This Week in MCJ (12/12/20)
This Week in MCJ (12/12/20)
First MCJ Collective investment announced!
Hey MCJers,
Well, we had some exciting news this week. We’ve made 5 investments out of the first quarterly MCJ Collective fund so far, and the first one was finally announced publicly!
We’ll be able to announce more of them soon. We are also starting to be more public about some of the LPs behind the fund. Here’s one we wanted to highlight this week, Josh Elman.
We are particularly excited about Josh’s involvement, because in addition to being a great human, he’s one of the best consumer product people out there. Our goal with the fund (and with MCJ, in general!) is to build bridges between the new blood coming into climate and the insiders who have been working on the problem a long time, and between insiders and each other. Our content and community have been starting to do that, the growing pool of capital under management is another leg of the stool, and we intend to continue building out more connective tissue and tools over time to have an increasingly larger impact in this area. That’s where we think we can add the most value with MCJ, and it also happens to be a ton of fun.
Let’s do this! 🌱
Jason
🛠Make-a-thon Update
Since MCJ’s first-ever Make-a-thon began a week ago, we’ve heard about some interesting projects being worked on by various members of the community. Given the goal is to encourage and inspire collaboration beyond the period of the event, it’s not too late to join or propose a project! If you have any questions or would like feedback on your project, please feel free to DM organizers, Jeremy Jones & Thai Nguyen, on the MCJ Slack.
Lastly, as noted in the events section below, we’ll cap off the Make-a-thon with a virtual Demo Session on Friday, December 18th at 4pm ET. Come join your fellow members and learn what they have been working on!
📼Episodes
Here’s this week’s episode, in case you missed it.
Episode 134: Nathaniel Stinnett Returns!
Back by popular demand, today's guest is Nathaniel Stinnett, Founder and Executive Director of the Environmental Voter Project, a non-profit that aims to significantly increase voter demand for environmental leadership by identifying inactive environmentalists and then turning them into consistent activists and voters.
Nathaniel explains the Environmental Voter Project's work, how they identify environmental non-voters, and what they do to get them to the polls. He also explains WHY it is so important to get them to the polls, and what the EVP theory of change is. And finally, he fills me in on the general election, the Georgia runoffs, the state of our democracy, and some of EVP’s most recent results. I learn tons every time I speak with Nathaniel, and it was great to have him back on the show!
📼Startup Series
The Startup Series features founders of early-stage companies, sharing their business and mission. The audio to this series is available wherever you get your podcasts. The pitch presentation and slides are exclusively available to My Climate Journey Members. If you’re interested in watching this episode or checking out past episodes, you can learn about becoming an MCJ Member here, or you can find the audio here.
Startup Series Episode 21: DroneSeed with CEO and Founder, Grant Canary
DroneSeed is working to restore forests that have been destroyed by wildfires. DroneSeed is paid per acre to reforest using heavy-lift drones. In the U.S. alone, we are losing 7 million acres on average to wildfires, and natural regeneration is decreasing as wildfires become more severe. The three main problems plaguing reforestation are manual labor doesn't scale, there is a 2-3 year supply chain bottleneck, and reforestation costs a lot of money at scale. DroneSeed is building a better supply chain and is scaling the market. They use drone swarms that have a 57-pound payload that utilizes seeds in vessels bringing the supply chain bottleneck time from 3 years to 3 months. DroneSeed is the only reforestation company that is FAA approved to fly a drone with a payload of over 55 pounds, to fly drones in swarms, and can fly drones beyond visual line of sight. Their customers include timber companies, tribal nations, government agencies, and non-profits. DroneSeed is working towards carbon credits for restoration, but right now, their model is a pay per acre business. In 2022, DroneSeed hopes to reforest 10,000 acres and sequester 379,000 tons of Carbon.
🙋♀️Community Asks & Offers
Symbrosia, is building a macroalgae research and production pilot facility on the coast of Kona, Hawai'i. They have almost 2 acres of leased non-arable (lava) land that is unused adjacent to their algae ponds. Anyone in search of a commercial demonstration location for solar technologies and interested in providing the facility with power down the line? DM Alexia Akbay on the MCJ Slack if it’s of interest.
🏄♀️The Los Angeles MCJ Community is Kicking-Off
If you’re based in Los Angeles County, it’s the perfect time to join our #los-angeles channel on slack. We are getting to know each other and outlining our mission, topics of interests, and organization, now is the perfect timing to jump in and contribute.
For more info, reach out to Charlotte Mallo on slack or via email charlotte.mallo@gmail.com
👋 Welcome New MCJers!
Below are new members who joined the community and introduced themselves in the past week. You can learn more about them on #introductions, where you can welcome them to the community.
A warm welcome to the MCJ Community!
Dave Kukfa: Currently a computer security engineer in the Bay Area, Dave is exploring opportunities to work directly on climate change using security and software. He is looking forward to meeting more MCJers.
Mark Laabs: Currently splits his time between working on the energy transition at Modern Energy and rare cancer research. Modern Energy is a clean energy and investment firm that focuses on overcoming to cost of clean energy. He is excited to meet and learn from the community.
Sebastian Flores: He has spent the last seven years operating startups and he is now looking for opportunities to tackle social and environmental problems as an operator or investor. He looks forward to connecting with more MCJ members via virtual coffee or make intros to entrepreneurs.
Ben Adams: Currently in asset management at Cornell University. He is interested in the intersectionality of sustainability and the built environment.
Gopal Erinjippurath: Currently a geodata scientist and ML product engineer lead at Sust Global. He is interested in talking to community members about the challenge, opportunities, and funding landscape in climate risk and ESG service. He is looking forward to connecting with MCJers.
Brandon Kahn: A mechanical engineer currently working at Boeing's regional manufacturing facility to lead their local energy management program and develop a road-map to de-carbonization. He is interested in solar, energy efficiency, and sustainable agriculture. He looking to connect and collaborate with the community.
Daniel Lie: Currently the co-founder of an energy storage startup called Pronoia in Los Angeles. They are members of the LACI Innovators cohort. He is looking forward to connecting with community members.
Anders Kjemptrup: Currently the Director of Strategic Projects and Operation for the Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries. He is looking for opportunities to focus on climate either at a startup or in a philanthropic position.
Bill Nussey: Currently working on a book/podcast/TED Talk Freeing Energy and at a startup, Solar Inventions. Bill has worked as a tech CEO, in venture capitalism, and corporate strategy.
Christian Ebersol: Currently a VP of sales ops at an insurance tech company but in a few weeks he’ll be starting a 6 month EIR focused on Climate Tech. He is looking forward to meeting more of the community and sharing more of his EIR role.
Christina Drotenko: A recent University grad based in Toronto, Christina is s global capital markets analyst. She is fascinated by sustainable finance and is looking for opportunities in the impact investing space. Christina is looking forward to meeting more of the community.
Max Sack: Currently a Program Manager at Google in Seattle, Max’s background is in business operations, production supportability, and performance marketing. He is relatively new to the climate space and is looking forward to learning more and eventually shifting his career focus to something with a positive climate impact.
📢 Net Zero Announcements
Square, Inc. Announces Net Zero Carbon by 2030 “Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) announced [on Tuesday] its plans to become net zero carbon for operations by 2030, including its primary Scope 3 emissions. Square also announced the launch of its Bitcoin Clean Energy Investment Initiative, where it has committed $10 million to support companies that help drive adoption and efficiency of renewables within the bitcoin ecosystem.” - Square Inc. Press Release
One of the largest infrastructure investors in the world declares its intent to be net zero by 2040. “Today Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) announced its commitment to investing and managing its portfolio in line with global net zero emissions by 2040, ten years ahead of the deadline to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.” - Macquarie Asset Management Twitter
📑Member Newsroom
Stefano Bernardi recently launched the Planet+ rolling fund! “Planet+ Capital is my new rolling fund, where I will centralize all of my investments in climate-positive (and carbon-negative) technologies. I've been exclusively investing with this singular focus for the past 2.5 years, and I've been completely amazed by the quality of the dealflow I've been finding - so given I'm going to run out of money if I continue at this pace, I've decided to raise external capital.”
To learn more, check out the Planet+ Capital notion announcement
🎓Alumni News
Check out MCJ Alum Bill Weihl’s Fast Company article about Big Tech, their Lobbyists, and preformative climate change pledges. You can read it here: Big Tech Says it Care About Climate—But Do its Lobbyists?
If you’re interested in learning more about Bill, Jason sat down with him back in August 2019, you can find Episode 29 here!
MCJ Alum and Ceres CEO and President, Mindy Lubber wrote an article for Forbes about Why Rejoining The Paris Agreement Is So Important For The US. You can check it out here. You can also check out her conversation with Jason in Episode 110!
📚 Startup Resources
The Keeling Curve Prize is accepting applications from innovative climate change solutions in the areas of Capture & Utilization, Energy, Finance, Social & Cultural Pathways, and Transport & Mobility. Each year the Keeling Curve Prize gives out 10 awards of $25,000 each. Deadline: February 10, 2021. More information here!
Calling Startups, Academics & Researchers Ready to Tackle the Planet's Toughest Problems! The Techstars Sustainability Challenge brings together founders, nonprofits, and universities with innovative industry leaders in sustainability. In this four-month challenge, they will connect the most promising applicants with industry-leading companies to build out real-world solutions. It's innovation with impact, powered by Techstars. Deadline: March 8, 2021. For more info check out Cody Simms’ post.
Urban Future Lab, Greentown Labs, and Fraunhofer USA recently announced the launch of the Carbon to Value Initiative. This program will connect innovators and startups with industry leaders and carbontech experts in the chemicals, advanced materials, energy, and other verticals who can provide the resources and market access necessary to enable rapid commercialization of carbontech. Apply by Jan 27, 2021.
The On Deck Climate Tech Fellowship (ODCT) is kicking off in early March. ODCT is a 10-week program for 150 startup and climate experts to come together to start, join, invest in, and advise climate tech companies. The goal is to help startups navigate the complex regulatory, funding, and technical landscapes of the climate crisis. The fellowship provides guidance and a collaborative environment to create innovative and scalable climate tech businesses. Fellows will also benefit from the On Deck community and network. On Deck already has a handful of speakers lined up, including me! It is a terrific program, and we encourage anyone who is looking to start a climate tech company to consider applying. The deadline for applications is January 31st, 2021. Apply here! If you are interested in learning more, sign up for the Q&A on December 15th, 2020 here.
💼Climate Jobs
Here are some jobs shared by members of the MCJ community that we think might be of interest to you. Many of these opportunities and the MCJers who shared them can be found in #climatejobs in the MCJ Slack.
PR/Communications Intern at BeyondBlack ( Berlin) (job listing) (slack post)
Part-time Product Designer and part-time Marketing Lead at Carbon Zero (careers page)
Spring 2021 ARPA-E Fellow (careers page)
Front End Developer at MethaneSAT (remote) (careers page)
Financial Analyst at Encore Renewable Energy (job listing) (careers page)
Senior Frontend Engineer (React), Lead Systems Engineer (embedded linux), Product Manager at Pano (remote) (job listing) (Sr FE) (Lead SE) (PM)
Founding Chemical Engineer at Aether Labs (remote, company in SF) (job listing) (careers page)
📰🎧Recommended Reading/Listening
Below are recently published articles and content that we find interesting and/or that were shared by fellow MCJers.
New York Times: “New York’s $226 Billion Pension Fund Is Dropping Fossil Fuel Stocks”
The Wall Steet Journal: “How an Energy Startup’s Plan to Disrupt the Power Grid Got Disrupted” (PDF)
Bloomberg Green: “These Trees Are Not What They Seem: How the Nature Conservancy, the world’s biggest environmental group, became a dealer of meaningless carbon offsets”
The Wall Street Journal: “The New Green Energy Giants Challenging Exxon and BP” (PDF)
🎟Climate Events
As a reminder, we have an MCJ Events Calendar, where you can view and post events for the rest of the MCJ community to attend. When posting an event, please refer to this checklist.
*We’re highlighting a few upcoming events below; please refer to the events calendar for a complete list.*
Upcoming
MCJ Make-a-thon: Demo Session (Friday December 18th @ 4pm ET)
Join your fellow members, who have worked on various projects during the two-week Make-a-thon, at the upcoming Demo Session. During this virtual meeting, members will share what they’ve worked on, and those interested can learn of opportunities for continued collaboration moving forward! If you’d like a calendar invite, drop us a note or DM Sarah Adams on Slack. We can’t wait to see what projects the community has created!
Open to All: MCJ Town Hall (Wednesday December 30th @ 1pm ET)
We’re hosting our last town hall of 2020 to discuss updates and feedback from the community. If you’ve been following along with the newsletter, you know that much has happened since our last town hall and this forum provides an opportunity to discuss a variety of topics of your choosing with fellow members of the community. If you would like a calendar invite, please drop us a note or DM Sarah Adams on slack.
Meet-a-MCJer via Icebreaker (Friday January 8th @ noon ET)
We’re hosting an Icebreaker for members of the MCJ community. Come join us for several rounds of casual 1:1 conversations with a fellow MCJ Member whom you have not met. Each round of conversation is 10 minutes and there’s fun questions to help break the 🧊! RSVP by dropping us a note.
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