#150: Wave energy innovation, renewable tech, building a scale-up, female founders, raising capital and sustainable development with Ash Penley
Description
Ashley Penley is the founder and CEO of ZOEX, the UK's only female founded wave energy company. She transitioned from 15 years in offshore oil and gas complex installation projects to marine renewables, where she developed a modular wave energy converter that tackles the sector's biggest challenge, high cost.
She's also a mother of two, Zoe and Alex, and became a British national after moving to Scotland 25 years ago for her original oil and gas career.
We cover the following in our conversation:
00:11 Meet Ashley Penley
01:45 The challenges of wave energy
03:30 The 'Aha moment': Realising the gap in wave energy
05:29 Innovative solutions for wave energy
07:55 The business model and market potential
12:32 Designing ZOEX for real-world conditions
19:49 Partnerships and raising capital
23:02 Trials and commercial rollout in Turkey
25:22 Project setback and recovery
27:17 Validation and success
27:35 Global attention and future plans
28:30 Challenges and personal sacrifices
30:08 Company vision and funding
31:56 Navigating a male-dominated industry
33:29 Balancing family and career
37:12 Advice for entrepreneurs
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United States
