CleanTechies Podcast #149 PFAS, Sustainable Semiconductors, Water Consumption, & More w/ Tobias Egle (M Ventures)
🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, VC edition.
Today, we are talking to Tobias Egle from M Ventures
Tobias has a science-to-venture background, which made this a slightly different conversation than most of our VC episodes. The major topics we covered were…
* His personal experience of going from PhD to venture
* Decarbonizing the electronics manufacturing industry. With a specific focus on semi-conductors
* Concrete examples of how AI is being used to advance the sustainable materials discovery process
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The Guest: Tobias Egle
* Tobias Egle is currently a Venture Investor at M Ventures, the Corporate Venture arm of Merck.
* He studied Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering at Harvard, where he completed his PhD. During that time, he also had attempted, with a peer, to start a company. That time gave him a taste of entrepreneurship.
* As he sought to find his path, he ended up sort of by accident, landing in venture.
* Today, he’s investing in deep tech investment with M Ventures, where a part of what he invests in is the decarbonization of the semiconductor industry and electronics manufacturing at large.
* Having the perspective of someone earlier in their career is quite refreshing.
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The VC: M Ventures
M Ventures is the Corporate Venture arm of German Pharma giant, Merck. The fund has allocated over €600m, was set up in 2009, and now has over 90 investments.
They focus their investments across the sectors that intersect with their work in pharma, but also have a portion they allocate towards sustainability. In the world of semiconductors, there is a huge opportunity for further decarbonization of the manufacturing process.
Another example is technology that can detect, capture, and destroy PFAS. A topic that hit the news heavily in the past few months.
They start investing at early stages unlike many CVCs.
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📝 Show Notes:
Topics
* 01:21 - Introduction and Background
* 04:32 - Transitioning from Academia to Venture Capital
* 07:48 - Getting into Venture Capital
* 10:52 - Focus Areas of M Ventures
* 17:05 - Decarbonizing Electronics and Life Sciences
* 23:37 - Challenges of PFAS Removal
* 31:45 - Gaps in Deep Tech Founders
* 40:45 - The Impact of AI in Climate Solutions
* 46:55 - Adaptation and Climate Resilience
* 48:10 - Grid Resiliency and Renewable Integration
* 51:40 - Transitioning from R&D to Product and Business Development
* 53:00 - Designing for Manufacturability in Hard Tech
* 56:26 - Sustainable Supply Chain in Electronics Manufacturing
* 57:42 - Team Building and Hiring for Startups
* 01:01:34 - Getting into VC and Starting a Company
Links
* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas
* Check out our sponsor, NextWave Partners, for all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs.
* This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.
Asks 👋
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Here’s the thing: Somil and I both have day jobs, so if you’re in the helping mood, we both have an ask for you today.
Somil: I’m currently seeking to connect with founders in the built environment space for a project I’m working on. If you’re in that space, reach out!
Silas: As many of you know, my day job is solving people’s hiring headaches in climate - do you have a hiring headache? Well, let me be your Advil. (booking here)
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🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in, and see you all next episode!
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