What’s it all about?
I’ve always loved Solar and the concept of free, ubiquitous energy. Our episode this week comes from the CEO of a company that converts light at all levels into energy for the fast-growing wearables market and beyond. Wireless headphones that don’t need charging, ever, is just the start. I hope you enjoy the episode.
About our guest
Giovanni Fili is an experienced entrepreneur and private investor with more than 20 years’ experience in entrepreneurship and 10 years’ experience in commercializing high tech innovations. Mr. Fili was born in 1976 and holds a M.Sc. in Business and Administration with a double major in Finance and Information Management from the Stockholm School of Economics where he graduated 2002. Mr. Fili has been invited several times to round table discussions with the Swedish Ministry of Energy and Enterprise to discuss the entrepreneurial climate in Sweden. He has also participated on state visits with the Swedish King to represent the future Swedish industry. Mr. Fili was recently appointed as a permanent member in the entrepreneurial forum to advise Minister Mikael Damberg on the entrepreneurial situation in Sweden.
About Exeger
Exeger is a Swedish deep tech company manufacturing the next generation of light harvesting technology, led by Swedish entrepreneur and CEO Giovanni Fili. Its unique dye-sensitized photovoltaic material, named Powerfoyle, converts ambient light into usable electricity, even in dim indoor conditions. Powerfoyle can enhance any consumer electronic product it is integrated into with extended or even eternal battery life, putting the power of cutting edge solar technology directly into the hands of consumers. Exeger’s carbon neutral material is screen printed at its own urban factory, allowing for versatility in production and product development, enabling Exeger’s vision of a better world where any surface can generate power through light.
GUEST LINKS HERE
- Exeger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/exeger-sweden-ab/
- Exeger web page: https://exeger.com/
- Giovanni Fili on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giovanni-fili-73569b/
EPISODE LINKS HERE
- Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grit-Passion-Perseverance-Angela-Duckworth/dp/1501111108
Follow us online, write a review (please) or subscribe
I’m very keen to hear feedback on the podcast and my guests, and to hear your suggestions for future guests or topics. Contact via the website, or Twitter.
If you do enjoy the podcast, please write a review on iTunes, or your usual podcast platform, and tell your cleantech friends about us. That would be much appreciated.
I first saw Charlotta pitch Blixt at Ecosummit and was subsequently introduced via my friends at BayWa Ventures. I loved her enthusiasm, and I take my hat off to anyone that has founded, exited and founded companies on many occasions. I’m sure you’ll be inspired by her story.
About our guest
Charlotta has been an entrepreneur for 20 years and active in several roles setting up businesses in various sectors from e-Commerce to gaming and later deep tech in transformative energy. She loves entrepreneurship for the opportunity to constantly learn and navigate through challenges and opportunities.
As a seasoned serial entrepreneur Charlotta started learning about the climate crisis and strongly felt she must use her accumulated experience to try to make a difference.
Blixt was founded in 2018 with the goal of bringing grid-edge data intelligence to the energy supply market through the introduction of digital circuit breaker technology.
Mechanical circuit breakers have been the gatekeepers of household electricity supply for around 150 years, but our digital alternative will be a game changer for the future of electricity management. Software is appearing in all aspects of every industry today, and it just doesn’t make sense to have an analogue, mechanical device in something so central as the entry point for electricity in a home.
The solid state circuit breaker is a response to emerging trends in global energy markets and aims to satisfy growing demand for “grid-edge intelligence” from both consumers and power network infrastructure. Blixt is so far the most ambitious challenge I have ever taken on. On the other hand, our innovations spark for an entirely new energy paradigm.
On Women’s Day 2019 Charlotta was awarded “No 1 Female Entrepreneur of the Year Globally” by the UK rating institute Earlymetrics which was of course a great honor.
About Blixt
Blixt is the first and only company to develop miniature, solid state circuit breakers for the residential market. Unlike conventional mechanical breakers, the Blixt Breaker can collect real time data and remotely control all loads – all via one small connected device that fits standard fuse boxes. The new Blixt Breakers are a game changer for the electrical system. It will enhance performance of renewable energy solutions, battery storage solutions and demand-side management at grid edge.
GUEST LINKS
Blixt on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/bl-xt/
Blixt web page: blixt.tech/
Blixt Twitter: @BlixtTech
Charlotta Holmquist on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/charlottaholmquist/
EPISODE LINKS
Blixt on YouTube during SET Awards: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDQGwkICuJE
Blixt at Ecosummit 2019 www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYhh2nI2kJ4&t=2s
The Startup Owner’s Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company: 1 www.amazon.co.uk/Startup-Owners-M…ep/dp/0984999302
Follow us online, write a review (please) or subscribe
I’m very keen to hear feedback on the podcast and my guests, and to hear your suggestions for future guests or topics. Contact via the website, or Twitter.
If you do enjoy the podcast, please write a review on iTunes, or your usual podcast platform, and tell your cleantech friends about us. That would be much appreciated.
Twitter twitter.com/weekincleantech
Facebook www.facebook.com/thisweekincleantech/
Instagram www.instagram.com/davidhunt2013/
I first met Pete Armstrong as he was pitching at the Ecosummit event in Berlin in 2018 and last year. The scale of the impact possible in transforming our heating and water storage systems in our homes blew my mind. I’ve always been so involved in the ‘electrification of everything’, so I’ve watched since with interest. Mixergy were also mentioned in a recent podcast episode with Robert Trezona of IP Group, one of their early (and follow on) investors. So I thought I’d invite Dr Pete Armstrong to join us.
About our guest
Dr Pete Armstrong is CEO and co-founder of Mixergy, an Oxford University spin-out company which has brought to market a unique hot water tank. Pete completed his PhD on intelligent hot water tanks at Oxford Uni with fellow student and co-founder Ren Kang, before going on to win a Technical Innovation award within the 2013 Shell Eco-Marathon electric car competition, and a prize in a Climate KiC venture competition, which was the genesis of Mixergy in 2014. Mixergy has since received investment from IP Group, Oxford Science Innovation, Centrica Innovations and Foresight Williams to grow and develop the business.
About Mixergy
Mixergy has developed an intelligent hot water tank, which is unlike others on the market. The Mixergy tank operates on an integrated Internet of Things platform and is designed to selectively heat smaller portions of water. As a fleet, Mixergy aims to offer a Demand Side Response (DSR) service to the National Grid, absorbing excess power load and time shifting demand to help balance the grid. This “Internet of Tanks” vision will help to facilitate the generation and utilisation of more renewables nationwide to support a greener future. The Mixergy tank is also a benefit to consumers, saving up to 40% on hot water bills through sophisticated machine learning.
GUEST LINKS
Mixergy Website- www.mixergy.co.uk
Mixergy on Linked In: www.linkedin.com/company/mixergy-ltd/
Mixergy on Twitter: twitter.com/MixergyLtd
EPISODE LINKS
Cleantech Mixergy Raises £3.6M – www.businesscloud.co.uk/news/cleantec…gy-raises-36m
Mixergy on Fully Charged – www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Z4JCoPAGc
Mixergy at Ecosummit 2019 – www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AL_wDpTVEc
Chaos: Making a New Science – James Gleick – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos:_Making_a_New_Science
Follow us online, write a review (please) or subscribe
I’m very keen to hear feedback on the podcast and my guests, and to hear your suggestions for future guests or topics. Contact via the website, or Twitter.
If you do enjoy the podcast, please write a review on iTunes, or your usual podcast platform, and tell your cleantech friends about us. That would be much appreciated.
Twitter twitter.com/weekincleantech
Facebook www.facebook.com/thisweekincleantech/
Instagram www.instagram.com/davidhunt2013/
As you will have gathered from this podcast, I live in and love the intersection of clean technology and entrepreneurship. This passion, and my role as CEO at Hyperion Executive Search brings me into contact with so many fascinating people, and I love to hear and share their stories.
On recent podcasts I’ve spoken to leads at cleantech VCs, Publicly Listed tech funds and soon Corporate Venturing entities, but today a very import part of the funding ecosystem are Angels and Angel syndicates, and my guest Simon Acland has great insights into this part of the funding community.
About our guest
Simon Acland is a Founder and Director of Green Angel Syndicate, the only UK Business Angel group focussed on investing in companies that develop products and solutions that help tackle the climate emergency and environmental crisis and aim for a more efficient and sustainable use of global resources. He sits on the Board of Triple Point Income VCT plc, which has invested extensively in renewable energy and vertical farming, and is on the investment panel of the Triple Point Impact EIS Fund which makes green investments. He is a member of the investment committee of the Angel CoFund. He acts as chair or non-exec director of two companies he has backed in the green technology sector – Powervault, a developer and manufacturer of home electricity storage devices, including products which reuse batteries from electric vehicles, and NatureMetrics, a pioneer of environmental DNA sequencing techniques for monitoring biodiversity. Simon is a Non-Executive Director of the Satellite Applications Catapult, and Vice-Chair of Plantlife, the UK’s main wild plant conservation charity.
Simon has a successful track record from over thirty years of investing in young technology businesses. For 19 years he was part of the team that built Quester into one of the UK’s most active early stage venture capital investors, and was Managing Director when it was sold in 2007. Since then he has personally been an active Business Angel investor. Many of the businesses that he backed have floated on various Stock Exchanges, and/or been successfully sold. He has lost count of the number of company boards of which he has been a member.
Simon spent eight years as a Lambeth Borough Councillor and stood for parliament in 1987 as a candidate for the SDP/Liberal Alliance.
Simon’s 2011 book “Angels, Dragons and Vultures – how to tame your investors and not lose your company”, is widely regarded as one of the most useful guides for entrepreneurs to the world of venture capital. His First Crusade historical novels, the Waste Land and the Flowers of Evil, may be of less practical use to the budding entrepreneur.
GUEST LINKS HERE
Simon Acland on Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/simonacland/
Green Angel Syndicate on Linked In: www.linkedin.com/company/green-angel-syndicate/
Green Angel Syndicate on Twitter: twitter.com/GAS_Investments
EPISODE LINKS HERE
Angels, Dragons & Vultures – www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/18578…rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
Follow us online, write a review (please) or subscribe
I’m very keen to hear feedback on the podcast and my guests, and to hear your suggestions for future guests or topics. Contact via the website, or Twitter.
If you do enjoy the podcast, please write a review on iTunes, or your usual podcast platform, and tell your cleantech friends about us. That would be much appreciated.
Twitter twitter.com/weekincleantech
Facebook www.facebook.com/thisweekincleantech/
Instagram www.instagram.com/davidhunt2013/
I first became aware of the work of Kimmo Rauma, and Visedo from my good friends at Life Size. I’ve long believed in the electrification of everything, though I’m always open to be persuaded otherwise! There are of course some areas where that is far more challenging. Heat is one, and long haul and heavy transport are two such areas. Kimmo has been addressing long-haul and heavy transport for many years, and it’s great to share his thoughts and how this problem is being solved.
About our guest
Dr. Kimmo Rauma is Vice-President of Danfoss Editron. He co-founded and was CEO of Visedo before the company became Danfoss Editron following its acquisition by the Danfoss Group in December 2017.
Before pioneering heavy-duty electrification with Visedo, Dr. Rauma founded several technology start-ups in various fields, from dental technology to machine learning.
Dr. Rauma holds both Master’s and Doctorates degrees in Electrical Engineering from LUT University in Finland. He is also a member of the Electric Vehicle Systems Program steering group of the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, as well as a member of LUT University’s Board of Directors.
Danfoss Editron manufacture and deliver the world’s most sophisticated hybrid and fully-electric drivetrains for the marine, off-highway, renewables and transportation sectors. The company’s EDITRON system has been designed from the ground up to ensure maximum efficiency at real-world load speeds. The software-based approach allows for greater intelligent management of power distribution, delivering superior performance for heavy-duty applications in even the mos
GUEST LINKS HERE
Dr Kimmo Rauma on Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/kimmorauma/
Danfoss Editron on Twitter: twitter.com/DanfossEditron
Danfoss Editron onLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/danfosseditron
Danfoss Editron onFacebook: www.facebook.com/DanfossEditron/?ref=br_rs
Danfoss Editron on Instagram: www.instagram.com/danfosseditron/?hl=en
EPISODE LINKS
Independent energy statistics – energywatchgroup.org/
Books of Yuval Noah Harari – www.amazon.co.uk/Yuval-Noah-Harar…line_cont_book_1
Follow us online, write a review (please) or subscribe
I’m very keen to hear feedback on the podcast and my guests, and to hear your suggestions for future guests or topics. Contact via the website, or Twitter.
If you do enjoy the podcast, please write a review on iTunes, or your usual podcast platform, and tell your cleantech friends about us. That would be much appreciated.
Twitter twitter.com/weekincleantech
Facebook www.facebook.com/thisweekincleantech/
Instagram www.instagram.com/davidhunt2013/
What’s it all about?
I first reached out to Mike as I saw the incredible work he was doing as CEO of Ice Energy. As you’ll know, as much as I love traditional battery storage technologies, I also have a passion for thermal storage solutions, and Ice Energy has a great product. I’ve kept in touch as Mike moved on to new ventures, and had the opportunity to meet recently in San Diego at Energy Storage North America. Here we extend that conversation, into some possible controversial territory.
About our guest
Mike Hopkins is CEO of Bakken Midstream (www.bakkenmidstream.com), a company he and his partners launched in late 2018 to develop and own value-added natural gas infrastructure in North Dakota.
Prior to launching Bakken Midstream, Mike was the long-serving CEO of Ice Energy (www.ice-energy.com). Ice Energy is the leading provider of thermal energy storage for the electricity grid, with its award-winning Ice Bear system deployed in more than 40 utility service territories. During his tenure as CEO, Mike secured the largest ever thermal energy storage contract, expanded the product line, arranged over $55 million in funding and increased revenue over 700%.
Prior to joining Ice Energy, Mike practiced law for 18 years as a partner with Bennett Jones LLP, a preeminent Canadian law firm recognized internationally as a leader in the fields of energy and climate change. He helped his clients successfully develop and finance over $12 billion of natural gas fired power plants in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. Mike served on the law firm’s Executive Committee and led their Utilities, International and Independent Power Groups. Mike left Bennett Jones at the end of 2002 to lead the workout of a private data center developer. After the successful sale of that company, Mike co-founded a geomatics company and assisted several other startups, including Ice Energy which he joined in 2009.
Mike is a member of the Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board, the Board of Chancellors of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Canada, and the Board of Directors of OGL Engineering, Nelumbo, Inc and Plus Power, LLC.
Mike is a member of the American Bar Association.
He has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning and been a featured speaker at many conferences, including the Infrastructure Investors Forum, Grid Modernization Forum, Energy Storage Association, Energy Storage North America, Peak Load Management Association, Community Storage Initiative, SXSW Eco, Electric Power Research Institute, Association for Demand Response and Smart Grid, NY-BEST, EUCI, PlugVolt, World Energy Engineering Congress, US Energy Bar Association, Law Seminars International, and various investment bank sponsored private events.
Mike received a B.A. and a law degree from the University of Ottawa, an M.A. (Law and Economics) from the University of Miami and an MBA from the University of Alberta
GUEST LINKS HERE
Mike Hopkins on Linked In – www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljustinhopkins/
Bakkan Midstream on Linked In – www.linkedin.com/company/bakkenmidstream/
Bakkan Midstream website – www.bakkenmidstream.com
Plus Power on Linked In – www.linkedin.com/company/plus-power/
Nelumbo on Linked In – www.linkedin.com/company/nelumbo-inc/
Follow us online, write a review (please) or subscribe
I’m very keen to hear feedback on the podcast and my guests, and to hear your suggestions for future guests or topics. Contact via the website, or Twitter.
If you do enjoy the podcast, please write a review on iTunes, or your usual podcast platform, and tell your cleantech friends about us. That would be much appreciated.
Twitter twitter.com/weekincleantech
Facebook www.facebook.com/thisweekincleantech/
Instagram www.instagram.com/davidhunt2013/
What’s it all about?
I first met Robert and the IP Group team as we were both pitching at EcoSummit in Berlin. An event that brings together the best investors, VCs, CVCs and corporate venturing teams, with the best cleantech start-ups across Europe. IP Group are a bit different from most investors, making very early bets, often with university spin-outs. Robert and his team are deeply embedded in early cleantech start-up ecosystem.
About our guest
Robert is Head of Cleantech at IP Group, which over the last seven years has become the largest cleantech venture capital investor in the UK. Building on IP Group’s relationships with universities, the focus of the portfolio is deep technology solutions based on scientific breakthroughs. Most companies are developing distinctive, IP-protected hardware solutions, and aim to achieve scalability – and put a dent in climate change – by partnering with large corporates committed to the energy transition. Technologies range from fusion energy to off-grid solar in emerging markets. In addition to his work at IP Group, Robert serves as a Commissioner for the Energy Transitions Commission, a diverse, global group of leaders from industry, finance and public life who are working to accelerate the transition to zero-carbon energy, industry and transport.
About IP Group
IP Group is a leading intellectual property commercialisation company which focuses on evolving great ideas, mainly from its partner universities, into world-changing businesses. The Group aims to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges through the companies we back, allowing us to generate positive social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. The Group has pioneered a unique approach to developing these ideas and the resulting businesses by providing access to business building expertise, capital (through its 100%-owned FCA-authorised subsidiaries IP Capital and Parkwalk Advisors), networks, recruitment and business support. IP Group has a strong track record of success and its portfolio comprises holdings in early-stage to mature businesses across life sciences and technology. IP Group is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the code IPO.
GUEST LINKS
IP Group Website – www.ipgroupplc.com/
IP Group on Linked In – www.linkedin.com/company/ip-group-plc/
IP Group on Twitter – twitter.com/IPGroupplc
Robert Trezona on LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/robert-trezona-12b0b86/
Robert Trezona on Twitter – twitter.com/trez97
EPISODE LINKS
Principles: Life and Work – www.amazon.co.uk/Principles-Life-…io/dp/1501124021
Follow us online, write a review (please) or subscribe
I’m very keen to hear feedback on the podcast and my guests, and to hear your suggestions for future guests or topics. Contact via the website, or Twitter.
If you do enjoy the podcast, please write a review on iTunes, or your usual podcast platform, and tell your cleantech friends about us. That would be much appreciated.
Twitter twitter.com/weekincleantech
Facebook www.facebook.com/thisweekincleantech/
Instagram www.instagram.com/davidhunt2013/