Future Optimist

Anna Luisa Beserra Santos is the CEO of Sustainable Development & Water For All, a Brazilian organization bringing water and sanitation to people who lack access. Proper water and sanitation have the power to reduce the number of deaths from waterborne diseases by as much as 65%, and Anna and her startup have already benefitted more than 15,000 people in 15 Brazilian states. Anna founded her startup in 2015 at the age of 17, and in 2019 she won the UN Champions of the Earth Award. She was also the youngest Brazilian graduate in Leadership for New Enterprises from MIT at the age of 18. ➡️ https://sdwforall.com ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 

Carrie Chan is the Co-Founder & CEO of Avant Meats, the first cultivated fish company in Asia. What is cultivated fish? If you assumed it meant fish that’s refined and well-educated, you’re wrong, but hey that’s what I thought, too! Instead, it means that they are able to create real fish using the cells in a process that’s not dissimilar to brewing beer. They can take the fish cells and multiply them in a controlled environment, bringing you real fish without the animal killings, without those yummy microplastic seasonings that we all love so much, and without toxic heavy metals like that mercury that gives fish its healthy, wholesome taste.  Carrie has raised over 13 million dollars for her idea so far, and in my opinion, it’s the future of fish and meat. ➡️ https://www.avantmeats.com ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 

Shiloh Johnson is the founder and CEO of ComplYant, a digital tax assistant platform that’s raised over 10 million in funding to date. Shiloh’s personal journey is incredible, which you’ll soon find out, but the upshot is this: in her time as CPA, she noticed that many—most?—small business owners were making the same mistakes.  She soon realized that there was a gap in the market and got to work building a platform to help business owners such as myself be a little less stupid. Ok, the stupidity part just applies to me, but everyone could use a little help. This episode is great for anyone who’s thinking about starting a business or bringing an idea into the world.  ➡️ https://complyant.co ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 

Stefan Ytterborn is the CEO & Co-Founder of CAKE, a Swedish tech company making light and totally silent off-road and commuter electric motorcycles. They’ve raised over $70 million in funding so far, and their ambitious goal is to create the cleanest dirt bike ever—striving to approach that magical “completely fossil-free” goal. CAKE was listed to  Time Magazine’s 100 most important inventions award in 2021, and they’re reimagining electric transportation from the ground up.  ➡️ https://ridecake.com/

Tessa Callaghan is the CEO and co-founder of Keel Labs, makers of a seaweed-based yarn they call Kelsun.  In case you didn’t know, the textile and fashion industries are a mess, and they contribute enormous amounts of waste to our planet. Tessa and her co-founders set out to create a fully functional yarn with a significantly lower environmental footprint than conventional fibers. They’re harnessing a biopolymer from kelp to achieve this, and kelp is one of the most regenerative organisms on our planet.  They’ve raised tens of millions in funding for their concept, and I’m excited to see what comes next. Here’s Tessa Callaghan of Keel Labs.

Susan Stone is CEO of Ubiquitous Energy, the world leader in transparent solar technology working towards a goal of helping solve climate change by creating truly transparent renewable energy for every surface across the globe. Ubiquitous Energy has developed transparent solar cells to create its ClearView Power windows, a kind of “solar glass” that can turn sunlight into energy without needing the bluish-grey opaque panels those cells are generally associated with. Ubiquitous Energy’s patented technology, UE Power™, is the world’s first invisible electricity-generating alternative to traditional windows.  It’s something I can’t wait to see everywhere all around us, it’s just amazing stuff! ➡️ https://ubiquitous.energy ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 

Krishna Manda is the Co-founder and CEO of Etho Inc., a start-up building augmented reality hardware and software for motorcycle helmets, including a voice assistant, navigation, and riding information displayed right on the inside of the helmet  Soon you’ll be able to keep your eyes on the road as you ride and have access to more information than ever before. With 68% of daily commuters admitting to using their phones to navigate to places, these distractions can be fatal on motorcycles where every reaction counts.  Learn how a life-changing accident set this aerospace engineer on the path to creating a revolutionary product.  ➡️ https://etho.io ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 

Sahand Dilmaghani is the Founder & CEO at Terra Kaffe, a coffee tech company that’s raised over 14 million in funding so far.  Sahand has a remarkable story that led him down the path of entrepreneurship, and his company is making more eco-friendly coffee and espresso machines that look and taste incredible.  Sahand made Forbes Next 1000 in the consumer tech category, which is good for him but bad for me, as I had to settle for 1,001, failing to make the cut YET AGAIN. Come on Forbes! In seriousness, Terra Kaffe estimate that they’ve prevented over a million pods from becoming garbage, and in the words of the immortal Martha Stewart, that’s a good thing. ➡️ https://www.terrakaffe.com ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast 

Paul Gross is the Co-CEO & Co-founder of Remora, a start-up that captures carbon emissions directly from semi-trucks as they drive. This tech, called a “mobile carbon capture system”, is the first of its kind to be commercialized anywhere in the world.  Remora’s system can be retrofitted onto existing diesel trucks, capturing and storing their carbon. And this is a big deal, because there are over 2 million semis in the US alone. They’ve raised millions in funding, and they’re already working with major brands to help reduce total carbon emissions globally. Paul himself was listed to Forbes 30 Under 30, and he has an inspiring story for us all. 

Dinesh Tadepalli is the Chief Spoon Seller & Co-Founder of Incredible Eats, a start-up that’s attempting to replace single-use plastic cutlery with edible alternatives.  How does that work? You might be asking. Well, they need both sweet and savory options (think ice cream vs. hot soup), and their products perform better than paper alternatives.  Edible cutlery is something that’s never before been implemented at scale, and the company was featured on Shark Tank where they received multiple offers.  The company is carbon-negative, and proof that the best way to avoid dealing with waste is to prevent it from ever reaching the landfill to begin with. ➡️ https://incredibleeats.com/ ➡️ Highlights: https://rosspalmer.com/podcast