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Entrepreneurs for Impact

#146: $50M VC Funding for Sustainably Produced Chemicals Using Fermentation — Matt Lipscomb⁠, CEO of ⁠DMC Biotechnologies⁠

Sep 14, 2023
40:53

⭐ My guest today is Matt Lipscomb, Founder and CEO of DMC Biotechnologies.

DMC is a Boulder-based biotech company that sustainably produces bio-based chemicals using fermentation, with over $50M in VC funding and a team of over 40 people.

In addition, Matt is a:

  • Certified Ski Mountaineering Guide

  • Rock climbing guide and instructor

  • Director for the American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education

  • PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder

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🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:

  • The meaning of metabolic engineering

  • How rock climbing has taught him to better manage risks as a CEO

  • His experience seeing glacier retreat has inspired his work

  • How DMC engineers microbes to standardize fermentation for cost-effective scale-up

  • The definition of “friend-shoring” and how DMC improves companies’ supply chains

  • Why his early work in chemical plants led him to where he is today

  • What he means to cross-train physically and intellectually

  • The pains of fast growth and techniques he uses to build culture and cohesion while growing 3x this year

  • Why investors care that you’re founding a company with a former cofounder

  • The difference between lifespan and healthspan

  • And lots more

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👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏

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🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 80,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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