Ben Eidelson, Co-founder of Stepchange, discusses product-led climate companies, 2 exits to big tech, starting a climate fund, and how his kids changed his life. Topics include product-led companies, PMs in climate, active listening, founder potential, vulnerability in relationships, and the impact of 'Climate Papa'.

Today we speak with Virginia Klausmeier, President & CEO of Sylvatex, a company aiming to commercialize technology that was originally developed by her father. The technology is a waterless method to produce Cathode Active Materials (the chemicals that go into the production of various types of batteries). We cover a lot of things. The primary topics being Onshoring Battery Production, Getting to Bankability, and How their Technology works. Enjoy the episode! 🌱🌎---🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.  ---🌴 https://linktr.ee/cleantechies📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube 🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey 📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox 🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel ----- Topics: **1:23 Intro**7:11 Battery Mfg in the US**9:11 Onshoring Battery Mfg**9:42 The Opportunity**15:54 Motivation**17:12 The Story of Sylvatex**19:16 Starting a Company**21:03 Taking the Leap**24:13 Waterless Cathode Production**30:51 State of Sylvatex**42:11 Pilot Funding**42:41Milestones for Commercialization**45:05 Getting to Bankability**47:29 Debt Financing for Modular Manufacturing**48:25 Navigating the Unknown----- Links: **Virginia Klausmeier | Sylvatex **Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn**@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X Support the showEvery ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Founder and CEO of Pathways, Leise Sandeman, discusses digitizing supply chains for environmental impact analysis. Topics include decarbonizing construction materials, identifying climate-friendly materials, finding the right investors, and the challenges in the built environment sector. Insights on sustainability, material innovation, and the importance of transparency in climate-friendly solutions.

Silas speaks with Ryan Jeffery, Sr. Managing Director of the Sustainability Accelerators at Gener8tor, a collection of Accelerators that serve the rest of the country outside of SF, NYC, and Boston, where the majority of VC dollars go. (Take the CleanTechies Listeners Survey to help us better serve you)Ryan started as a founder. Later, he became a VC and eventually ended up in Gener8tor running the sustainability-focused accelerators because of his desire to be closer to the founders and more involved. He shared a lot of great data on where funding goes, his story, why investing in underserved founders is, beyond being the right thing to do, also leads to better returns. Enjoy the episode! 🌱🌎-----🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.  -----🚨🚨🚨 Shoutout to our sponsor Net Zero Insights — Net Zero Insights is the leading market intelligence platform on climate information with all the latest you need on funding rounds, VCs, and the climate tech ecosystem. Use this link to schedule your demo and get a 10% discount!! 🚨🚨🚨-----📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel-----Topics:**4:00 Joining Gener8tor**7:40 Biz Model, Challenges, & Financing an Accelerator**8:56 Partnering w/ Corps**11:35 Focus on Underserved Areas**13:54 The Role of Non-Silicon Valley States in Climate Transition**22:00 Value Add of an Accelerator**34:13 Collab in Non-Tech Hub Areas**40:27 Gap for These Founders**42:03 Role of AI in Solving Climate Change**49:40 Milestones for Hard Tech Companies**57:46 Hiring & Building a Team**59:57 Raising Tips**1:06:44 Advice to Investors**1:08:19 Getting into VC-----Links:**Ryan Jeffery | Gener8tor**Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn**@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X Support the showEvery ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Robin Lane, CEO and founder of Transect, discusses improving site selection, permitting challenges, and the cost of solar. She shares her experiences with developers, growing as a founder, and the future of infrastructure projects. The podcast also covers building trust, becoming an entrepreneur in the climate industry, and the development of Transect's geospatial data product.

Peter Sun, founding team at Climactic, an early stage fund investing in ClimateTech, talks about the impact of AI in climate tech and the opportunities for software in decarbonization. They discuss the challenges of implementing transmission lines, the value of data in climate tech, and starting a climate VC fund. Peter also shares insights on evaluating companies for automation and efficiency.

Adam Goff, the senior vice president of strategy at 8 Rivers, shares his insights on clean technology commercialization. He discusses the critical role of policy in advancing carbon capture, particularly the 45Q tax credit. Goff delves into the evolution of 8 Rivers, focusing on their innovative clean hydrogen technology. He also highlights the unique challenges of the climate tech hardware sector, stressing the importance of systematic approaches and understanding market dynamics for effective innovation.

Guest Helena Merk, CEO of Streamline Climate, discusses their AI powered tech that helps companies identify and land grants. Topics include crash course on grants, streamlining the grant process, choosing the right grants, finding a co-founder, GTM strategies, and fundraising journey.

Climate Tech founders needs lots of different financing options and styles of support – ClimateDoor is an example of a niche’d styles of venture support that I hope we see more of in ClimateTech VC.ClimateDoor is a style of venture builder called “Growth-as-a-Service”, functioning similarly to a late stage accelerator.We dive into the nuances of their model, the Canadian VC ecosystem, what its like founding a company with your childhood best friend and more. Enjoy the episode! 🌱🌎-----🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.  -----🚨🚨🚨 Shoutout to our sponsor Net Zero Insights — Net Zero Insights is the leading market intelligence platform on climate information with all the latest you need on funding rounds, VCs, and the climate tech ecosystem. Use this link to schedule your demo and get a 10% discount!! 🚨🚨🚨-----📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube 🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey 📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox 🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel ----- Topics: **00:00 Introduction and Background**07:14 Overview of Climate Door**13:27 The story of Polar Beer Taps**16:10 Advantages of "Growth-as-a-Service"**23:24 Canadian Venture Ecosystem**26:20 Blending Capital Sources in Climate Tech**29:30 Navigating Fundraising and Building Investor Relationships**35:01 Streamlining Operations with AI**39:51 Hiring Advice for Early Stage Companies**42:57 Fundraising Advice for Bridge Stage Companies**49:03 Challenges in Finding Value Spots in Climate----- Links: **Nick Findler | Chad Rickaby | ClimateDoor**Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn**@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X Support the showEvery ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)

Our guest today is Tobias Egle, an investor at M Ventures, the Corporate Venture arm of Merck. Tobias joins us today to speak about deep tech investing, specifically around materials innovation and the decarbonization of electronics manufacturing. A topic that has been in the news a lot recently is PFAS, and given his work, he was able to speak about the issues with PFAS as well as how to get rid of it. He also provided some advice to highly technical founders when it comes to team building and surrounding themselves with the right partners. Enjoy the episode! 🌱🌎-----🌎 Want the full PodLetter? Go to our substack to see the written content that supplements the audio interview.  -----🚨🚨🚨 Shoutout to our sponsor Net Zero Insights — Net Zero Insights is the leading market intelligence platform on climate information with all the latest you need on funding rounds, VCs, and the climate tech ecosystem. Use this link to schedule your demo and get a 10% discount!! 🚨🚨🚨-----📺 👀 Prefer to watch: subscribe on YouTube 🗣️ Take the Listeners Survey 📫 Get Written Summaries of Each Episode in Your Inbox 🌐 Join the CleanTechies Slack Channel ----- 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: **Tobias Egle | M Ventures**Check out our Sponsor, NextWave Partners**Follow CleanTechies on LinkedIn**@Silas & @Somil_Agg on X Support the showEvery ClimateTech Entrepreneur needs a reliable partner for their legal needs. Why settle for less than the best? 💪🏽Reach out to Goodwin Law today; the law firm of choice for hundreds of ClimateTech Entrepreneurs worldwide. They have you covered from funding docs to offtake contracts to IPO and M&A support. GoodwinLaw.com (and tell them CleanTechies sent you!)