global ecosystem, and why Israel is such a leader

in foodtech, transportation, and mobility. Above all, Itamar provided

an interesting glimpse of how he arrived at leading climate tech at

Firstime VC, and what his journey looked like along the way, peppered

with book recommendations and the seminal studies he learned from that

informed his thinking.

In this episode, Itamar explains his drive to protect humanity from

itself. In doing so, he explains how he joined Firstime VC, how he

partners with founders, and how he measures impact versus greenwashing,

to ensure that his fund truly contributes to climate efforts. Most

importantly, he explains how he maintains his optimism on how we can

solve climate change, despite the challenges, and how he avoids feeling

demoralized about the challenging times ahead..

Part 2: My secret sauce:

In the second part of the show, Itamar gives a run-through of what he

looks for in the companies he invests in. Itamar is a self-professed

podcast and book enthusiast, so he also gives an extensive list of the

podcasts and books that have been useful to him in understanding the

climate tech space.

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partners.🌱

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Noah understands that DAC is not only necessary to counteract climate

change, but is an important tool for carbon-producing countries to take

responsibility for their emissions.

Ep.#50 Noah McQueen, Co-Founder and Head of Research at Heirloom

Tech4Climate Podcast by Startup Basecamp

PART 1: Meet the founder: Noah McQueen, Co-Founder and Head of Research

at Heirloom

During this new episode of our Founder Series, we are sitting down with

Noah McQueen, Co-Founder and Head of Research at Heirloom. The DAC

technology developed by Heirloom enhances a natural process called

carbon mineralization, which helps minerals absorb CO2 from the ambient

air in days rather than years. By combining the best of engineering and

nature, Heirloom can offer the most cost-effective and scalable Direct

Air Capture solution in the world.

I was very much looking forward to speaking with Noah, whose academic

background in chemical engineering provided valuable insight into the

Direct Air Capture landscape. Noah has long been an activist and is

primarily motivated by advocacy through a social justice lens, beginning

with working for several years with LGBTQ+ students in STEM. During

their PhD studies, Noah concentrated on DAC technology but realized the

huge gap between the science on an academic level and the need to

commercialize these technologies, a realization that coincided with

meeting their co-founder and starting Heirloom.

In this episode, Noah helps us visualize Heirloom’s direct air capture

process, what minerals they use, and how they plan to scale their

technology to reach 1 billion tons of CO2 captured by 2035. Not only

that, but Noah explains the regulatory landscape and how we need to

create a sustainable global carbon market, so that we grow compliance

markets to match voluntary markets. Above all, Noah provides a detailed

explanation not only of how to implement direct air capture, but also

why it is critical for climate equity and justice.

PART 2: My secret sauce: (AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS ONLY - More info on our

site)

During the second part of the talk, Noah offers a few tips for

fundraising, specific for non-software companies, and how they have

successfully onboarded big names like Stripe or Wise. Noah also explains

how they manage a work-life balance as co-founder, and what they read,

and do to take time off.

🚨 OUR COMMITMENT🚨

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Partners.🌱

Help us to reach this 1st goal.

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Podcast by Startup Basecamp 👉 https://startupbasecamp.org/the-tech-4-climate-podcast/

 Natan believes in the power and potential of humanity; that’s why he is doing his part to protect it. 

Ep.#49   Natan Shahar, Founder and CEO of Standard Carbon - Tech4Climate Podcast by Startup Basecamp

PART 1: Meet the founder: Natan Shahar, Founder & CEO at Standard Carbon

During this new episode of our Founder Series, we are sitting down with Natan Shahar, Founder and CEO of Standard Carbon. Natan’s vision is that every fossil-fuel facility can be retrofitted to become carbon neutral. He built Standard Carbon so that current CO2 emissions from any-source can be turned back into fuel with renewable energy. 

I was excited to speak with Natan, whose powerful belief in the human potential has propelled him in his career. As a father of eight children, he believes that every human has tremendous capacity to innovate, create and bring value to the world. Armed with this belief, he embarked on a journey that led him to found Standard Carbon as a solution to humanity’s biggest challenge. Specifically, Natan understands the importance of creating technology that is accessible to the world’s poor, as only when we fight poverty, can we fight climate change. 

 In this episode, we will learn the ins and outs of the carbon sequestration market and process, how it works for non-scientists, and how captured GHG compares to the carbon market price. Natan also walks us through his solution to carbon sequestration, its scalability, market value, and how it compares to other solutions on the market. As a player in the GHG sequestration market, Natan offers a thorough run-through of the key challenges of the sector, and a clear explanation of the viability and significance of his solution to climate change 

PART 2: My secret sauce: (AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS ONLY - More info on our site)

During the second part of the talk,  Natan offers a few tips for fundraising and gaining traction for your startup. He also explains how he has managed a work-life balance as the CEO of a tech startup and father of 8 children, and what advice he has for other founders. 

🚨 OUR COMMITMENT🚨

When we reach 1000 subscribers we will plant 1000 trees with our Partners.🌱

Help us to reach this 1st goal.

Share 1 episode with a friend.❤️  🌎

Access to exclusive content & learn more about Tech 4 Climate Podcast by Startup Basecamp        👉  https://startupbasecamp.org/the-tech-4-climate-podcast/

Zach has always worked as a sustainability entrepreneur; from a worm farm to Carbon Collective, Zach understands the scale of investing required to counteract climate change. 

Ep.#48   Zach Stein, Co-founder of Carbon Collective - Tech4Climate Podcast by Startup Basecamp

PART 1: Meet the founder:

During this new episode of our Founder Series, we are sitting down with  Zach Stein Co-founder of Carbon Collective, the first online investment advisor 100% focused on climate change. When Zach founded the company, he understood that a lot of workers in the sustainability sector were not offered retirement plans that matched their values and their work. Furthermore, he saw a clear gap in the market for investment that was not just greenwashing but provided transparent investments in climate change.  Through Carbon Collective, he works with customers to allow them to align their investment goals with their values and life’s work. 

I was excited to speak with Zach, who has worked as an entrepreneur in the Bay Area for his entire career beginning with building a worm farm immediately after finishing university. After a few other start-up ventures, Zach built Carbon Collective as a way to accelerate divesting in fossil fuels and promoting investing in sustainability in a way that is more transparent for users and promises investment in real climate change solutions, not just greenwashing. 

 In this episode, we will learn more about the green or Climate  investing landscape. Zach walks us through the main challenges of current investing strategies and how most ESG funding is a step in the right direction, but still needs to be realigned with realisting climate change investing goals. Zach also explains the details of his business model, how he onboards customers, what stocks he chooses, and the market opportunity of Carbon Collective. Throughout this discussion, Zach provides an insightful perspective of how to invest in climate action in a way that truly allows us to not only to divest in fossil fuels, but fuel the 20-fold investment in sustainability needed to fight climate change. 

PART 2: My secret sauce: (AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS ONLY=> More info on our site)

During the second part of the talk,  Zach provides insights on fundraising for young Climate Tech entrepreneurs, and how he has managed the work-life balance of being a CEO and a dad. Finally he will share some of the books he has read that have been useful along the way. 

🚨 OUR COMMITMENT🚨

When we reach 1000 subscribers we will plant 1000 trees with our Partners.🌱

Help us to reach this 1st goal.

Share 1 episode with a friend.❤️  🌎

Access to exclusive content & learn more about Tech 4 Climate Podcast by Startup Basecamp        👉  https://startupbasecamp.org/the-tech-4-climate-podcast/

Based in the Bay Area and with investments reaching across the pond, Paul Straub explains why focusing on the environment and human health are a multi-decade need and trend that he has capitalized on to ensure his investments make a significant impact.

Ep.#47 Paul Straub @ Wireframe Ventures - Tech4Climate Podcast by Startup basecamp

PART 1: Meet the investor

In today’s episode, we are speaking with Paul Straub, Managing Partner & Co-Founder at Wireframe Ventures, a seed & early-stage VC firm backing missionary founders attacking hard problems with a focus on climate and human health. With the firm, they look for founding teams who can build a compelling product/service that can one day re-define a market or create an entirely new one. Their capital is early, active and patient, leading up to series A.

I was excited to have Paul on the show and get his perspective on the climate tech landscape today. Prior launching the firm back in 2016, Paul spent 10 years+ as a VC actively investing in and supporting founders with Claremont Creek Ventures based in Silicon Valley. During that period, Paul and his co-founder identified that there was a clear gap in the market for investing in businesses that had an environmental or human health focus and saw a multi-decade need and trend in becoming capital partners with these kinds of businesses.

In this episode, Paul will share his view of the headwinds and bumps of the climate/clean tech ecosystem and what impact government policies can have on the market. Paul also speaks specifically to the genesis of Wireframe Ventures, how he developed it, and where he finds the amazing founders they partner with. Together, we also explore some of his previous investments and discuss which sectors of the Climate Tech space he considers promising in terms of return and potential for impact.

Part 2: My secret sauce:

In the second part of the show, Paul will give his secret sauce for founders looking to pitch to investors successfully and the main criteria that he, as an investor, looks at when basing his investment decisions. He also explains which climate tech founders he is particularly interested in hearing from. Lastly, Paul gives 3 bits of advice to founders on how to build a successful fundraising strategy.

🚨 OUR COMMITMENT🚨

When we reach 1000 subscribers we will plant 1000 trees with our Partners.🌱

Help us to reach this 1st goal.

Share 1 episode with a friend.❤️ 🌎

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Podcast by Startup Basecamp 👉 https://startupbasecamp.org/the-tech-4-climate-podcast/

Looking for solutions to climate change can often be in the overlooked

process we use to build our society

Ep.#46 Cody Finke, co-founder and CEO of Brimstone Energy

PART 1: Meet the founder:

During this new episode of our Founder Series, we are sitting down with

Cody Finke, Co-founder and CEO of Brimstone Energy. Brimstone Energy

creates the world's first carbon negative Portland cement without

changing the product or the price. Brimstone has developed a cement

formula that has successfully removed cement-making process emissions

and yet is scalable and cost-effective.

I was excited to speak with Cody, a lover of the outdoors, who began his

career as a chemist working developing wastewater treatment technology

at Caltech before realizing that if he wanted to make impactful change,

he needed to start a business to sell new technologies able to tackle

environmental problems. He therefore went in pursuit of finding a

solution to the lesser-known environmental pollutants and settled on

cement, currently A BIG challenge with great potential climate impacts,

since Cement production currently contributes to 5.5% of global

greenhouse gas emissions.

In this episode, we will learn more about the often-overlooked cement

industry, who the big players are, what gaps Cody discovered in the

market, and how tackling the carbon emissions from cement-production can

have a big impact on climate goals. Cody then goes into the details of

cement production and how he plans to scale his cement process and

promote his solution as the only one that tackles cement process

emissions. Cody then gives us an overview of the biggest challenges in

the market and what the main opportunities and risks of his business

model are.

PART 2: My secret sauce: (AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS ONLY -More info on our

site)

During the second part of our discussion, Cody will give his secret

sauce for early-stage founders looking to fundraise by giving his tips

based on his last funding round of 55M USD. Finally, he will share how

he has managed to maintain a good work-life balance as a busy CEO and

some of the books he found useful.

🚨 OUR COMMITMENT🚨

When we reach 1000 subscribers we will plant 1000 trees with our

Partners.🌱

Help us to reach this 1st goal.

Share 1 episode with a friend.❤️ 🌎

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Podcast by Startup Basecamp 👉 https://startupbasecamp.org/the-tech-4-climate-podcast/

From political tech to frontier tech, Michael found you don’t need a science background to make a big impact in climate tech. 

Ep.#45 Michael Luciani, founder of Exponential Impact  - Tech4Climate Podcast by Startup basecamp

PART 1: Meet the investor

In today’s episode, we are speaking with Michael Luciani, founding partner at Exponential Impact Rolling Fund.  Exponential Impact is a pre-seed and seed stage fund that backs frontier-tech founders developing technologies largely in the field of synthetic biology tech, deeptech or hardtech startups in order to provide radically effective solutions for  the Climate crisis . 

I was excited to speak with Michael whose varied career path began with his domestic policy work in the White House to then join the Hilary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign. He then transitioned into the Tech sector when he founded Tuesday, a political-tech startup for advocacy organizations and nonprofits which has been backed by well-known Tech investors such as ​​Reid Hoffman or Chris Sacca, prior to being acquired in 2020. Despite not having a background in science, Michael found that he could still make a valuable contribution to the climate tech sector and founded Exponential Impact to support companies that have the potential to save the world (literally). 

With Michael’s interesting background, I was looking forward to getting his non-scientist  view on synthetic biology and its huge potential impact on the economy and the climate tech sector. During the show, Micheal gives an interesting overview of the synthetic bio landscape and who he sees are the major players, the regulatory challenges and opportunities, and the most exciting synbio tech applications that are currently cooking in the labs. He also shares more about his approach to climate tech funding, how he built Exponential impact, how he sources founders, what he offers them and how he measures their potential impact. 

Part 2: My secret sauce:

In the second part of the show, Michael gives his secret sauce for founders looking to pitch to investors and the criteria he uses to base his investment decisions along with a few examples of what works, what doesnt, and the red flags he notices when hearing pitches. Lastly, Michael gives us his main book recommendations for Entrepreneurs in Climate Tech. 

🚨 OUR COMMITMENT🚨

When we reach 1000 subscribers we will plant 1000 trees with our Partners.🌱

Help us to reach this 1st goal.

Share 1 episode with a friend.❤️  🌎

Access to exclusive contents & learn more about Tech 4 Climate Podcast by Startup Basecamp        👉  https://startupbasecamp.org/the-tech-4-climate-podcast/

Starting his career as an environmental engineer, William found that one

of the best ways of protecting the planet was with climate tech.

Ep.#44 William Loopesko, Founder and CTO of Aclymate - Tech4Climate

Podcast by Startup Basecamp

PART 1: Meet the founder:

During this new episode of our Founder Series, we are sitting down with

William Loopesko, Co-founder and CTO of Aclymate. Aclymate (a

Techstars-backed company), is a free and easy carbon accounting software

solution specifically designed for small and medium-sized businesses

who want to address their climate footprint, but don't have time to

become climate experts.

I was excited to speak with William, who has always been passionate

about protecting the environment. Growing up in Colorado, William spent a

lot of his time enjoying the outdoors and wanted to do his part to

protect the natural environment. William began his career as a

hydrologist before realizing that environmental engineering was not the

best way of protecting the planet. After a previous experience as a solo

founder, William co-founded Aclymate in 2021, with the vision to make

it easy and affordable for small businesses to achieve carbon neutrality

by providing an automated carbon footprint calculator and offering

high-quality carbon offsets.

In this episode, we will learn more about the main players and needs in

the carbon-accounting landscape today, the challenges and opportunities

of current carbon-accounting regulations, and how to incentivize

businesses to offset their footprint. We will look at the ins and outs

of carbon accounting, how to find carbon projects, how to calculate

footprints, and how to create a platform that is easy to use for

customers. Finally, we will look at his founder's journey, the

challenges he had to overcome, and the next steps necessary to achieve

his visions. We will conclude the interview with William’s thoughts on

how we can tackle the climate crisis and how you can get involved in the

process.

PART 2: My secret sauce: (AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS ONLY - More info on our

site)

During the second part of the talk, William will give his secret sauce

for early-stage founders looking to fundraise by giving his tips after

graduating from Techstars Sustainability for increasing the odds of

success. Finally, he will share how he has managed to maintain a good

work-life balance as a busy CEO and what he has learned to spend his

energy on to re-energize.

🚨 OUR COMMITMENT🚨

When we reach 1000 subscribers we will plant 1000 trees with our

Partners.🌱

Help us to reach this 1st goal.

Share 1 episode with a friend.❤️ 🌎

Access to exclusive content & learn more about Tech 4 Climate

Podcast by Startup Basecamp 👉 https://startupbasecamp.org/the-tech-4-climate-podcast/