-Peter Van Der Gracht, senior advisor at Alacrity Canada, talks to Dean Wenahm of Ocean Diagnostics and Scott Beatty of MarineLabs about their ocean technologies -hear about how the companies use bluetech to helps us learn more about our oceans and coastlines, along with the impact that human activity and climate change are having on them-origin stories of the two CEOs and how they founded their companies-what are the key use cases and customers -how do these companies go to market?-quantifying customer benefits and returns on investment-what does a typical sales cycle look like in the oceantech space-what was the biggest surprise in the entrepreneurial journey-the next key milestone for these companies-what do these two founders see in the future of oceantech

Alacrity Cleantech Talks

Monitoring Our Oceans with Ocean Diagnostics and MarineLabs

-Peter Van Der Gracht, senior advisor at Alacrity Canada, talks to Mohammad Akhlaghi of Plugzio and Christopher Naismith of Audette about their platforms and how they make use of energy consumption data-what is a day in the life of an entrepreneur like and what are some of the surprises that have popped up along the way?-being "a hacker, a hustler, and a hipster" as an entrepreneur-saving energy as being a small part of functioning within a job or community-"entrepreneurship is jumping off an airplane and building a parachute on the way down" and the love/hate relationship with entrepreneurship as a job; failures are huge, but the successes feel amazing-saving energy is about saving money; in a startup you're either saving someone money or making someone money-energy ecosystem is changing very rapidly throughout the world and there is so much opportunity-how data around energy usage is used in Plugzio and Audette as platforms-data brings businesses out of darkness and acts as a feedback mechanism-the primary job of a building is to keep people comfortable; how layers of energy efficiency can be designed into buildings-the digital information gathered over the past 10 years in this space has matured and allowed the technology to advance, but the processes around this sector have not yet advanced-pulling in large building data to identify and display the best opportunities for improvement in energy usage-how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their businesses, especially when focused on customers that have office buildings or other shared spaces-incentives for delivering money into the energy management space has been "business as usual," especially in institutional buildings and spaces-because of COVID, there is a huge trend in people buying electric mobility vehicles like bicycles and scooters-how these two companies go to market and find customers; the role of channel partners-how utilities and governments play a role in energy efficiency programs; incentives versus processes-how utilities can manage micropower; incentives as very effective, but for the wrong reasons-increasing awareness about energy consumption is good, but incentives are being allocated to people who don't need it-accessing financing for these companies; how government funding programs help-different entrepreneurial journeys to found these companies and platforms; learning from past experiences to develop the businesses-the next milestones for Audette and Plugzio-the future is not just about electric cars; increasing awareness around electric mobility - bikes, scooters, etc. - as the bigger picture-misconceptions around fast charging; different machines than gas vehicles so approach needs to be different as well-at the precipice of a huge investment event in energy usage and cleantech-the technology is there, the processes aren't quite there yet

How Plugzio and Audette Use Energy Consumption and Efficiency to Build Their Platforms

-Peter Van Der Gracht, senior advisor at Alacrity Canada, talks to Susan Blanchet and Andrew Crawford of Origen Air about their company and operations in the cleantech sector-origin story of the company; why Susan left her law career to join forces with serial entrepreneur, Andrew-business model is a "humanistic enterprise model" -how environmental and social governance ratings influence decision-makers-Origen Air's genetically modified plant products work to clean the air, while also reducing energy costs-minimum standards for indoor air quality set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)-smart sensors and app will help decision-makers understand their indoor air quality better and improve standards-impacts of COVID pandemic on the business; founding Origen Clean, a probiotic fogging company-measuring an invisible problem, like indoor air quality, and then managing it through proprietary sensor technology and app-customer focus and go-to-market strategies-returns on investment and looking at the business model from an investor's perspective-short-term milestones; the clean air delivery rate (CADR) of the Sentinel Purifier, the first of Origen Air's products-funding programs and support for cleantech companies-marketing strategies and the long-term plan to reach the global market-the triple bottom line, caring about social responsibility and the environment in conjunction with profits-why the team behind Origen Air believes that "nature always wins"

Origen Air Tackles Indoor Air Quality

-Peter Van Der Gracht, senior advisor at Alacrity Canada, talks to Sarah Appelbaum of Pangaea Ventures and Kathryn Wortsman of Amplify Capital about investing in the cleantech sector-investment sweet spots, early-stage and later-stage investing-the criteria for investing in a Series A round or Seed funding-an impact fund as essential service fund; focusing on healthcare, cleantech, and education-deal flow still strong throughout 2020, though adjustments are being made to extend runways-team makeup and evaluation when looking to invest-leading rounds or partnering with other syndicate investors, whether it's institutional investors or angel investors-conducting due diligence during the COVID19 pandemic effectively-how are returns on investment being measured in cleantech?-cleantech sales cycles are longer than in other sectors, but customers are also very sticky-cleantech investors need patience and long-term outlook-how does regulation impact the complexity of going to market for a cleantech company-the importance of patents and intellectual property when looking at a potential investment opportunities-assessing a company against its competitors and leveraging partners and customers as advisors to validate the market-deals looked at versus deals made; what does the filter look like?-feedback for entrepreneurs in the cleantech space

Investing in the Cleantech Sector

-Julie Angus interviews Melanie McClare and Susan Blanchet, two fellow female CEOs operating in the Canadian cleantech space about their experiences as women in positions of leadership-cleantech as a supportive environment for women leading companies, becoming CEOs of their companies-COVID19 as a challenge for everyone, but especially for women that are also more likely to have to balance more family responsibilities as well-some positive COVID19 changes to the workplace and more access to funding have also helped make the cleantech ecosystem more resilient-government funding programs and extra support from mentors and business advisors have helped inform the changes necessary to the business development road map-COVID has created new opportunities in some spaces, paused opportunities in others-how cleantech can use challenges created by the pandemic to make the world a better place and to innovate in different sectors-COVID19 as a catalyst in innovation when it comes to environmental and social issues -how COVID19 has impacted women in the labour force and what we can do to recover from that impact-creating community around young women to encourage more of them to enter the cleantech space and use their environmental and social governance skills to create positive changes-supportive ecosystems in Calgary and Victoria for startups, active knowledge sharing within the community-advice for women interested in the cleantech sector or a STEM career and how to get involved in this space-lessons learned from failing, finding success on the doorstep of failure, and how to recharge after that experience-memorable moments in the entrepreneurial journey

Women in Cleantech; A Day in the Life of Three CEOs

-what "magnetic cusp inertial electrostatic confinement fusion reactors," also known as Polywell reactors, are and how they work-how these reactors differ from the nuclear reactors in use today-Polywell patents held by Dr. Rogers and how they help make advancements in the technology-how widespread adoption of Polywell could change the energy landscape-what Progressive Fusion Solutions hopes to achieve with Polywell in the future 

The importance of future thinking when it comes to energy

-how being CEO of First Light Technologies for a decade has shaped Sean's entrepreneurial journey-how the market has changed over the last decade and how the term "cleantech" fits into the change-why solar lighting used to suck and how evolution in the space has made it suck less-what First Light's products are and how they can be used-how the products are helping create "safer, more usable communities"-standing behind your product and delivering on your promise of service, even if it means carrying  a ladder across the Mojave desert-the future of solar lighting and hopes for cleantech's further development

Shining a light on solar lighting with First Light Technologies

-how "ageism" has played a part in his entrepreneurial journey-how Progressive Fusion Solutions started and what the company aims to achieve-what the Polywell reactor is and how it works-using an alternative method, inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC), to produce energy-why IEC is less known or employed in the traditional fusion sector-securing funding for a cleantech startup company-how Sam and the team plan to develop PFS over the next decade

Sustainable energy in the not-so-distant future with Progressive Fusion Solutions

-similarities and differences between cleantech and other sectors-challenges of operating in the cleantech space-getting funding for pilot projects-QuantoTech's  offerings as an engineering company, supplying energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly lighting to commercial growers-how the cleantech space could continue to develop and how Alacrity's working towards helping companies in the space grow-the experience of founding a company with his daughter

Operating in the cleantech space as a founder, advisor, and investor with Peter van der Gracht

-Pani Energy's goals in the energy and water sectors-how the company develops advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and system design to disrupt these sectors, without disrupting their foundational infrastructures-lessons learned from developing hardware and software in the cleantech space-working directly with treatment plants on a business-to-business scale-how the cleantech space has shaped Devesh's entrepreneurial journey and how the sector has evolved since Pani's beginnings-Pani's efforts in combating climate change and developing technologies that have a low barrier to implementation 

Disrupting industries without disrupting systems with Pani Energy

-Julie's journey across the Atlantic in a rowboat during a hurricane-going from adventurous expeditions to becoming a clean-tech startup founder, combining her love of science with her passion for adventure-Open Ocean Robotic's goals and possible impacts-how the company's energy-harvesting autonomous boats work-how Julie's experienced being a woman in the tech sector-the future of Open Ocean Robotics

Getting to know our oceans better with Open Ocean Robotics

Alacrity Cleantech Talks invites clean technology leaders, thinkers and sustainability experts to talk about solutions to the global challenges we we face today. Every two weeks, we publish an episode about how cleantech is making a difference, how science is trying to find answers to our everyday problems, and how we can keep the environment and sustainability in mind - even in business. Alacrity Cleantech Talks discusses the future of water, natural resources, energy and our role in making the world a better place.

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Alacrity Cleantech Talks

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