I speak with Ginger Rothrock of HG Ventures about investing in industrial technologies. (0:00) Introduction (0:43) Industrial tech defined (1:33) Examples of current innovations with industrial use cases (3:07) How novel industrial tech will impact existing value chain/ecosystem (4:49) The promise and potential of industrial tech in averting the climate crisis and achieving sustainability (7:26) Regulatory environment (EPA, SEC) (9:28) Investing in industrial tech, flow and allocation of capital (11:44) Investment landscape (13:24) How VCs make money by investing in industrial tech (15:44) Risks and challenges when investing in industrial tech (17:58) Current state of economy and impact on early-stage investment activities (18:59) What investors look for (20:50) HG Ventures – mission, investment thesis, value-add (23:50) Advice for entrepreneurs when pitching to investors and building companies
I speak with John Sears of Innovators Legal about intellectual property, business strategy, and deep-tech startups partnering with corporations to co-create value. (0:00) Introduction (0:43) Role of IP in early stage companies (4:31) Common types of IP (7:28) When to protect inventions by patents vs. keeping trade secrets (10:03) Challenges when protecting IP (16:37) Logistics of protection (19:47) Fast track examination (23:01) Valuation of IP (25:16) Best way for startups to work with strategic partners (32:47) Challenges encountered during strategic alliances (43:11) Consequences of failing to protect inventions properly (48:51) Innovators Legal (50:28) Combining IP and business strategies
I speak with Rajiv Banavali, the senior vice president of science and innovation at WestRock, the second largest American packaging company. (0:00) Introduction (0:44) Definition of innovation (1:28) Distinction between breakthrough and incremental innovation (3:53) Identifying opportunities for innovation (5:32) Figuring out what customers and their customer want (8:10) Predicting which products will be successful and which ones will fail (10:27) Setting an innovation strategy (12:42) Role of science at WestRock and drivers of new ideas (17:51) Designing products for sustainability (20:25) Resources needed for innovation (23:37) Creating a culture of innovation (26:23) Innovation killers (28:38) Sustainability as a value driver (30:29) What drivers sustainability (34:56) Circular economy in packaging industry (37:03) Innovation in packaging industry (38:37) Exciting development in packaging (41:14) Innovation at WestRock (44:21) Regulation (46:18) Government’s role in creating and supporting innovation
I speak with Nikhil Kalane of PwC India about the current state of the global chemical industry. (0:00) Introduction (0:42) Management consultancies for chemical industry (1:42) Nikhil’s expertise and role (2:34) State of the chemical industry and pandemic’s impact (6:22) Pandemic’s impact by region (10:20) Examples of sustainability and circular economy principles in the chemical industry (12:22) Innovation in the chemical industry (13:41) Cost structure (14:44) Factors influencing innovation (15:46) Approach to growth (17:00) Open innovation (17:46) Indian chemical industry
I speak with Dr. William Provine of The Innovation Space about innovation in the chemical industry and the support ecosystem that exists for chemical startups. (0:00) Introduction (0:48) Invention vs. innovation (4:55) How chemical companies identify opportunities for innovation (8:41) Rate of success across innovation efforts (10:23) Need for new materials (13:18) Chem vs. Pharma spending on R&D (18:42) How chemical giants interact with startups (21:16) The Innovation Space and startups it supports, including Prelude Therapeutics and Versogen (27:31) Challenges chemical startups face (29:51) Origin of The Innovation Space (31:25) Future of The Innovation Space
I speak with Sebastian Alamillo-Falkenberg of KPM Accelerate about the tough-tech ecosystem and resources available for science-based startups. (0:39) Innovation, invention, design (1:51) Example: The Metals Company (3:05) Example: Li-Cycle (4:29) Science vs. software startups (7:41) Risks in science-based startups and steps to mitigate risks (9:11) Techno-economics (11:52) Resources and ecosystems (13:36) Incubators (14:30) Accelerators (16:13) KPM Accelerate and how it supports startups
I speak with Dr. Judy Giordan about innovation. (0:00) Introduction (0:46) Invention vs. Innovation vs. Diffusion (5:05) Innovation in large chem corporations (7:50) Different stakeholders driving innovation (8:47) How innovation influences chem industry’s dynamics and evolution (13:51) Current innovations in the chem industry (16:26) Interfacing with startups: Chem vs. Pharma
I speak with Dr. Judy Giordan of ecosVC about education, talent development, and diversity in the chemical industry. (0:00) Introduction (0:42) Chemistry majors (4:42) Talent acquisition and development (10:34) Diversity, inclusion, equity (19:26) Sociology vs. Technology
I speak with Dr. Frank Slejko about water treatment in various industries, incumbent technologies, and innovations. (0:00) Introduction (0:50) Significance of water treatment and water as universal solvent (3:28) Industrial applications that require clean water (6:15) High purity water for semiconductor and microelectronics industry (9:54) Types of contaminants (10:36) Removal of contaminants (11:09) How ion exchange works (13:32) Logistics of water treatment (14:56) Four main water treatment technologies (17:04) Room for improvement (19:42) Exciting innovations and startups
I speak with Dr. Anders Hallsby of Mazarine Ventures about water treatment technologies and trends. (0:00) Intro (0:42) Anders Hallsby's expertise (3:49) Wastewater and system-level treatment of it (5:16) Applications requiring clean water and typical contaminants found in water (6:53) Wastewater treatment processes (7:37) Energy consumption of water treatment (9:12) Trends and innovations in water industry (13:32) Most promising water treatment technologies (15:43) Mazarine Ventures’ investment thesis (19:02) Portfolio companies: SimpleLab and Conservation Labs
I speak with Scott Gietler, the founder of ChemTalk, a non-profit organization whose mission is to make chemistry fun and easy to learn for everyone.
This episode features Bahruz Mammadov, CEO of BERKM, and John Standish, Technical Director at the Association of Plastic Recyclers, who share their views on the history, current state, and innovation in plastic packaging. OUTLINE: (00:00) Intro (01:02) State and scale of plastic packaging (02:49) Plastic recycling (04:03) Factors that promote and limit collection of plastic (05:36) Technical and economic limits to recycling (07:28) Greenpeace (09:31) Association of Plastic Recyclers (10:34) Regulation (12:36) Innovation (16:06) BERKM technology (17:56) Application and market potential (18:44) Current state of BERKM’s technology (20:53) Vision for BERKM’s future (22:02) Financing
I speak with Alexis Bazzanella of the Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (DECHEMA) and the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3) about sustainable chemistry and multinational collaboration. (0:49) Definition of sustainability (2:25) Holistic approach to sustainable chemistry (5:06) Adoption of sustainable chemistry principles (8:07) Role of legislation and regulation (9:57) Role of private sector and the public (11:14) Technologies that enable sustainable chemistry (13:48) Approach chemical companies take to achieve sustainability (16:09) International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (20:02) Projects supported by ISC3 (22:37) Challenges (26:55) Future of ISC3 – hubs
I speak with Mitch Krauss about sustainability, circularity, environmental and health safety in textiles, semiconductor, and beverage industries. (0:00) Introduction (0:39) Apparel and textile industry (1:32) UN Project (2:42) Apparel industry value chain (4:29) Perfluorochemicals (7:45) Sustainability in apparel industry (9:47) Apparel production’s impact on environment (14:24) Semiconductor industry (15:42) RoHS Directive (18:53) How semiconductors are made (21:43) Use of water in semiconductor manufacturing (27:05) Beer industry and brewing beer (29:41) Norfork Brewing
I speak with Gabriel Thoumi of Responsible Alpha, a consultancy whose mission is to support businesses and communities in securing a low-carbon, sustainable, and equitable future. (1:24) Production and consumption of plastic (2:53) Plastic industry’s carbon budget (3:59) Reconciling fact that plastic is useful in our society and economy with the fact that it is damaging to the environment (8:35) What the plastic industry is doing to mitigate the plastic problem and the pressure companies feel to change their behavior (11:58) The role of investors (15:40) The role of governments (20:25) Ramification of projected increase in demand for plastic (25:43) New technologies (31:11) Circularity and points of intervention (36:51) Barriers to transitioning from linear to circular economy (40:28) How transitioning to circular economy creates opportunities (42:03) Short-term vs. long-term thinking
I speak with Dr. John Warner of Zymergen and Beyond Benign about sustainability in the chemical industry. (0:00) Introduction (1:03) Chemical industry as an actor in society and economy (4:31) Green chemistry (5:54) Teaching chemistry skills (10:50) Beyond Benign (20:11) Marketing and public relations in the chemical industry (22:24) Communication (24:03) Financing sustainability efforts (30:59) Numbers and narratives in startups
I speak with Dr. Greg Newbloom, the founder and CEO of Membrion, about his career, company, and interest in green chemistry.
I speak with Dr. Nilesh Shah, the former Global R&D Director at Dow Chemical about sustainability and circular economy. (0:00) Nilesh Shah’s biography (1:02) Defining sustainability and circular economy (3:20) The impact of chemical products on greenhouse gas reductions (7:00) Incongruity between plastics’ net positive impact on the world and the media’s portrayal of plastics (12:08) Responsibility of various players in the plastics ecosystem (15:45) Achieving circular economy via incremental and breakthrough solutions (18:16) Examples of short term incremental solutions (20:53) Economic viability of short term solutions (22:29) Role of legislation and regulation in sustainability efforts (25:12) Process of removing harmful chemicals off the market (27:54) When regulatory bodies tend to step in (30:05) What it takes for sustainable alternatives to be adopted (31:08) Importance of systems thinking in achieving sustainability
I speak with Dr. Judy Giordan, managing director of ecosVC, about sustainability in the chemical industry. (0:00) Introduction (0:51) Definition of sustainability and origin of Judy’s interest in sustainability (5:30) What drives sustainability in the chemical industry (10:26) Chemical industry working hard to promote sustainability (11:32) Examples of sustainability in the chemical industry (14:15) Barriers to achieving sustainability (19:14) Importance of non-technical factors to commercializing sustainability solutions
I speak with Dr. Boyd Davis, a metallurgy and process development expert, about green chemistry’s impact on various industries.