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Entrepreneurs for Impact

Latest episodes

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Mar 18, 2021 • 46min

Distributed, No-Impact Hydropower with High Capacity Factors — Emily Morris, CEO of Emrgy

Led by Emily Morris, Emrgy is deploying high capacity factor next-generation distributed and modular hydropower technology. Below are two excerpts from the podcast. "To understand Emrgy’s approach to hydropower, first, forget everything you think you know about hydro! Most people think of hydro as a mature technology that requires large waterways and big construction budgets and long timelines. We change that by focusing on low-cost, standardized, and durable projects installed with an emphasis on distributed and modular generation facilities." "Our modular generation facilities are each about the size of a large SUV and cost between $35,000 and $50,000. These modules generate electricity with a spinning turbine in much the same way that a windmill would generate electricity. Our primary market to this point has been in the Western US, where the relative lack of accessible water creates the need to move water longer distances, thus creating canals and surface water infrastructure sites in which we can generate electricity. We believe that water has an important role to play in the future of energy for its capacity factor that is higher and more predictable than both solar and wind." Here is the transcript summary of the podcast. -- Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential. Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members. To request more information on membership, click here. Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
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Mar 11, 2021 • 52min

Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence for Reduced Agricultural Waste — Miku Jha, CEO of AgShift

Led by CEO Mike Jha, AgShift reduces agriculture and food waste through better quality control by using AI and the Internet of Things. Below are two excerpts from the podcast. "Our mission is to reduce food waste. We apply the latest innovations in technology such as the Internet of Things, computer vision and artificial intelligence as a means of expression intended to achieve this mission. We automate the quality assessment and grading process for the food industry. Quality is a fundamental concept for the food industry, and we are designing the protocols to make this process better, faster, more consistent and digitized. Ultimately, it is much easier to reduce food waste than it is to increase food production." "We primarily offer our solutions as a software as a service model (SaaS) with an annual subscription. Because our technology is based on artificial intelligence algorithms that run in the background and perform much of the quality assessment analysis, we think this model makes the most sense. We are flexible with customers who may prefer to pay more upfront and less over time, and we can also lease our hardware rather than sell it directly to customers." Here is the transcript summary of the podcast. -- Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential. Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members. To request more information on membership, click here. Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
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Mar 4, 2021 • 49min

VC Investor: Digital Climate Mitigation and Adaptation — Amy Francetic, General Managing Partner of Buoyant Ventures

Led by General Managing Director Amy Francetic, Buoyant Ventures seeks to invest in early-stage digital climate mitigation and climate adaptation-focused companies. Below are two excerpts from the podcast. "We are focused on early-stage digital climate tech solutions. We are looking for software and low-cost hardware that can be layered upon existing infrastructure. In addition to our digital focus, we are also unique in our focus on both climate adaptation and mitigation." "I started working in the high-tech industry in California. My first job out of school was working at a video game company. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about software. I then worked at Hasbro before running a toy company that we then sold to Lego in 2000. Around the same time, I was diagnosed with cancer which forced me to focus on what mattered to me. After beating cancer and having our daughters with my husband I decided to devote my career to the climate tech space given both the financial opportunity but more importantly the chance to make a positive impact on the world. In many ways, this is what I most respect about the young people looking to get into the space now. They have been able to have this dual mission of doing well financially while keeping the bigger impact picture in mind." Here is the transcript summary of the podcast. -- Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential. Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members. To request more information on membership, click here. Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
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Feb 25, 2021 • 49min

$100M+ of Green Affordable Housing + Greening Utilities — Jackie Dakakis, CEO of Green Coast Enterprises

Led by CEO Jacquelyn Dadakis, Green Coast Enterprises is a sustainable infrastructure developer focused on the construction, remodeling, and certification of green commercial buildings in the Southeast. Below are two excerpts from the podcast. "We are a triple bottom line real estate development and green building services company based in New Orleans. We've built nearly $100 million worth of real estate here in the city of New Orleans over the last 13 years. We also provide LEED certifications, Enterprise Green Community certifications, and green building retro-commissioning to other building owners throughout Louisiana and Mississippi." "We work really well with a large portfolio owner of buildings that are commercially metered. Our typical customer relationships are an affordable housing developer that has many multifamily buildings, a school district, or a municipality. Looking forward, we hope to work with more utilities in the Southeast on their commercial building programs, in which they invest money in retrofitting these facilities in order to realize the potential of energy efficiency." Here is the transcript summary of the podcast. -- Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential. Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members. To request more information on membership, click here. Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
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Feb 18, 2021 • 31min

Upgrading Energy Equipment for 500+ Million Square Feet of Office Buildings with New Software Solution — Tom Arnold, CEO of Gridium

Led by CEO Tom Arnold, Gridium aims to reduce the carbon intensity of the built environment with energy efficiency solutions ranging from software optimization to deep retrofits for commercial and industrial real estate providers. Below are two excerpts from the podcast. "Gridium is the leading partner for companies looking to navigate the energy transition. We provide useful software that enables companies to manage energy more effectively with the equipment they already have. In the last year, we have expanded our offerings to help companies upgrade their existing equipment to increase operational efficiency while reducing carbon impact. We service about 3,000 commercial buildings and about a half-billion square feet of office space." "If you look at any city in America and see the high-rise apartment or office buildings, you are looking at billion-dollar assets. However, none of these assets, as incredible as it may seem, are credit-rated. If the asset is not credit-rated, you cannot do the typical ESCO model which is needed to finance a retrofit at this scale. We were able to figure out a financial solution that has enabled us to do ten million dollars of deep energy retrofits in the last year or so. I am not talking about 5% energy savings that you might get from our software solution; I am talking about 30%, 40%, or 50% energy savings from a fundamental transformation of the building." Here is the transcript summary of the podcast. -- Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential. Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members. To request more information on membership, click here. Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
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Feb 11, 2021 • 47min

Nationwide Digital Utility Platform for Renewable Energy — Kiran Bhatraju, CEO of Arcadia

Led by CEO Kiran Bhatraju, Arcadia Power is a platform that provides consumers various clean energy choices to decarbonize their homes. With options ranging from renewable energy credits to community solar and a guaranteed seamless billing experience, Arcadia power makes clean energy accessible and affordable for the residential sector. Below are two excerpts from the podcast. "We are a new nationwide digital utility platform. We give clean energy access to everyone across the country no matter where you live -- home or apartment. Our business is against the backdrop of an industry with a monopoly structure that does not provide a lot of options, and we aim to change that. We have been in the market for five years, but we have been adding new products to the platform over time. We came to the market with a basic 100% renewable energy plan in which homeowners would purchase credits against their bill, and we have become one of the largest virtual power plant platforms in the country." "We are a team of product developers, data scientists, and engineers whose singular focus is to make the customer experience as simple as possible. The reality is that if a single customer would try to go out into the market to purchase clean electrons for themselves whether from a community solar perspective or otherwise, it is nearly impossible." Here is the transcript summary of the podcast. -- Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential. Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members. To request more information on membership, click here. Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
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Feb 4, 2021 • 39min

Sustainable Infrastructure Developer: Carbon, Hydrogen, Agriculture, Renewable Energy — Aaron Ratner President of Cross River Infrastructure Partners

Aaron Ratner, President of Cross River Infrastructure Partners, a sustainable infrastructure developer, delivering next-generation climate positive projects, including carbon, hydrogen, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy. Below are two excerpts from the podcast. "Cross River Infrastructure Partners is a platform of development companies deploying climate technology and capital into sustainable infrastructure projects. We do two things. We co-develop projects with development teams that have very focused expertise in a particular vertical, and we also partner with technology providers to become a developer of their technology as a service into the market. We currently work across carbon, hydrogen, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy, which are increasingly intertwined. The model is to have a platform to catalyze early commercialization of projects and technologies. Our goal is to bring together corporate partners, investment capital and talented technology developers to get early players accelerated up the technology adoption curve." "Our vision is to have built a platform that enables nascent but proven climate technologies to accelerate their deployment and get more projects in the ground by bringing together corporate customers and institutional finance. An additional aspect of the platform would include systematized vetting of technologies, which is a very difficult task. There is really a small window of opportunity, in which a technology is neither too early, risking relationships and capital, nor too late, wasting time and market opportunity. We are going to continue to refine our criteria for this type of project and technology evaluation." Here is the transcript summary of the podcast. -- Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential. Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members. To request more information on membership, click here. Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
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Jan 28, 2021 • 48min

Carbon Sequestration Retrofit Technology for Concrete Plants — Jennifer Wagner, President of CarbonCure Technologies

Led by Jennifer Wagner, CarbonCure Technologies is deploying carbon sequestration retrofit technology for existing concrete plants as it aims to ultimately reduce 500 megatons of CO2 annually. Below are two excerpts from the podcast. "We are one of the fastest-growing companies in the carbon removal industry. We offer a retrofit technology for concrete manufacturers that enables the production of the same reliable, durable concrete but with a reduced carbon footprint. Our solution is unique for its scalability and immediacy. There are many great carbon reduction strategies for an industry that require huge capital expenditures and long timelines for implementation, but we aim to make an impact more quickly and economically. Our solution works with existing infrastructure and regulations and can be installed in a single working day, without disrupting operations." "I am a chemist by training. After completing my undergraduate degree in Montreal, I continued to graduate school where I learned that I did not particularly enjoy lab work. After a particular presentation, I was told by a professor that he did not like the scientific aspect of my presentation, but if I were selling him something, he would buy it. This partially motivated me to pursue an MBA (chuckling). Through conversations with peers, I met CarbonCure’s founder founder Rob Niven who had a consultancy company and was beginning to launch what would become CarbonCure at the time. The rest is history." Here is the transcript summary of the podcast. -- Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential. Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members. To request more information on membership, click here. Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
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Jan 21, 2021 • 43min

Financing and Credit Risk Rating for Off-Grid Solar in Africa — Kate Steel, Co-founder & COO of Nithio

Led by Kate Steel, Nithio is using data science to build a platform for evaluating credit risk and facilitating institutional investment towards off-grid energy solutions in Africa. Below are two excerpts from the podcast. "Our mission is to unlock financing at scale for energy access in Africa. There are 600 million people in Africa who lack access to electricity. It is believed that about 300 million of these people would be best served by off-grid energy solutions. Fortunately, there is a strong off-grid solar market that offers a pre-packaged solution for many of these households. In addition, there is a robust pay-as-you-go financing structure layered on top of that. However, because these systems are not paid for up-front, there is some actual and perceived risk that must be managed to ensure the system is paid for in full over time. We are able to model and understand the consumer financing risk at the household level which enables investors to come off the bench and join the game, thereby fueling the deployment of this off grid solar and storage in Africa. Ultimately, we are creating an alternative credit model standard to unlock this broader financing potential." "We are an intermediary for a blended financing facility. We welcome all types of risk profiles, including equity and debt investors, but would like to see more institutional capital. We operate as a capital conduit enabled by our analytics engine. There are a few market leaders in the off-grid solar space in Africa and a long tail of smaller and often local companies as well. We exist to provide funding for many of these companies as they grow and scale into bigger players." Here is the transcript summary of the podcast. -- Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential. Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members. To request more information on membership, click here. Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.
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Jan 14, 2021 • 56min

Reusing Shipping Containers to Create Green Affordable Housing — Wanona Satcher, CEO of Mahkers Studio

Led by Wanona Satcher, Mahkers Studio builds residential and commercial spaces from used shipping containers. The company is currently focused on accelerating the speed of deployment while dramatically reducing the total cost of construction with its modular construction process in order to address the affordable housing crisis. Below are two excerpts from the podcast. "Mahkers Studio is a green manufacturing and design-build company. We creatively reuse shipping containers as a modular real estate solution. We are able to customize these containers as residential and community spaces with the most impact coming from their ability to serve as affordable housing solutions. We view our solutions as an improvement, in terms of material and land-use efficiency, within the traditional construction industry." "Our fundamental goal is to address the affordable housing crisis. In order to do so, we needed a cost-effective and abundant material that could be constructed in a more efficient and localized manner. These constraints naturally lead to shipping containers that are already existing and consequently cheaper. We are also able to achieve benefits in terms of carbon reduction, structural integrity, and land-use efficiency." Here is the transcript summary of the podcast. -- Entrepreneurs for Impact is the only private mastermind community for investor-backed CEOs, founders, and investors fighting climate change. We’re on a mission to help “scale up” climate leaders supercharge their impacts, share best practices, expand their networks, and reach their full potential. Our highly vetted, invite-only cohorts of 11 executives catalyze personal development and business growth via monthly meetings, annual retreats, a member-only Climate Investor Database, and 1:1 coaching and strategy calls. Here are membership benefits, and these are sample members. To request more information on membership, click here. Peer groups are led by Dr. Chris Wedding who brings $1B+ of investment experience, 50,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.

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