Electrifying cars and trucks is an essential part of decarbonizing mobility. But there's another vital piece in the race to zero-emissions transportation: public transit.

Transit tech is emerging as one of the most exciting areas in the climate space. It's made up of companies using technology to get people out of their cars and onto shared vehicles like vans, buses, and trains. And the need has never been greater.

When the pandemic threw public transportation systems around the world into turmoil, transit tech companies stepped in – reshaping routes overnight, enabling essential workers to get to their jobs. These same technologies can also be used to decarbonize transportation.

That's where our guest, Remix co-founder Tiffany Chu, focuses her energy.

Tiffany co-founded Remix, starting as COO before becoming CEO in 2019. She stayed in that role until March of 2021, when Remix was acquired by Via, a public transit networking company, for $100 million.

Today she's the senior vice president of Remix at Via.

So what made Remix an acquisition target worth $100 million?

Emily sat down with Tiffany to talk about her early struggles as an architecture graduate who couldn't find a job, and how a viral tweet set her and her company on a path to change public transportation. We also talked about why transit tech is getting so much attention right now – and its role in our zero-carbon future.

Watt It Takes is brought to you by Google. Google is pioneering the electricity systems of the future with its effort to source 24/7 carbon-free energy by 2030 — so that everyone can have round-the-clock, carbon-free energy everywhere they operate, in every hour of the day. Learn more.

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Powerhouse is an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate. Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. You can learn more at powerhouse.fund.

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Around the World with Permanent Portfolio's Michael Cuggino